Talking About Teaching Episodes

This paper examines two types of discourse in which teachers engage when discussing case studies based on classroom episodes, and the ways in which the availability of video data of these episodes may motivate a shift in the mode of discourse used. We interviewed two pairs of secondary school mathematics teachers after they had read a case study based on a 16-minute mathematics classroom episode taped in a secondary school in the United States. During each interview, a multimedia version of the case study, including video of the original episode, was available to the participants. We identify two modes of discourse engaged in by the teachers during the interviews: Grounded Narrative and Evaluative Discourse. We examine and identify the characteristics of the two discourse forms, drawn from both video and textual analysis. These characteristics are self-reflective talk, perspective, ethics, and linguistic patterns. The identification of two modes of discourse is relevant for researchers and teacher educators using case studies or video recordings. In addition, the findings provide insight into how teachers are “seeing” classroom events in a video case study.     

A Model of Maternal and Paternal Ethnic Socialization of Mexican‐American Adolescents’ Self‐Views

Data from a sample of 462 Mexican‐American adolescents (M = 10.4 years, SD = .55; 48.1% girls), mothers, and fathers were used to test an ethnic socialization model of ethnic identity and self‐efficacy that also considered mainstream parenting styles (e.g., authoritative parenting). Findings supported the ethnic socialization model: parents’ endorsement of Mexican‐American values were associated with ethnic socialization at fifth grade and seventh grade; maternal ethnic socialization at fifth grade and paternal ethnic socialization at seventh grade were associated with adolescents’ ethnic identity exploration at 10th grade and, in turn, self‐efficacy at 12th grade. The findings support ethnic socialization conceptions of how self‐views of ethnicity develop from childhood across adolescence in Mexican‐American children.     

Working in Creative Partnership with Students to Co-Produce Neuroanatomy e-Learning Resources in a New Era of Blended Learning

Anatomists are well placed to tackle the transition from face-to-face to blended learning approaches as a result of the rapidly forced changes brought about by Covid-19. The subject is extremely visual and has, therefore, previously been a target for the development of technology-enhanced learning initiatives over the last ten years. Today's students have come to expect the integration of technology in the classroom and remotely. They adjust quickly to the innovative use of new applications and software and have begun to integrate it within their own workflow for note taking and study aids. Given the intense drive toward blended deliveries of anatomy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is easy to picture how the benefits of working in partnership with students (in order to achieve many of these aims) would be possible, particularly in difficult subjects like neuroanatomy. In doing so, it provides anatomists with new opportunities to engage students in a way that aligns well with best practice frameworks for engaging students through partnership. The current United Kingdom guidelines set out by Advance HE (a professional membership organization for promoting excellence in higher education) strongly encourages the higher education community to seek out appropriate academic contexts where a balance of power can be struck between staff and student to create a community of practice. If such an approach can be fully embraced by anatomists, a strong argument can be made for seizing the opportunity to optimize the benefits of student partnership work in this discipline.     

Dependency on elementary school caregivers: The role of parental intrusiveness and children's separation anxiety

A theoretical model of children's dependency on teachers and other caregivers in elementary school was tested and supported in this study. Based on attachment theory and social‐cognitive theory, parental intrusiveness and children's separation anxiety were hypothesized to heighten dependent behaviors with school caregivers. Families of children in Grades K–5 participated. Parent‐ and child‐report measures with good psychometric properties were employed. Parental intrusiveness and children's separation anxiety were associated with clingy, dependent relationships with school caregivers in cross‐informant correlational analyses. Intrusiveness and separation anxiety jointly accounted for 18%–29% of the variance in dependency scores. Results are consistent with attachment models of continuity between parent–child relationships and relations with other caregivers. Practice recommendations for teachers and school providers are given. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 823–837, 2007.     

Collaborative development of anatomy workshops for medical and dental students in Cambodia

After Phnom Penh was liberated from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, health science education in Cambodia had to be completely rebuilt. In this article, the authors report the results of a teaching collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Australia), the International University (Cambodia), and the University of Health Sciences (Cambodia). The main objectives in this collaboration were to provide the opportunity for dental and medical students in Cambodia to attend resourced anatomy workshops and to provide an opportunity for anatomy teachers in Cambodia to gain experience in implementing anatomy workshops of the style that are routinely used in the medical and dental curricula at the University of Melbourne. Experienced anatomy educators from the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, designed and resourced a series of workshops and then delivered these in collaboration with Cambodian teaching staff in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian students who participated in the workshops were incredibly engaged and enthusiastic. The students' evaluations (by questionnaire) indicated a very positive response to the workshops. All of the workshop resources were donated to the two universities so that the staff could continue to implement similar workshops, and plans were developed to continue our collaboration by developing more resourced workshops for this purpose in the future. Two staff members from Cambodia will travel to Melbourne to participate in anatomy workshops and dissection classes at the University of Melbourne. We hope that this extension of the collaboration provides further support and impetus for the development of anatomy education in Cambodia in the future.     

Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): Measuring Undergraduates�� Evaluation of Scientific Information and Arguments

Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergraduate education and report that they teach these skills. However, few measures of scientific literacy are available to assess students’ proficiency in using scientific literacy skills to solve scenarios in and beyond the undergraduate biology classroom. In this paper, we describe the development, validation, and testing of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in five general education biology classes at three undergraduate institutions. The test measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analyzing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. Measures of validity included correspondence between items and scientific literacy goals of the National Research Council and Project 2061, findings from a survey of biology faculty, expert biology educator reviews, student interviews, and statistical analyses. Classroom testing contexts varied both in terms of student demographics and pedagogical approaches. We propose that biology instructors can use the TOSLS to evaluate their students’ proficiencies in using scientific literacy skills and to document the impacts of curricular reform on students’ scientific literacy.     

LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF 1ST AND 2ND GRADE ENGLISH ORAL READING FLUENCY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: WHICH EARLY READING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE BETTER PREDICTORS?

This study investigates the relation between Spanish and English early literacy skills in kindergarten and first grade, and English oral reading fluency at the end of first and second grade in a sample of 150 Spanish‐speaking English language learners. Students were assessed in kindergarten, first, and second grades on a broad bilingual academic battery that included phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, and oral reading fluency. These measures were analyzed using hierarchal multiple regression to determine which early reading skills predicted English oral reading fluency scores at the end of first and second grade. Predictive relationships were different between English and Spanish measures of early literacy and end of year first grade and second grade English oral reading fluency. This study has important implications for early identification of risk for Spanish‐speaking English language learners as it addresses the input of both Spanish and English early reading skills and the relation between those skills and English oral reading fluency.     

The Effect of Computer-Based Tests on Racial-Ethnic and Gender Groups

In this study data were examined from several national testing programs to determine whether the change from paper-based administration to computer-based tests (CBTs) influences group differences in performance. Performances by gender, racial, and ethnic groups on the Graduate Record Examination General Test, Graduate Management Admissions Test, SAT I: Reasoning Test, and Praxis: Professional Assessment for Beginning Teachers, were analyzed to determine whether the shift in testing format from paper-and-pencil tests to CBTs posed a disadvantage to any of these subgroups, beyond that already identified for paper-based tests. Although all differences were quite small, some consistent patterns were found for some racial-ethnic and gender groups. African-American examinees and, to a lesser degree, Hispanic examinees appear to benefit from the CBT format. On some tests, female examinees' performance was relatively lower on the CBT version.     

The role of family literacy classes in demystifying school literacies and developing closer parent–school relations

This paper is based on a large study of family literacy provision in England, which was carried out between July 2013 and May 2015. It explored the impact of classes on parents’ relations with the school and their children, and their ability to support their children’s literacy development. The study involved 27 school-based programmes for pupils aged between five and seven, and their parents. It used mixed methods, which involved surveys of 118 parents and 20 family literacy tutors, telephone interviews with a sub-sample of 28 parents, analysis of teaching plans and observations of classes. Findings showed that parents wanted to learn the ways the school was teaching their child to read and write, and by demystifying school literacy pedagogies and processes the programmes developed greater connectivity between home and the school, and parents felt more able to support their children’s literacy development at home.