International teachers negotiating 21st century science classrooms: a question of hybridized identities and pedagogical imaginaries

International high school science teachers are crossing international and cultural borders to teach, raising important issues in education. In this article, we describe the cross-cultural assessment challenges that four international science teachers encountered when they migrated to teach in the United States. These included differences in grade expectations for a given quality of work, the weight given to final examinations, the assessment process, and cutoff scores for letter grades. To become proficient in their new teaching contexts, the participating teachers had to modify (or hybridize) their assessment philosophies and practices in order to conform to the expectations of their new schools. This hybridization process ushered them into what is proposed as the Pedagogical imaginary; a transitional space between the ``purity' of their native educational conventions and that of their American schools. The implications of these findings are discussed in hopes of improving high school science teaching experiences for international science teachers. Deborah J. Tippins is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Georgia. She served as a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines where she continues to explore notions of community-based science education. Her research interests include culturally relevant pedagogy, case-based science teaching and learning and post-structuralist feminist pedagogy and research. She is intensively involved in professional development of PreK-8 science teachers. In her spare time she likes to play tennis, travel and take her dog for long walks. Lorie Hammond is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at California State University at Sacramento. Her work centers on community-based multicultural science education. For the past 10 years she has been leading action research projects centered in school-community gardens in diverse urban schools which serve as food security, oral history, science education, and service learning sites involving children, parents, teachers, and pre-service teachers. Lorie just co-edited a book, Innovations in educational ethnography: Theory, methods and results (2006), with George Spindler, and is finishing a book on how teachers can teach and learn with immigrant communities. She has recently been engaged in ethnographic and international research with immigrant women, developing relational and equalizing models of teaching and learning in immigrant communities. Charles B. Hutchison is an Assistant Professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of the book, Teaching in America: A cross-cultural guide for international teachers and their employers, and the upcoming book, Teaching diverse and urban learners: Research, best practices, and lesson planning. He is the recipient of Recognition and Key to the City of Boston, and has appeared on, or been featured by local and international news media. He was recently invited to participate in the Oxford Round Table at Oxford University, England. He teaches and provides professional development in science education, cross-cultural and urban education, and instructional strategies for diverse learners.     

Referencing the Imaginary: An Analysis of Library Collection of Role-Playing Game Materials

The most famous role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, recently celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its release. The books that define the games in the role-playing genre function like sports rulebooks, contain entries like encyclopedias, or are based on collections of maps similar to those in atlases. In the library context, this places the books that define role-playing games in the domain of reference books. While currently divisions of the American Library Association encourage librarians to consider using the game in community-building and youth services, there was a time period where organized groups actively tried to discourage librarians from collecting materials associated with the genre. This study is an assessment of library holdings of role-playing game materials worldwide, detailing collection and cataloging issues associated with the genre.     

Simulations: Using experiential learning to add relevancy and meaning to introductory courses

Over the past two years the authors have provided experiential learning in the form of a simulation exercise to help 240 college students relate personally to the foundations of education. Introductory courses, with a preponderance of facts and breadth of content, can easily overwhelm students. The simulation not only energized the students but also personalized an in-depth understanding of educational issues. This theoretical knowledge was applied practically, a link which may often be missing in many introductory courses.Kathleen K. Montgomery holds a D. Ed. from The Pennsylvania State University. She is Assistant Professor of Education at Elmira College, where she teaches Introduction to Education, Instructional Strategies, and Curriculum and Instruction for Elementary Education. Professor Montgomery's research interests include the design of experiential learning and assessment methods used to evaluate such learning. She is currently working on a book about authentic assessment methods useful for elementary teachers. Susan C. Brown holds an Ed.D. from the University of Central Florida. She is the Assistant Director/Assistant Professor of Education at Elmira College, where she teaches Introduction to Education, Instructional Strategies, and Multicultural Education. Professor Brown has recently published articles on multicultural education for perservice teachers in theJournal of Curriculum and Supervision andCurriculum, a British Journal of educators. She is on the Editorial Board of the Educational Forum. Cathleen M. Deery holds the M.S. degree for Syracuse University. She is lecturer at Elmira College, where she teaches Introduction to Education, Educational Psychology, and Inclusionary Education. Professor Deery has designed numerous experiential learning components for her classes, and she is currently working on a book with Kathleen Montgomery about authentic assessment methods.     

Investigation of preservice elementary teachers' thinking about science

It is not uncommon to find media reports on the failures of science education, nor uncommon to hear prestigious scientists publicly lament the rise of antiscience attitudes. Given the position elementary teachers have in influencing children, antiscience sentiment among them would be a significant concern. Hence, this article reports on an investigation in which preservice elementary teachers responded to the Thinking about Science survey instrument. This newly developed instrument addresses the broadrelationship of science to nine important areas of society and culture and is intended to reveal the extent of views being consistent with or disagreeing with a commonly held worldview of science portrayed in the media and in popular science and science education literature. Results indicate that elementary teachers discriminate with respect to different aspects of culture and science but they are not antiscience. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 1016–1031, 2002