“Commanding English”: An effective program model

Commanding English, a unique program of communications skills courses packaged into an integrated whole, enables students whose native language is not English to develop the skills to function as competently as native speakers. The success of this program is dependent on the integration of its courses within a logical learning structure; the close coordination of effort of teaching, tutoring, and administrative personnel; and the support of the college administration. The program successfully retains 77 to 90% of its students with a 92.3 to 98.5% attendance rate and an average GPA of 3.28 in Commanding English courses. Upon completing the program, students transfer into mainstream programs throughout the University.     

Michigan education trust: Characteristics of first- and second-round enrollees in a state tuition prepayment plan

Pay Now, Learn Later Plan Proves Popular in Michigan, said the headline (N.Y.Times, August 12, 1988). The plan was the Michigan Education Trust (MET) advance tuition payment plan proposed by Governor James Blanchard in 1986. The Michigan Legislature approved MET at the end of 1986, and open enrollment for the first round took place in 1988. The second round of enrollment occurred in October, 1989. This research paper examines the characteristics of the first- and second-round enrollees, and it then compares the beneficiary (the legal term for the child who was enrolled) characteristics with those of the general population of the state and with the 1988 entering freshman classes of public universities in Michigan.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Louisville, KY, May 13–16, 1990.     

Unterrichtsbezogene Überzeugungen und handlungsleitende Kognitionen von Lehrpersonen

Die hier vorgestellte Studie untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen anhand einer Stichprobe von 20 deutschen und 18 schweizerischen Mathematiklehrpersonen. Die untersuchten unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen fokussieren auf das konstruktivistische und das rezeptive Lehr-Lernverst?ndnis der Lehrpersonen, die spezifischen Kognitionen auf das konkrete didaktische Handeln in einer Unterrichtseinheit zur Einführung in die Satzgruppe des Pythagoras. In früheren Untersuchungen zeigte sich, dass sich deutsche Lehrpersonen konstruktivistischer als schweizerische Lehrkr?fte einsch?tzten, ihren Unterricht aber eher als fragend-entwickelnd beschrieben. Ausgehend von diesem Befund werden in der Untersuchung deutsche und schweizerische Lehrpersonen hinsichtlich ihrer überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen vergleichend untersucht. In einem zweiten Schritt wird nach Zusammenh?ngen zwischen beiden Facetten professionellen Lehrerwissens gefragt. Die Ergebnisse verweisen darauf, dass sich die deutschen Mathematiklehrpersonen in ihren überzeugungen st?rker als jene in der Schweiz an einem konstruktivistischen Verst?ndnis von Lehr-Lernprozessen orientieren, dieses sich aber sowohl bei deutschen als auch bei schweizerischen Lehrpersonen kaum in den handlungsleitenden Kognitionen widerspiegelt. Als Erkl?rung für diese geringe Korrespondenz zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen kommen u.a. belastende Rahmenbedingungen und eine geringe Selbstwirksamkeit der Lehrpersonen in Frage. Daher werden in einem dritten Schritt Zusammenh?nge zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen unter Kontrolle belastender Rahmenbedingungen und der Selbstwirksamkeit der Lehrpersonen untersucht. Dabei zeigen sich, allerdings in erster Linie nur bei schweizerischen Lehrpersonen, einige erwartungskonforme systematische Zusammenh?nge zwischen konstruktivistischen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen.     

Preservice secondary science teachers making sense of constructivism

This paper describes a naturalistic study of secondary pre-service science teachers and explores the process of implementing a constructivist approach to science teaching. Specializations: Gender and science, preservice education.     

An Integrated Analysis of School Students’ Aspirations for STEM Careers: Which Student and School Factors Are Most Predictive?

Declining enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and a lack of interest in STEM careers are concerning at a time when society is becoming more reliant on complex technologies. We examine student aspirations for STEM careers by drawing on surveys conducted annually from 2012 to 2015. School students in years 3 to 12 (n?=?6492) were asked to indicate their occupational choices. A logistic regression analysis showed that being in the older cohorts, possessing high cultural capital, being male, having a parent in a STEM occupation and high prior achievement in reading and numeracy, were significant. This analysis provides a strong empirical basis for school-based initiatives to improve STEM participation. In particular, strategies should target the following: the persistent lack of interest by females in some careers, improving student academic achievement in both literacy and numeracy and expanding knowledge of STEM careers, especially for students without familial STEM connections.     

Teachers’ beliefs about the development of teacher–adolescent trust

In this study, we examined teachers’ beliefs concerning the meaning and nature of teacher–student trust in a diverse sample of secondary-school teachers (n = 34). Using a grounded-theory approach, a process model of teacher–adolescent trust emerged based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Antecedents of trust could be categorised as a function of student ecology (e.g. home environment) and teacher and student actions, including: demonstrating care, being consistent and reliable, making personal connections and engaging in helpful behaviour. Other teacher actions included drawing upon personal resources such as efficacy, social roles and available instructional approaches. Unique student actions highlighted the importance that teachers place on compliance with social norms and honest, responsible behaviour. Perceived benefits of trust reflected changes in: classroom climate, quality of social interactions, available teaching methods and positive student behaviours. Finally, teachers discussed ways in which trust evolved over time. Model processes and new hypotheses generated by the model are discussed in the light of current literature on adult–child relationships and trust in schools.     

Professionalität im Lehrerberuf

Zusammenfassung Seit eine (meist soziologische) Theorie der Professionen existiert, ist die Frage der Anerkennung der P?dagogen, zumal der Lehrer, als Profession strittig. Meist werden sie als Defizitgruppe codiert: als „semi-professionals“, behaftet mit einem „notorischen“ oder „strukturellen“ „Professionalisierungsdefizit“, allenfalls „Beruf“, kaum „Profession“, in der Arbeit an „strukturellen Defiziten“ ohne eindeutige „Technologie“, ein „unm?glicher Beruf“. Die These ist: Solche Codierungen sind weitgehend unbrauchbar, sie verweisen auf die mangelnde Sensibilit?t der Professionstheorie für das p?dagogische Feld, sie ignorieren die Leistungen der P?dagogik und das Potential ihrer Technologie. Deshalb: Auch Professionstheorie muss „p?dagogisch“ sein, das Gelingen ihrer Praxis nicht als Trivialit?t abwerten, sondern als Leistung erkl?ren, die Voraussetzungen für die Praxis des Berufs benennen und die Chancen der Steigerung der Qualit?t p?dagogischer Arbeit aufzeigen. Eine erste Version dieses Textes wurde als Er?ffnungsvortrag bei der Studien- und Kongresswoche 2005 der P?dagogischen Hochschule Bern „Professionelles Handeln im Lehrerberuf“, Bern 18.10.2005, vorgetragen.     

Students' thinking in a chemistry laboratory

Despite the almost mandatory inclusion of a laboratory component in the school curriculum very little has been reported about the effects of laboratory instruction upon student learning and attitudes. The present study was undertaken to investigate the thinking of students in a chemistry laboratory. An interpretive research method was adopted in collecting and analysing data gathered from observations, general interviews and stimulated recall interviews. Four high school students were studied during their participation in a week-long university summer school program. This study reports how the four students responded differently to the same laboratory experience. Specializations: chemistry and biochemistry education, thinking in science and industry. Specializations: science education, teacher learning and preparation, teaching thinking.     

Pathways to Inclusion: Moving from special school to mainstream

The present study investigated a schools partnership program that has achieved an unusually high level of reintegration of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) from a special school to neighbourhood mainstream schools. The study explores, through a qualitative methodology, the perspectives of mainstream and special school staff. Factors that were barriers and facilitators in successful inclusion are identified and a measure of social inclusion completed by peers is used to validate the perceptions of staff regarding the success of the children’s social inclusion. The article concludes by considering a model of special school–mainstream school partnerships in promoting inclusion, developed from the factors identified.     

Moral judgment development of freshmen and their precollege experiences

This study examines the relationship between precollege experiences and moral judgment development of freshman students. The sample consisted of 767 freshmen at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). Freshmen with low Principled Morality scores compared to those with high scores had lower mean Contemporary-Cultural, Artistic, Literary, and Academic-Conceptual Precollege Experience scores. Females had higher mean Contemporary-Cultural, Artistic, and Literary Precollege Experience scores. Males had a higher mean Jobs Precollege Experience score. For males, the Literary measure had the highest correlation with Principled Morality scores, while for females, the Artistic measure had the highest correlation.