Expanding capacity and promoting inclusion in introductory computer science: a focus on near-peer mentor preparation and code review

A dilemma within computer science departments is developing sustainable ways to expand capacity within introductory computer science courses while remaining committed to inclusive practices. Training near-peer mentors for peer code review is one solution. This paper describes the preparation of near-peer mentors for their role, with a focus on regular, consistent feedback via peer code review and inclusive pedagogy. Introductory computer science students provided consistently high ratings of the peer mentors’ knowledge, approachability, and flexibility, and credited peer mentor meetings for their strengthened self-efficacy and understanding. Peer mentors noted the value of videotaped simulations with reflection, discussions of inclusion, and the cohort’s weekly practicum for improving practice. Adaptations of peer mentoring for different types of institutions are discussed. Computer science educators, with hopes of improving the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups, can benefit from expanding their peer support infrastructure and improving the quality of peer mentor preparation.     

Teachers’ perceptions of a mentoring cohort model in a program leading to certification to teach English language learners

This study focused on the perceptions of in-service general education teachers who completed a cohort mentoring program leading to certification in English as a Second Language (ESL) at a large, urban university. Based on interviews with 19 members of a cohort of 28, participants valued both the support and augmented skills-development the mentoring element afforded and the supportive, collaborative environment provided by the cohort model. Many also reported that the ESL-targeted strategies they learned were helpful in teaching all student populations and that program participation contributed to their increased involvement in leading professional development and, for some, to their intention to seek administrative roles. Based on these findings and the literature reviewed, the program examined may represent a model that can help to meet the demonstrated need for more trained ESL teachers in U.S. schools and can contribute to developing school leaders.     

Estimation of Measurement Error Variance at Specific Score Levels

An improved method is derived for estimating conditional measurement error variances, that is, error variances specific to individual examinees or specific to each point on the raw score scale of the test. The method involves partitioning the test into short parallel parts, computing for each examinee the unbiased estimate of the variance of part-test scores, and multiplying this variance by a constant dictated by classical test theory. Empirical data are used to corroborate the principal theoretical deductions.     

Negotiating Difference: How Aboriginal Athletes in the Maritimes Brokered their Involvement in Canadian Sport

Aboriginal perspectives on experiences in sport in Canada are largely missing from the existing body of literature on sociocultural aspects of sport, but this is especially the case in terms of Aboriginal people from the Maritimes region of Canada. Such an absence impedes our understanding of sport as an important cultural institution that can be used to normalize certain social practices, as well as challenge them. In this paper, we aim to contribute to the body of knowledge on Aboriginal sport by examining the lived experiences of nine elite Aboriginal athletes from the Maritimes, specifically those who won a Tom Longboat Award, through a postcolonial lens. In doing so, we reveal some of the nuanced power relationships that shaped their involvement in organized, competitive sport – distinctions that are not often addressed in the scholarly literature and thus limit our understanding of the complex and sometimes difficult realities of Aboriginal sport development in Canada. The participants’ stories tell us a great deal about the recipients as individuals, about Aboriginal peoples’ involvement in contemporary sport, and how the ways in which they negotiated difference within sport marked their lives.     

Self-regulation of learning and preference for written versus audio-recorded feedback by distance education students

Teacher feedback is critically related to student learning. This study sought to determine the relationships between distance education (DE) student level of self-regulated learning (SRL) and their preference for audio-recorded vs. written feedback from tutors. DE students (n = 102) enrolled in a first-year university course completed an online questionnaire that assessed eight dimensions of SRL as well as a personal evaluation of written vs. audio-recorded tutor feedback that was provided during the academic study period. In general, the participating DE students expressed preference for written over audio-recorded feedback. However, complex patterns of relationships emerged between dimensions of SRL and evaluation of written vs. audio-recorded feedback. For example, DE students who were most likely to listen to audio-recorded feedback appreciated peer interaction and personal challenges more than students who preferred written feedback. In DE learning environments, a variety of feedback formats may best meet the needs of all students, although exposure to various technologies may facilitate SRL.     

An elusive policy imperative: data and methodological challenges when using growth in student achievement to evaluate teacher education programs’ ‘Value-Added’

In this study researchers examined the effectiveness of one of the largest teacher education programs located within the largest research-intensive universities within the US. They did this using a value-added model as per current federal educational policy imperatives to assess the measurable effects of teacher education programs on their teacher graduates’ students’ learning and achievement as compared to other teacher education programs. Correlational and group comparisons revealed little to no relationship between value-added scores and teacher education program regardless of subject area or position on the value-added scale. These findings are discussed within the context of several very important data and methodological challenges researchers also made transparent, as also likely common across many efforts to evaluate teacher education programs using value-added approaches. Such transparency and clarity might assist in the creation of more informed value-added practices (and more informed educational policies) surrounding teacher education accountability.