Hands-On: Investigating the role of physical manipulatives in spatial training

Studies show that spatial interventions lead to improvements in mathematics. However, outcomes vary based on whether physical manipulatives (embodied action) are used during training. This study compares the effects of embodied and non-embodied spatial interventions on spatial and mathematics outcomes. The study has a randomized, controlled, pre-post, follow-up, training design (N = 182; mean age 8 years; 49% female; 83.5% White). We show that both embodied and non-embodied spatial training approaches improve spatial skills compared to control. However, we conclude that embodied spatial training using physical manipulatives leads to larger, more consistent gains in mathematics and greater depth of spatial processing than non-embodied training. These findings highlight the potential of spatial activities, particularly those that use physical materials, for improving children's mathematics skills.     

专题:港澳图书馆学术专题(二)[程焕文编委组织]-香港文化研究资料与广东文献-香港中文大学图书馆馆藏之香港古典诗文资料介绍

<正> 粤港关系密切,文化同源。自辛亥革命起,广东人口大量迁移香港,当中不乏前清翰林、前国民政府之军政要员及书香世代之硕学鸿儒。他们到港或开坛讲学、作育英才,或结社唱酬、谈文说艺,或搜集文献、钻研学问,莫不以倡教化、开民智、兴艺文为志业,于香港留下大量宝贵的文化遗产。     

Departmentalized,Self-Contained,or Somewhere in Between: Understanding Elementary Grade-Level Organizational Decision-Making

Recent trends indicate a move away from self-contained classrooms and toward content-focused departmentalization in elementary schools. This study takes a snapshot of the existing organizational structures used in elementary schools in one district and explores administrators’ beliefs and practices regarding this phenomenon. Our findings suggest administrators base their decisions to organize grade levels on various factors, including their own experiences, contextual dynamics, and personal perceptions of outcomes for students and teachers.     

The Salience and Utility of School Sex Education to Young Women

This article explores young women's accounts of the role that school sex education had in their learning about sex. It focuses on the influence of school sex education on behaviour, the importance of timing in understanding its utility, and the extent to which other sources of information complement or supplement school sex education. Thirty in-depth interviews and eight group discussions were conducted with female pupils from six schools in the east of Scotland. Nearly all of those interviewed cited school as a useful source in learning about sex. In particular, lessons intended to develop pupils' skills were valued. These were thought likely to influence behaviour positively in the future, although only one person could illustrate how this had already happened. A common feature of accounts was that school sex education had been delivered 'too late' for themselves or their peers, and it tended to be seen as an introduction or as supplementary to other sources, particularly friends, magazines and mothers. The utility of school sex education should not be dismissed but more attention should be given to the needs of those who become sexually active in their early teens.     

Keeping the Focus on the Child: Supporting and Reporting on Teaching and Learning With a Classroom-Based Performance Assessment System

Abstract

This article describes the findings of studies conducted on a large-scale, classroom-based performance assessment of literacy for the early grades designed to provide information that is useful for reporting, as well as teaching. Technical studies found the assessment to be a promising instrument that is reliable and valid. Follow-up studies of the assessment's use point to its positive impact on teachers' practice and on school and district policies. The studies' findings suggest that classroom-based performance assessment can be a viable accountability, as well as instructional, tool, capturing a range of students' abilities in a range of formats, and that use of such an assessment has the potential to enhance teachers' knowledge about literacy and their abilities to effectively support students' learning.     

Developing Faculty Research Skills: Lessons Learned

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this reflective commentary is to describe and analyze how efforts were made to engage polytechnic nursing faculty in a multi-institutional, interprofessional research project, and the effectiveness of methods used. We describe the professional development and project management activities provided along with our reflection as to their effectiveness. The faculty members worked at a polytechnic, a small vocational and technical institution in Western Canada with approximately 14,000 full-time students, where faculty were not required to participate in research. Assumptions were made about their interest, knowledge, and ability regarding the research process. These assumptions led the investigators to implement professional development activities that were not effective. Spontaneous informal, anecdotal feedback from some faculty members to the authors, and the authors’ own observations, informed the results. Assumptions about novice faculty research skills may not be accurate; therefore, an effort should be made to perform a pre-assessment of these skills, to create a lesson plan, to assess the effectiveness of teaching strategies, and to evaluate the effectiveness of supportive measures in order to address learning needs.     

Reflection on their first five years of teaching: understanding staying and impact power

Teacher turnover in urban schools is occurring at a breakneck pace; thus, it is important for us to understand the characteristics of teachers who stay and succeed in these settings. In order to address this need, this study examines the preparation and induction experiences of teachers who completed a Transition to Teaching – a funded urban apprenticeship program. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How do participants describe the characteristics that influence their five-year retention? (2) How do participants describe their success as teachers? and (3) How do participants describe the professional support they received in their preparation program and during the subsequent four years after completing the program? Quantitative and qualitative data via interviews, focus group, and an examination of teachers’ district performance scores were utilized, as a means of understanding teachers’ staying and impact power. Staying power refers to the ability to endure or last within challenging contexts by possessing strength enough to persevere. Impact power refers to their ability to influence student learning. Four assertions describe the factors influencing developing teachers who stay and have impact as they teach in challenging urban schools, suggesting that these teachers possess a strong work ethic, seek specific resources to improve pedagogy, have the knowledge and skills necessary to differentiate instruction, and seek teacher leadership opportunities in their schools. This study suggests several implications for teacher educators, educational leaders, administrators, and researchers working with new teachers in urban schools or with populations that are predominantly children of color.     

Place,food practices,and scientific knowledge

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This commentary seeks to extend the discussion on place, food practices, and ancestral scientific knowledge presented in Silvia Lizette Ramos de...     

Happily Ever After? A Content Analysis of Romantic Ideals in Disney Princess Films

This study presents a quantitative content analysis of the romantic expressions portrayed in the 12 Disney princess movies. The films were analyzed for presence of romantic expressions (ideals and challenges) and the character reactions to those expressions. Results indicated that romantic expressions are prevalent in these films, with idealization of other as the most common ideal expressed. The transitional era of films (i.e., princess movies released between 1989 and 1998) contained roughly the same number of ideals as the other eras of classic (i.e., movies released before 1989) and modern (i.e., movies released after 1998) combined. Further, ideals were three times more common than challenges in classic films, whereas ideals and challenges were expressed equally in transitional and modern films. In general, across all three eras, challenges were most commonly met with punishing and negative reactions, whereas ideals were most often rewarded. Finally, there were no sex differences in terms of ideal expressions, but male characters were the dominant pursuers in 9 of the 11 films that featured a romantic relationship.