The Australian Science Teacher: A Typology of Teacher–Student Interpersonal Behaviour in Australian Science Classes

This study reports the first development in Australia of science teacher typologies of teacher–student interpersonal behaviour. Students' perceptions of teacher–student interpersonal behaviour were measured using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Earlier work with the QTI in The Netherlands has revealed eight different interpersonal styles, which were later confirmed with an American sample of secondary school teachers. The present study investigated the extent to which typologies found in earlier studies also apply to a sample of Australian secondary school science teachers. Data were first checked to examine whether the eight profiles found in The Netherlands and the USA were also present in the Australian data. A cluster analysis using various clustering methods and procedures was used to determine Australian typologies and compare these with earlier Dutch findings. Results of the cluster analyses were verified by analyses of variance, by plotting QTI scale scores graphically, and by presenting a set of sector graphics to two independent researchers and having them sort these into different profiles as found in the statistical analyses. The resultant typologies and implications for professional development and research are presented.     

An Investigation into the Dimensionality of TOEFL Using Conditional Covariance-Based Nonparametric Approach

This article reports two studies to illustrate methodologies for conducting a conditional covariance-based nonparametric dimensionality assessment using data from two forms of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Study 1 illustrates how to assess overall dimensionality of the TOEFL including all three subtests. Study 2 is aimed at illustrating how to conduct dimensionality analyses for a testlet-based test by focusing on the Reading Comprehension (RC) section in combination with item content analyses and hypothesis testing. The results of Study 1 indicated that both TOEFL forms involve two dominant dimensions corresponding to the Listening Comprehension section and the combination of the Reading Comprehension section and Structure and Written Expression section. The extensive RC analyses from Study 2 revealed strong evidence that a significant amount of the RC multidimensionality came from testlet effects. Confirmatory analyses coupled with exploratory cluster analyses and substantive item content analyses further identified dimensionality structure having to do with reading subskills.     

Life trajectories of youth committing to climate activism

This article draws from a study investigating the life trajectories of 17 youth climate activists from 14 countries through semi-structured, life memory interviews using Internet-based methods. The interpretations of the interviews focus on the ways in which participants constructed the meanings and functions of experiences and how they represented the nature of the process of their committing to climate activism. Included in the interpretations are the nature of moments of consciously committing, the role of both concern for nature and for social justice, the dynamic and ceaseless process of committing, and the role of the youth climate movement. The discussion highlights the uniqueness of youth and of climate change in the process of committing. The research contributes to the limited but important literature on the life trajectories of youth climate activists.     

Modifying socially withdrawn behavior: A playground intervention for students with internalizing behaviors

There is little research regarding interventions for children with internalizing behaviors in schools, both within classrooms and in nonclassroom environments. In response to this need, a nonclassroom treatment package, consisting of (a) social skills instruction, (b) mediated self‐management, and (c) a reinforcement system, was implemented to modify the socially withdrawn behavior of 3 elementary students. The effects of this treatment package were evaluated on the school playground—during recess—by recording both the number of communicative acts and the total time spent engaged in appropriate peer play for each target student. All target students showed marked improvement in their playground, social interaction. Future research should be conducted with similar populations, using variations of the described methods in other school settings. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 779–794, 2007.     

Shared thinking: metacognitive modelling in the literacy hour

This paper considers evidence from an ESRC funded study of twenty teachers, teaching the literacy hour. In 170 hours of observation only one instance of a teacher modelling her thinking about reading or writing was recorded: and this was unplanned. It is suggested here that, although there should be opportunities for metacognitive modelling within the literacy hour, teachers find it difficult to use these opportunities. Some ideas about the importance of metacognition are reviewed and an example of metacognitive modelling in shared writing is analysed. It is argued that concern for improved performance may cause more attention to be focused on what is to be achieved rather than how.     

International Counseling Traits: Identifying Counseling Traits Ranked most Important by International Counseling Professionals through Q-Sort Analysis

Research has shown an increase in the study and discussion of international counseling throughout the past decade in the mental health domain. The counseling profession continues to take steps to address the lack of access to and the quality of counseling support throughout the world. A Q-sort methodology was utilized in order to capture an understanding of what might be identified as the most important traits for counselors to consider when counseling in international settings. A uniquely constructed Q-sort model developed from a careful review of the literature resulted in 35 items that were evaluated by 43 participants in two phases of analysis. The results from the Q-sort led to fuller consideration of the 12 counseling traits ranked highest. Three core themes that emerged from the data included: valuing people, personal character, and multicultural intentionality. Discussion about the highest ranked traits and core themes provides consideration of research implications and future studies in international counseling as a whole.     

Self-modeling as an intervention to increase student classroom participation

The effect of self-modeling as an intervention to increase individual participatory behavior in the classroom was investigated using a multiple baseline design across three second grade students with a follow-up. In addition, a control student was employed to further investigate the effects of the intervention. Self-modeling is defined as the positive change in behavior resulting from spaced viewing of oneself on edited tapes depicting exemplary behavior. Students viewed edited videotapes of themselves successfully volunteering to participate in class by raising their hand. The three students, during baseline, had a mean participation rate ranging between 8% and 24% compared with the control student's rate ranging between 53% and 63%. During intervention, the mean participation rate ranged between 28% and 60% compared with the control student's rate ranging between 43% and 46%. At follow-up, students had a mean percentage rate ranging between 44% and 64% compared with the control student's rate of 53%. Thus, they more closely approximated or surpassed the control student's mean rate of participation during intervention and follow-up, suggesting that the self-modeling intervention was effective in increasing individual participatory behavior in the classroom. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Search on surfaces: Exploring the potential of interactive tabletops for collaborative search tasks

Collaborative information seeking often takes place in co-located settings; such opportunities may be planned (business colleagues meeting in a conference room or students working together in a library) or spontaneous (family members gathered in their living room or friends meeting at a café). Surface computing technologies (i.e., interactive tabletops) hold great potential for enhancing collaborative information seeking activities. Such devices provide engaging direct manipulation interactions, facilitate awareness of collaborators’ activities, and afford spatial organization of content. However, current tabletop technologies also present several challenges that creators of collaborative information seeking system must account for in their designs. In this article, we explore the design space for collaborative search systems on interactive tabletops, discussing the benefits and challenges of creating search applications for these devices. We discuss how features of our tabletop search prototypes TeamSearch, FourBySix Search, Cambiera, and WeSearch, illustrate different aspects of this design space.