Collaborating to “Grow Our Own”: The Helios STEM Middle School Residency Program

In this article, the authors explain the need for clinically rich middle school STEM teacher preparation. They describe how one university and school district with an established partnership collaborated to meet this need. The result was the formation of a residency program that aims to prepare high quality middle school STEM teachers who can fill the district’s vacancies. The residency program is centered around clinical experiences where the triad—consisting of a preservice teacher, collaborating teacher, and university supervisor—is the nexus of learning. The authors share the takeaways from their experiences, highlighting the perspectives of the members of one triad. They conclude with an examination of the residency program’s effectiveness in meeting its intended aim.     

Lifelong Learning: Becoming Computer Savvy at a Later Age

Senior citizens represent the fastest growing demographic worldwide. As indicated in the Year 2000 U.S. Census, there are 35 million people 65 or older in the United States (U.S.). By 2030, it is estimated that there will be about 70 million older adults in the U.S. alone (Chadwick-Dias, McNulty, & Tullis, 2003 Bean , C. & Laven M. (2003). Adapting to seniors: Computer training for older adults. Florida Libraries , 46(2). [Google Scholar]). With the older population growing rapidly and being increasingly exposed to computer technology, it is important that they become informed of what computers can do for them, (e.g., e-mail, document creation, games, and access to information via the Internet) (Shapira, Barak, & Gal, 2007 Parvate , V. & Speicher , S. ( 2004 ). Learning to communicate via the Internet: How senior citizens develop an understanding of electronic communication: A cognitive design study proposal . [Google Scholar]; White, McConnell, Clipp, Branch, Sloane et al., 2002 White , H. , McConnell , E. , Clipp , E. , Branch , L. G. , Sloane , R. , Pieper , C. , & Box , T. ( 2002 ). A randomized controlled trial of the psychosocial impact of providing Internet training and access to older adults . Aging & Mental Health , 6 , 213 – 221 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The longitudinal study presented employs a mixed method data collection and analysis approach that includes the use of standardized surveys, measures of physical fitness and physiology, observations in the retirement community, and structured interviews. Drawing upon Auburn University faculty in the College of Engineering, senior citizens participated in workshops designed to develop their skills in computing. The potential significance of the project was to create a valid and reliable model for outreach to retirement and assisted living communities and other centers for senior citizens.     

Cumulative trauma and symptom complexity in children: A path analysis

Multiple trauma exposures during childhood are associated with a range of psychological symptoms later in life. In this study, we examined whether the total number of different types of trauma experienced by children (cumulative trauma) is associated with the complexity of their subsequent symptomatology, where complexity is defined as the number of different symptom clusters simultaneously elevated into the clinical range. Children's symptoms in six different trauma-related areas (e.g., depression, anger, posttraumatic stress) were reported both by child clients and their caretakers in a clinical sample of 318 children. Path analysis revealed that accumulated exposure to multiple different trauma types predicts symptom complexity as reported by both children and their caretakers.     

Small Talk: Children’s Everyday ‘Molecule’ Ideas

This paper reports on 6–11-year-old children’s ‘sayings and doings’ (Harré 2002) as they explore molecule artefacts in dialectical-interactive teaching interviews (Fleer, Cultural Studies of Science Education 3:781–786, 2008; Hedegaard et al. 2008). This sociocultural study was designed to explore children’s everyday awareness of and meaning-making with cultural molecular artefacts. Our everyday world is populated with an ever increasing range of molecular or nanoworld words, symbols, images, and games. What do children today say about these artefacts that are used to represent molecular world entities? What are the material and social resources that can influence a child’s everyday and developing scientific ideas about ‘molecules’? How do children interact with these cognitive tools when given expert assistance? What meaning-making is afforded when children are socially and materially assisted in using molecular tools in early chemical and nanoworld thinking? Tool-dependent discursive studies show that provision of cultural artefacts can assist and direct developmental thinking across many domains of science (Schoultz et al., Human Development 44:103–118, 2001; Siegal 2008). Young children’s use of molecular artefacts as cognitive tools has not received much attention to date (Jakab 2009a, b). This study shows 6–11-year-old children expressing everyday ideas of molecular artefacts and raising their own questions about the artefacts. They are seen beginning to domesticate (Erneling 2010) the words, symbols, and images to their own purposes when given the opportunity to interact with such artefacts in supported activity. Discursive analysis supports the notion that using ‘molecules’ as cultural tools can help young children to begin ‘putting on molecular spectacles’ (Kind 2004). Playing with an interactive game (ICT) is shown to be particularly helpful in assisting children’s early meaning-making with representations of molecules, atoms, and their chemical symbols.     

Rethinking our underlying assumptions about what we do and why we do it: academic development as a case

In this paper, academic developers from universities in three countries explore underlying assumptions about what we as developers do and why we do it in relation to evaluating development programs. Through addressing three questions, key ideas emerge that highlight what is often overlooked in day-to-day practice: the fact that academic development has a ‘signature pedagogy’ defined by the ‘learning paradigm’; the potential role of different stakeholders in setting criteria for evaluation; and the inclusion of non-traditional academic development literatures (e.g., adult education, educational change, organizational development) to avoid perpetuating established practices. Our intent is to intellectually challenge ourselves and others to move beyond sharing program and evaluation activities to explore ideas and literature not often considered in our day-to-day work. While the context is academic development, we believe the questions and the answers that emerged are of value to all involved in staff and professional development.     

Impact attenuation provided by shin guards for field hockey

Low-energy impact testing of hockey shin guards was carried out using a drop test impact rig and a new physical setup protocol. Two brands of shin guards were impacted once (2.6 J, 3.3 J; without and with a sock), and impacted three times (3.3 J; with a sock). The peak force and impulse of a single impact increased with increasing impact energy (by approximately 30 and 7%, respectively) whilst repeated impacts increased the peak force and decreased the impulse (by approximately 70 and 3–9%, respectively, between one and three impact events). The presence of a sock attenuated impact force to a greater extent than the guards alone, at both impact energies. As a sock is usually worn over hockey shin guards, its presence contributes to enhanced protection to the lower limb.     

Who should teach? A Chinese teacher candidate’s understandings of a good teacher and racialised experiences

Being a good teacher depends on many cultural and linguistic assumptions. Dominant definitions of a good teacher are often based on these implicit assumptions. Probing notions of a good teacher, we examine the endeavors of a Chinese international pre-service teacher, Ling, to become a “good teacher” through her encounters with micro-aggression in the context of her coursework and fieldwork at a U.S. university. The data presented here were collected through semi-structured interviews and field notes from 2014 to 2015 as part of a larger ethnographic case study. We find that the process of becoming a good teacher depends on many cultural and linguistic assumptions that are linked to micro-aggression. We conclude by reflecting on Ling’s understanding of a good teacher in light of dominant views on the matter and her ambivalence to speak up, and make recommendations for further research to allow for alternative views of good teachers to coexist.     

Working Together: Preparing the Next Generation of Highly Qualified Middle-School STEM Teachers

In response to the demand to produce highly qualified teachers to fill teacher vacancies in high-need middle school areas while simultaneously strengthening the teacher preparation process, this article highlights how an innovative partnership with a very large school district and multiple colleges within a metropolitan university resulted in a collaboration to rethink and retool teacher preparation for the next generation of middle school STEM teachers.     

The influence of parents on undergraduate and graduate students’ entering the STEM disciplines and STEM careers

This research examines the influence of parents on students’ studying the STEM disciplines and entering STEM careers. Cases of two graduate students (one female, one male) and one undergraduate student (male) are featured. The first two students in the convenience sample are biology and physics majors in a STEM teacher education programme; the third is enrolled in computer science. The narrative inquiry research method is used to elucidate the students’ academic trajectories. Incidents of circumstantial and planned parent curriculum making surfaced when the data was serially interpreted. Other themes included: (1) relationships between (student) learners and (teacher) parents, (2) invitations to inquiry, (3) modes of inquiry, (4) the improbability of certainty, and (5) changed narratives?=?changed lives. While policy briefs provide sweeping statements about parents’ positive effects on their children, narrative inquiries such as this one illuminate parents’ inquiry moves within home environments. These actions became retrospectively revealed in their adult children’s lived narratives. Nurtured by their mothers and/or fathers, students enter STEM disciplines and STEM-related careers through multiple pathways in addition to the anticipated pipeline.     

Performance Appraisal in UK Universities: a case of procedural compliance?

This article presents research evidence concerning the introduction of performance appraisal in UK universities. The notion of ‘procedural compliance’ is proposed to draw attention to the implications of the largely externally imposed nature of appraisal in universities. The article reports the findings deriving from a study of appraisal in four universities. The notion of procedural compliance usefully illuminates the reactions of respondents to appraisal, though it has to be supplemented in order to provide a more complete picture.