Syntactic complexity measures: variation by genre,grade-level,students’ writing abilities,and writing quality

Syntactic complexity has been recognized as an important construct in writing research, and for the past five decades, many syntactic complexity measures (SCMs) have been examined in numerous studies. This systematic review is the first study of its kind to synthesize 36 studies spanning from 1970 to 2019 by identifying and cataloging all SCMs examined during this period. An analysis was performed on how the use of SCMs varied by genre, grade level, students’ writing ability, and writing quality. Five online databases (Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, and PsycARTICLES) were searched. A total of 48 SCMs were grouped into six categories: T-units and sentences, clauses, phrases, words, combined measures, and other measures. Most studies examined three common SCMs: mean T-unit length, mean number of words per clause, and mean number of clauses per T-unit. The argumentative genre had the highest values for T-unit length and mean number of clauses per T-unit, which could indicate greater sentence complexity. Higher-grade-level students generally construct sentences that are syntactically complex, but comparison between studies was difficult because different studies investigated different SCMs. Although students with higher writing abilities generally construct sentences that are syntactically more complex compared to students with lower writing abilities, the findings are not conclusive, as only a few studies examined this relationship. A similarly inconclusive relationship was found between syntactic complexity and writing quality because only a few studies examined this relationship. More research is needed to examine the relationship between SCMs, writing quality, and genre.

     

Rigor and reproducibility instruction in academic medical libraries

Background:Concerns over scientific reproducibility have grown in recent years, leading the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to require researchers to address these issues in research grant applications. Starting in 2020, training grants were required to provide a plan for educating trainees in rigor and reproducibility. Academic medical centers have responded with different solutions to fill this educational need. As experienced instructors with expertise in topics relating to reproducibility, librarians can play a prominent role in providing trainings, classes, and events to educate investigators and trainees, and bolstering reproducibility in their communities.Case Presentations:This special report summarizes efforts at five institutions to provide education in reproducibility to biomedical and life sciences researchers. Our goal is to expand awareness of the range of approaches in providing reproducibility services in libraries.Conclusions:Reproducibility education by medical librarians can take many forms. These specific programs in reproducibility education build upon libraries'' existing collaborations, with funder mandates providing a major impetus. Collaborator needs shaped the exact type of educational or other reproducibility support and combined with each library''s strengths to yield a diversity of offerings based on capacity and interest. As demand for and complexity of reproducibility education increases due to new institutional and funder mandates, reproducibility education will merit special attention.     

Mission Impossible? What States With Large Percentages of Rural Schools Tell Us About Federal School Improvement Grants

This article summarizes findings and lessons learned about implementing school improvement grant (SIG) initiatives in rural areas of the United States. The study examines state-level survey data based on the proportion of rural schools receiving SIG funds in the fall of 2010 in each state. In addition, the authors summarize related findings from rural-focused state and district case study work. The state survey showed that, regardless of the proportion of rural SIG schools, participating state officials (N = 46) reported providing similar supports to districts, such as technical assistance and increased monitoring and data review. However, fewer states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools believed these supports were important for improving schools. Among states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools, significantly fewer reported that replacing principals through SIG was key to improving student achievement. The case study data confirmed and elaborated on the survey findings.     

Teaching citizenship in the faith school: qualitative evidence from separate schools in Northern Ireland

The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers teach and students learn about citizenship education in two faith-based schools in Northern Ireland. The data show that participants in the Catholic school were confident in their own identity; teachers encouraged active engagement with contentious, conflict-related debates and students displayed empathy with other racial and religious groups. In the Protestant school, teachers avoided any reference to identity and conflict and students seemed to have limited knowledge of these issues. The findings emphasise the extent to which separate schools embody the cultural norms prevalent within each of the communities that they serve and reveal the influence which these norms have for teaching and learning about citizenship.     

Integrated schools and intergroup relations in Northern Ireland: the importance of parents

Background: Integrated schools were established in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. With an explicit intention to build better relations between Catholics and Protestants, it has an intuitive appeal in a society which has long experienced sectarian division. Whilst the sector has attracted considerable research, less is understood about how parents’ perceive the approach adopted by schools to build intergroup relations.

Purpose: The present article seeks to address the gap in the literature by exploring parents’ views of integrated education. Drawing on theories of intergroup contact, the paper seeks specifically to explore how parents and head teachers perceive and negotiate the approach that the schools adopt to build intergroup relations.

Method: In an attempt to probe the deeper meanings that participants attach to integrated education, a qualitative research approach was adopted; semi-structured interviews were carried out with 17 parents and 2 head teachers in two integrated primary schools.

Findings: Through the data analyses, three main aspects were evident. Firstly, the study reveals something of the relational dynamic between head teachers and parents and the significance of this relationship for determining how intergroup relations are pursued in integrated schools. Secondly, it highlights the nebulous nature of identity salience and the practical challenges of making identity salient within mixed identity contexts. Finally, the study suggests the value of qualitative approaches for exploring intergroup contact initiatives.

Conclusions: Overall, the paper demonstrates the inherent challenges of establishing an integrated school where good relations will be developed when multiple interpretations of what constitutes an appropriate response to difference and diversity prevails.     

A Planning Tool for Incorporating Backward Design,Active Learning,and Authentic Assessment in the College Classroom

Backward course design is a compelling strategy for achieving results-based, student-centered learning. The backward course-design approach is first to identify student-learning outcomes, then the means of assessing the outcomes, and lastly the classroom activities that would support the learning outcomes. With demonstrated success at improving teaching and learning at K–12 levels, this design approach is receiving increasing attention at the college level. Yet college faculty, who receive comparatively little instruction in course design, may find it challenging to enact the principles of backward course design into day-to-day lecture planning. To help address this challenge, we developed a backward design-inspired lesson planner to assist in restructuring college course periods for more active, learner-centered activities that align with course goals. We describe the planner and its application to a non-majors college biology class, and we share student and instructor perceptions of classroom structure and use of classroom time before and after implementation. Benefits of implementing the backward design planner included enhanced ability to prioritize content delivery to students, better time management in and out of the classroom, improved experience of lecture preparation, more engaged students, and more frequent feedback on student comprehension.     

Development of a Reality‐Based Multimedia Case Study Teaching Method and its Effect on Students’ Planned Food Safety Behaviors

There is opportunity to decrease the frequency of foodborne illnesses by improving food safety competencies and planned behaviors of college students before they begin careers in the food industry. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a multimedia case study teaching method that provides real world context for food science education; and (2) evaluate the extent to which it improves the intentions of students to implement food safety management systems upon entering the workforce, as well its impact on knowledge gains and students’ abilities to understand complex concepts. The target audience consisted of all participants in an upper‐level undergraduate food safety management systems course (n = 17). A pretest and posttest survey research instrument was developed to measure knowledge gains and also students’ food safety intentions using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Students experienced significant gains in knowledge, attitude, and intention after completion of the course (P < 0.05). One hundred percent of students agreed that the interactive videos aided in their understanding of food safety concepts. A paired t test suggested that both behavioral control beliefs and attitudes of students toward food safety management significantly increased (P < 0.5) after completion of the case study. These results suggest that integrating multimedia case studies into food science education may enhance food safety behaviors.     

Conceptualizing Research–Practice Partnerships as Joint Work at Boundaries

This article presents a conceptual framework for analyzing how researchers and district leaders perceive and navigate differences they encounter in the context of research–practice partnerships. Our framework contrasts with images of partnership work as facilitating the translation of research into practice. Instead, we argue that partnership activity is best viewed as a form of joint work requiring mutual engagement across multiple boundaries. Drawing on a cultural–historical account of learning across boundaries (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) and evidence from a study of two long-term partnerships, we highlight the value of the concepts of boundary practices in organizing joint work and boundary crossing as a way to understand how differences are recognized and navigated. The framework has implications for how partnerships can surface and make productive use of difference in organizing joint work and for how funders can better support the work of research–practice partnerships.     

An intercultural approach to challenging issues in Northern Ireland teacher education

This paper reports action research intended to advance intercultural learning and pedagogy within teacher pre‐service education. Northern Ireland (NI) student teachers returning from teaching abroad and students from abroad training in NI shared views upon pedagogical practices, identified features supportive of inclusive teaching and assessed the potential of teacher intercultural learning. Experience of teaching abroad acted to challenge, but in some cases also to affirm, teacher dependence upon professional authority, independent pupils' learning and associated forms of control in classrooms. A majority of student teachers appeared encouraged by their experience of teaching abroad to experiment with pedagogies supportive of a negotiated and more inclusive curriculum and involving more cooperative learning in classrooms. Without significantly greater intercultural experience in NI teacher education, in the selective nature of NI schooling and in the control of subject disciplines under the NI statutory curriculum, sustained use of more transformative pedagogies is considered problematical in NI schools.

Cet article retrace une recherche‐action mise en oeuvre afin de promouvoir l'apprentissage interculturel et sa pédagogie. Des étudiants nord‐irlandais en formation initiale, rentrant de stage pratique à l'étranger, et des étudiants d'autres pays, effectuant un stage en Irlande du Nord, ont partagé leurs points de vue sur des pratiques pédagogiques, ont identifié des aspects encourageant l'éducation à l'altérité et ont évalué le potentiel d'apprentissage interculturel du professeur. L'expérience d'enseigner à l'étranger a mis ces étudiants au défi, mais dans certains cas a aussi renforcé la dépendance de l'enseignant à l'égard de l'autorité, du travail individuel de l'élève et du maintien de la discipline dans la classe. Cette expérience a encouragé la majorité de ces futurs professeurs à faire l'expérience des pédagogies développant un programme scolaire négocié et un apprentissage fondé sur la collaboration dans la classe. Sans réformes majeures, l'application intensive de ces pédagogies a été considérée comme problématique pour les écoles nord‐irlandaises.

Dieses Papier berichtet über Aktionsforschung mit dem Ziel der Förderung von interkulturellem Lernen und Pädagogik im Bereich der Lehrerausbildung. Nordirische Studierende, die aus einem Auslandslehrpraktikum zurückkehren und ausländische Studierende, die in Nordirland ausgebildet wurden, tauschten Eindrücke über pädagogische Praktiken, identifizierten Merkmale welche ?inclusive teaching“ unterstützen und bewerteten das Potential für interkulturelles Lernen in der Lehrerausbildung. Die Lehrerfahrung im Ausland bewirkte eine Herausforderung, in manchen Fällen aber auch eine Bestätigung der Abhängigkeit der Lehrenden von Autorität, der Arbeit von einzelnen Schülern und Schülerinnen und der Kontrolle im Klassenraum. Die Mehrzahl der Lehramtsstudierenden wurde durch ihre Erfahrung ermutigt mit einer Pädagogik zu experimentieren, die verhandelte Curricula und gemeinschaftliches Lernen unterstützen. Ohne weitgehende Reformen wurde der Einsatz dieser Pädagogiken in den Schulen Nordirlands als problematisch betrachtet.

Este estudio informa sobre investigaciones prácticas para potenciar la pedagogía y el aprendizaje interculturales de los docentes. Los estudiantes de Magisterio de Irlanda del Norte que vuelven de su periodo de prácticas docentes en el extranjero y los estudiantes extranjeros de prácticas en Irlanda del Norte comparten puntos de vista sobre prácticas pedagógicas, identifican áreas de apoyo para una enseñanza global y evalúa el potencial del aprendizaje intercultural. La experiencia de las prácticas en el extranjero sirvió de reto, pero en algunos cursos también reforzó la dependencia del docente en la autoridad, en el trabajo personal de los estudiantes y en el control del aula. La mayoría de los estudiantes de prácticas se sintieron animados a experimentar con pedagogías de negociación de contenidos curriculares y de aprendizaje colaborativo. Sin reformas importantes, el uso continuado de esta pedagogía se considera problemático en las escuelas de Irlanda del Norte.