Teacher educators as gatekeepers: Preparing the next generation of teachers for technology integration in education

This study aims at investigating the profiles of teacher educators in order to explore their ability to prepare preservice teachers for technology integration in education. Specifically, the current study examines whether teacher educators can be grouped on the basis of their attitudes toward ICT (in education), their ICT self-efficacy to design ICT-rich learning environments, their competencies to use ICT in their teaching practice and the strategies they use to prepare preservice teachers for technology integration. These strategies are included in the SQD (Synthesis of Qualitative Data) model and comprise: (1) teacher educators as role models, (2) reflecting on the role of technology in education, (3) learning how to use technology by design, (4) collaboration with peers, (5) scaffolding authentic technology experiences and (6) providing continuous feedback. Data were collected from a sample of 284 teacher educators in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and submitted to latent profile analysis. The added value of the current study lies in the account of how SQD strategies and a typical set of determinants of ICT integration can be associated within teacher educators’ profile. Based on the profiles emerging from this study, teacher training institutions should consider their teacher educators to be gatekeepers when preparing future generations of teachers for the learning environments of the twenty-first century. In the discussion section, the implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Strengthening ‘the foundations’ of the primary school curriculum

The low status of the foundation subjects (e.g. Music and Physical Education (PE)) in English primary schools is well documented. Using PE as an illustrative example, a thematic analysis of 51 PE trainee students’ assignments, based on their perceptions of a two-week experience in a primary school, highlighted a number of areas of concern (e.g. limited/inadequate preparation; insufficient teacher knowledge/confidence; variable/limited subject leadership and non-qualified teachers delivering the curriculum). The possibility of teachers, coaches and other external specialists learning collaboratively with and from each other within a community of practice/learning is proposed as one way of strengthening the foundation subjects within the primary school curriculum.     

Professional controversies between teachers about their summative assessment practices: a tool for building assessment capacity

Abstract

This article describes two collaborative research projects whose common goal was to explore the potential role of professional controversies in building teachers’ summative assessment capacity. In the first project, upper primary teachers were encouraged to compare their practices through a form of social moderation, without prior instructor input or theoretical preparation. In the second project, lower secondary school teachers were encouraged to compare their summative assessment practices with reference to a theoretical model of curriculum alignment, under the guidance of an instructor. The findings support the potentially constructive role of professional controversies in supporting teachers’ professional development for summative assessment. They highlight the status of references called upon in discussion of controversies, and their contribution to the construction of the subjects under discussion.     

6- and 8-year-olds’ performance evaluations: Do they differ between self and unknown others?

The current study investigated kindergarteners and second graders’ ability to monitor and evaluate their own and a virtual peer’s performance in a paired-associate learning task. Participants provided confidence judgments (CJs) for their own responses and performance-based judgments (judgments provided after receiving feedback on their performance) for both their own and a virtual peer’s responses. For the performance-based judgments, children were confronted with their own or the peer’s answer as well as the correct answer. Additionally, participants were asked to credit their own and the peer’s correct and incorrect answers while facing feedback. Results indicate an age-related progression in metacognitive monitoring skills, with second graders differentiating more strongly in their confidence judgments between correct and incorrect responses compared to kindergarteners. Regarding performance-based judgments, children of both age groups provided higher judgments for correctly compared to incorrectly recognized items as well as for their own responses in comparison to the responses of the unknown child. Similarly, when crediting, participants of both age groups gave more credits for correct recognition than for incorrect recognition and for their own responses than for the peer’s responses. The significant interaction between age group and recognition accuracy for the crediting shows that second graders gave more credits for correctly recognized items while kindergarteners gave more credits for incorrect answers than the older children – primarily for their own incorrect answers. In conclusion, the study provides new insights into 6- and 8-year-olds’ evaluations of their own and an unknown child’s performance in a paired-associate learning task by showing that children of both age groups generally judged and credited responses in their own favor. These results add to our understanding of biases in children’s performance evaluations, including metacognitive judgments and judgments provided after receiving feedback.     

Transition from high school to university: a person-centered approach to academic achievement

Although a vast body of studies regarding the variables related to students’ achievement exists, only a handful has investigated how these variables combine and interact together. Such an investigation might make it possible to more accurately illustrate the heterogeneity of students enrolling in university and assess the impact of this diversity on academic achievement. The current study focused on the person-centered approach and investigated the possibility of determining significant subgroups of freshmen in the very first week of the academic year in the Belgian educational context. Using k-mean clustering, 2178 freshmen were classified according to their past performance, socioeconomic status, study choice process, and academic self-efficacy beliefs at the beginning of the first year at university. Analyses of variance were also conducted to analyze the relationship between these student clusters and academic achievement outcomes. Six distinct profiles of students were identified representing different combinations of achievement predictors. Results revealed different odds of success among these profiles. The implications of our approach to the understanding of the heterogeneity of freshmen and the first-year achievement process are discussed.     

Some recent Unesco publications

Notes and Reviews

Some recent Unesco publications     

Mental Effort and Performance as Determinants for the Dynamic Selection of Learning Tasks in Air Traffic Control Training

The differential effects of four task selectionmethods on training efficiency and transfer incomputer-based training for Air Traffic Controlwere investigated. A non-dynamic condition, inwhich the learning tasks were presented to theparticipants in a fixed, predeterminedsequence, was compared to three dynamicconditions, in which learning tasks wereselected on the basis of performance, mentaleffort, and a combination of both (i.e., mentalefficiency). Using the 3-factor mentalefficiency formula of Tuovinen and Paas (2004, this issue), the hypothesis that dynamic taskselection leads to more efficient training thannon-dynamic task selection was confirmed.However, the hypothesis that dynamic taskselection based on mental efficiency leads tomore efficient training than dynamic taskselection based on performance or mental effortalone was not supported. The results arediscussed in light of the theoretical frameworkand suggestions are given for futureresearch.     

Effects of Web-based Support for the Construction of Competence Maps

Educationalists experience difficulties with the construction of competence maps that describe final attainment levels of educational programs. Web-based support was developed with three supportive aids: A construction kit, a phenomenarium, and an information bank. Each supportive aid was expected to improve perceived process and product quality as well as learning. In a full factorial experiment, 266 educational science students constructed a competence map, whether or not supported by different combinations of the three supportive aids. The availability of the construction kit and the phenomenarium had positive effects on perceived process quality and learning. Furthermore, if there was no phenomenarium with example materials, the absence of the construction kit greatly diminished experienced support (i.e., one aspect of process quality); if a phenomenarium was present, the availability of the construction kit had relatively little effect on perceived support. In general, this study indicates that well-designed Web-based support helps to construct competence maps. in final form: 2 February 2006