Learning and Teaching Programming: A Review and Discussion

In this paper we review the literature relating to the psychological/educational study of programming. We identify general trends comparing novice and expert programmers, programming knowledge and strategies, program generation and comprehension, and object-oriented versus procedural programming. (We do not cover research relating specifically to other programming styles.) The main focus of the review is on novice programming and topics relating to novice teaching and learning. Various problems experienced by novices are identified, including issues relating to basic program design, to algorithmic complexity in certain language features, to the “fragility” of novice knowledge, and so on. We summarise this material and suggest some practical implications for teachers. We suggest that a key issue that emerges is the distinction between effective and ineffective novices. What characterises effective novices? Is it possible to identify the specific deficits of ineffective novices and help them to become effective learners of programming?     

Professional attitudes to the use of pupil performance data in English secondary schools

This paper presents findings from an exploratory survey of teachers' perceptions, understanding, and use of pupil performance data in English secondary schools and examines the extent to which these are associated with school-level performance and a range of factors, including teachers' positions of responsibility. The survey was supplemented by a series of in-depth interviews. Use and availability of pupil performance data was found to be widespread, but classroom teachers reported significantly lower levels of use and understanding. The research also reveals a data-use hierarchy in schools, with many indicating that some data are accessible only to school leaders or provided pre-interpreted. Most teachers make regular use of their own sources of pupil data, which is seen as at least as useful as “official” data, which poses challenges for policymakers in raising levels of use and creating a “mixed economy” of sources.     

Assessing teacher practice and development: the case of comprehensive literacy instruction

In this paper, we report on 2 studies developing, testing, and using an observation tool for measuring primary literacy instruction, the Developing Language and Literacy Teaching (DLLT) rubrics. In Study 1 (an instrumentation study), we show that the DLLT has a high level of internal consistency, that there are high levels of inter-rater reliability when the tool is used by in-school coaches, that the items order consistent with a hypothesized developmental trajectory, and that the DLLT can distinguish between novice and more experienced teachers at one time point. In Study 2 (a 3‐year longitudinal study), we show that the DLLT is sensitive to growth in teaching practice, that this growth is related to exposure to one-on-one coaching, and that teacher practice as measured by the DLLT is related to teachers' value added to student achievement year by year.     

Science Curricula as Cultural Misfits

Summaries

English

In this article, which is based on a paper read at the International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris in July 1979, we shall first review the impact of science curriculum development on Third World countries and the effect of Western science education on those changes.

We shall then outline some of the ways of thinking that the pupils of different cultures bring to school that appear to differ from, or even to conflict with Western scientific modes of thought.

This will lead us to an analysis of the factors responsible for the predicament in science education today. In the light of this analysis we shall suggest some courses of action for the future progress of science teaching in the Third World.     

The necessity of the fairness doctrine given the religious right televangelists

An experiment examined the effectiveness of two intervention strategies to reduce children's fear of the television series The Incredible Hulk, in which a mild‐mannered character (David) transforms into the monstrous Hulk. The Identity tape emphasized the similar positive motivations of David and the Hulk. The Visual Cues tape showed an actor being made‐up to look like the Hulk. Both tapes reduced fear (relative to a control condition) during the post‐transformation segment that featured the Hulk. Additional measures (ratings of the characters, explanations of the transformation) were used to evaluate several possible reasons for the success of the interventions.     

Economic analysis of World Bank education projects and project outcomes

This paper tests the hypothesis that World Bank education projects have a higher likelihood of being successful if at the time of appraisal, they underwent good quality economic analysis. Analysis shows a strong relationship between the quality of cost–benefit analysis and cost–effectiveness analysis and the quality of project outcomes. Economic analysis of projects is a tool for weeding out potentially poor investments and selecting potentially worthwhile ones. Good practice education projects require good economic analysis—analysis of demand, of the counterfactual private sector supply, of the project’s fiscal impact, of lending’s fungibility—and strong sector work before project design.     

Inclusive education policy: what the leadership of Canadian teacher associations has to say about it

In inclusive education research, rarely are teacher associations a topic of investigation despite their critical role in its implementation and efficacy. A study was conducted as part of the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance using a learning collaborative methodology that explored the extent to which Canadian provincial/territorial teacher association leadership personnel were aware of inclusive education legislation and policy. Using a semi-structured protocol, 14 participants were interviewed, representing 12 Canadian jurisdictions. Results indicated a complex theme with three linked issues: leadership participants stated that their teacher membership was well aware of inclusive education policy, that their membership generally endorsed it, contingent upon adequate resourcing. The particularities of this theme, awareness-endorsement-resources, are contextualised throughout the results, and the implications are raised in the discussion.     

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS AND "NATIVE" STUDENTS AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

Students were randomly chosen from the class of 1998 and 1999 at a large public university. Fifty in each class were community college transfer students who transferred to the university in the fall of 1996 and fall of 1997; 50 in each class were native students who had entered the university in the fall of 1994 and the fall of 1995. All students were from the College of Arts and Sciences. These groups of students were compared by GPAs at the end of the lower division work (sophomore year for natives and at the end of the second year of community college work for transfers). Students also were compared at the end of their first semester in their academic major to determine if transfer shock was evident for transfer students and if a GPA decline was evident for natives. Lastly, the students GPAs were compared at the end of the spring semesters of 1998 and 1999 to determine if there was recovery from transfer shock for the transfers and from the possible decline in GPA for native students. Retention and graduation rates for both groups were compared.