The Impact of an Engineering Design Curriculum on Science Reasoning in an Urban Setting

This study examines the use of engineering design to facilitate science reasoning in high-needs, urban classrooms. The Design for Science unit utilizes scaffolds consistent with reform science instruction to assist students in constructing a design solution to satisfy a need from their everyday lives. This provides a meaningful context in which students could reason scientifically. Eighth grade students from two urban schools participated in the unit. Both schools contained large percentages of racial/ethnic minority and economically disadvantaged students. Students demonstrated statistically significant improvement on a paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice pre and post assessment. The results compare favorably with both a high-quality inquiry science unit and a traditional textbook curriculum. Implications for the use of design-based curricula as a viable alternative for teaching science reasoning in high-needs, urban settings are discussed.

Antinuclear Antibody Profiling in Patients of a Tertiary Care Centre in Central India

The incidence of autoimmune disorders that includes the connective tissue diseases has seen a rise in India in recent times. Antinuclear antibodies, the telltale sign of systemic autoimmune response, thus can be used as a screening tool and also to support the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune disease. The present retrospective cross- sectional analysis aimed to study the antinuclear antibodies profile (patterns and specific antibody reactivity) amongst suspected cases of auto-immune disorders at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The study retrieved and reviewed reports of 644 patients sent for ANA testing by indirect immunofluorescence assay over a period of 1 year by different specialty departments. Positive samples were further processed for anti-ds-DNA antibody and antibodies to extractable nuclear antigen. Data collected was statistically analysed. ANA pattern positivity was observed in 31% of cases and a positive antibody reactivity was seen in 66% of them. Female predominance (82%) was noted in both pattern positivity and antibody reactivity. High levels of pattern positivity and antibody reactivity was found in the young adults (45.9%). Amongst the ANA patterns, the nuclear homogenous pattern was found the commonest. The common antibodies associated with this pattern were anti-dsDNA and U1 Sm/RNP antibodies. A stronger fluorescence intensity on initial screening showed a higher confirmation rate for specific antibodies on immunoassay. High occurrence of positive ANA patterns in autoimmune disorders suggests its utilization as a screening tool for them and would also play an adjuvant to the diagnosis. Early knowledge about future autoimmunity will earn better prognostic achievements through better treatment interventions.     

Between Veritas and Communitas: Epistemic Switching in the Reading of Academic and Sacred History

We compared how 8 religious believers (historians and clergy) and 8 skeptics (historians and scientists) read a series of documents on 2 topics: the Biblical Exodus and the origins of the first (American) Thanksgiving. Readings by religiously committed historians differed from those of their non-religious peers. Navigating between the competing commitments of their faith communities on the one hand and an academic guild on the other, religious historians engaged in epistemic switching, varying epistemological criteria to align with the allegiances triggered by the document under review. To explain these findings, we propose that historical understanding be conceived not as a unitary construct but as a form of coordination between multiple axes: a vertical axis of increasing intellectual sophistication as defined by the discipline; and a horizontal axis of identification and commitment, along which individuals move between a variety of allegiances and affiliations as they engage the epistemological criteria of sacred history. Implications for future research in the learning sciences are discussed.     

Adolescents’ Evaluation of Teachers Using Disparaging Humour

Abstract High school students viewed a video‐taped lecture of a professional actor playing the role of a teacher. Four films were presented, one of which was a control film in which no humour was used. The other three films contained (a) self‐disparaging humour (directed toward the teacher), (b) other‐disparaging humour (directed toward the students, and (c) mixed humour (a combination of a and b). All 186 10th graders from four classrooms participating in the experiment were given sociometry of humour tests. Results showed that the teacher using mixed humour received the highest evaluations on ‘appeal’ and ‘originality’ factors; the other‐disparaging teacher was perceived as most powerful, while the teacher not using humour at all was perceived as the most systematic in his teaching method. The sociometry of humour test revealed that students with a sense of humour are more appreciative of a teacher using humour, than are students who do not possess this attribute.     

Teaching evaluation: antecedents of teachers’ perceived usefulness of follow-up sessions and perceived stress related to the evaluation process

This study examines teaching evaluation based on student feedback which is intended to contribute to teachers’ professional development. Although studies have highlighted that teaching evaluation is a potential source of professional development and that follow-up sessions are crucial to this benefit, little attention has been paid to the usefulness of follow-up sessions as perceived by the teachers involved. Based on 217 teacher responses and analysis done with Structural Equation Modelling, this article provides additional insight into teaching evaluation by investigating possible antecedents for teachers’ perceived usefulness of follow-up sessions and for evaluation-related stress. Our results indicate that the perceived developmental purposes of teaching evaluation, recognition of the person conducting follow-up sessions and perceived clear communication from leaders are positively related to teachers’ perceived usefulness of follow-up sessions. Higher levels of perceived control purposes are related to higher levels of reported stress among the evaluated teachers.     

The Effects of Incomplete Rating Designs in Combination With Rater Effects

Researchers have explored a variety of topics related to identifying and distinguishing among specific types of rater effects, as well as the implications of different types of incomplete data collection designs for rater‐mediated assessments. In this study, we used simulated data to examine the sensitivity of latent trait model indicators of three rater effects (leniency, central tendency, and severity) in combination with different types of incomplete rating designs (systematic links, anchor performances, and spiral). We used the rating scale model and the partial credit model to calculate rater location estimates, standard errors of rater estimates, model–data fit statistics, and the standard deviation of rating scale category thresholds as indicators of rater effects and we explored the sensitivity of these indicators to rater effects under different conditions. Our results suggest that it is possible to detect rater effects when each of the three types of rating designs is used. However, there are differences in the sensitivity of each indicator related to type of rater effect, type of rating design, and the overall proportion of effect raters. We discuss implications for research and practice related to rater‐mediated assessments.     

What Makes a Good School Leadership Program? A Qualitative Study of the Lookstein Center Educational Leadership Advancement Initiative (ELAI)

How do educators become successful leaders? This qualitative study set out to learn more about The Lookstein Center ELAI program as well as mentoring and leadership training in general, with the hope of offering insights to other school leadership programs. The mentor-mentee relationship was seen to develop into a collaborative partnership, with the reflective relationships becoming enriching for both the mentor and mentee. The findings also emphasize the value of mentoring for midcareer educators. In addition, the importance of the cohort experience was stressed. Finally, unique to the ELAI program, location was viewed as a very influential aspect of this leadership training program for Jewish educators.     

FORUM: Giving oneself over to science – Exploring the roles of subjectivities and identities in learning science

In this piece, Elizabeth Moje discusses with the authors of FORUM: Giving oneself over to science: Exploring the roles of subjectivities and identities in learning science (Tucker-Raymond, Varelas, & Pappas) the challenges and potentials of theorizing about the role of identities in learning science. The authors debate how identities and subjectivities should be conceptualized, and whether learning science requires people to change identities and/or subjectivities. In particular, the authors discuss the potential for thinking about how identities are enacted in practices, and how teachers might construct practices that evoke the identities associated with science as a way of developing opportunities for deep science learning. Elizabeth Birr Moje is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture in Educational Studies, a Faculty Associate in the Institute for Social Research and a faculty affiliate with Latina/o Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Moje teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary and adolescent literacy, cultural theory, and qualitative research methods. Her research interests revolve around the intersection between the literacies and texts youth are asked to learn in the disciplines and the literacies and texts they engage outsIDe of school. Moje also studies how youth construct cultures and enact IDentities via their literacy practices outsIDe of school. Eli Tucker-Raymond is a doctoral student in the Literacy, Language, and Culture program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He sees his evolving status as a social scientist fraught with similarities and differences between himself and social scientists “out in the world.' He is working toward a designated researcher and teacher IDentity that includes a focus on critical media literacy, collaborative action research, and developing praxis-oriented, critically-conscious learning communities in urban K-8 school settings. One evolutionary, co-constructed step toward that IDentity are these publications, his first. Maria Varelas is Professor of Science Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research, teaching, and service are highly interrelated, focusing on classroom-based teaching and learning of science in urban settings with linguistically and socio-culturally diverse populations, collaborative teacher action research, discourse in science classrooms, integration of science and literacy, and science education reform in elementary school and college science classrooms. She currently co-leads with colleagues in Education, Natural Sciences, and Computer Science, three US NSF multi-year grants. Her research has appeared in a variety of journals and edited books. Christine C. Pappas is Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her teaching and research focus on classroom discourse, genre (especially informational and science ones), teacher inquiry, collaborative school-university action research (CSUAR), and the development of culturally responsive pedagogy. She is a co-author of the 4th edition of An Integrated Language Perspective in the Elementary School: An Action Approach, which emphasizes the use of language and literacy and other modes of meaning as tools for inquiry and learning across the curriculum. She has co-edited two volumes on a Spencer-sponsored CSUAR project, Working with Teacher Researchers in Urban Classrooms: Transforming Literacy Curriculum Genres and Teacher Inquiries in Literacy Teaching-Learning: Learning to Collaborate in Elementary Urban Classrooms, and her research has been published in book chapters and various journals.     

Interdisciplinary primary school curriculum units for sustainable development

Abstract

Education for sustainable development (ESD) provides crucial opportunities for young people to be involved in complex sustainability issues. This study contributes to existing knowledge about primary school teachers’ approaches to ESD across a range of subjects. Norwegian schools can join the Sustainable Backpack programme (SBP), which supports teachers to develop projects that promote a holistic understanding of sustainable development across school subjects. The present study set out to examines teachers’ interdisciplinary approach to ESD and the SBP teachers’ perceptions of how their curriculum units promote environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. The study is a multi-case study, with curriculum units designed for students aged 10-13?years from 14 Norwegian schools. Content analysis suggest that the units used several subjects to ESD, but the teachers could have challenged the students’ reflection to a greater extent in terms of argumentation and critical thinking. The units succeeded to some extent in pursuing a holistic approach.