“This one is more me!” What children think about writing test stimuli involving choice

This study follows from a previous study into children's attitudes to writing test stimulus features. In that study the views of 192 English eleven‐year‐olds were surveyed using a questionnaire. The survey found that the children were mainly influenced by features that they felt contributed to task difficulty. A qualitative study was designed in order to investigate children's views in more depth. Stimuli were constructed containing various features that children in the earlier study had suggested contributed to task difficulty. The children's ideas relating to the stimuli were elicited using a modified version of Kelly's repertory grid technique.     

“It's not as if we've been teaching them…” reflective thinking in the outdoor classroom

Research undertaken during a six week mountaineering expedition to Iceland in July 2003 set out to investigate approaches to facilitating the reflective process in 20 participants aged between 14 and 18. A number of models were examined to help determine the educational philosophy underpinning the expedition. The research methods involved documentary searches, observations and semistructured interviews. Findings suggest that the approach of expedition leaders accorded with the 'mountains speak for themselves' model as the leadersmade little or no attempt to encourage, facilitate or enable reflection on the part of participants. With few exceptions the participants did, however, engage in reflective thought both about the activities they had been involved in and the holistic benefits of the expedition. The findings suggest that whilst the facilitator/interventionist model and the Kolb cycle do little to explain the pedagogy within this expedition, there was evidence of much reflective learning from the participants.     

“Bumpy moments” in teaching: Reflections from practicing teachers

During the complex teaching act, there are moments that require teachers to engage in reflection to make critical decisions about how to respond to particular problems in practice. The present investigation provides a stimulus for capturing these reflections as four elementary practicing teachers are asked to describe their “bumpy moments” in teaching. Analysis of the 19 “bumpy moments” identified offers insights into the thoughts, knowledge, and beliefs that these teachers are considering during their practice. Results have implications for capturing reflection during teaching, ongoing practicing teacher professional development, and preservice teacher education.     

The “pinpointing effect” vs. the “diffusion effect” of peer influence

Classroom teachers are learning to employ the peer group to “shape up” dissidents. However, singling out a child may produce undesirable side effects such as emotional behavior, resentment, etc. Can the same result be obtained by rewarding the class for ignoring the target behavior of everyone in the room? Twelve subjects were selected from six middle school classes, two from each class. Each entire class was rewarded for increased ignoring of the target behavior (whispering): in the three P (pinpointed) classes, for ignoring the whispering of Designated (target) subjects; in the three D (diffusion) classes, for ignoring whispering by all class members. The results indicate that a peer group can decrease reinforcement of a disruptive behavior and thereby decelerate it in a singled-out child (Pinpointing Effect) or a behavior emitted by any child in class (Diffusion Effect) with equal effectiveness. However, patterns in the data suggest that peers ignored P-Designated subjects most, D subjects next most, and P-Undesignated subjects the least and that this pattern of ignoring was mirrored in the pattern of deceleration of the target behaviors in the three groups. These patterns suggest that the Pinpointing Effect may be stronger than the Diffusion Effect, but further study is needed.