Entertainment television and hearing students' attitudes regarding the pediatric cochlear implant

The cochlear implant, a bionic technology that restores sound sensation in some patients, has become ethically controversial in the 20 years since its introduction. This controversy recently has entered American entertainment culture, with the issue of pediatric implants emerging in episodes of popular TV programs. This pilot study examines the effects of one such TV episode on the attitudes of hearing college students with minimal prior exposure to the controversy, using a posttest-only control group design. The control group (N = 17) watched an unrelated entertainment video and filled out an original 10-item attitude scale. The treatment group (N = 18), which viewed an episode of the dramatic series Gideon's Crossing addressing the cochlear implant issue, also filled out the attitude scale. A t test was applied, and it was determined that no significant difference existed between the two groups' attitudes regarding pediatric cochlear implants. Although there was wide variability on individual items, overall scores indicated that both groups were neutral, or undecided, regarding cochlear implantation in children.     

A Study of Teacher Assessment at Key Stage 1

This paper is based on semi‐structured interviews with 59 Year 2 teachers across 45 schools in one LEA. It documents their practice of and attitudes to teacher assessment and it proposes a developmental model which describes and explains their approaches. The assessment of process skills is analysed and the effects of assessment on children's learning and teachers’ practice are discussed. The manageability of teacher assessment is also examined. The findings are linked with previous and subsequent studies on teacher assessment and suggestions for further research, based on these outcomes, are offered.     

Building Vocabulary Knowledge in Preschoolers Through Shared Book Reading and Gameplay

This study moves beyond previous investigations to examine whether an educational intervention combining shared book reading with a vocabulary game increases children's vocabulary knowledge. Four‐year‐olds (N = 44) were randomly assigned to dyads in either an intervention (shared book reading plus vocabulary review game) or comparison condition (shared book reading, after‐reading vocabulary review, and game that did not teach vocabulary). After two 30‐min sessions, results demonstrated that the intervention condition outperformed the comparison condition on measures of receptive and expressive knowledge of taught vocabulary words. Children in the intervention group who scored the lowest at pretest on the receptive measure saw the most gains in taught word knowledge. Findings suggest that combining vocabulary gameplay with shared book reading improved children's learning of the vocabulary words in comparison to a comparison group.     

A wondrous birth

In this column, the author describes tending to a mother who displayed a quiet confidence throughout her pregnancy and birth experience. This birth story provides powerful support for women's inherent ability to give birth. Women already know what they need to give birth simply and easily.     

Inquiry-based Instruction with Archived, Online Data: An Intervention Study with Preservice Teachers

This mixed methods study described preservice teachers’ conceptions of tides and explored the efficacy of integrating online data into inquiry-based instruction. Data sources included a multiple-choice assessment and in-depth interviews. A total of 79 participants in secondary, middle, and early childhood teacher education programs completed the multiple-choice assessment of their baseline knowledge of tides-related concepts. A sub-group of 29 participants also was interviewed to explore their understanding of tides in more detail before instruction. Eighteen of those 29 teachers participated in the instruction, were interviewed again after the instruction, and completed the multiple-choice assessment as a posttest. The interview data sets were analyzed via a constant comparative method in order to produce profiles of each participant’s pre- and post-instruction conceptual understandings of tides. Additional quantitative analysis consisted of a paired-sample t-test, which investigated the changes in scores before and after the instructional intervention. Before instruction, all participants held alternative or alternative fragments as their conceptual understandings of tides. After completing the inquiry-based instruction that integrated online tidal data, participants were more likely to hold a scientific conceptual understanding. After instruction, some preservice teachers continued to hold on to the conception that the rotation of the moon around the Earth during one 24-hour period causes the tides to move with the moon. The quantitative results, however, indicated that pre- to post-instruction gains were significant. The findings of this study provide evidence that integrating Web-based archived data into inquiry-based instruction can be used to effectively promote conceptual change among preservice teachers.     

The influence of early science experience in kindergarten on children's immediate and later science achievement: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study

This study explores the impacts of selected early science experiences in kindergarten (frequency and duration of teachers' teaching of science, availability of sand/water table and science areas, and children's participation in cooking and science equipment activities) on children's science achievement in kindergarten and third grade using data for 8,642 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten cohort (ECLS‐K). A theoretical model that depicts the relationships between the study variables was developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Results demonstrated that availability of science materials in kindergarten classrooms facilitated teachers' teaching of science and children's participation in science activities. Likewise, the frequency and the duration of kindergarten science teaching was a significant predictor of children's science activities but not of the children's end of kindergarten science achievement scores. Children's engagement with science activities that involved using science equipment also was not a significant predictor of their end of kindergarten science achievement. However, children's participation in cooking activities was. Children's prior knowledge, motivation, socio‐economic status, and gender were all statistically significant predictors of their science achievement at the end of kindergarten and end of third grade. Results of this study indicate that early science experiences provided in kindergarten are not strong predictors of children's immediate and later science achievement. Findings of the study suggest that the limited time and nature of science instruction might be related to the limited effect of the science experiences. Implications for teacher education programs and educational policy development are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 217–235, 2011     

Changing policy discourses: Constructing literacy inequalities

This paper explores the ways in which policy discourses have constructed rationales for addressing adult literacy over the last 50 years. In particular, we examine how policy positions the literacy learner as citizen within discourses of rights and equity. Taking the case of the UK, we compare two key documents produced at different historical moments. Our discourse analysis reveals a long standing discourse of individual deficit within a functional model of literacy. This is now overlaid by a discourse of social exclusion that views adult learners as entrepreneurial global citizens who must compete within a market economy.     

Seeking construct validity grounded in constructivist epistemology: development of the survey of contemporary learning environments

This study focused on the development of a new classroom environment instrument for late-elementary students. The development of the survey of contemporary learning environments (SoCLE) followed a content analysis of three similar instruments on constructivist learning environments and the literature on characteristics of contemporary learning environments. Through a bottom-up development process, grounded in the epistemological foundations of constructivism, we note the difficulty in operationalizing student perceptions of contemporary learning environments and point to challenges in developing well-grounded construct validity. In a field study of 453 fifth–sixth grade students, the SoCLE was defined with three subscales: Reflective Processes (α?=?0.68), Ownership (α?=?0.65), and Multiple Perspectives (α?=?0.53). The Ownership and Multiple Perspectives subscales indicated relationships with overall academic achievement assessed by a nation-wide testing program, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. In a multiple linear regression model, ownership predicted the overall composite achievement score, as well as reading comprehension, social studies, and science subscores. Multiple perspectives predicted the language subscore. These findings highlight that characteristics of contemporary learning environments that are epistemologically based may support achievement in late-elementary students.     

CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY: EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The CATE (Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly) was administered to 180 children, 20 at each level from age 3 to age 11. Results suggest that children at all age levels have limited knowledge of and contact with older people. Few children gave positive responses about growing old themselves; most did not perceive being old as positive. Attitudes of children toward the elderly suggest a mixture of positive feelings of affect and either stereotypic or negative attitudes about the physical aspects of age. It was determined that children's concepts of age increase in accuracy as they increase in age. Educational implications include providing accurate information about the elderly and actual contact with older people, enabling children to assess their perceptions of the aging process and how aging affects them, and exposing children to an unbiased look at the attributes, behaviors, and characteristics of the elderly in a wide variety of roles in order to avoid or extinguish the formation of stereotypic, negative attitudes.     

Making Visible the Behaviors that Influence Learning Environment: A Qualitative Exploration of Computer Science Classrooms

The authors conducted ethnographic research to provide deep understanding of the learning environment of a selection of computer science classrooms at a large, research university in the United States. Categories emerging from data analysis included (1) impersonal environment and guarded behavior; and (2) the creation and maintenance of informal hierarchy resulting in competitive behaviors. Both of these categories describe patterns of recurring communication taking place in the classroom learning environments. We identify particular and recognizable types of discourse, which, when prevalent in a classroom, can preclude the development of a collaborative and/or supportive learning environment. Alternative communication choices, both explicit and implicit, can lead to a more balanced and supportive climate for learning. An example of a successful effort to alter traditional patterns of interaction, without compromising the quality of learning, in a higher education astrophysics class is presented.