Preparing Preservice Teachers in a Virtual Space: A Case Study of a Literacy Methods Course

This article describes a case study of an online literacy methods course offered at a small, midwestern university. Formal and informal instruments were used to assess students' backgrounds, interests, and dispositions. Archival course data were analyzed to examine interactions among content, course design, and student characteristics. Despite variations in self-directedness, dispositions toward the content, and prior experience with online/hybrid learning, 19 of 20 students who originally enrolled in the course were able to complete a compacted, fully online version of this introductory methods course. However, course evaluations indicated that for approximately one fourth of the students, there was a perceived mismatch between course objectives and online delivery. Findings suggest the need for design experiments that address immediacy in online courses and grapple with the issue of whether or not methods courses can be successfully delivered in a fully online format.     

Measuring the Interactive Skills of Caregivers in Child Care Centers: Development and Validation of the Caregiver Interaction Profile Scales

Research Findings: High-quality caregiver–child interactions constitute the core of high-quality child care for young children. This article describes the background and development of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) scales to rate 6 key skills of caregivers for interacting with 0- to 4-year-old children in child care centers: sensitive responsiveness, respect for autonomy, structuring and limit setting, verbal communication, developmental stimulation, and fostering positive peer interactions. Each interactive skill is rated on a 7-point scale based on observation of video-recorded caregiver–child interactions. Together, the 6 scale scores constitute an Interaction Profile for individual caregivers that may serve as a starting point for education and training to improve the quality of caregiver–child interactions. This article also presents the results of a 1st study with the CIP scales, in a sample of 145 caregivers from 75 child care groups in 47 child care centers in The Netherlands. Practice or Policy: Results provide promising preliminary evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the CIP scales.