Enhancing Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Plant Processes Conceptions

Researchers examined how an inquiry-based instructional treatment emphasizing interrelated plant processes influenced 210 elementary pre-service teachers’ (PTs) conceptions of three plant processes, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and transpiration, and the interrelated nature of these processes. The instructional treatment required PTs to predict the fate of a healthy plant in a sealed terrarium (Plant-in-a-Jar), justify their predictions, observe the plant over a 5-week period, and complete guided inquiry activities centered on one of the targeted plant processes each week. Data sources included PTs’ pre- and post-predictions with accompanying justifications, course artifacts such as weekly terrarium observations and science journal entries, and group models of the interrelated plant processes occurring within the sealed terraria. A subset of 33 volunteer PTs also completed interviews the week the Plant-in-a-Jar scenario was introduced and approximately 4 months after the instructional intervention ended. Pre- and post-predictions from all PTs as well as interview responses from the subgroup of PTs, were coded into categories based on key plant processes emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards. Study findings revealed that PTs developed more accurate conceptions of plant processes and their interrelated nature as a result of the instructional intervention. Primary patterns of change in PTs’ plant process conceptions included development of more accurate conceptions of how water is used by plants, more accurate conceptions of photosynthesis features, and more accurate conceptions of photosynthesis and cellular respiration as transformative processes.     

Apprenticeship in England – the continued role of the academic–vocational divide in shaping learner identities

Successive governments have pledged to enhance the quality of apprenticeship in Britain so as to achieve ‘parity of esteem’ with academic study. Yet, at the same time, the discourse of the academic-vocational divide has dominated the academic, policy-maker and practitioner debates. This paper draws on two recent studies designed to explore the learner identities of apprentices on different apprenticeship programmes: motor vehicle maintenance (level 2) and engineering (level 3). Through this work, we are able to explore the role of the academic–vocational divide in identity construction and to challenge assumptions about vocational learners. It will be argued, that, far from being ‘naturally practical’, the young people draw on normative discursive categories in their construction of continuous identities. The findings raise important questions about the UK apprenticeship system as currently conceived, while at the same time drawing attention to the possibility for change.     

The relationship of rapid serial naming and word reading in normally developing readers: An exploratory model

Even though researchers have established that rapid serial naming (RSN), or the ability to name within a restricted category of visual stimuli quickly, is a significant predictor of word reading, the predictive nature of RSN is not well understood. To investigate the relationship of RSN and other variables thought to contribute to beginning word reading (phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, memory span, processing speed, and articulation), a preliminary/exploratory model of word reading was developed and then tested by path analysis. Results indicated that no variable in the model could fully `explain' RSN; processing speed, but not articulation, contributed to RSN performance. RSN and orthographic knowledge were significantly related, but this relationship was due to the effects of processing speed. In terms of their unique contributions to the variance in word reading, RSN, phonological awareness, and orthographic knowledge were independent of each other. While these results pertain only to normal readers and are preliminary in nature, they may provide a basis for a clear interpretation of similar studies conducted with both normal and dyslexic readers.