A New Twist on Studying the Development of Dynamic Spatial Transformations: Mental Paper Folding in Young Children

The relation of spatial skills to academic success in areas such as math and science has sparked discussion in early education around how spatial thinking skills might be included in early schooling. Planning and evaluating new curricula or interventions requires understanding these skills and having the means to assess them. Prior developmental research focused primarily on one aspect of dynamic spatial transformations (DST), namely mental rotation. This study broadens our knowledge by addressing another important DST, namely mental folding. We devised a new test suitable for young children. Performance of 180 children between 4 and 7 years suggests that mental folding appears at around 5.5 years of age, although there were also marked individual differences. These data on the emergence of DST suggest that educational programs targeting this skill could start in preschool or kindergarten and provide a means to assess the effectiveness of such efforts.     

Post-secondary Science Students’ Explanations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Randomness</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Variation</Emphasis> and Implications for Science Learning

The concepts of randomness and variation are pervasive in science. The purpose of this study was to document how post-secondary life science students explain randomness and variation, infer relationships between their explanations, and ability to describe and identify appropriate and inappropriate variation, and determine if students can identify sources of variation. An instrument designed to test statistical concepts was administered to 282 college students from three universities, ranging from introductory non-science majors to science graduate students. Students readily distinguished between causes of variation. A naïve no-pattern concept of randomness persisted from first-year non-science majors to senior-level science majors, contributing to incorrect responses on the variation instrument. Students’ expressions of randomness were better predictors of performance on the variation instrument than their expressions of variation. It is argued that inclusion of everyday language uses of randomness in instruction can bridge the gap between vernacular and scientific uses of this term.     

Establishing respectful educative relationships: a study of newly qualified teachers in Ireland

Interpersonal respect is a fundamental aspect of relating to others. This is especially true for teachers, as cultivating relationships is implicit in effective teaching. This three-year qualitative study examines a developing understanding of respect for pre-service teachers that progresses on to their first year’s teaching to examine the influential factors on that understanding. These teachers’ pupils were also asked to comment on their perceptions of respect. The findings indicate that interpersonal respect in an educative relationship is influenced by the level of autonomy afforded pupils and minimising the power differential between teachers and pupils.     

Leading Change in Schools in Difficulty

School improvement is a complex undertaking for any school but for schools in challenging or difficult circumstances it presents extra problems. Not only do schools in challenging circumstances often face acute levels of socio-economic deprivation, but also, improvement or change efforts can be extremely fragile in these volatile school contexts. This article focuses upon the process of leading change in a group of schools in challenging circumstances in England. It draws upon empirical data and focuses particularly on the process of leading change in schools in difficulty by exploring three leadership themes. The article concludes by arguing that while the quality of leadership is undoubtedly important in these school contexts it is simply not sufficient to combat the stubborn relationship between social disadvantage and underachievement. This relationship is more likely to be broken through structural change and localised and community-based action rather than through the forces of standardization or accountability.     

Teaching emotion understanding

The main goal of this research was to assess whether it is possible to help children develop their general understanding of emotions. Thirty-six nine-year-old children divided in two groups were examined using a pre-test/train/post-test design. The emotion understanding of the two groups was measured in the pre- and post-test phases using the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC). The experimental group received a teaching program about emotions during the training phase: School Matters In Lifeskills Education (SMILE). The control group received no special teaching about emotion during this phase. Results showed that the level of emotion understanding in the experimental group improved significantly between the pre- and post-test whereas no such change occurred in the control group. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Tongan secondary students’ conceptions of schooling in New Zealand relative to their academic achievement

This study examines the relationship between Tongan students’ attitudes and beliefs towards their school experiences and their academic achievement on the high-stakes National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) assessments in English and mathematics. Data were obtained from using previously published self-reported inventories on a sample of Tongan senior students in New Zealand secondary schools. Confirmatory factor analysis of students’ conceptions found good fit measurement models for each domain (teaching, learning, and assessment). Structural equation modelling was used to identify the effect of the various beliefs upon students’ total score in each subject and upon internal and externally assessed performance. It was noted that different beliefs became statistically significant predictors of performance, depending on the subject and type of assessment. Nonetheless, all three constructs played some role in at least one subject. A small-to-moderate proportion of variance in NCEA performance could be attributed to student beliefs, suggesting that efforts to help students adopt adaptive beliefs will have beneficial consequences for those students.     

College credits for previous learning experiences: Reaching nontraditional students

This paper describes how an undergraduate department in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee grants college credits for previous learning experiences to attract and retain nontraditional students from an urban environment. At first students earned these credits by writing a loose biography, but the process by which these credits are earned has become more structured. These Prior Professional Educational Experience credits (as they are named) are now granted on a course-specific basis, where students respond in writing to questions designed to test their knowledge of competency areas offered by the department. Earning these credits has helped older students get through the university and has given them a sense of accomplishment about learnings acquired in nonuniversity settings.     

父母外出务工与留守子女辍学——基于CHNS调查数据的经验分析

利用中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据,本研究对农村父母外出务工与留守子女初、高中阶段辍学行为之间的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:父亲外出务工会显著降低留守子女初、高中阶段的辍学概率,母亲外出务工则会显著增加留守子女初中阶段的辍学概率。此外,免费义务教育政策的实施在较大程度上降低了留守子女的初、高中阶段的辍学概率;与那些父母受教育程度较低的留守子女相比,父母受教育程度越高的留守子女越不容易辍学;家庭子女数和机会成本会提高留守子女初中阶段辍学的概率。因此,为降低农村中学阶段子女辍学率,政府应当增加农村妇女当地就业机会以减少母亲外出的影响、推进户籍制度改革使随迁子女能获得同等的教育机会,并为高中阶段和多子女家庭提供教育补贴。