Framing Quality: Annotated Video-Based Portfolios of Classroom Practice by Pre-service Teachers

In this paper we describe the use of peer learning teams creating annotated video-based portfolios to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions of undergraduate majors in early childhood and family studies. We used the intentional teaching framework (Hamre et al. in Handbook of early education. Guilford Publications, New York, 2012a) to create a course that moved students through the process of “knowing,” “seeing,” “doing,” and “reflecting & improving.” Forty-four undergraduate early childhood students formed eleven peer learning teams of four. We started the course by teaching the teacher–child interaction skills that are considered to be high-quality and linked to positive child outcomes (knowing). After learning to reliably identify (seeing) high quality instruction using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, the students created video portfolios featuring their own adult-child interactions (doing). These portfolios, featuring short salient examples of six different dimensions of quality instruction, were posted to a website and shared with their peer learning team. Each team member then commented on the extent to which she or he believed the students’ example was high quality. The portfolios and the peer coaching learning team (PCLT) process have improved our ability to document change in interactions as well as the students’ abilities to see their own growth (reflecting & improving). Further, it allows us to tighten the connection between course content and practical application as well as providing us with an alternative to on-site supervision of practicum students, which can be challenging due to budget constraints. Finally, we hope that sharing this activity will encourage others to integrate video-based technology into their coursework as a means to demonstrate positive change in students’ learning.     

The context of their lives

Abstract

This paper explores the Ecology of Human Development Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) as applied to the lives of students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at James Madison University (Virginia). This model provided insights into who our students are, their experiences, beliefs and values and how they define themselves; secondly, the process of reflection provided an opportunity for students to examine their lives as part of a larger social context; and thirdly, by valuing the process, it is hoped that students would recognize the importance of coming to know the children they teach. It is imperative that students are well prepared for teaching an increasingly diverse population (NCATE Standard I.E.2). Our belief is that in order for prospective teachers to appreciate diversity in classrooms, they need first to examine the context of their own lives. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Children’s Developing Ability to Resolve Disagreements by Integrating Perspectives

Children live in a world where disagreement is commonplace. Although disagreement can sometimes be explained by differences in people’s reliability, disagreement may also indicate that the referent elicits multiple perspectives. The present studies (total N = 129, 5- to 12-year-old ethnically diverse U.S. children, 42% girls) examined children’s ability to resolve disagreement among two individuals by identifying referents that integrated the perspectives, and considered the extent to which any age-related change could be explained by epistemological understanding (i.e., acknowledging that two perspectives can be right). Children’s age was positively correlated with their ability to integrate perspectives, and children performed at above-chance levels by approximately 10 years of age. Age differences in integrating perspectives were partially accounted for by epistemological understanding.     

Investigation of Various Modes of Computer-based-learning for Secondary Schools

Case studies on five different modes of computer-based learning (CBL) were conducted in two secondary schools. The five CBL modes are: a) CBL for revising a previously taught topic; b) CBL for introducing a new topic; c) CBL for vocabulary acquisition; d) CBL for learning problem-solving and information-processing skills; and e) use of the word-processor for learning grammar and writing skills. This paper describes the implementation procedures and evaluation findings, and discusses the potential of these five CBL modes.     

Characteristics of respondents who respond differently to positively and negatively worded items on rating scales

Although evidence prevails that including positively and negatively worded items within the same scale can lead to differential response patterns, little is known about factors that predict how different these responses will be. Thus, three datasets were analysed to investigate the characteristics of respondents whose responses between positively and negatively worded items are most different. The three studies yielded two major findings: (i) responses to the positively worded items yielded statistically significantly higher means than did responses to the negatively worded items, and (ii) several characteristics were identified pertaining to those who tend to have the largest absolute discrepancies in responses between the two sets of items.     

Professors' and students' conceptualizations of the learning task in introductory physics courses

What are students expected to learn in physics courses? Eight expert physics teachers and researchers, two from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Stanford University in the United States of America, and Monash University in Australia, described their perceptions of learning in their courses. Students from the courses were then interviewed for their perceptions of learning in physics courses. In their courses, professors focused on the development of intellectual skills, assuming that students had a specific physics vocabulary. Students, however, were aware of their own limitations and suggested that professors should take nothing for granted. Students considered that to be a good teacher, a professor should know the perspective of the students and should start at the students' level. The results suggested that the intellectual challenge of learning physics merits early explanation.     

Emerging Principalship Collaborative Style: Towards Research in Mentoring

An earlier exploratory study (Chong, 1991) suggest that a collaborative style of principalship is expected to emerge from the mentoring process. This paper highlights aspects of the environment of school management in Singapore which are beginning to support this emerging style that future principals are learning to adopt. It also identifies some possible areas for further research. Implications for policy and management are discussed. Mentoring episodes in Singapore could provide a unique opportunity for research that explicate a theory of morphogenesis.     

A better start to literacy learning: findings from a teacher-implemented intervention in children’s first year at school

Reading and Writing - This study investigated the feasibility of a teacher implemented intervention to accelerate phonological awareness, letter, and vocabulary knowledge in 141 children (mean age...     

Children''s Use of Anatomically Detailed Dolls to Recount an Event

The use of anatomically detailed dolls in child sexual abuse investigations has raised several controversial issues related to important theoretical questions in developmental psychology. The present study was designed to examine some of these issues in a methodologically sound experiment. 80 3- and 5-year-old children experienced a social interaction with a male confederate and were later tested under 1 of 4 recall conditions: reenactment with anatomically detailed dolls, reenactment with regular dolls, free recall with visual cues, or free recall without visual cues. The children were also asked a variety of specific and misleading questions, some of them dealing with acts associated with abuse ("He took your clothes off, didn't he?"). Both anatomically detailed and regular dolls along with other props aided 5-year-olds more than 3-year-olds in recounting the event. To use increased rather than decreased age differences. Anatomically detailed dolls did not foster false reports of abuse. Overall, 3-year-olds were more suggestible than 5-year-olds. The findings have implications for children's testimony in child abuse cases and for psychological theories concerning the effects of stimulus support on children's memory.