Ven?se Thromboembolien

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

What do science teachers consider when selecting formative assessment tasks?

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to identify factors that influenced prospective and experienced secondary level science teachers' reasoning as they evaluated or selected tasks to formatively assess their students' understanding of scientific concepts. The analysis of the coded written responses revealed two categories of factors that influenced the teachers' reasoning: (1) characteristics of the task and (2) characteristics of students or the curriculum. Characteristics of the task related to qualities of the task regardless of the learning environment in which it would be used, such as the level of student thinking demanded by a task. Characteristics of the students and the curriculum related to the learning environment in which an assessment task would be implemented, such as students' abilities to complete the task. Both prospective and experienced teachers' task evaluations were influenced by the same factors related to the characteristics of the task, although their interpretations of the meaning of each factor varied. In addition, experienced teachers' task evaluations were more likely than prospective teachers to be influenced by factors related to characteristics of students and the curriculum. The findings are discussed as a conceptual framework that presents the identified factors along three different dimensions: (1) the influence of task, student, and curriculum characteristics, (2) the influence of expectations for success, and (3) the influence of teaching experience. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1113–1130, 2008     

Effect of training in psychology on the causal interpretation of a clinical case

This paper aims to show how training in psychology leads students (at the beginning and the end of their studies) to consider that psychological disorders result from dispositional factors specific to the patients, particularly in therapeutic failure (fundamental attribution error and hindsight bias). Faced with a clinical case of a somatic disease with psychological repercussions, for which the effect of the initial treatment remains unclear, the students must choose: the repetition of treatment, the recovery or indecision. They must also define the elements that could have contributed to the evolution of the disease using causal attribution scales (C.D.S.II). At least half of the Master’s students choose indecision. When they choose to continue the treatment, they more often consider that the patient’s condition is partilly linked to his dispositions and to determinants controllable by himself. L1’s students choose to continue the treatment and are empathetic with the patient. For them, the evolution of his condition is linked to the situation and he cannot control it. In the case of therapeutic failure, training in psychology achieves at best to lead Master’s students to choose indecision but it fails partly to lead them to contend with hindsight bias and fundamental error.     

Early identification of special educational needs and the definition of 'at risk': The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project

Education in the early years is a key element in the Government's current strategy. Recently, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funded a major study of Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE). The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project developed from the EPPE research and was also funded by the DfES. The authors of this article, Brenda Taggart, Pam Sammons, Rebecca Smees, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Karen Elliott and Ingrid Lunt, all worked on the EYTSEN Project, based at the Institute of Education, University of London. In this article, they provide a summary of the findings from the EYTSEN Project, reviewing the impact of pre-school provision on children said to be 'at risk' of developing special educational needs. They suggest that pre-school experience has a positive impact on cognitive attainment and social or behavioural development and that integrated centres (where education and care are fully combined) and nursery schools have the most positive influence among the different f o rms of pre-school provision. This paper also discusses the identification of special educational needs; quality in pre-school centres; parents' perspectives; and future developments. The article closes with a call for improved training for practitioners working in early years settings.     

Through the fingers: Use of plastinated anatomical specimens for visually impaired students

The plastination technique produces non-toxic human tissues, ensuring their safe handling in educational settings. This investigation aimed to understand if visually impaired students profit from the use of plastinated anatomical specimens in learning the anatomy of the nervous system. For this purpose, their learning performance was compared to sighted and blindfolded students recruited from three primary schools in Fortaleza city, in the state of Ceará. Initially, a questionnaire was applied before carrying out the pedagogical practice, followed by an anatomy lecture with practical components with the use of plastinated anatomical specimens and synthetic anatomical models of the nervous system. After these steps, the students answered the questionnaire previously applied. Our results showed that the tactile perception of the visually impaired participants was significantly more developed compared to sighted (p < 0.001) and the blindfolded (p < 0.0001) students. The average of correct answers in the reapplied questionnaire was higher in the groups that used plastinated specimens (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the use of plastinated specimens has proven to be an effective tool in promoting a better understanding of anatomical structures, mainly for students with or without visual impairments, making it a valuable asset in anatomy teaching.     

��Information Survival Skills��: a medical school elective

Objective:

The authors developed an elective course to assist students in (1) understanding the changing nature of scholarly communication and online publishing, (2) identifying resources and strategies for searching current best evidence, and (3) demonstrating effective communication of information.

Setting:

The course took place in a medical school in the Southwest.

Participants:

Second- and third-year medical students participated in the course.

Intervention:

A pass-fail, undergraduate-level elective was first offered October to December 2006. This 7.5 hour course, developed and co-taught by 2 health sciences library faculty, consisted of hands-on exercises, small group discussion, and didactic lecture.

Conclusion:

Presenting a medical school elective is one possible outlet for intensive bibliographic instruction. Illustrating the flow of information from creation to management and presentation affords students an opportunity to understand information in context. This elective has been consistently ranked very high in student evaluations and led to new and expanded teaching opportunities.     

Factors Influencing Entering Teacher Candidates’ Preferences for Instructional Activities: A glimpse into their orientations towards teaching

The present study was designed to identify and characterize the major factors that influence entering science teacher candidates’ preferences for different types of instructional activities, and to analyze what these factors suggest about teacher candidates’ orientations towards science teaching. The study involved prospective teachers enrolled in the introductory science teaching course in an undergraduate science teacher preparation program. Our analysis was based on data collected using a teaching and learning beliefs questionnaire, together with structured interviews. Our results indicate that entering science teacher candidates have strong preferences for a few activity types. The most influential factors driving entering science teacher candidates’ selections were the potential of the instructional activities to motivate students, be relevant to students’ personal lives, result in transfer of skills to non‐science situations, actively involve students in goal‐directed learning, and implement curriculum that represents what students need to know. This set of influencing factors suggests that entering science teacher candidates’ orientations towards teaching are likely driven by one or more of these three central teaching goals: (1) motivating students, (2) developing science process skills, and (3) engaging students in structured science activities. These goals, and the associated beliefs about students, teaching, and learning, can be expected to favor the development or enactment of three major orientations towards teaching in this population of future science teachers: “motivating students,” “process,” and “activity‐driven.”