Identifying the types of student and teacher behaviours associated with teacher stress

The objectives of this study were to identify the student behaviours associated with teacher stress and determine the types of teacher behaviours that may elicit these stressful student behaviours. Student teachers (n=186) and their supervising teachers (n=77) completed a stressful student behaviour questionnaire, a teacher behaviour questionnaire, and a teacher stress survey. Results showed that student lack of effort in class was most strongly associated with teacher stress. In addition, teacher behaviours were correlated with students’ behaviours of coming to class unprepared. However, few significant correlations were obtained when student behaviour and teacher behaviour data were provided by different sources.     

Deepening kindergarteners' science vocabulary: A design study

Early, effective instruction to introduce both science vocabulary and general academic language may help children build a strong conceptual and linguistic foundation for later instruction. In this study, a design research intervention was employed to expose children to a variety of interrelated science content words to increase both the breadth and the depth of their vocabularies. This 8-week intervention targeted specific science content vocabulary development through adapting teachers' practices to include use of three instructional techniques: Teachers interactively read aloud information books, engaged students in conversation, and provided hands-on science activity centers. Results demonstrated that children deepened their understanding of the targeted vocabulary words.     

Welcoming nora: a family event

In this column, Allison and Paul Walsh share the story of the birth of Nora, their third baby and their second child to be born at home. Allison and Paul share their individual memories of labor and birth. But their story is only part of the story of Nora's birth. Nora's birth was a family event, with Allison and Paul's other children very much part of the experience. Jane and Gavin share their own memories of their baby sister's birth.     

Pigeons exhibit higher accuracy for chosen memory tests than for forced memory tests in duration matching-to-sample

Following training to match 2- and 8-sec durations of feederlight to red and green comparisons with a 0-sec baseline delay, pigeons were allowed to choose to take a memory test or to escape the memory test. The effects of sample omission, increases in retention interval, and variation in trial spacing on selection of the escape option and accuracy were studied. During initial testing, escaping the test did not increase as the task became more difficult, and there was no difference in accuracy between chosen and forced memory tests. However, with extended training, accuracy for chosen tests was significantly greater than for forced tests. In addition, two pigeons exhibited higher accuracy on chosen tests than on forced tests at the short retention interval and greater escape rates at the long retention interval. These results have not been obtained in previous studies with pigeons when the choice to take the test or to escape the test is given before test stimuli are presented. It appears that task-specific methodological factors may determine whether a particular species will exhibit the two behavioral effects that were initially proposed as potentially indicative of metacognition.     

Survey development to assess parental satisfaction with adapted physical education teachers' abilities working with children with autism

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to systematically develop and validate an instrument to assess parental perceptions toward adapted physical education (APE) teachers, who work with children with autism.

Methods: Participants included two expert panels and parents of children and youth with autism. The survey used a Likert-scale design where parents rated their level of satisfaction regarding communication with, qualifications of, and rapport with the APE teachers.

Results: Based on α coefficients for each of the three subscales, it was concluded that the survey had high internal validity. Split-half reliability determined by the Spearman Brown Prophecy coefficient indicated high reliability.

Conclusion: Preliminary evidence demonstrated that the survey may be a useful tool in assessing parental perceptions of their child's APE teacher.     

Professional Development to Promote Teacher Adaptability

Effective professional development (PD) follows adaptive teaching principles; it increases teacher understanding and instructional purpose, which ultimately supports and extends adaptive teaching. Through this article, we compare and contrast training models with educative models of PD (Duffy, 2004). We discuss characteristics of effective PD that enhance teachers' instructional adaptability, and explore potential barriers to the implementation of adaptive teaching, which may be addressed preemptively through PD.     

Learning challenges in higher education: an analysis of contradictions within Open Educational Practice

Open education, including the use of open educational resources (OER) and the adoption of open education practice, has the potential to challenge educators to change their practice in fundamental ways. This paper forms part of a larger study focusing on higher education educators’ learning from and through their engagement with OER. The first part of the study was a quantitative survey investigating educators’ learning behaviour when they learned to use OER in their practice. The second part of the study explored qualitatively how educators engaged with OER and how they conceptualised their learning. Data were gathered through interviews with 30 higher education educators. This paper reports the analysis of these interviews. The analysis draws on the theory of self-regulated learning and cultural–historical activity theory to explore the challenges adult education practitioners encounter when changing their practice. The study tests the application of a framework that traces the discursive manifestations of contradictions, exploring how this framework can be used to examine different aspects of self-regulated learning as educators learn how to use OER. We have identified three distinct tensions in higher education educators’ practice: tensions between the emerging needs of the individual (as he or she adopts new forms of practice) and organisational policies; between the transfer of responsibilities from educators to students as new practice is embedded and institutional accountability; and between cost efficiency and learning objectives. The framework for the discursive manifestations of contradictions was a useful tool used to surface these apparent tensions.     

Organization and use of the mental lexicon by deaf and hearing individuals

Two experiments explored the taxonomic organization of mental lexicons in deaf and hearing college students. Experiment 1 used a single-word association task to examine relations between categories and their members. Results indicated that both groups' lexical knowledge is similar in terms of overall organization, with associations between category names and exemplars stronger for hearing students; only the deaf students showed asymmetrical exemplar-category relations. Experiment 2 used verbal analogies to explore the application of taxonomic knowledge in an academically relevant task. Significant differences between deaf and hearing students were obtained for six types of analogies, although deaf students who were better readers displayed response patterns more like hearing students'. Hearing students' responses reflected their lexical organization; deaf students' did not. These findings implicate the interaction of word knowledge, world knowledge, and literacy skills, emphasizing the need to adapt instructional methods to student knowledge in educational contexts.     

The Correspondence of Charles Darwin as a Tool for Reflecting on Nature of Science

Science & Education - This study took place in an introductory science inquiry course for preservice elementary school teachers as a supplement to lessons on critical thinking. The...