Student Perspectives on Teaching and its Evaluation

The research on student ratings of instruction, while voluminous, has had minimal focus on the perceptions of the students who do the ratings. The current study explored student perspectives on course and teacher ratings as well as some issues related to teaching effectiveness and faculty roles. It was found that students are generally willing to do evaluations and to provide feedback, and have no particular fear of repercussions. However, they have little confidence that faculty or administrators pay attention to the results, and do not even consult the ratings themselves. The students view teaching and advising as the most important roles that should be played by faculty, yet project that faculty, while also viewing teaching as the most important, would rank research above the more student-interactive advising. Canonical correlations among various scales reveal a strong emphasis on such issues of the importance of faculty respect for student views.     

Dealing with Critical Incidents in the Postformation Phase: Design and Evaluation of an Entrepreneurship Education Course

Entrepreneurship education is a growing field of research within vocational education. During the last decade, an increasing number of empirical studies have been conducted on the impact of entrepreneurship education courses (EECs). Yet studies on entrepreneurship education still lack evidence on how to prepare entrepreneurs to handle dynamism and risks appropriately as well as how to identify and address entrepreneurial challenges and upcoming crises. This paper presents an EEC that intends to step into these gaps using a case-oriented learning environment that concentrates on critical incidents in the postformation phase. Preliminary studies identified these incidents as entrepreneurial challenges that typically emerge in young start-ups and threaten to lead to severe financial crises. The design of the EEC is systematically based on educational research. The EEC offers future entrepreneurs opportunities to develop entrepreneurial competence by experiencing the critical incidents that occur in the everyday working life of a young entrepreneur of a fictional model company. The participants are encouraged to slip into the entrepreneur’s shoes, to identify emerging problems, and to reflect on solutions. The evaluation shows that the seminar was perceived as fruitful and supportive. Based on self-ratings this EEC is an intervention that women in particular seem to benefit from. The paper provides fruitful ideas to specify aims and to design EECs in the realm of risk management in the postformation phase.     

Teachers’ response to curriculum change: balancing external and internal change forces

The present study investigates teachers’ perceptions of curriculum change targeting the expanded freedom teachers were given as curriculum developers in the implementation process of the 2006 school reform in Norway. The new curriculum marks a distinct shift, moving from a content-driven to a learning outcomes-driven curriculum. Policy makers expressed confidence in teachers’ professional autonomy: local curricula had to be designed in all subjects to meet the learning outcomes defined in the curriculum. This qualitative study uses focus group interviews and addresses teachers in primary and lower secondary school. Teachers do not see their expanded freedom as real freedom; their world is deeply contextualized and they see a gap between their experienced world and the intended world of the curriculum. What was communicated as extended freedom by policy makers is perceived as extended demands. In this initial phase the teachers place themselves in the position of respondents rather than being progressive change agents themselves.     

Representation visuals' impacts on science interest and reading comprehension of adolescent English learners

This experimental study explored the impact of representation + glossary label visuals on science outcomes in a sample of 174 Grade 7 English learners (ELs). Analysis of covariance results indicated that, regardless of English proficiency, ELs in both treatment and control conditions performed similarly on reading comprehension (p = .26) and triggered interest (p = .65) measures, with a trend in means favoring the no-visuals, control group. These findings suggest that, although recommended by the literature, representation + glossary label visuals for ELs may be associated with deleterious (seductive details) rather than beneficial (dual coding) effects. Additional research is needed on higher-level visuals (organization, interpretation, transformation) to identify visual accommodations most effective in supporting ELs' science learning. Regression analysis results indicated that triggered situational interest predicted science reading comprehension above and beyond English language proficiency, suggesting the importance of instructionally stimulating this interest type. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

An evaluation of spelling pronunciations as a means of improving spelling of orthographic markers

In 4 studies we tested the efficacy of artificial, letter based pronunciations to support poor spellers in building up stable orthographic representations. In all 4 studies children’s spelling skills improved during training. However, the experimental group who was trained to articulate a spelling pronunciation before spelling the word did not show a larger benefit than a well matched control group receiving the same type of training, but without spelling pronunciations. Thus, in a series of well-controlled studies using different sets of training words and slightly different training methods spelling pronunciations turned out not to be of specific help to acquire word spellings. On the contrary, knowledge of spelling pronunciations seems to be a by-product of acquiring the correct spelling.     

Special education and subject teachers’ self‐perceived readiness to teach mathematics to low‐performing middle school students

Educational reforms during the last decade have led to a more inclusive environment for students with different needs and have placed demands on teachers’ readiness to instruct diverse students in the general classroom. Previous research has ascertained that student achievement is correlated with teacher quality and teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Today, basic competence in mathematics is more important than ever for managing routine day‐to‐day activities and therefore, identifying and educationally supporting students with low performance in mathematics is necessary. The aim of the study was to investigate the perceived teacher efficacy beliefs of special education and mathematics teachers when teaching mathematics to low‐performing middle school students. Results indicated that special education teachers had higher teacher efficacy beliefs than mathematics teachers. Teacher experience, certification or gender had no effect on teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Furthermore, subject teachers reported high pedagogical knowledge for teaching low‐performing students, and special education teachers reported having moderate mathematical subject knowledge.     

Combined metabolic gas analyser and dGPS analysis of performance in cross-country skiing

The purpose of this study was to provide a more detailed analysis of performance in cross-country skiing by combining findings from a differential global positioning system (dGPS), metabolic gas measurements, speed in different sections of a ski-course and treadmill threshold data. Ten male skiers participated in a freestyle skiing field test (5.6 km), which was performed with dGPS and metabolic gas measurements. A treadmill running threshold test was also performed and the following parameters were derived: anaerobic threshold, threshold of decompensated metabolic acidosis, respiratory exchange ratio = 1, onset of blood lactate accumulation and peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). The combined dGPS and metabolic gas measurements made detailed analysis of performance possible. The strongest correlations between the treadmill data and final skiing field test time were for VO2peak (l x min(-1)), respiratory exchange ratio = 1 (l x min(-1)) and onset of blood lactate accumulation (l x min(-1)) (r = -0.644 to - 0.750). However, all treadmill test data displayed stronger associations with speed in different stretches of the course than with final time, which stresses the value of a detailed analysis of performance in cross-country skiing. Mean oxygen uptake (VO2) in a particular stretch in relation to speed in the same stretch displayed its strongest correlation coefficients in most stretches when VO2 was presented in units litres per minute, rather than when VO2 was normalized to body mass (ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) and ml x min(-1) x kg(-2/3)). This suggests that heavy cross-country skiers have an advantage over their lighter counterparts. In one steep uphill stretch, however, VO2 (ml x min(-1) x kg(-2/3)) displayed the strongest association with speed, suggesting that in steep uphill sections light skiers could have an advantage over heavier skiers.     

Evaluation of the use of Funori for consolidation of powdering paint layers in wall paintings

Funori is a polysaccharide-based adhesive extracted from seaweeds and is generally used in the conservation of easel paintings for the consolidation of matte paint. It is appreciated since it does not change the optical properties of the consolidated materials and its mechanical properties do not change with ageing. Because of these characteristics, this research focused on the evaluation of Funori as a suitable material for the consolidation of powdering paint layers in wall paintings. Tests were carried out where Funori was applied onto painted plaster replicas, which were then artificially aged and investigated in order to evaluate the material's behaviour according to the specific properties and conditions of wall paintings. The effectiveness of the consolidation was evaluated from the point of view of adhesive power, as well as the interactions of Funori with some physical properties of the consolidated painting, such as colour and water vapour permeability and, therefore, its resistance to accelerated ageing and biological colonization. In addition, the behaviour of Funori applied on plasters contaminated with soluble salts, a frequent condition in wall paintings, was also evaluated.     

Meeting Goals and Confronting Conflict: Children's Changing Perceptions of Social Comparison

It was proposed that previously observed grade-related changes in children's social comparison behavior could be explained by the changing goals and meanings children assign to this behavior. Specifically, it was suggested that, as children progress through the school system, they become increasingly aware of the negative and positive aspects of social comparison and adjust their behavior in response to this awareness, as well as to increasingly salient self-evaluation goals. To examine these propositions, 106 elementary school children were observed in their classrooms and interviewed once a year for 3 years. Consistent with previous research, overt forms of social comparison were most frequent among younger children, whereas subtle forms of social comparison were most frequent among older children. Furthermore, with increasing grade children were likely to view overt forms of social comparison negatively and subtle forms as useful in meeting self-evaluation goals. Additional analyses revealed little association between perceptions of social comparison and actual social comparison behavior, except that perceiving subtle social comparison as useful for self-evaluative goals predicted engagement in such behavior 2 years later.