Challenging teacher beliefs about student engagement in mathematics

This study explored the beliefs about student engagement in mathematics of three Year 5 and 6 teachers, focusing on the shifts that occurred during a 10-week intervention. Data obtained from teacher surveys, interviews, video-recorded workshop observations and artefacts from teachers’ classrooms reveal variations in their reactions to the professional learning experiences. Teacher responses were mediated by personal and contextual elements including teacher efficacy beliefs, teacher confidence in mathematics and their conceptions of student engagement. Theories of teacher conceptual change are used to account for variations to teacher beliefs.     

Developing and assessing educator beliefs about the common core

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) potentially shifts the way US schools approach teaching and learning. Research suggests that it is important to understand how educators view the CCSS and how they believe the CCSS may impact their practice. We developed and tested an instrument to investigate educator beliefs about the implementation of CCSS. We collected data from two samples of educators regarding their beliefs about the CCSS in mid-size school districts in California that had begun to introduce the CCSS. Our results indicate that the instrument consistently measured three interrelated, yet distinct, sub-constructs of educator beliefs about the CCSS implementation and that the sub-constructs are statistically significantly associated with trust, professional knowledge, and the pattern of CCSS-related professional interaction.     

The influence of experience on student teachers' beliefs about inclusion

Abstract

Teacher beliefs influence the implementation of inclusion practices in the classroom. Therefore, the importance of developing positive beliefs during the preservice years cannot be overstated. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of professional experiences on students’ beliefs about inclusion. This qualitative study was comprised of a series of interviews (group and individual) and analysis of reflective writings for six student teachers. Findings indicated that experiences both professional and personal contribute to the development of the students’ beliefs about inclusion. If these experiences were positive, the preservice teachers were more positively disposed to the concept of inclusion. Therefore, teacher training programs are afforded the opportunity to influence preservice teachers’ development of positive beliefs about inclusion which may ultimately affect the inclusion process.     

Classroom environments and student empowerment: An analysis of elementary and secondary teacher beliefs

This project explored a classroom model of motivation in which the source of student motivation is based on internal mechanisms or structures and classroom student/instructor interactions. It also extended earlier research in which beliefs of veteran, entry level, and preservice teachers have been explored. For this project, 117 elementary teachers (Grades K–5) with at least 3 years of experience and 126 secondary teachers (Grades 6–12) with similar teaching experiences completed a 40-item Likert-type questionnaire that focused on the four classroom dimensions of Affirmation, Rejection, Student Empowerment, and Teacher Control. The results suggested that elementary teachers and secondary teachers varied in their reported desire for teacher empowerment versus student empowerment in the classroom, and for providing a positive classroom environment as opposed to one that encourages a classroom atmosphere of rejection. Implications for future research and the need for creating affirming, empowering, motivational classroom environments are discussed.     

Teachers' beliefs about student motivation: similarities and differences across cultures

The opinions of 108 teachers, about what influenced adolescent students' motivation and de-motivation, were sought through interview, at sites in each of the UK, the USA and Russia. Teachers' opinions in all three milieux were found to concur—on the positive effects of: parental interest and involvement and parental dissatisfaction; partnership with parents; teacher-student relations; symbolic and material rewards; grades and marks; success in learning—and on the negative effects of some leisure pursuits and of potential post-school unemployment. However, the meaning to be attached to such concurrence is problematised by contextualising apparent agreement within significantly differing local arrangements for, and expectations of: partnership with parents; continuity and duration of teacher-student-parent relations; the development of teachers' professional learning from experience; the deployment of praise and criticism; the pedagogical use of assessment; and the deployment of out-of-school time. Amplifying effects of peer and community subcultures, on the influence of potential unemployment, were also found to differ between contexts. It is concluded that whilst points of concurrence in teachers' opinions are of undoubted interest for any general theory of motivation to learn in school, methods which explore the conceptual system and semantic structure of the background beliefs which inform the expressed opinions that respondents express are urgently needed. The paper argues that we need to be able to model the underlying expectations and constraints which lend structure and priority to the lived experience of being schooled.     

An integrated analysis of secondary school students’ conceptions and beliefs about learning

Students’ conceptions and beliefs about learning are constructs that have been proposed in two independent lines of research, phenomenographic and metacognitive, and analysed using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, respectively. The present research examines and integrates in a single study both constructs and methodologies. Data were collected through an open-ended task (Tynjäla, 1997) and an epistemological questionnaire (Schommer, 1990), administered to a sample of 1,200 secondary students. Three major statistically significant findings emerged. First, students’ conceptions of learning and epistemological beliefs changed from simplistic to more complex as they progressed through school. Second, the two constructs were linked to each other. The most advanced category on the ‘dimension of depth’ of learning conceptions corresponded to the highest scores at the complex pole of the belief system. Third, learning conceptions as well as epistemological beliefs were predictors of academic performance. The more capable students were of constructing meaning, the better their academic achievement appeared to be. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed with regard to further research, classroom instruction, and the value of combining both research methodologies in order to deepen our understanding of students’ learning experience.     

Discerning student thinking: a practical theoretical framework for recognising or informally assessing different ways of thinking

We expect our students to learn different ways of thinking, such as historical empathy or scientific reasoning, reflection, critical analysis, or clinical reasoning. But how do we discern if they have learned these ways of thinking when thinking is often abstract, tacit and seemingly invisible? In this conceptual and theoretical article, I argue that we can discern any kind of thinking, however we define it, if we focus on the observable actions or thinking behaviours associated with that thinking. Based on this argument, I then offer a theoretical framework for teachers so they might recognise and informally assess the particular kind of student thinking they want to cultivate. This framework synthesises several important theories about how we learn to think, and distinguishes six general features a teacher might look for to be more discerning about any kind of thinking: visibility, complexity, frequency, flexibility, independence, and application of the thinking behaviours.     

Teacher self-efficacy,instructional quality,and student motivational beliefs: An analysis using multilevel structural equation modeling

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is one of the most salient motivational characteristics that is assumed to affect teachers’ instructional quality and student motivational beliefs. However, discussions of these associations have primarily been often primarily conceptual and/or based on empirical research that has suffered from methodological shortcomings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationships between TSE, instructional quality (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, and supportive climate) and student motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation) by using responses from both teachers and students and implementing a sophisticated doubly latent multilevel structural equation modeling approach. A total of 94 high school teachers and their 2087 students participated in the study. The results demonstrated that, at the class level, TSE was positively related to the three dimensions of instructional quality but not to student motivational beliefs. As expected, instructional quality was positively related to student motivational beliefs.     

How student beliefs about knowledge and knowing influence their satisfaction with assessment and feedback

Students’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing frame how they interpret their educational experience and their approaches to, and perspectives on, learning, teaching and assessment. This paper draws on previous research identifying the ways of knowing of undergraduates on entry to a UK post-92 university, findings from which confirm the prevalence of absolute beliefs in which knowledge is viewed as certain, uncontested and students are largely authority-dependent. Student perspectives on assessment and feedback are explored based on thematic analysis of student responses within two main categories of beliefs, absolute/dualist versus contextual/pluralist. The paper teases out the implications of these perspectives for students’ satisfaction with their assessment and feedback experience in the context of today’s increasingly market-orientated higher education environment. Findings demonstrate that student perspectives on, and satisfaction with, assessment and feedback are strongly intertwined with their beliefs on knowledge and teaching. Students holding absolute/dualist beliefs considered ‘good’ assessment and feedback practice to entail clear and unambiguous assessment tasks, criteria and standards along with the receipt of unequivocal and corrective feedback. The paper concludes that faced with assessment tasks that move beyond established facts and demonstrable theories it may only be students who view knowledge as relative and mutable that will likely be satisfied with their assessment and feedback experience.     

Pedagogical content beliefs about reading instruction and their relation to gains in student achievement

Teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs about reading instruction are likely to predict progress in student achievement. Thus, in this study, 15 pre-service teachers gave reading promotion to low-performing sixth- and seventh-graders over a time period of 6 months. The pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs were then related to their students’ reading achievement gains. In contradiction to previous findings, the results demonstrate direct-transmissive beliefs to be positively related with student achievement. Finally, whether there is an influence of practical teaching experiences on the development of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content beliefs was examined. For that reason, the belief development during the 6-month period was compared between pre-service teachers with and without teaching experience. Results show teaching pre-service teachers’ beliefs to have developed away from constructivistic positions and toward a direct-transmissive direction. The beliefs of student teachers without teaching experience, on the contrary, tended to slightly develop in diametrically opposed directions. Implications of the results are discussed.     

例析"以社会热点问题为背景"的生物试题

1以“奥运会”为背景 【例1】2008年7月初,青岛奥帆赛海面被大量浒苔（一种绿藻）覆盖,形似草坪,一人躺在上面不会下沉,经多方努力被及时处理而保证奥运比赛的正常进行。去年5月的太湖“蓝藻事件”也曾引起全国关注。     

高职学生校园网贷安全问题的探析

校园网贷作为一种新兴的金融模式,具有其存在的合理性和积极性。作为校园网贷参与者,高职学生所暴露出的安全问题日益凸显。校园网贷公司负有不可推卸的责任,而高职学生自身法律意识淡薄和群体的特殊性亦是安全问题的主要成因。针对校园网贷出现的安全问题,以建立健全法律法规,加强网络治理、法律教育和优秀传统文化教育等途径预防高职学生校园网贷安全问题。     

An analysis of student characteristics within the student decision making process

ABSTRACT Young peoples' decision making when considering extending their education, obtaining training or deciding on their careers is a complex interactive process. Interests and choices can change due to the information available, which may also be modified by influential parties such as peers, teachers, careers officers, parents and other significant adults. They may also be affected by their own life experiences, either within or outside the class. By examining the selection of a university as a decision making process, much can be learnt which will provide recruitment personnel with a means of choosing more functional tools in achieving their enrolment goals. Many researchers (particularly from North America) have focused on higher education (HE) decision making itself and the information that adolescents require when arriving at their decisions, but there has been very little work performed within the UK. The aim of this article is to report research findings from a large-scale survey (n=674), incorporating a variety of further education institutions (sixth form departments, schools and colleges) within the north west of England, whose pupils were planning on entering HE within the next 12 months. The institutions (some of which were in affluent areas or deprived areas, some of which contained highly academic pupils whilst others did not, some of which were single-sex institutions) were selected using a convenience-based sampling method so that a variety of pupil characteristics were captured. The survey asked questions concerning the early period of who first stimulated the pupils to apply to university (problem recognition), how and when this occurred, through to the final decision of where to attend and why (evaluation of alternatives). Results showed that in the problem recognition phase, boys were more likely to be introduced to HE by their parents than were girls, and those pupils who made their minds up earlier to enter HE (more academic pupils) were less likely to rely upon teachers but more upon parents. In the information search phase, the prospectus was the most important source of information and the majority spent at least three months searching, although females took longer to gather their data than did males. With the evaluation of alternatives phase, course content was more important to females, whereas reputation was more important to males and the most critical factor in causing apprehension was that of grade expectations (particularly by the less academic pupils), with females being less confident than males in achieving the necessary entry qualifications. Another reason to cause one to change one's mind was the 'social atmosphere', as obtained on an open day visit. Also, females were more anxious about moving away from home than were males.     

The match matters: Examining student epistemic preferences in relation to epistemic beliefs about chemistry

Student epistemic preferences have been found to be important in student learning and achievement. The present study proposed a new conceptualization of student epistemic preferences in the epistemic match model, assessed the match between student epistemic beliefs about chemistry and their epistemic preferences, and, most importantly, examined how this epistemic match may be associated with chemistry course achievement. We adopted latent class analysis and found three distinct profiles of epistemic preferences based on the dimensions of simple and certain knowledge, attainable truth, and alternative knowledge claims. Students in Latent Class 3 (Moderate Preferences) demonstrated the closest match between chemistry epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences, and had more students who obtained higher grades and fewer students who had lower grades in an introductory chemistry course compared to the other two classes. Students in Latent Classes 1 (All Preferred) and 2 (Alternative-Claim Disliked), however, demonstrated certain degrees of epistemic mismatch between chemistry epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences, and had noticeably lower achievement in the chemistry course. The study findings highlight the importance of achieving a close match between epistemic beliefs and epistemic preferences for higher achievement in a subject domain.     

An investigation of student teachers' knowledge about their own learning

Twenty-nine student teachers from a large metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia were interviewed at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a year-long graduate diploma in education to investigate the nature of their knowledge about learning and changes in such knowledge over the year. At Time 1 and Time 2 most students thought learning should be meaningful and preferred to use transformative learning approaches. However, students indicated a willingness to engage in reproductive approaches to learning if the content to be learned was uninteresting, workloads were high, or assessment was examination-focussed. The results also indicated that while many students did not experience significant changes in their knowledge about learning over the year, they believed that transformative learning had become more of a focus for them. Investigating student teachers' knowledge about learning has implications for effective learning in teacher education programs.     

试析领导方式和领导方法的创新

进一步改进领导方式和领导方法，是当前加强党的建设，做好各项工作面临的一个重大课题。实现领导领导方式和方法的创新，领导观念的更新是前提，观察、处理事物的眼光转变是关键，求真务实是途径，与先进技术、管理手段融合是标志。     

浅谈构建新型学生评价机制

传统生物教学的学生评价现在成了新课改展开的绊脚石,因此,需要探索新型的学生评价机制,使新机制评价内容多元化,评价目标综合化,评价方式方法多样化。