Flowery math: a case for heterodiscoursia in mathematics problems solving in recognition of students’ authorial agency

In an innovative, progressive school, students were asked to solve a fairly routine mathematical problem using real money in a “real-world” scenario. Even though the school values students’ ideas, the reaction of the teacher to one student’s alternative modelling of the problem suggests that he was expecting a particular answer to be provided using routine mathematical models and thinking while not being interested in exploring the student’s unexpected alternative. We place his reasoning for doing so within broad pedagogical discourses that we think define the “allowable” responses of teachers and students in ways that inhibit meaning-making for both. These broad discourses are defined as the progressive constructivist approach, the scaffolding discursive approach, the situation modelling approach and the dialogic approach. We consider the advantages and the potential consequences each might bring to the case. We suggest that extensive consideration of pedagogical discourses in mathematics classes must be reconsidered both for how we understand students’ mathematical meaning-making and how we construct student agency in relationship to culture, whether as apprentices or authors.     

Does co-teaching improve academic achievement for students with disabilities? A meta-analysis

Co-teaching consists of general and special education teachers who team to instruct students with and without disabilities in the same classroom. Additionally, some students with disabilities (SWD) receive instruction in special education settings. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare academic achievement of SWD in co-taught classes to achievement of SWD in special education settings. A comprehensive search of published and gray literature yielded 26 eligible studies with a total of 3,714 SWD. Results indicate a moderate effect size (g = 0.47) for students in co-taught settings compared to students in special education settings. Although the findings support SWD's academic achievement in co-taught classes, more information is needed to identify what distinguishes characteristics of the SWD in co-taught versus special education settings, as well as instruction in each setting. Factors related to results are described, including the lack of information about instructional practices and equivalency of students assigned to co-taught or special education settings. Implications for future researchers are provided, along with cautions about widespread placement of SWD in either setting without monitoring that effective instructional practices are in place, and that students receive specially designed instruction as stipulated on their Individualized Education Programs.     

Teachers’ potential to promote students’ deeper learning in whole-class teaching: An observation study in Norwegian classrooms

Journal of Educational Change - Teachers worldwide are challenged to adjust their teaching to meet students’ needs for deeper learning. The lack of mutual understanding among researchers,...     

International doctoral students’ experience of supervision: a case study in a Chinese university

Internationalisation in higher education is now a worldwide phenomenon but there is little attention paid to internationalisation at doctoral level, although this phenomenon has grown exponentially in recent years. This study focuses on a university in China to examine how international doctoral students and their supervisors perceive supervision and the relations between supervisor and student. It describes and analyses the experiences of supervisors and students, and the concepts they used to articulate and reflect on them. Semi-formal interviews were conducted with six doctoral students and their supervisors. Analysis shows that, apart from formal supervision, informal enculturation through social and academic networks, the tongmen, plays an important role in supervision and in socialising the doctoral researchers into the community of practice. The study adds to the field a new case from a specific epistemological and intellectual tradition and challenges existing theories concerning methods and concepts of supervision.     

Motivations and influences in Chinese international doctoral students’ decision for STEM study abroad

Despite China’s recent remarkable performance in high-quality research, the number of students going abroad to pursue doctoral degrees in STEM fields has been rising rapidly. This study investigates the motivations of Chinese international doctoral students (CIDS) in STEM fields for undertaking a PhD abroad, and the external factors influencing this major life decision. Based on in-depth interviews with 35 CIDS from seven universities in four Australian states, the findings show that for the current generation, enriching life experiences and self-cultivation emerged as most prominent personal motivations. The choice to study abroad, though ultimately a personal decision, was influenced by a range of factors and particularly long-term cooperation between host and home institutions. Both academic and personal reputation of supervisors played important roles in the selection of host institutions. This study may be of value to supervisors and higher education policy-makers, at institutional and government levels in all countries, whether “home” or “host”, invested in sustainable international doctoral education.     

Reasoning strategies of students in solving chemistry problems as a function of developmental level,functional M‐capacity and disembedding ability

Achievement in science depends among other factors on hypothetico‐deductive reasoning ability, that is, developmental level of the students. Recent research indicates that the developmental level of students should be studied along with individual difference variables, such as Pascual‐Leone's M‐capacity (information processing) and Witkin's Cognitive Style (disembedding ability). The purpose of this study is to investigate reasoning strategies of students in solving chemistry problems as a function of developmental level, functional M‐capacity and disembedding ability. A sample of 109 freshman students were administered tests of formal operational reasoning, functional M‐capacity, disembedding ability and chemistry problems (limiting reagent, mole, gas laws). Results obtained show that students who scored higher on cognitive predictor variables not only have a better chance of solving chemistry problems, but also demonstrated greater understanding and used reasoning strategies indicative of explicit problem‐solving procedures based on the hypothetico‐deductive method, manipulation of essential information and sensitivity to misleading information. It was also observed that students who score higher on cognitive predictor variables tend to anticipate important aspects of the problem situation by constructing general figurative and operative models, leading to a greater understanding. Students scoring low on cognitive predictor variables tended to circumvent cognitively more demanding strategies and adopt others that helped them to overcome the constraints of formal reasoning, information processing and disembedding ability.     

Does pragmatism trump motivation in college students’ preferences for examination formats?

Proponents of performance assessments purport that they allow more options for student choice and autonomy and, therefore, are more motivating and more preferred by students. This study explored the role of stakes and the student’s familiarity with the format in these examination preferences. A survey of 148 college students suggested that: their familiarity with open-ended assessments led students to prefer them without reference to stakes; they tended to prefer closed assessments when the stakes are low but open formats when the stakes are high; and their goal orientation had no relationship with these decisions. In the end, students seemed to be rather pragmatic and protective of their grades regardless of their goal orientations, which is only natural. The students’ goal orientations appear, then, to be desiderata for both them and their instructors, but a graded environment stifles their full operation.     

Measuring graduate students’ global competence: Instrument development and an empirical study with a Chinese sample

In globalization, global competence (GC) is a crucial competence for graduate students to possess; thus, graduate education should prepare students with GC to compete globally. However, no instrument has been designed to measure graduate students' GC, and the theoretical structure of GC has not been empirically examined. To fill these gaps, first, we developed the Global Competence Scale for graduate students (GCSG) based on a three-dimensional theoretical framework (knowledge, skills, and attitudes). Second, we administered the GCSG to Chinese graduate students sampled from five universities in Beijing. Third, we examined the theoretical framework, and examined the reliability and validity of the scale. Finally, we described the Chinese graduate student sample’s GC by using the instrument. The results supported the theoretical model and provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the instrument. We also found that the sample showed higher ratings in knowledge and attitudes but lower ratings in communication skills.     

Training in Decision-making Strategies: An approach to enhance students’ competence to deal with socio-scientific issues

Dealing with socio-scientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics, such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured decision-making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster decision-making competence, a computer-based programme was developed that trains secondary school students (grades 11–13) in decision-making strategies. The main research question is: does training students to use these strategies foster decision-making competence? In addition, the influence of meta-decision aids was examined. Students conducted a task analysis to select an appropriate strategy prior to the decision-making process. Hence, the second research question is: does combining decision-making training with a task analysis enhance decision-making competence at a higher rate? To answer these questions, 386 students were tested in a pre-post-follow-up control-group design that included two training groups (decision-making strategies/decision-making strategies combined with a task analysis) and a control group (decision-making with additional ecological information instead of strategic training). An open-ended questionnaire was used to assess decision-making competence in situations related to sustainable development. The decision-making training led to a significant improvement in the post-test and the follow-up, which was administered three months after the training. Long-term effects on the quality of the students' decisions were evident for both training groups. Gains in competence when reflecting upon the decision-making processes of others were found, to a lesser extent, in the training group that received the additional meta-decision training. In conclusion, training in decision-making strategies is a promising approach to deal with socio-scientific issues related to sustainable development.     

A place for arguing in engineering education: a study on students’ assessments

This paper focuses on the issue of how engineering programmes demand and/or promote argumentative reasoning, which is a subsequent aspect of curricular development. This was the main objective of the project on which this paper reports. This is to say that the focus is on assessment as a way to establish to what extent argumentative reasoning is demanded and mobilised in teaching and learning processes. This aim was achieved using a sample of assignments developed in courses in different Bologna undergraduate programmes at the Engineering School at the University of Porto, during the first semester of the academic year 2009/2010. Whereas problem solving in engineering constitutes a structural element in the curricular organisation of the engineering programmes and is strongly related to argumentative skills, it was possible to conclude that students demonstrate and explain extensively, but do not argue, possibly because their teachers do not invite them to do so in assessment situations.     

What predicts international higher education students’ satisfaction with their study in Ireland?

The internationalisation of higher education – a facet of broader processes of globalisation – has resulted in increased study-related travel, and the development of policies to attract international students. Nevertheless, in the context of a strong drive to recruit international students, little is known about how they are faring during their study abroad. This article addresses the gap in research, analysing the experiences of international students studying in Irish higher education institutions, drawing on nationally representative data from the Eurostudent IV study. The findings show that students’ satisfaction with study while abroad is shaped by a number of different factors including, first and foremost, their satisfaction with their education institution and subjective rating of their health.     

Effects of a concept mapping-based problem-posing approach on students’ learning achievements and critical thinking tendency: An application in Classical Chinese learning contexts

In language courses, it is important to foster students’ systematic thinking and to develop their competence to express, appreciate, criticize and reflect, in particular in such courses as classical Chinese, which aim to develop students’ cultural and literature knowledge. Problem posing is a promising strategy to achieve this objective. However, without sufficient supports, students could feel frustrated since problem posing is a challenging task, in particular for young students. In this study, a fill-in concept mapping-based problem-posing approach was proposed to address this problem. A learning system was developed based on the proposed approach and a quasi-experiment was conducted on an eighth-grade classical Chinese course to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that the concept mapping-based problem-posing approach improved the students’ learning achievement, critical thinking tendency and problem-posing quality. The interview results further show that the students perceived the approach as being effective from the perspectives of “Improving article comprehension,” “Improving problem-posing performances,” and “Boosting diverse thinking.”     

Using Bourdieu in practice? Urban secondary teachers’ and students’ experiences of a Bourdieusian-inspired pedagogical approach

This article discusses an attempt at a Bourdieusian-inspired form of praxis, developed and implemented in collaboration with nine London teachers, aimed at developing a socially just approach to engaging students with science. Data are discussed from nine months of classroom observations of nine secondary science classes from six inner London schools (approximately 200 students, aged 11–15), interviews and workshop data from the nine teachers and 13 discussion groups conducted with 59 students. The approach resulted in noticeable changes in practice, which were perceived by teachers and students to improve student engagement, cultivate a range of science-related dispositions and promote wider student participation and ‘voice’ in classes. Issues, limitations and possibilities for sociology of education are discussed.     

Factors associated with students’ attitude change in online peer assessment – a mixed methods study in a graduate-level course

Abstract

Positive student attitude towards peer assessment can be demonstrated through high-quality peer assessment activities. Research findings on students’ attitudes before and after such activities were mixed. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach to investigate the underlying factors influencing students’ attitude change. Participants were students enrolled in an online graduate-level assessment course in the college of education in a university in the southeast United States in the fall of 2017 (N?=?31). Surveys and interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data separately, both of which indicated that perceived accurate and specific feedback tended to help students shift to more positive attitudes towards online peer assessment. In addition, final task score improvement after the activity was correlated with positive attitude change. Qualitative results also identified other factors, such as communication with the peers’ work and logistic concerns. The current study offers insights for researchers and instructors to promote positive attitude changes in online peer assessment activities.     

Becoming a teacher in a gambling city: a case study of two pre-service teachers’ motivation for teaching in Macau

The present case study investigates the teaching motivation of two pre-service teachers studying in teacher education programs in a Macau university. The findings indicated that while Macau is a gambling center and abundant job opportunities are provided by casinos, both participants were highly motivated to improve the teaching and learning situation in Macau and bring positive changes to the Macau educational context. The findings also demonstrated the facilitative role of teachers and teacher educators in the formation of the motivation of student teachers. The study concludes with implications for enhancing the motivation of pre-service teachers, and the role of teacher education programs in Macau and other similar contexts.     

Does private tutoring improve students’ National College Entrance Exam performance?—A case study from Jinan,China

With the increasing attention on improving student achievement, private tutoring has been expanding rapidly worldwide. However, the evidence on the effect of private tutoring is inconclusive for education researchers and policy makers. Employing a comprehensive dataset collected from China in 2010, this study tries to identify the effect of private tutoring on student achievement in the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) of China. This study finds that private tutoring has mixed and heterogeneous effects on mathematics, Chinese language, and English language respectively and on the NCEE total score. The average effect of private tutoring is not significant, but it may have a significant and positive effect on urban students with lower achievement or in schools with certain quality. Students from schools with more educational inputs are more likely to benefit from private tutoring.     

Does interest have an expiration date? An analysis of students’ questions as resources for context-based learning

ABSTRACT

Context-based approaches can bridge the gap between abstract, difficult science concepts and the world students live in. However, the relevance of specific contexts to different groups of learners, and its stability over time, have not been extensively explored. This study used four datasets, collected in different formal and informal settings, to examine which types of contexts could capture the interest of many students and remain so for many years. In the formal setting, responses to closed-ended questionnaires in which 4–12th graders indicated their interest in studying the answers to science questions were compared. Over 700 questionnaires collected in 2007 were compared to over 1600 questionnaires collected in 2016. To document the stability of children’s interest in informal science learning settings we compared over 1600 science questions sent to a TV science show in 2004 with over 7000 science questions submitted to a commercial exhibition in 2014. Although there were some differences across ages, students’ interest in science remained relatively stable over the 10 years. In the formal setting, this similarity was reflected in the significant linear relationship between the two databases (r?=?0.917) with regard to the questions students found interesting. In the informal setting, there was a striking similarity in the proportions of spontaneous questions in biology, astrophysics, Earth Science and chemistry. Based on the findings of this study and the literature we recommended, frequently asked questions are a valuable resource for context-based teaching which can serve to identify contexts that enhance the relevance of science in students’ lives.     

Changes in teachers’ beliefs after a professional development project for teaching writing: two Chinese cases

A plethora of research has found that teachers’ beliefs directly influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. While numerous studies in second/foreign language writing have examined the effectiveness of different innovative approaches on students’ learning to write, there is a paucity of research on writing teachers’ beliefs about these approaches and how their beliefs change in the process of their professional development. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in English as a Foreign Language contexts, especially in China, where there are numerous calls for changing the nature of classroom practices from product-focused to process- and student-centred instruction. In order to fill this gap, this brief article reports on a case study regarding changes in two Chinese English teachers’ beliefs after attending a professional development project for teaching writing. A key research question guides this study: What changes, if any, did the two teachers experience in their teaching beliefs during the project? Two writing teachers were voluntarily recruited for a case study. Findings show that the professional development project for teaching writing broadened the teachers’ understanding of different writing theories, provided a clear model of how to integrate these new approaches into regular writing courses, changed their instructional focus and shifted their perception of teachers’ roles in teaching practice.     

Improving primary students’ collaborative problem solving competency in project-based science learning with productive failure instructional design in a seamless learning environment

The paper reports on an empirical study adopting a mixed research method, aiming at improving primary students’ collaborative problem solving competency in project-based learning with productive failure (PF) instructional design in a seamless learning environment. Two Grade Six classes participated in a project-based learning of “Plant Adaptations”. In Class 1 with 27 students, the project-based learning was conducted with PF instructional design; in Class 2 with 26 students, the project-based learning was conducted without PF instructional design. The learning activities spanned across farm, class, home and online spaces supported by mobile devices. Data collection includes various students’ created artifacts in groups in the inquiry process, student reflections, student focus group interviews and pre- and post-domain tests. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed. The research findings show that compared to Class 2, the students in Class 1 gained deeper understanding of conceptual knowledge and produced better group artifacts in collaborative problem-solving quality than those in Class 2; and the students in Class 1 were more positive in facing the challenges in their project-based learning process, and developed a sense of ownership of their learning. The findings imply that PF instructional design is conducive to developing primary students’ collaborative solving competency in science learning in a seamless learning environment.     

Science teachers’ mission impossible?: a qualitative study of obstacles in assessing students’ practical abilities

Science teachers regard practical work as important and many claim that it helps students to learn science. Besides theoretical knowledge, such as concepts and formulas, practical work is considered to be an integral and basic part of science education. As practical work is perceived and understood in different ways, comparing the results between classes and schools is difficult. One way of making the results comparable is to develop systematic inquiries to be assessed in national large-scale tests. However, introducing similar testing conditions in a laboratory environment is not always possible. Although the instructions and assessment guides for such tests are detailed, many obstacles need to be overcome if equality in the overall test situation is to be achieved. This empirical case study investigates two secondary school science teachers’ assessments of 15–16 years old students in three separate groups in the practical part of a Swedish national test in chemistry. Data are gathered using two video cameras and three pairs of spy camera glasses. The results show that individual and independent assessments are difficult due to the social interactions that take place and the physical sources of errors that occur in this type of setting.