The Early Childhood Teacher's Voice in the Research Community La Voix de l'Educateur des Jeunes Enfants dans le Monde de la Recherche La Voz del Profesor de la Primera Infancia en la Comuniad Investigadora

This paper focuses attention on the early childhood teacher's place in the research community. It provides a look at the teachers' perspectives of research and then points out ways and reasons for early childhood teachers to become more active as classroom researchers, research partners and consumers of research through pre-service and in-service opportunities. After providing a definition of teacher research as systematic inquiry into one's own classroom, it discusses the value of such research and identifies historical support for it. The paper presents examples of partnership research using a video camera as a tool for data collection and teachers' reactions to it. It also provides quotes of individual teacher's introduction to teacher research and some points to consider in embarking on classroom research. Cette conference traite de la place de l'enseignant de la petite enfance dans le monde de la recherche. Nous allons examiner les perspectives des enseignants en matiere de recherche, puis indiquer comment et pourquoi rendre les enseignants de la petite enfance plus actifs en tant que chercheurs dans le cadre de la classe, partenaires de recherche et consommateurs de recherche grace a des opportunites offertes avant et pendant leur enseignement. Apres avoir fourni une definition de la recherche des enseignants en tant qu'examen systematique de leur propre classe, nous examinerons la valeur de cette recherche a l'aide d'une camera video comme outil de collecte de donnees et les reactions des enseignants. Nous citerons egalement l'opinion d'enseignants formes a cette recherche et nous signalerons quelques aspects a considerer avant de lancer une recherche en classe. Esta charla centra su atencion en la posicion del profesor de pequenos en la comunidad investigadora. Ofrece un idea de las perspectivas de investigacion de los profesores y luego senala maneras y razones para que los profesores de ninos pequenos sean mas activos como investigadoes de clase, socios de investigacion y consumidoes de investigacion a traves de oporunidades de preservicio y en servicio. Despues de facilitar una definicion de la investigacion de profesores como encuesta sistematica del aula propia, se habla del valor de dicha investigacion y se identifica un apoyo historico para la misma. Esta charla presenta ejemplos de investigacion conjunta usando videocamara como herramienta para la recopilacion de datos y reacciones de los profesores. Tambien ofrece citas de introducciones individuales de profesores a la investigacion de profesores y algunos puntos a considerar al emprender la investigacion de una clase.     

The Influence of Gender Differences on Story Retellings

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences between third and sixth grade female and male students when retelling orally a story read silently. The students' retelling of the story was analyzed by comparing how closely, both structurally and linguistically, they paralleled the T-units or communication units of the author. In general, female students performed significantly differently than did male students. The researchers examine these differences in light of recent research in the area of gender differences.     

Path analysis: A model for the development of scientific reasoning abilities in adolescents

A model was formulated and tested for the development of scientific reasoning abilities in adolescents. Piagetian theory provided the framework for choosing potential determinants of the dependent variable, scientific reasoning abilities. A model reflecting hypothesized causal relationships among determinants and with the dependent variable was developed a priori on the basis of theoretical and substantive reasoning. The hypothesized model was tested and revised using path analysis. Data from intact classes of middle-school (n = 101) and high-school (n = 89) students from an upper-middle-class suburb of a midwestern city revealed significant (p < 0.05) path coefficients for these variables and scientific reasoning abilities: age, I.Q., field dependence–independence, and experience. A path from locus of control to scientific reasoning abilities through field dependence-independence was also statistically significant. The revised model explained 61 percent of the variance in scientific reasoning abilities.     

Peer review: still king in the digital age

The article presents one of the main findings of an international study of 4,000 academic researchers that examined how trustworthiness is determined in the digital environment when it comes to scholarly reading, citing, and publishing. The study shows that peer review is still the most trustworthy characteristic of all. There is, though, a common perception that open access journals are not peer reviewed or do not have proper peer‐review systems. Researchers appear to have moved inexorably from a print‐based system to a digital system, but it has not significantly changed the way they decide what to trust. They do not trust social media. Only a minority – although significantly mostly young and early career researchers – thought that social media are anything other than more appropriate to personal interactions and peripheral to their professional/academic lives. There are other significant differences, according to the age of the researcher. Thus, in regard to choosing an outlet for publication of their work, young researchers are much less concerned with the fact that it is peer reviewed.