Acquisition of Chinese characters: the effects of character properties and individual differences among learners

Drawing upon research on the visual complexity effect and Dual Coding Theory, this study investigated a) the effects of character properties on, and b) the contribution of individual learner differences to Chinese character acquisition. Participants included 325 Chinese-speaking children in grades 1 through 3 in China. Using a novel character acquisition task, the study extended the scope of previous research by investigating the process of acquiring the meaning of new characters. Results showed that for all three grade-groups, a) characters with radicals and with less visual complexity were easier to acquire than characters without radicals and with greater visual complexity; and b) the effect of radical presence was more pronounced with characters with greater visual complexity. Visual analogical skill made a significant contribution to the acquisition of characters varying in properties, regardless of age. The contribution of radical awareness, however, varied with character properties and age.     

Perceived seriousness of pupils' undesirable behaviours: the student teachers' perspective

The effective management of pupils' undesirable behaviours in the classroom represents a major challenge for teachers. In order to better comprehend the difficulties facing them it is important to examine how they perceive pupil behaviours at different stages of their professional development. The present study examined the effects of teaching experience and pupil and teacher gender on student teachers' perceptions of the seriousness of various forms of undesirable behaviours. A structured questionnaire was completed by 243 student teachers, regarding the perceived seriousness of 25 behaviours in boys and girls. Results indicated that both teaching experience and pupil gender were important moderators of their perceptions. For instance, novice student teachers rated overtly antisocial behaviours as serious, whereas their experienced counterparts gave higher ratings of seriousness to internalising forms of behaviour. A degree of gender stereotyping was also apparent in the perceptions of mainly novice teachers. The accumulation of teaching experience may help direct teacher attention to more subtle aspects of pupil behaviour difficulties and may reduce gender stereotyping.     

Developing effective teacher beliefs about learners: the role of sensitizing teachers to individual learning differences

Effective teacher beliefs about students are an integral part of effective teaching. Teachers with interventionist beliefs about students (‘I can intervene to help a learner with difficulties’) show more effective practice than teachers with pathognomonic beliefs (‘I blame the learner for his difficulties’). A professional development (PD) course sensitized teachers (N = 234) to individual learning differences (ILDs), using five learning/cognitive styles tools. Teachers’ responses to a pre‐/post‐test question concerning their beliefs about ‘weak students’ were analyzed and correlated with their ILD scores. Before the PD, teachers with strong ILD preferences matched to traditional learning contexts were significantly more ‘at risk’ (i.e., had fewer interventionist beliefs) than the other teachers; the former teachers were significantly overrepresented in the sample. After the PD, teachers’ interventionist beliefs significantly increased, regardless of their ILD preferences. Neither the length of the PD (28 hrs. vs. 56 hrs.) nor the amount of teaching experience affected the teachers’ interventionist beliefs about students. A mediated, constructivist and collaborative PD, which sensitizes teachers to individual learning differences, can increase effective teacher beliefs about students. We conclude that developing more effective teacher beliefs about learners should become a component of teacher professional development.     

The problem of student attrition in higher education: An alternative perspective

Student attrition continues to be a significant and costly challenge for higher education institutions across the globe. In Australia, universities cite the importance of addressing student attrition through strategic statements and policy documents, and expend time and resources on the problem. Despite vast expenditures, they have made little impact on student attrition, which continues to negatively impact reputation and revenue. Using a regional Australian university as a case study, this paper analyses a student exit survey to identify the complex and inter-related array of factors that contribute to student attrition. It was found that attrition would be better conceptualised as a wicked problem, which is one that cannot be strategically addressed using traditional approaches to problem-solving. The practical implications of these findings reinforce that current approaches to attrition are likely to fail. Therefore, the wicked nature of the attrition problem needs to be taken into account when developing strategies or policies within higher education.     

The problem with English: the exploration and development of student teachers' English subject knowledge in primary classrooms

This paper explores the relationship between student teachers' behaviour and their underlying thoughts and beliefs as they learn to teach English in the primary school. It draws on data from a study involving student teachers at a range of points in their Initial Teacher Education programmes at a university in England. It uses these data to explore the knowledge frameworks that appear to underpin the actions that participants take in the classroom as they teach primary English. This is related to an exploration of the values, beliefs and professional identity held by the student teachers, and conclusions are drawn concerning key factors to be considered in the construction of Initial Teacher Education programmes.     

The effect of portfolios on students' learning: student teachers' views

This study reports on student teachers' views of portfolios as a learning tool when they are combined with a weekly test conducted at the end of each lesson to help student teachers self‐evaluate. Student teachers' written reflections during the process provided data for the study. Analysis of the data showed that a majority of student teachers initially felt that compiling a portfolio would be time‐consuming and an extra burden added to their already busy schedule. However, later on they all found that the process was a useful learning experience. Moreover, the portfolio process – especially combining self‐reflection with weekly tests – encouraged students to study regularly, increased retention and made learning more enjoyable. Suggestions for the successful portfolio implementation include the following: guiding students both at the beginning of and during the process, providing continuous and prompt feedback during the process and making self‐reflection – especially guided by reflection prompts – an essential part of the process.     

From reading strategy instruction to student reading achievement: The mediating role of student motivational factors

This study investigated the associations among reading strategy instruction, student motivational factors (i.e., attitudes toward reading, reading self‐concept, and motivation to read), gender, and reading achievement. The analyses were conducted using the Hong Kong sample (students at Level 1, n = 3,875 and teachers at Level 2, n = 133) from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2011 through multilevel structural equation modeling. The results showed that, first, the relation between the frequency of reading strategy instruction and student reading achievement was mediated by student attitudes toward reading. Second, the frequency of reading strategy instruction was significantly related to student attitudes toward reading and motivation to read and student attitudes toward reading was significantly associated with reading achievement. Finally, girls had more positive attitudes toward reading, more positive reading self‐concept, higher motivation to read, and higher reading achievement than boys. These findings may shed light on how teachers should arrange their reading strategy instruction to interplay with student attitudes toward reading and motivation to read and to help improve reading achievement.     

University teachers' thinking about lecturing: student evaluation of lecturing as an improvement perspective for the lecturer

Student evaluation of instruction (SEI) is a common practice in higher education. Despite a great deal of progress that has been made during the last two decades of SEI-research, some questions remain unanswered. One of the unsolved problems concerns theutility of SEI, i.e., its efficacy for improving instruction. Apparently there is a need for understanding ‘how university teachershandle SEI-feedback.’ In that perspective cognitive and motivational psychology stress the importance of the so-calledsubjective theory of a teacher about his lecturing. This empirical study was focused on teachers' conceptualisation of lecturing, as related to student ratings. For representing a teacher's subjective theory and his interpretation of SEI-feedback, theHiclas-algorithm of De Boeck and Rosenberg (1988) was used, corresponding to theirHierarchical Classes Model. Results indicate that the lecturer's interpretation of student ratings and his/her ‘thinking about lecturing’ are crucial elements for an effective use of SEI as an improvement strategy. It gives one explanation why student evaluation of university teaching does (or does not) change teaching behaviour. The author is indebted to Prof. Piet J. Janssen and Prof. Joost Lowyck for their assistance in this research.     

The experience of learning to teach: Changing student teachers' ways of understanding teaching

I examine how physical education teachers respond to homophobic name‐calling, as revealed in life history interviews with ‘lesbian’, ‘gay’, and ‘heterosexual’ teachers in Canada and the USA. Censoring homophobic name‐calling in schools is discussed as an important, but insufficient, response. Several ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ teachers responded with pedagogies of injury; that is, they recalled their personal experiences of homophobic language to teach students not to use words such as ‘fag’, ‘dyke’, and ‘queer’. I examine why some teachers were prepared to risk further personal injury in order to prevent injury to other students. In addition to rational and conscious explanations, I speculate that an unconscious masochistic imperative may also animate this approach to anti‐homophobic education. Ultimately, I ask what is demanded from teachers if this type of anti‐homophobic teaching is animated by what has been called an attachment to subjection.     

The impact of cognitive strategy instruction on deaf learners: an international comparative study

Teacher cohorts in England and China received special training in techniques for teaching higher-level critical and creative cognitive strategies to deaf learners. Both cohorts implemented the strategies in the classroom at least twice weekly for 6 months. Measures included Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (1959), a systematic observation checklist for cognitive behaviors (Martin & Craft, 1998), and critical and creative problem situations to which students had to respond. Results were compared with those from a study of similar learners in the United States (Martin & Jonas, 1985), and little difference was found. Students in all three countries improved in reasoning, devising real-world problem solutions involving critical thinking (but not creative thinking), using cognitive vocabulary in the classroom, and expressing others' viewpoints. Postintervention focus groups showed teachers in China used a more invariant sequence in teaching the cognitive strategies, but teachers in all three countries experienced similar expansion in cognitive terminology and self-perceptions as teachers of problem solving.     

Translating expertise into effective instruction: The impacts of cognitive task analysis (CTA) on lab report quality and student retention in the biological sciences

Poor instruction has been cited as a primary cause of attrition from STEM majors and a major obstacle to learning for those who stay [Seymour and Hewitt [1997]. Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences. Boulder, CO: Westview]. Using a double‐blind design, this study tests the hypothesis that the lack of explicit instructions in scientific inquiry skills is a major factor in both low STEM retention and academic underperformance. This project delivered supplemental instruction to students in a laboratory‐based undergraduate biology course (n = 314) that was derived either from cognitive task analyses (CTAs) conducted with expert biologists (treatment) or was authored and delivered by an award‐winning biology instructor (control). Students receiving traditional instruction were almost six times more likely to withdraw from the course than students in the treatment condition (8.1% vs. 1.4% of initial enrollment). Of the students who completed the course, those who received the CTA‐based instruction demonstrated significantly higher levels of performance in the discussion section of their written laboratory reports. Significantly higher performances were seen specifically in the areas of analyzing data to formulate valid conclusions, considering alternative explanations, consideration for the limitations of the experimental design and implications of the research. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1165–1185, 2010     

当代中学生人际交往的表现、特点以及归因分析

文章以调查问卷为基础,分析当代中学生人际交往的表现及其特点,并对之进行文化、心理及教育归因,为正确对待青少年的人际交往及其在学生成长过程中的影响提供了理论上的可能性和实践中的必要性。     

当代中学生人际交往的表现、特点以及归因分析

文章以调查问卷为基础,分析当代中学生人际交往的表现及其特点,并对之进行文化、心理及教育归因,为正确对待青少年的人际交往及其在学生成长过程中的影响提供了理论上的可能性和实践中的必要性.     

Improving the quality of student ratings of instruction: A look at two strategies

The effects of rating scale format (behaviorally anchored vs. Likert) and rater training on leniency and halo in student ratings of instruction were investigated. The subjects (N=269) were students enrolled in required courses at a graduate theological seminary in the Southwest United States. A repeated measures design controlling for teacher and course was used. Findings indicated: (a) training was effective in reducing leniency and halo in ratings from both instruments; (b) trained raters exhibited less leniency on two rating dimensions when using behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS's) than when using the Likert scale; and (c) trained raters exhibited less halo when using the Likert than when using the BARS. The findings demonstrate the importance of focusing efforts to improve quality of ratings on the students rather than on the format of the instrument.Presented at the Twenty-Eighth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Phoenix, Ariz., May 1988.     

Traversing the Chasm from School to University in South Africa: A student perspective

Tertiary Education and Management - Under-preparedness of students entering university has become increasingly challenging as South African universities struggle to ensure student success where...     

Reconceptualizing student ratings of teaching to support quality discourse on student learning: a systems perspective

Higher Education - This paper summarizes the discourse on student ratings of teaching in higher education. It reconceptualizes student ratings within a larger process of promoting quality in...     

Role reversal within the mentoring dyad: collaborative mentoring on the effective instruction of English language learners

Two purposes guided this mixed‐methods investigation of the collaborative mentoring of teachers in a large school system in the south‐eastern United States. The first was to examine collaborative mentoring as unstructured peer‐to‐peer coaching that emerged spontaneously as teachers shared experiences about effectively teaching English language learners (ELLs). The second was to examine how licensure courses contributed to the emergence of collaborative mentoring. Data collection consisted of questionnaires, mentoring stories, phone interviews, and electronic surveys. After completing courses, 84 teachers reported significant increases in frequency and duration of interactions for sharing best practices with colleagues. The data analysts identified course components, causal links, and catalysts as having created conditions for mentoring. Of 33 novice teachers recently trained in teaching ELLs, most found themselves mentoring veteran teachers yet untrained in teaching this student group. This unexpected reversal of the traditional novice/veteran roles within mentoring dyads addresses a gap in the educational literature.