Are teachers’ approaches to teaching responsive to individual student variation? A two-level structural equation modeling

In the framework of teacher’s approaches to teaching, this study investigates the relationship between student-related variables (i.e., study time, class absence, domain knowledge, and homework completion), students’ approaches to learning, and teachers’ approaches to teaching using structural equation modeling (SEM) with two independent data samples. The participants were 61 biology teachers and their corresponding 1,518 high school students (12th grade). The first sample was used to fit the model, and the second sample was used to analyze the consistency of the data derived from the first sample. Using a two-level SEM analysis, we established whether the effects found at the individual level varied significantly at class level. The students’ approaches to learning were related to the teachers’ approaches to teaching as a function of the hypotheses established in the model, although the effect size was smaller than expected. However, approximately 48 % of the variance of the surface approach and 46 % of the deep approach sat at class level. At the individual level, the results of this study suggest that students’ approaches to learning significantly explain their teachers’ approaches to teaching and, thus, constitute important contextual variables. At the class level, the way students learn appears to be closely associated with class-related variables. Our data stresses the importance of promoting educational opportunities (e.g., school-based courses) for teachers to reflect upon the teaching methodologies used in class.     

“Truth or consequences”: a feminist critical policy analysis of the STEM crisis

STEM education has received significant attention in the USA and is largely fueled by rhetoric suggesting the USA is losing its global competitive edge and that there is a lack of qualified workers available to fill growing STEM jobs. However, a counter discourse is emerging that questions the legitimacy of these claims. In response, we employed feminist critical policy analysis as both a theory and a method to further critique the STEM crisis discourse. We argue that the nature of the current discourse is misleading at worst and incomplete at best and show who is fueling the crisis discourse and who stands to win or lose as a result. We reveal how the crisis discourse draws attention away from the multi-layered complexity of the issue and surface what is missing in the discourse to re-center public attention on protracted problems that still need dismantling.     

Real options theory,flexibility and the media industry

Abstract

This conceptual paper is based on two propositions: 1.) An efficient flexibility management is a critical success factor for media companies. 2.) The concept of real options theory (ROT) aims at improving a company's flexibility management. As a consequence, it is analysed how ROT can contribute to the flexibility management in media companies. In this context, two research issues are investigated. First, it is shown that real options as substantiations of flexibility are of great importance for media companies: In doing so, it is outlined that options which focus on a company's fixed costs management and options which aim at improving a company's sales situation are of high relevance for all segments in the media industry. Contrarily, options which focus on a company's variable costs are only relevant for media companies engaged in the print segment. Second, it is illustrated how ROT can contribute to the reactive and proactive management of flexibility in media companies.     

Repeated Exposure to Daytime Soap Opera and Shifts in Moral Judgment Toward Social Convention

This study examined the influence of prolonged exposure to soap opera on character dispositions and real-world moral judgments. Eight groups viewed from 0–7 weeks of soap opera prior to a final week after which participants completed measures of disposition towards show characters as well as perceptions of morality in real-world situations. Results demonstrated the effect of prolonged exposure on both the polarization of dispositions toward characters and a trend in moral judgments toward social convention. These findings highlight the role of disposition within social cognitive theory, and the importance of dispositional considerations in understanding learned morality.     

Bilingual and Multilingual Legal Dictionaries in the European Union: An Updated Bibliography

This annotated bibliography is intended to shed light on the availability and distribution of legal dictionaries that translate the twenty-seven European languages. The representative corpus consists of about 200 printed bilingual legal dictionaries (BLDs) with terms from two or more legal languages used in the European Union. This bibliography aims to illustrate the wide variation in the quality of these BLDs by the usage of three special headings and by referring to relevant professional reviews. In addition, the authors have commented upon noticeable BLDs that deserve serious criticism or special attention. This annotated bibliography updates the previous bibliography (Gerard-René de Groot & Conrad J. P. van Laer. The Quality of Legal Dictionaries: An Assessment [Maastricht Faculty of Law Working Paper No. 2008/6, 2008]) and covers almost all recently published BLDs. However, this bibliography is not exhaustive because of the dispersion of publishing houses: Each publisher issues only two BLDs, on average.     

Second Chance Programmes: a response to educational needs in compulsory education

This paper asks whether the integrated training provision currently offered through the different Spanish Second Chance Programmes (SCPs) constitutes a valid response to the educational needs and deficits known to exist among those young people who do not satisfactorily complete the Compulsory Secondary Education stage (ESO). The objectives of the current Social Guarantee Programmes (SGPs) are examined, as are the characteristics of the young people who participate in them. The Programmes of Initial Vocational Qualification (PCPI) envisaged in the most recent educational legislation are also discussed. Having identified the key factors which the empirical studies suggest influence the effectiveness of these programmes in addressing the educational needs and training deficiencies of the young people involved, a number of proposals are presented in connection with the training needs of teaching staff. The paper concludes with a number of proposals for improving the educational response to the challenges that the new perspectives and expectations raise for the development of a system of inclusive education to overcome the education deficits of the young people concerned.     

Service ‘CUIDE'‐‐Coopération Universitaire pour l'Information et la Documentation des Enseignants

The ongoing reform in science education in many countries, including Israel, has attainment of scientific literacy for all as one of its main goals. In this context, it is important to provide teachers with the opportunity to construct meaning for the term science literacy and by doing so to obtain a clear understanding of the new teaching goals. Here we report on a study in which teachers, as part of their professional development, were involved in defining the term ‘chemical literacy’; they discussed the need for it, and suggested educational experiences that are necessary in order to attain it. The programme was conducted as part of a reform in the content, as well as in the pedagogy, of chemistry education in Israel. The collected data provide some insights regarding the process by which the teachers’ perception of ‘chemical literacy’ developed and the way actual school practice influences teachers’ perception of ‘chemical literacy’.     

Turkish Prospective Chemistry Teachers’ Beliefs about Chemistry Teaching

Given the progressive loss of influence for the school relative to television in youngsters’ everyday lives, this article describes the procedure and the results of including cartoons in the physics curriculum in secondary education. Work was carried out intensively with a small group of pupils and sporadically with a larger group. In the first case, cartoons were used for identifying and discussing fictitious phenomena, problem‐solving, and assessment of the learning. In the second case, for identifying and discussing fictitious phenomena, a quasi‐experimental research design was followed. The results back the use of this didactic tool as an element for motivating and invigorating the classroom, for identifying the pupils’ alternative ideas and the assessment of their learning, as well as for a more critical way of watching television.     

Factors Influencing Schoolchildren's Responses to a Questionnaire in Wildlife Conservation Education

Questionnaires are important tools for assessing attitudes regarding conservation issues. However, they are not easily comparable and their reliability has been insufficiently assessed. We examined factors influencing responses to open- and closed-ended questions about animal conservation to more than 600 schoolchildren (9 years old on average). We analysed the level of understanding, controllable (e.g. sample size) and less controllable factors (e.g. affectivity). Most children responded appropriately to the questions, but subtle changes in the phrasing influenced the answers. Affectivity towards endearing species and spontaneity also influenced the responses whereas small sample sizes (～50 children) provided relatively stable patterns. Overall, we suggest that standardization of questionnaires administered over large spatial and time scales is needed to accurately assess children's attitudes towards conservation issues.     

The stepping stones of learning and evaluation

Based on the teachers’ lectures and evaluations we elaborate on a model of the aspects of learning. Inside the framework of this model three ways for solving a given problem relating to the previous teaching are presented.

We describe and analyse a method which is useful in selecting an evaluation task adapted to intended objectives, helps in the interpretation of the students’ performances and acts as a guide to the possible inferences about what the students acquire.