Not all preconceptions are misconceptions: finding ‘anchoring conceptions’ for grounding instruction on students’ intuitions

This study begins the task of mapping out the domain of valid, potentially helpful beliefs of students and raises the possibility of drawing on these intuitions in teaching conceptual material. Some issues are explored surrounding the identification of such intuitions, referred to as anchoring conceptions or anchors. We attempt to: (1) propose some organizing theoretical and observational definitions of the anchor construct; (2) present some initial findings from a diagnostic test designed to uncover anchors for physics instruction; and (3) provoke an initial discussion of the new methodological issues that arise in this domain.

The results of the diagnostic test indicate that a number of group anchors exist. In addition, some unexpected non‐anchors were identified. Furthermore, evidence was found indicating that some anchoring examples may be ‘brittle’, i.e., evidence that the anchor could not be extended analogically to help a student make sense of a target situation.

Finally, it is suggested that further research is needed to construct a theory of anchoring conceptions that would, for example, specify what characteristics would indicate that an anchoring conception can provide the basis for conceptual change via analogical extension.     

Emotional intelligence and academic attainment of British secondary school children: a cross-sectional survey

Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) covers a wide range of self-perceived skills and personality dispositions such as motivation, confidence, optimism, peer relations and coping with stress. In the last few years, there has been a growing awareness that social and emotional factors play an important part in students’ academic success and it has been claimed that those with high scores on a trait EI measure perform better. This research investigated whether scores on a questionnaire measure of trait EI were related to school performance in a sample of British pupils. Results showed that high performing students had higher trait EI scores than low performing students and that some aspects of trait EI (motivation and low impulsivity) as well as total trait EI were significant predictors of academic achievement after controlling for prior attainment at school. Therefore, initiatives to develop the emotional and social abilities of schoolchildren might be worthwhile and more effective than concentrating solely on teaching and curriculum activities.     

An associative account of Orthographic Satiation in Chinese characters

Prolonged inspection of a Chinese character induces a feeling of uncertainty of the character, a phenomenon named as Orthographic Satiation. However, there has not been direct evidence showing that such satiation does occur at the orthographic level. To investigate whether Chinese satiation occurs at the orthographic level or at other levels, the present study applies a speeded repetition priming paradigm to Chinese, which has been successfully used to examine Semantic Satiation in English. When judging whether a category name matched an exemplar word, participants showed gradually slower responses as the character standing for the category name was repeated, indicating the occurrence of satiation. However, repetition of a character without accessing its meaning, or repeated access to its meaning without repeating the character itself, did not elicit satiation. The results suggest Orthographic Satiation occurs not at the orthographic level, but at a level associating orthography and meaning during Chinese character reading.     

The effects of teacher-delivered social reinforcement on the task persistent behavior of educable mentally retarded children

The effects of teacher-delivered social reinforcers on the task persistent behavior of children enrolled in an intermediate class for the educable mentally retarded were studied. These children were grouped with a regular fourth grade class during a social studies period in which the study was conducted. The special education children were randomly divided into two groups, with seven children in each group. Using a reversal design, social reinforcers were delivered contingent upon the task persistent behavior of the seven target children. The seven youngsters in the control, or nonreinforcement, group were essentially ignored as they engaged in appropriate task-related behaviors. The results clearly show that increases in the level of task persistent behavior and the administration of social reinforcement were functionally related. The level of task persistent behavior emitted by the control children was not affected by reinforcement delivered to their peers.     

Education and the COVID-19 pandemic

PROSPECTS - The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. This Viewpoint offers guidance to teachers, institutional heads, and officials on addressing the crisis. What...     

Education and European integration

The main purpose of this article is to discuss the implications for education and training of the movement towards integration in Europe in the historic context of the creation of a single market within the European Community (EC) and the end of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The experience of the EC is used to illustrate trends and problems in the development of international cooperation in education and training. Common concerns and priorities throughout the new Europe are then identified and discussed. These include the pursuit of quality in schooling, efforts to serve the interests of disadvantaged learners, and the treatment of European Studies in the curriculum, including the improvement of the teaching of foreign languages.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel stellt die Auswirkungen auf Bildung und Weiterbildung von Bemühungen um die Schaffung eines Gesamteuropas im historischen Kontext eines gesamteuropäischen Marktes und des Endes der kommunistischen Regimes in Ost- und Mitteleuropa dar. Die Erfahrungen der europäischen Gemeinschaft dienen zur Illustration von Trends und Problemen in der Entwicklung internationaler Kooperation in Bildung und Ausbildung. Im weiteren werden gemeinsame Interessen und Prioritäten im neuen Europa identifiziert und diskutiert. Dazu gehöen die Verbesserung der Qualität im Schulwesen, Bemühungen, Belange benachteiligter Schüler zu erfüllen, sowie die Aufnahme europäischer Studien in das Curriculum unter Berücksichtigung einer Verbesserung des Fremdsprachenunterrichts.

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Résumé L'intention de cet article est d'analyser les conséquences pour l'éducation et la formation du mouvement vers l'intégration européenne dans le contexte historique de la création du marché unique dans la Communauté européenne (CE) et de la chute des régimes communistes en Europe orientale. Les expériences de la CE permettent d'illustrer les tendances et les problèmes liés au développement de la coopération internationale en matière de l'éducation et de la formation. L'article identifie et examine ensuite les préoccupations et les priorités communes retrouvées partout dans la nouvelle Europe, parmi lesquelles la recherche de la qualité dans l'enseignement, les initiatives prises à l'intention des élèves défavorisés, la place réservée aux études européennes dans le curriculum, et notamment l'amélioration de l'enseignement des langues étrangères.

     

An Objectivist Critique of Relativism in Mathematics Education

Many constructivists tag as `absolutist' references to mathematics as an abstract body of knowledge, and stake-out the moral high-ground with the argument that mathematics is not only utilised oppressively but that mathematics is, in-itself, oppressive. With much reference to Ernest's (1991) Philosophy of Mathematics Education this tag has been justified on the grounds that if mathematics is a social-cultural creation that is mutable and fallible then it must be social acceptance that confers the objectivity of mathematics. This paper argues that mathematics, albeit a social-cultural creation that is mutable and fallible, is a body of knowledge the objectivity of which is independent of origin or social acceptance. Recently, Ernest (1998) has attempted to express social constructivism as a philosophy of mathematics and has included the category of logical necessity in his elaboration of the objectivity of mathematics. We argue that this inclusion of logical necessity not only represents a U-turn, but that the way in which Ernest has included this category is an attempt to maintain his earlier position that it is social acceptance that confers the objectivity of mathematics.     

The effect of trust on teacher empowerment: the mediation of teacher efficacy

This study explores the impact of teachers’ perception of trust in colleagues on their sense of empowerment in Mainland China, with a particular focus on the mediating role of teacher efficacy. The results of a survey of 1646 teachers indicate that although teachers scored positively on trust in colleagues, efficacy and empowerment, they had relatively lower scores on general teaching efficacy (GTE) and participation in decision-making. Trust in colleagues was a significant predictor of teacher empowerment. In addition, personal teaching efficacy had a significant mediation effect on the relationship between trust in colleagues and teacher empowerment, while GTE had not. These findings lead to some implications for understanding the nature of GTE and the relationship between trust and teacher empowerment.