Teachers’ views on causes leading to their burnout

Teaching is a challenging profession sometimes leading to teachers’ burnout: a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment. Burnout effects range from psychological, physical, and behavioural symptoms to increased turnover, which affects students and schools. This study identifies levels of and factors causing Lebanese teachers’ burnout by eliciting their perspectives about the matter. A multiple-case studies design is used; instruments include interviews, researcher’s reflective journal, and questionnaires adapted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Educators Survey. Nine teachers who left the profession during the first five years of teaching were interviewed and 92 teachers in service responded to the questionnaire. A cross-case synthesis helped to compare the data between cases in order to discover whether similarities can be found. Triangulation of data is performed through comparing results from each instrument and identifying common categories that are used to address the research questions. Findings show that workload, school environment, coordination/mentoring, classroom environment, and emotional factors are major causes of burnout. This study provided insight on how to identify causes and symptoms of teacher burnout to help prevent the occurrence of the syndrome.     

Christians and Muslims Faced with the Wrath of Abū Marwān al-Yuḥānisī, a Thirteenth-Century “Friend of God”

This article examines the nature of the wrath of Abū Marwān al-Yu[hdot]ānisī, a thirteenth-century Andalusi saint, and the protagonist of the Tu?fat al-mughtarib of al-Qashtālī. I have divided the study into two main parts. The first sets out and analyses various occasions on which the saint committed violent acts against Christians. Two of them died as a consequence of these aggressions. All the cases in this first part took place in the Muslim East during the saint's stay in this area. The second part examines cases of violence committed against Muslim people from al-Andalus. The victims suffered the consequences of the wrath of the saint, although he was not directly involved in the aggressions themselves. The stories are narrated by al-Yu[hdot]ānisī himself, and we do not know whether they really took place. Regarding these manifestations of violence, the hagiographic sources not only justify all the violent acts committed by the saint, murder included, but they present the saint to society as an “example” to follow, and indeed as a “hero”.     

Patient-based benefit-risk assessment of medicines: development,refinement, and validation of a content search strategy to retrieve relevant studies

Introduction:Poor indexing and inconsistent use of terms and keywords may prevent efficient retrieval of studies on the patient-based benefit-risk assessment (BRA) of medicines. We aimed to develop and validate an objectively derived content search strategy containing generic search terms that can be adapted for any search for evidence on patient-based BRA of medicines for any therapeutic area.Methods:We used a robust multistep process to develop and validate the content search strategy: (1) we developed a bank of search terms derived from screening studies on patient-based BRA of medicines in various therapeutic areas, (2) we refined the proposed content search strategy through an iterative process of testing sensitivity and precision of search terms, and (3) we validated the final search strategy in PubMed by firstly using multiple sclerosis as a case condition and secondly computing its relative performance versus a published systematic review on patient-based BRA of medicines in rheumatoid arthritis.Results:We conceptualized a final search strategy to retrieve studies on patient-based BRA containing generic search terms grouped into two domains, namely the patient and the BRA of medicines (sensitivity 84%, specificity 99.4%, precision 20.7%). The relative performance of the content search strategy was 85.7% compared with a search from a published systematic review of patient preferences in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. We also developed a more extended filter, with a relative performance of 93.3% when compared with a search from a published systematic review of patient preferences in lung cancer.     

Investigating Quality of Class Talk in Grade 7: the Case of Pattern Generalization

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of class talk during episodes corresponding to different levels of...     

Young people's readings of a political cartoon and the concept of multimodal literacy

This article uses young people's responses to a newspaper cartoon as a way of exploring the concept of multimodal literacy. The discussion draws on data from a study which aimed to elicit the geopolitical views of 16–19-year-olds in a multi-ethnic British city by using cartoons as a way of encouraging them to talk about their thoughts and feelings towards recent political events. We argue that, contrary to popular perceptions, political cartoons are complex and polysemous and require a particular form of literacy. This not only encompasses the ability to read visual grammar, but also an understanding of the cartoon genre and how it is constructed, with a view to conveying particular meanings within a specific social and cultural context.     

Scientific reasoning and epistemological commitments: Coordination of theory and evidence among college science students

Reasoning skills are major contributors to academic and everyday life success. Epistemological commitments (ECs) are believed to underlie reasoning processes and, when considered, could do much in delineating the complex nature of scientific reasoning. This study examined the relationship between ECs and scientific reasoning among college science students. Prior knowledge (PK) was factored in as an intervening variable. Participants were 139 college students enrolled in two physics courses in a large Midwestern university. They completed an online questionnaire, which assessed their PK regarding buoyancy in liquids and EC to the consistency of theory with evidence. Responses to the online questionnaire were used to select 40 participants with varying levels of PK and EC. These participants were divided into four groups, each with 10 students, representing four conditions: High PK–High EC, High PK–Low EC, Low PK–High EC, and Low PK–Low EC. These groups allowed using a 2 × 2 factorial quasi‐experimental design to examine the relationship between participants' reasoning and ECs, accounting for their PK. The quality of participants' reasoning was assessed during individual interviews, which presented them with four problem‐solving tasks involving objects immersed in water. Two‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated the absence of interaction between PK and EC. The results showed that the higher the ECs were, the higher the quality of reasoning was for comparable levels of PK. Additionally, it was found that PK impacted reasoning more strongly when ECs were weaker. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1064–1093, 2010     

Academic procrastination and motivation of adolescents in Turkey

This article presents a study of academic procrastination and associated motivation variables in 508 adolescents from a general secondary school in central Turkey. Girls reported higher levels of self‐efficacy for self‐regulation and predicted higher Turkish grades than boys, but there was no difference in levels of procrastination. Academic self‐efficacy was a stronger predictor of procrastination for girls than for boys, but for both groups self‐efficacy for self‐regulation was the strongest predictor of procrastination. Most participants (83%) reported spending one hour or more procrastinating per day, with writing tasks the most prone to procrastination for boys and girls. When procrastinating, Turkish adolescent boys were more likely to spend time with electronic media (watching TV, emailing, going on‐line, and, in particular, playing computer games), whereas girls were most likely to read books, magazines, and newspapers. The article concludes with implications for researchers, and also for parents and educators of adolescents.     

Addressing computational estimation in the Kuwaiti curriculum: teachers’ views

Computational estimation has not yet established a place in the Kuwaiti national curriculum. An attempt was made to include it during the early 1990s, but it was dropped by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education because of the difficulties teachers had teaching it. In an effort to provide guidance for reintroducing the concept into the curriculum, this study reports on mathematics teachers’ understanding of the meaning of computational estimation and their views about its significance in the elementary and middle school curricula in Kuwait. Data gathered from 59 elementary and middle schools teachers in Kuwait revealed that more than 60% of teachers equate computational estimation with rounding. While two-thirds of the teachers viewed computational estimation to be an important skill for daily life; only one-fifth (20%) saw it as important in mathematics education. More than half of the teachers either disagreed with the idea of teaching computational estimation or only wanted to teach it in limited situations. Most were concerned about the difficulty of learning computational estimation or feared that teaching computational estimation would cause problems with students’ development of standard algorithms for determining an exact answer. These findings reveal the challenge that mathematics educators face in introducing computational estimation into the mathematics curriculum. In order for computational estimation to be taught in elementary and middle school classrooms, teachers need to understand the concept and its value in education. Teacher education needs to focus on helping teachers better understand the concept of computational estimation and appreciate its value for instruction.     

Arthur,James et al ed (2012) Research methods and methodologies in education Sage (London & Thousand Oaks CA) isbn 978‐0‐85702‐039‐0 456 pp £26.99 (paper and e‐versions; boards £75) http://www.sagepub.co.uk/arthur

Aimed at postgraduates within education and educational research methods courses, this book integrates the theoretical and practical aspects of educational research. It journeys through designing, planning and conducting research to analytical techniques, impact and dissemination. Whether you are a new educational researcher or more established, you might find your own copy of this book useful for in‐depth study or for reference: borrow a copy to help you decide. Nancy El‐Farargy