Empathy Development in Teacher Candidates

Using a grounded theory research design, the author examined 180 reflective essays of teacher candidates who participated in a ‘Learning Process Project,’ in which they were asked to synthesize and document their discoveries about the learning process over the course of a completely new learning experience as naïve learners. This study explored (1) the use of grounded theory as a systematic and exploratory research tool, (2) the transformative insights of the teacher candidates as they discovered the impact of the naïve learner perspective on their teaching philosophies, and (3) the role of the naïve learner perspective in effective refinement of teaching and learning ability. Further discussion in this study examined the potential of the ‘Learning Process Project’ to assist post secondary instructors as mentors in supporting empathic teacher candidates who will in turn support and mentor the children in their care.     

Assistant Teachers in Head Start Classrooms: Comparing to and Working With Lead Teachers

Research Findings: The purpose of the present study is to examine the degree to which assistant and lead teachers work together in Head Start classrooms in 3 domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Pairs of lead and assistant teachers from 14 Head Start classrooms were simultaneously observed for 1 morning to examine the quality of teachers’ interactions with students in these 3 domains. First we examined the mean levels of the 3 domains and how they differed among teachers. Overall, results indicated moderate levels of emotional support and classroom organization and low levels of instructional support. In comparing lead and assistant teachers, we found that lead teachers offered significantly higher levels of instructional support than assistant teachers. Next we examined how the quality of lead and assistant teachers’ interactions were related over time. Concurrent correlations were nonsignificant. Lagged correlations suggested that lead and assistant teachers’ interactions with students were related over time. Practice or Policy: Assistant teachers offered comparable levels of emotional support and classroom organization but did not offer the same levels of instructional support. This suggests that assistant teachers are able to help provide a nurturing environment and help with structuring activities despite having lower entry-level qualification requirements. This study supports the notion that assistant teachers as well as lead teachers should be included in quality improvement efforts.     

Using Action Research to Innov8: Facilitating Culture Shifts in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

ABSTRACT

The mission of a community college is distinct from a research one university, where empirical research is valued over investigation of discipline-based teaching and learning. The open-access, affordable, workforce, and transfer emphasis that serves many non-traditional community college students is a rich, meaningful environment for fostering the scholarship of teaching and learning, yet despite an emphasis on best practices and student success outcomes, teaching, and learning in this environment is an underappreciated element of the faculty role. This study explores the use of action research to facilitate engagement in the scholarship of teaching and instructional innovation. The mixed-method action research design incorporated quantitative and qualitative analysis from a wide variety of data sources and triangulated findings through a variation of techniques, including ongoing researcher dialogue and ratings. Action research serves as both the method for this study and the mechanism for faculty research on classroom innovations. This was substantiated as a catalyst for cultivating ongoing inquiry and professional growth. The Innov8 program and integration of action research appears to have a long-term, substantive impact on faculty perspectives, specifically influencing faculty culture, continued educational investigation, and ultimately student learning outcomes.     

The Impact of Caregiving Disruptions of Previously Institutionalized Children on Multiple Outcomes in Late Childhood

This study examined disruptions in caregiving, as well as the association of these disruptions, with cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes at age 12 in a sample of 136 Romanian children who were abandoned to institutions as infants and who experienced a range of subsequent types of care. Children were found to experience significantly more caregiving disruptions (CGD) earlier in life than later in childhood. More frequent CGD predicted increases in externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at age 12. Results are discussed in terms of the association between CGD and the long-term development of children who have experienced institutional rearing.     

Statistically Comparing the Performance of Multiple Automated Raters Across Multiple Items

Automated scoring systems are typically evaluated by comparing the performance of a single automated rater item-by-item to human raters. This presents a challenge when the performance of multiple raters needs to be compared across multiple items. Rankings could depend on specifics of the ranking procedure; observed differences could be due to random sampling of items and/or responses in the validation sets. Any statistical hypothesis test of the differences in rankings needs to be appropriate for use with rater statistics and adjust for multiple comparisons. This study considered different statistical methods to evaluate differences in performance across multiple raters and items. These methods are illustrated leveraging data from the 2012 Automated Scoring Assessment Prize competitions. Using average rankings to test for significant differences in performance between automated and human raters, findings show that most automated raters did not perform statistically significantly different from human-to-human inter-rater agreement for essays but they did perform differently on short-answer items. Differences in average rankings between most automated raters were not statistically significant, even when their observed performance differed substantially.     

Professional Development for International Teachers: Examining TPACK and Technology Integration Decision Making

This mixed-methods study explored the impacts of a semester-long technology professional development for secondary school international teachers from developing nations around the world. We used (a) a survey approach to examine international teachers' perceived technology integration abilities using the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework and (b) a design task to understand their rationale behind technology integration decisions. As a group (N = 16), international teachers reported increased abilities in all TPACK domains. Qualitative analysis of their rationales revealed that though teachers learned to consider the affordances of technology, technology access issues were pivotal in their choice and use of technology in instruction planning. With education becoming increasingly global, the study has implications for the motivation and design of technology professional development programs for international teachers.     

Do footfall patterns in forefoot runners change over an exhaustive run?

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible footfall pattern changes in habitual forefoot runners over a prolonged, exhaustive run. A prolonged run was performed to exhaustion in 14 habitual forefoot runners. Vertical ground reaction forces (VGRFs) and kinematics were collected at the beginning and end of the run. Ankle plantar flexor torque and triceps surae electromyographic activity were measured during pre- and post-run isometric contractions. By run’s end, there was an increase in VGRF loading rate and impact peak magnitude, greater dorsiflexion at foot contact and greater knee flexion angle throughout stance. Ankle plantar flexor torque decreased significantly from pre- to post-run tests. This was accompanied by a decrease in the integrated electromyographic activity (iEMG) output for the lateral and medial gastrocnemius. There were significant changes in landing mechanics for forefoot runners that indicate a transition towards more midfoot footfall patterns. A contributing factor may be ankle plantar flexor muscle fatigue that, at touchdown, is exposed to exaggerated eccentric loading. These findings suggest that a forefoot running pattern may become difficult to maintain in longer endurance events, and thus runners should pay attention to this in training to improve performance and mitigate potential injury.     

Benefits of an Intervention Focused on Oddity and Seriation

Research Findings: A total of 72 Head Start children (M age = 53.26 months, SD = 5.07) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions. Some were taught the oddity principle (choosing the object that differs from others in a group) and seriation (ordering objects on a dimension and inserting new objects into such orders), which are forms of thinking that develop naturally at about age 4. Others were taught letters or numbers or were engaged in art activities in sessions matched in frequency, timing, and extent. Toy animals were used as props in lessons that scaffolded the children's learning. Preschoolers in the cognitive group improved their cognitive skills significantly more than the others and also became better than the numbers or art groups at identifying letters, as measured by the Letters and Words scale of the Stanford Early School Achievement Test 2. This indicates that with improved oddity and seriation skills, children profited more from lessons and letter sounds offered to all children by their classroom teacher. Comparable results were demonstrated for the oddity and seriation instruction and progress in counting and adding and subtracting objects as measured by the Woodcock–Johnson III Applied Problems scale. Practice or Policy: The content and procedures embodied in this research enable children who are economically disadvantaged to make progress in learning letters and in numeracy when enrolled in preschool. Brief periods of such activities for most of the school year may be an effective supplement to lessons on letters, letter sounds, and numeracy offered in preschool curricula.