Development and Construct Validation of a Situational Judgment Test of Strategic Knowledge of Classroom Management in Elementary Schools

The current study describes the development and construct validation of a situational judgment test for assessing the strategic knowledge of classroom management in elementary schools. Classroom scenarios and accompanying courses of action were constructed, of which 17 experts confirmed the content validity. A pilot study and a cross-validation with preservice teachers and inservice teachers revealed the assumed factor structure and sensitivity of the test to differences in expertise. The results indicate that the situational judgment test for assessing strategic knowledge of classroom management in elementary schools is a valid assessment tool for investigating the acquisition and promotion of classroom management knowledge during teacher education.     

Behavior of College Students under an Unlimited Cut System

The effects of six classroom motivational treatments on 112 fifth and sixth grade students were measured using a difference score on a substitution task. Individual goal setting and competitive treatments, under reward and non-reward conditions, are analyzed by means of planned comparisons. Results indicate a significant interaction which suggests caution against an oversimplified interpretation of main effects. A S’s performance in a competitive treatment is shown to be dependent upon three factors: his initial ability relative to that of his classmates; the presence or absence of a reward; the homogeneous or heterogeneous nature of the group in competition. The evaluation of this significant 3-way interaction ( i. e., ability x reward x grouping) and comparisons of means suggest several tentative hypotheses and raise highly relevant questions regarding the use of classroom motivational techniques which are competitive in nature.     

Aboriginal Environmental Wisdom,Stewardship, and Sustainability: Lessons From the Walpole Island First Nations,Ontario, Canada

Generally speaking, environmental education teaching, research, and practice have been informed by the traditions of western, Euro-centric culture. In this context indigenous perspectives are often marginalized, maligned, and perceived to be unscientific and therefore inferior. This essay adds to the growing body of literature exploring aboriginal indigenous environmental epistemologies and responsible human interactions with the natural environment. The paper provides a Canadian context as it examines the environmental philosophy and attitude of a Canadian First Nations community to the natural environment grounded in the lived experiences of adults, children and elders from the Walpole Island First Nation. We make the argument that while not a panacea, Aboriginal environmental epistemologies hold lessons for teaching environmental stewardship and sustainability behavior in mainstream classrooms.     

The relationship between students’ preferred approaches to learning and behaviors during learning: An examination of the process stage of the 3P model

Student approaches to learning have been a popular area of research in educational psychology. One useful framework for understanding student approaches to learning is through Biggs’ presage–process–product model. The purpose of this study is to examine the process stage of the 3P model. Undergraduate students (N = 67) thought aloud while reading two science texts, then wrote recalls and answered comprehension questions. As hypothesized, a deep approach to learning was positively associated with making connections, examining the logic in the text, and accurate answers to the comprehension questions. Mediation analyses indicated that behavior during the process of learning explained the positive association between a deep approach to learning and accurate answers to the comprehension questions. No hypotheses regarding a surface approach to learning were supported. The findings from this study support the characterization that students with a deep approach to learning engage meaningfully with their course material. These findings are discussed in the context of the 3P model.     

Gender differences in inference generation by fourth‐grade students

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are gender differences among elementary school‐aged students in regard to the inferences they generate during reading. Fourth‐grade students (130 females; 126 males) completed think‐aloud tasks while reading one practice and one experimental narrative text. Females generated a larger number and a greater proportion of reinstatement inferences than did males (Cohen's d = .34, p = .01; Cohen's d = .26, p = .04, respectively). In contrast, there was no evidence for gender differences in other types of think‐aloud responses. These findings suggest that males and females differ in their use of cognitive processes that underlie reading comprehension, particularly with respect to the likelihood of retrieval of information from episodic memory.     

Proposing a comprehensive model for identifying teaching candidates

Teacher education in universities continues to diversify in the twenty-first century. Just as course offerings, course delivery, staffing and the teaching/research mix varies extensively from university to university so does the procedure for pre-service teacher selection. Various factors bear on selection procedures and practices however few university courses have rigorous testing procedures for candidate selection. Further, there has been an over-reliance on grade scores and interview as preferred selection methods. A method of selection based on a comprehensive and broad spectrum set of tests and questionnaires is proposed on which to base selection. We suggest that a model comprised of previous achievements, tests of ability and reasoning, self and social interaction are the best indicators and that scores on these factors should be taken into account to provide valid and reliable data on which to make good decisions when selecting candidates.     

New Zealand students' perceptions of parental involvement in learning and schooling

This study investigated the relation between multidimensional aspects of high school students' perceptions of their parental involvement and their achievement. It explored differences in socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, and higher and lower achieving students, and a structural model was developed to further investigate these relations. A parental involvement questionnaire and measures of efficacy, liking and achievement in mathematics and reading were administered to a sample of 1,554 New Zealand high school students from 59 schools. In the view of students, there is support for parents to be talking to their children about learning and schooling and having high expectations of them and their future in learning, especially for lower achieving students. Students who claim that their parents are talking with their teachers or attending school meetings are more likely to have lower achievement. The implications from this study relate to developing student self-regulation for learning in home, providing more surface than deeper learning as homework, and assisting parents to learn the language of learning and schooling.     

The Teacher as Guide: A conception of the inquiry teacher

This article explains how teachers might navigate inquiry learning despite the experience of a constant tension between abandoning their students and controlling them. They do this by conceiving of themselves as guides who decide the path with students, not for them. I build on a conception of teaching as guiding from Burbules, and argue that inquiry teachers should take the particular stance of an expedition-educator (rather than the stance of either a tour-leader or an expedition-leader). They should guide students to make progress during co-inquiry, rather than leading them to follow the teacher’s agenda. This stance gives a heuristic they can use to balance control and abandonment in their pedagogical practice—they judge which pedagogical actions to take, and when, according to which actions are likely to help their students to engage in autonomous inquiry and hence learn to guide themselves. Students thus can learn to inquire by participating in an inquiry which is guided, but not controlled, by their teacher.