Promoting basic arithmetic competence in early school years–using a response to intervention model

This study investigated whether mathematics education based on a multi-tiered response to intervention (RTI) model can support students' arithmetic competence in primary schools in Sweden. The intent was to identify and support students at risk of failure. In this study, 113 students participated in the intervention, and 30 students participated in the control group. Both groups were followed from Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 and compared. During the first semester in Grade 1, all students were taught basic addition and subtraction with explicit instructions in Tier 1. Those who did not respond to Tier 1 after one semester were provided support within Tier 2 during the second semester. The same was repeated in grade 2 and the students that did not respond to Tier 2 were supported within Tier 3. At the end of Grade 2, students in the intervention group performed significantly higher on the basic arithmetic competence in the number range 1–9 than the control group. No significant difference was found in a test measuring basic arithmetic competence in the number range 10–19. This study shows that using multi-tiered RTI might be sufficient to identify and support students at risk in early arithmetic competence.     

Factors related to a college student's career optimism and their perception of career services

A student's expectation for a positive outcome for their future career development is referred to as career optimism. Career Services, a common university department, utilizes the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to understand how students form career interests and make educational and vocational choices. Then Career Services can assist students in finding a career that matches their interests. We hypothesize that students' perception of the assistance provided by the Career Services department when the SCCT is applied, impacts the student's career optimism. In addition, we hypothesize, and results support, that different factors, such as a student's chosen major, impact student perception of Career Services and career optimism.     

Researchers as evaluators: tasks, tensions and politics

Researchers undertake a number of different research evaluation tasks, taking up a substantial part of their research time—estimated to about one work month per year for a professor. This paper addresses the various evaluator roles and tasks researchers take on, and the tensions they involve. How the research evaluator role may conflict with the researcher role and with societal expectations is discussed, as well as the intrinsic tensions in peer review; including expertise vs. impartiality, evaluators as neutral judges vs. exercise of power and influence, divergent peer assessments vs. the need for unanimous conclusions in peer panels, peer review vs. increase in quantitative indicators, and accountability to society vs. peer review as preserving the autonomy of science. The examination of these tensions provides insight in the political aspects of peer review, and a basis for discussing an agenda for future studies on the role of peer evaluators. Major future challenges for peer review concern how to meet demands for transparency and public accountability, and maintain academic autonomy.     

Medical and health informatics services during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic should be virtual,tailored, responsive and interactive: a case study in Belgium

This is part of a new series in this regular feature regarding trends in the provision of information by health science libraries. By sharing expertise and drawing together relevant trends the series intends to serve as a road map for both health science librarians and health informatics professionals. This article shows how a medical and biomedical research library changed practices, and reassessed user needs for the COVID‐19 emergency. Discusses changes to online education (and collaborative working) to provide user‐friendly services, researcher support tailored to need and re‐visioning library space. J.M.     

A Grounded Practical Theory Reconstruction of the Communication Practice of Instructor-facilitated Collegiate Classroom Discussion

Instructor-facilitated collegiate classroom discussion (IFCCD) is a highly valued yet undertheorized instructional practice. Research examining the structure of classroom interaction, scholarship advocating rationales for discussion-based pedagogy, and an investigation of a related interactive classroom communication practice provide an informative backdrop for this study. The data in the study were collected using action-implicative discourse analytic techniques throughout a semester in three classrooms at the same university. Reconstructing the three levels of the practice through grounded practical theory—the problem/dilemma level, the normative situated ideals level, and the talk/discourse techniques level—provides some insight into why in two of these cases of IFCCD, engaged and participatory discussion was accomplished. The shared dilemma of the practice is reconstructed as the problem of engagement in which both individual engagement with curricular content and shared engagement in co-creation of the discussion are valued. The dilemmatic nature of the practice is explored specifically in terms of traditional and nontraditional teacher talk and associated participation structures. Significant similarities and differences across the three cases are found and examined in the reconstructions of instructor situated ideals and third-turn facilitation techniques. Initial conclusions are incorporated in the discussion of discourse-based applications for practitioners interested in facilitating discussion in college classrooms.     

A Case Study of Needs Assessment in Teacher In-Service Development

In 1996, The Ministry of Education of the Province of Quebec authorized a plan to support the integration of new information technologies and communications (NTIC) in its schools. An expenditure of $318 million dollars was announced for the purchase and upgrade of hardware and software. In response to this initiative, The Concordia University Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) approached the Quebec schoolboards, proposing partnerships between them and the Centre to facilitate the integration of these technologies into pedagogical practices. This article describes a needs assessment performed by the university in two Quebec elementary schools. The collected data revealed that teachers are currently using computers primarily for word processing and to prepare report cards. While they are somewhat dissatisfied with previous professional development, they are still highly interested in receiving training on how to better incorporate technology into their pedagogical practices. General recommendations and a workshop are outlined.     

China's recruitment of African university students: policy efficacy and unintended outcomes

This article explores how Sino-African relations are affected by the growing number of Africans who pursue higher education in China. China actively recruits African university students in order to increase soft power and generate income from the export of education services. Semi-structured interviews with African university students suggest that China fails to reach these policy objectives because the students are disappointed with the quality of the education they receive. However, the students engage in trade and contribute to the fast-growing export of Chinese products to African markets, thereby reinforcing the ties between China and Africa in unintended ways.     

Fostering partnerships with families: academic service-learning in the Little Village

ABSTRACT

Strong family-teacher partnerships increase family engagement, promoting positive outcomes for children. Early childhood educators need knowledge, skills, and dispositions for establishing strong, meaningful partnerships with diverse families. This research investigated the impact of academic service-learning (ASL) on undergraduate students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for partnering with culturally and linguistically diverse families to promote young children’s early academic learning. Participants included nine undergraduates in an early childhood teacher preparation course, ten culturally and linguistically diverse families, and thirteen 2- to 5-year-old children. In this mixed-methods study, written student ASL reflections, pre- and post-ASL student surveys, and parent evaluations were analyzed. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Students entered the ASL experience with excitement and a mostly positive approach; (2) Early to mid-semester, students articulated a high degree of nervousness and discomfort as well as challenges to partnership-building, yet also noted family interest and engagement; and (3) Mid- to late semester, most students expressed their growing confidence in their own skills for relating to diverse families, and identified family strengths. Our findings support ASL as an effective teacher-preparation pedagogy to help students build family-teacher partnerships.