Teacher characteristics and pupil outcomes in secondary science classrooms

Conclusion The present research employed data collected in two separate studies related to ASEP to investigate relationships of changes in seven pupils learning outcomes with four teacher characteristics and four instruction-teacher interactions. A significant relationship (p<.05) emerged between changes in a learning outcome and a teacher characteristic in the following three cases: changes in critical thinking in science were more favourable in classes with less pupil-centredness teachers, and changes in attitude to science were more favourable in classes with female teachers and those with more pupil-centredness teachers. A significant relationship also emerged between changes in a learning outcome and the interaction of the instructional variable (ASEP/control) with a teacher characteristic in four cases, and these were interpreted in the paper. In addition to the specific findings outlined above, two more general tentative conclusions can be advanced. First, the use of common samples in separate studies appears useful for allowing the investigation of worthwhile questions which go beyond the bounds of the individual studies. Second, in view of the number of interesting relationships found between changes in learning outcomes and teacher and instruction-teacher interaction variables, it could be useful to replicate the present study.     

Learning environment profiles of Turkish secondary biology classrooms

The purposes of this study were to examine how Turkish students perceived their biology classroom environment, how their perceptions compared to those of students in other countries, and what classroom learning environment profiles could be discerned in Turkish high school biology classrooms. Data were gathered from 1,474 high school students in four inner city schools, in Bursa, Turkey. A total of 11 biology teachers participated in the study with 52 of their classes. Data on students’ perceptions of their learning environment were collected with the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. Results indicated that Turkish classrooms were perceived as being low in terms of Teacher Support and high in terms of Task Orientation. Six distinct classroom learning environment profiles were found: the ‘self-directed learning classroom’, ‘task-oriented cooperative learning classroom’, ‘mainstream classroom’, ‘task-oriented individualised classroom’, ‘low-effective learning classroom’ and ‘high-effective learning classroom’. The most common profile was the ‘mainstream classroom’ for which all WIHIC scales had medium–high scores.     

Reciprocal teaching of social studies in inclusive elementary classrooms

Reading comprehension relies on the use of metacognitive strategies. Reciprocal teaching has been found to be an effective comprehension technique to use with students with learning disabilities. This study examined the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching during social studies instruction with several students with learning disabilities in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade inclusive classrooms. One hundred and twenty-eight students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 participated. Four comprehension assessments were administered, as well as an external measure and 30-day maintenance assessment. A mixed-design MANOVA was used to determine interaction on three reading comprehension measures. Results indicated that all students improved their performance on comprehension measures compared with students in the control groups. Improvement continued to be displayed after 30 days in both the sixth and the fourth grades. Students with learning disabilities significantly improved their ability to compose summaries compared to the control students.     

Emergent patterns of teaching/learning in electronic classrooms

Novel patterns of teaching/learning have emerged from faculty and students who use our three teaching/learning theaters at the University of Maryland, College Park. These fully-equipped electronic classrooms have been used by 74 faculty in 264 semester-long courses since the fall of 1991 with largely enthusiastic reception by both faculty and students. The designers of the teaching/learning theaters sought to provide a technologically rich environment and a support staff so that faculty could concentrate on changing the traditional lecture from its unidirectional information flow to a more collaborative activity. As faculty have evolved their personal styles in using the electronic classrooms, novel patterns of teaching/learning have emerged. In addition to enhanced lectures, we identified three common patterns: (a) active individual learning, (b) small-group collaborative learning, and (c) entire-class collaborative learning.     

Approaches to teaching in mainstream and separate postsecondary classrooms

The study examined attitudes toward teaching reported by university instructors who normally teach hearing students (with the occasional deaf or hard of hearing student) and by instructors who normally teach deaf and hard of hearing students at the same institution. Overall, a view of instruction as information transmission was associated with a teacher-focused approach to instruction, whereas viewing instruction as a means of promoting conceptual change was associated with a student-focused approach. Instructors in mainstream classrooms were more oriented toward information transmission than conceptual change, whereas instructors experienced in separate classrooms for deaf and hard of hearing students reported seeking to promote conceptual change in students and adopting more student-focused approaches to teaching. These results are consistent with previous findings concerning instructors' approaches to teaching and deaf and hard of hearing students' approaches to learning, and may help explain recent findings regarding student outcomes in separate versus mainstream secondary classrooms.     

Linguistics vs. language teaching inside and outside classrooms

<正>Introduction Being an English teacher,in this article,I will give two linguistic examples on the phonological,grammatical,and morphological levels,which happened to me and my students inside and outside of ESL classrooms.It also aims to prove different extents to which language teachers need to know anything about linguistics.In order to identify language learners’difficulties or help     

基于校园网的现代化教室在教学中的使用

信息技术的快速发展以及计算机网络技术的日趋成熟,为教育的发展带来了新的机遇,注入了新的活力。本文对目前各校在校园网的基础上建设的几个专用教室的设计思想进行了一些探讨。     

高等几何教学中的探索

以高等几何教学实践为例,探索怎样激发学生的学习兴趣,提高教学质量.     

Exploring teachers’ value orientations in literature and history secondary classrooms

This study explores teachers’ observable value orientations in literature and history classrooms, wishing to investigate how teachers infuse their values into instructional settings through their conceptions of the taught subject, the process of making meaning, and their involvement in the process of value communication.Through consideration of observation, interview and additional data, the common features underlying teachers’ value orientations are identified. One may conclude that although participants avoid the clear involvement in value communication, they search for a balance in defending the humanistic tradition and enacting a more critical and multi-perspective development of students’ sense about values. The taught subject seems to affect the displayed value orientations.     

Some characteristics of mathematics teaching in Zimbabwean infant and primary school classrooms

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some observations made in a recent study aimed at describing the nature of current practice in the teaching of mathematics in Zimbabwean infant and primary school grades. It has been observed that the teaching is characterized by, among other things, a preponderance of chorus responses, non‐questioning pupils, lack of problem solving, teaching more than mathematics, more product and less process orientation, and small group work with group leaders. It is proposed that if teachers wish to improve the quality of their teaching then an appropriate starting point is that of apprehending and understanding what they currently do in their classrooms. Such an understanding can be developed through deliberate and serious observation of and reflection on their own current practice. This paper is intended to stimulate that process. It is also suggested that the observations described here can be turned into research questions for investigations that can provide insights into ways of increasing effectiveness of mathematics teaching and learning in primary schools.     

关于解析几何课程教学反思

本文就高等师范院校数学教育各专业解析几何教学的措施、内容、方法和手段等将如何改革进行了思考,提出了自己的看法。     

体验式教学在中职市场营销课堂教学中的实践研究

市场营销学课程作为一门应用性和实践性较强的学科,知识的运用比知识基础理论的本身更为重要。然而现目前部分中职学校在市场营销教学中仍然沿袭着师本位灌输式教学,如此教学情景下不仅不利于激发学生主观能动性,同时也难以实现理论知识与实践相结合的教学要求。而体验式教学则是以学生亲身体验为主,教师引导教学为辅,并促使学生在参与教学、体验教学的过程中实现认知与实践过程的有机结合,从而有效提升教学质量。鉴此,本文即结合了中职市场营销课堂教学实际情况,以及体验式教学的概念及特点,进而论述体验式教学在中职市场营销课堂教学中的实践问题。     

Real-world connections in secondary mathematics teaching

The mathematics-education community stresses the importance of real-world connections in teaching. The extant literature suggests that in actual classrooms this practice is infrequent and cursory, but few studies have specifically examined whether, how, and why teachers connect mathematics to the real world. In this study, I surveyed 62 secondary mathematics teachers about their understanding and use of real-world connections, their purposes for making connections in teaching, and factors that support and constrain this practice. I also observed 5 teachers making real-world connections in their classrooms and I conducted follow-up interviews; these qualitative data are used to illuminate findings from the survey data. The results offer an initial portrayal of the use of real-world connections in secondary mathematics classes and raise critical issues for more targeted research, particularly in the area of teacher beliefs about how to help different kinds of students learn mathematics.