Community building of (student) teachers and a teacher educator in a school–university partnership

School?Cuniversity partnerships (SUPs) are considered a way of improving teacher education. For the successful implementation of such partnerships, cooperation between the different stakeholders is of crucial importance. Therefore, most partnerships are organised in short- and long-term teams, which are usually composed of teachers, student teachers and representatives of the university faculty. This study focused on the collaboration process of a team of modern language teachers who work and learn together in a teacher community. The aim of this study was to investigate how to design a learning environment that stimulates community development in these teams, applying the cooperative learning model of Johnson and Johnson in Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, (1999). Based on this model, design principles were developed to stimulate community development in this group. Community development was measured through observations of the meetings of the group, using the community model of Admiraal, Lockhorst and van der Pol described in this issue. The five principles found relevant in this SUP team were profiling the group as an identity, equivalent cooperation, rotating the chairperson, reflecting on the collaboration and giving feedback on the products made in the group.     

Assessment of learning gains associated with independent exam analysis in introductory biology

This study evaluates the impact of an independent postmidterm question analysis exercise on the ability of students to answer subsequent exam questions on the same topics. It was conducted in three sections (～400 students/section) of introductory biology. Graded midterms were returned electronically, and each student was assigned a subset of questions answered incorrectly by more than 40% of the class to analyze as homework. The majority of questions were at Bloom's application/analysis level; this exercise therefore emphasized learning at these higher levels of cognition. Students in each section answered final exam questions matched by topic to all homework questions, providing a within-class control group for each question. The percentage of students who correctly answered the matched final exam question was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the Topic Analysis versus Control Analysis group for seven of 19 questions. We identified two factors that influenced activity effectiveness: 1) similarity in topic emphasis of the midterm-final exam question pair and 2) quality of the completed analysis homework. Our data suggest that this easy-to-implement exercise will be useful in large-enrollment classes to help students develop self-regulated learning skills. Additional strategies to help introductory students gain a broader understanding of topic areas are discussed.     

History, Philosophy, and Science in a Social Perspective: A Pedagogical Project

Various studies have promoted instruction in the history and philosophy of science (HPS) in science classes, but the best way of putting this perspective into practice remains undetermined. To contribute to this issue, we developed a pedagogical project in some high schools in Brazil that aimed to present science content using an historical–philosophical approach focusing on the HPS from a social perspective. The content was developed broadly, highlighting the dialogues between science and the cultures in which scientific knowledge was accumulated. The results of the first stage of project implementation show that some strategies efficiently encouraged student discussion about science using an historical–philosophical approach. One successful strategy was the use of artistic material, such as movies and plays. The creative language and images in these elements allowed teachers to broaden historical–philosophical discussions without compromising science content. This project shows that a social approach to the HPS stimulates interdisciplinary discussions in science classes, enabling students to reflect on the nature of science.     

The use of de jure to maintain a de facto status quo

The vignette we use as the introduction works to define and distinguish the concepts of de jure and de facto pedagogical actions, especially as related to Latin@ education and its relationship with STEM fields. The authors assert that de jure educational policies, which are often legal guidelines that mandate minimum levels of compliance, unfortunately become translated to mean the normative way to implement educational practice. Hence, going above and beyond the call of duty to educate Latin@ children and youth through culturally meaningful STEM practices while respecting, affirming, and utilizing decolonizing ways of viewing science and math is not viewed as standard. Thus, it is imperative that STEM educators who work with Latin@ learners demand that de jure education guidelines translated as de facto pedagogical actions are not enough. On the contrary, de jure and de facto ways of teaching and learning should always consist of a counterhegemonic normative.     

La informática educativa: Presente y Futuro

En este artículo se hace una revisión, para el lector de nuestro país, del papel que ha jugado y puede jugar el ordenador en educación, que aun con validez general, sigue también muy de cerca las tendencias y problemas característicos de lo que ha ocurrido en España. Pero se plantea también los grandes problemas de futuro: ¿qué recursos ofrece o permite hoy el ordenador?, ¿cómo utilizarlo conociendo sus mejores posibilidades del mañana?     

Synchronous and asynchronous interactions of bilingual Hispanic pre‐ and in‐service teachers in distance learning

Abstract

This study investigated differences in online written interactions of bilingual Hispanic pre‐ and in‐service teachers across two types of online discussion groups: synchronous and asynchronous. Participants were exposed to a shortened version of a wholly online special education course and participated in instructional activities as well as synchronous and asynchronous discussion groups over a six‐week period. The research used both an alternating treatment design to gather quantitative data, and interviews and questionnaires for qualitative data. The results support the contention that synchronous discussion group interactions are an important feature of successful online courses with Hispanic students.     

Metamemoria y estrategias mnémicas en escolares

Resumen

Este artículo se propone determinar la relación entre el grado de metamemoria alcanzado en niños de 7 a 14 años, y su rendimiento en dos pruebas de memoria. Estas se diseñaron de forma que midiesen no sólo el recuerdo, sino también el empleo de dos estrategias mnémicas: la repetición y el agrupamiento. Los resultados respecto a la primera indican un mejor rendimiento de los sujetos altos en metamemoria, sólo dentro del grupo de 7 años. En cuanto a la estrategia de agrupamiento, parece que su empleo no está asociado necesariamente a un mejor rendimiento. Así, en los niños mayores, son los bajos en metamemoria los que más la utilizan, sin que su recuerdo sea superior al del grupo de los altos. Entre los niños de 7 años los resultados son parecidos, de manera que los altos en metamemoria recuerdan más, pero no emplean con más frecuencia dicha estrategia.