Engaging Pre-Service Teachers in Read Alouds

ABSTRACT

Today, reading aloud is considered ‘a significant component of instruction across grade levels’; particularly as a tool for teaching reading in elementary classrooms. It is basically an essential literacy practice for all student teachers to understand how to implement. In this study, authors understand the importance of modelling effective read-aloud practices and they demonstrate how they support engagement in reading and writing instruction with undergraduate students. Student teachers responded to the read alouds using reflective essays, and tables. Themes emerged that indicated that the use of read alouds in the undergraduate classrooms enhanced their understanding of identity, pedagogy, and empathy.     

职前小学科学教师科学探究能力的培养

通过对我国小学职前科学教师对科学探究的理解存在问题的分析,提出了形成教师教育共同体,构建新型的课程体系,反思探究活动以及评价体系的建立等方法,旨在为未来我国职前小学科学教师的培养带来一点启示.     

Misconceptions of Turkish Pre-Service Teachers about Force and Motion

The purpose of this study was to diagnose the misconceptions held by pre-service physics teachers about force and motion. The secondary aim of the study was to detect whether misconceptions vary according to gender, educational level, and culture. The study was conducted with 79 student-teachers attending to one of the largest faculties of education in Turkey. Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was used to diagnose student-teachers’ misconceptions. FCI is a conceptual test consisting of 29 multiple choice items. Each wrong choice for each question reflects a specific misconception about the force and motion concepts. Data from the study was analyzed by using frequencies, t-test, and ANOVA for making comparisons according to gender and years of education. Results of the study showed that student-teachers of physics hold very strong misconceptions about impetus and active force. No significant differences were found between male and female students’ scores on the concept test. The results also showed that misconceptions about force and motion decreased through the years of education. However, they did not disappear completely. Findings of the study are very similar to the other research findings conducted on the subject in other countries. Student-teachers’ conceptions about Newton’s Third Law, on the other hand, were significantly better than those observed in other research done in other countries such as the US and Finland.     

Number Sense Strategies Used by Pre-Service Teachers in Taiwan

This study examined number sense strategies and misconceptions of 280 Taiwanese pre-service elementary teachers who responded to a series of real-life problems. About one-fifth of the pre-service teachers applied number sense-based strategies (such as using benchmarks appropriately or recognizing the number magnitude) while a majority of pre-service teachers relied on rule-based methods. This finding is consistent with earlier studies in Taiwan that fifth, sixth, and eighth grade students tended to rely heavily on written methods rather than using number sense-based strategies. This study documents that the performance of pre-service elementary teachers on number sense is low. If we want to improve elementary students’ knowledge and use of number sense, then action should be taken to improve the level of their future teachers’ number sense.     

职前科学教师TPACK的自我效能感研究

应用国外成熟量表工具对307位职前科学教师进行调查,探索其TPACK自我效能感,研究发现:研究对象无论是在性别维度,还是在院校层次维度,抑或是在学历层次维度,TPACK自我效能感大多没有显著性差异,但各个维度分量表和总体得分都不高。在研究基础上建议"拓宽视野,促使职前科学教师全面、科学地认识技术变革;增加技术支持教学的实践机会;引导职前科学教师在研究中发现技术发挥的作用;促进同伴互助,提升TPACK自我效能感"。     

Characteristics and Difficulties of Teachers Who Mentor Environmental Inquiry Projects

The paper describes characteristics and analyses difficulties of environmental sciences teachers in mentoring their students in an extended inquiry project, which is a mandatory requirement of the environmental sciences matriculation in Israel. The teachers participated in a professional development program that provided both content knowledge and support for conducting inquiry, and enabled the teachers to guide the students in the inquiry project. Teachers who had experience in inquiry identified more skills required for mentoring students' inquiry, and provided a non-directive guidance pattern, whereas inexperienced teachers acknowledged less skills, and tended to present a directive-authoritative approach. Insufficient content and pedagogical content knowledge affected the teachers who closely controlled their students' work.     

A Study Of Mathematics Anxiety in Pre-Service Teachers

The study investigated the changes in levels of mathematics anxiety among pre-service teachers in six different sections of a mathematics method courses for early childhood/elementary education pre-service teachers. The changes were a function of using Bruner’s framework of developing conceptual knowledge before procedural knowledge and using manipulatives and other activities to make mathematics concepts more concrete and meaningful. Data were collected using quantitative and qualitative measures. Two hundred forty-six pre-service teachers completed a 98-item Likert-type survey. Informal discussions, informal interviews, and questionnaire-guided narrative interviews were conducted with pre-service teachers. Data revealed a statistically significant reduction in mathematics anxiety in pre-service teachers (p < .001) who completed a mathematics methods course that emphasized Bruner’s model of concept development. Results of the study have implications for teacher education programs concerning how future teachers are trained, the measurement of mathematics anxiety levels among pre-service teachers, and the determination of specific contexts in which mathematics anxiety can be interpreted and reduced.     

基于教学隐喻的职前国际汉语教师转化性学习初探

职前国际汉语教师的教学信念在经过一个学期的课程学习之后,绝大部分都有了转变,转变的结果呈现出人本主义倾向,转变的过程蕴涵了丰富的情感。教学隐喻视角的研究对职前国际汉语教师培养的启示在于:隐喻是促进职前国际汉语教师批判性反思的有效途径;要充分重视并有效利用职前国际汉语教师的先前经验;在职前国际汉语教师的培养中要探究有深度的学习内容和方式。     

Teacher education students using TPACK in science: a case study

Teacher education is in the grip of change. Due to the new Australian Curriculum, no longer is it possible to plan and implement lessons without considering the inclusion of Information and Communication Technologies. Simply knowing about the latest technology gadgets is not enough. Information literacy is essential in today’s information-rich learning and working environment. Students and teachers must be able to engage with diverse learning technologies efficiently and effectively in the search for the “right information” at the “right time” for the “right purpose”. Key information literacy and inquiry skills have been recognised as vital learning goals by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority and the International Society for Technology in Education and are thus critical in science teacher education. This paper examines the overlap of technology, pedagogy and science content in the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and its affordances for science educators, at the intersection between technology knowledge, science pedagogy (information literacy and inquiry) and science content knowledge. Following an introduction of the TPACK framework for science education, the paper reports the research findings, which illustrate that 90% of pre-service teachers thought the experimental unit improved their understanding of the inquiry process, 88% reported more confidence in their understanding of science concepts and 94% of students reported an increase in their knowledge and confidence of Web 2.0 tools in supporting scientific inquiry in science. The implications of this study are that the online inquiry improved students’ knowledge and confidence in the skills and processes associated with inquiry and in science concepts.     

关于研究性学习中的教师评价

研究性学习对学生的学习和教师的教学都提出了新的要求和挑战。研究性学习背景下的教师评价不能简单沿袭传统的教师评价机制，必须发展适合研究性学习特点的新的教师评价体系：即应以发展性、形成性、专家型评价为主，定性与定量相结合，多角度全方位的给予评价。在评价中，应处理好评价与管理、定性评价与定量评价、评价过程与评价结果、他人评价与自我评价的关系。     

The Parallels Between Philosophical Inquiry and Scientific Inquiry: Implications for science education

The ‘community of inquiry’ as formulated by C. S. Peirce is grounded in the notion of communities of discipline‐based inquiry engaged in the construction of knowledge. The phrase ‘transforming the classroom into a community of inquiry’ is commonly understood as a pedagogical activity with a philosophical focus to guide classroom discussion. But it has a broader application. Integral to the method of the community of inquiry is the ability of the classroom teacher to actively engage in the theories and practices of discipline‐based communities of inquiry so as to become informed by the norms of the disciplines, not only to aspire to competence within the disciplines, but also to develop habits of self‐correction for reconstructing those same norms when faced with novel problems and solutions, including those in the classroom. This has implications for science education and the role of educational philosophy in developing students' ability to think scientifically. But it also has broader implications for thinking critically within all key learning areas. Here we concentrate on science education. We present the parallels between philosophical inquiry and scientific inquiry that need to be realised to promote and engage with scientific inquiry in the classroom. We also discuss the conflicts between philosophical inquiry and the way inquiry science in the classroom is portrayed in the education literature. Based on philosophical and historical perceptions of science as inquiry, a practical approach to implementation of scientific inquiry in the science classroom is presented.     

Developing Self-Efficacy in Teaching Mathematics: Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Role of Subject Knowledge

ABSTRACT

Two major concerns in mathematics teacher education are the role of subject matter knowledge and the development of self-efficacy in pre-service teachers. This article brings these issues together in an exploration of the interaction between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their subject matter knowledge and their accounts of university and placement experiences as potential sources of self-efficacy. Reporting on a group of ten pre-service teachers in Norway, we explore variations in the ways in which they perceived the role of subject knowledge in relation to experience, particularly “mastery experiences”, over a period of nearly two years. We suggest that recognition of the role of “understanding why” in mathematics is crucial in the experience of mastery, and that there is a need to focus more on the role of subject matter knowledge in all sources of self-efficacy in teaching mathematics.     

大连市区小学教师需要状况的调查与思考

需要是一种重要的个性特征，需要的满足是否直接影响教师的工作积极性。本研究采用问卷调查和个别访谈相结合的方法，其目的是对小学教师的需要状况进行调查，为学校的有效管理提供理论依据。研究结果表明：小学教师有15种基本需要，这15种基本需要是有强度差异的；小学教师的需要有其独特的职业特点；随着时代的发展，小学教师的需要又具有鲜明的时代特征；小学教师的需要受性别、年龄、学校类型等因素的影响，表现出明显的个性差异。     

新课程背景下科学探究教学活动解读——两位理科教师实施科学探究教学质性研究报告

本文用质性方法对两位理科教师实施科学探究教学活动进行了分析。     

AHA Moments of Science and Mathematics Pre-service Teachers

This research study explored pre-service teachers' (PST) reflections of their student teaching experiences through AHA moments. Participants included 37 pre-service teachers enrolled in mathematics and science student teaching seminars. Qualitative methods were used to analyze PSTs' written and verbal responses to questions regarding AHA experiences. Four themes emerged related to PSTs' AHA moments: a greater awareness of PSTs' identity as teachers, the importance of knowing their students, the realization of inconsistencies in their own and their students' beliefs, and the importance of anticipating students' misconceptions. The potential for using an AHA moment assignment, as presented here, appears to support reflection among PSTs; however, it is not clear these PSTs used judgments and analysis, both integral elements of the reflective process.     

The Development of Teacher Knowledge in Support of Student Mathematical Inquiry

Abstract

Applying the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching framework, we discuss the components of teacher knowledge that might be useful in supporting mathematical inquiry, and examine ways in which we strive to develop this knowledge within a middle grades mathematics program for undergraduate students who are prospective teachers. Using sample activities from multiple courses in the program, we offer general principles of instruction for supporting mathematical inquiry at all grade levels. We contend that an awareness and application of the multiple facets of mathematical knowledge for teaching can be critical to supporting mathematical inquiry across the K-16 spectrum.     

英国中学理科师资职前培养课程述评

英国中学理科师资的职前培养属于“3 1”模式。其职前培养课程包括公共课程、学科课程、中学见习／实习3大部分。从约克大学的中学理科师资职前培养课程的结构和内容可以看出。英国中学理科师资的职前培养具有重视理论与实践的结合；注重学生反思能力的培养；重视学生从教基本技能的培养与训练；注重学生的主体作用。重视学生教育教学研究能力的培养等特点。     

新课程背景下未来语文教师行为方式的转变

教师教学方式和学生学习方式的互为转变,是语文新课程改革的主要特征。语文新课程为未来语文教师的岗前培训提供了重要的理论基础,使高校课堂“讲座式”或“一言堂”文化模式被颠覆改变。让每一位大学生都有登台演讲、展示能力的机会成为教学共识。在语文新课程引领下,未来语文教师经历超越常规的新手变熟手过程：即课程与教学认知、解读、规范、反思反馈及对教学对象非智力活动和智力活动的有效开发。新课程的语文教学实践使大学生精神风貌全面改观,使之尽快成为中学生的良师益友和基础教育语文课程与教学改革的新生力军。     

在线实践社区中职前教师实践性知识的生成和发展

本研究试图为信息化环境下的职前教师培养探索一种新的思路和方法。研究过程中选取了20名职前教师进行实验,使用了教学评价、定量统计和访谈等研究方法,对研究过程中职前教师参与在线实践社区的情况,教学实习过程之初、之中和后期的实践性知识水平进行了跟踪、调查、评价和统计分析。研究发现,在选取的研究对象范围内,参与在线实践社区有利于职前教师实践性知识的生成和发展,而且初始的实践性知识基础能较好地预见其后续的发展。