Teachers’ capacity for organizational learning: the effects of school culture and context

This paper investigates how key elements of school culture are associated with teachers’ capacity to find and act on new information. We analyzed survey data from 3,579 teachers located in 117 schools which were a randomly selected sample from 9 states in the US. We found that school cultural components such as academic press, student support, and trust and respect among teachers promote teachers’ capacity for organizational learning. We also found that the role of teacher professional culture in molding the capacity for organizational learning is critical. In terms of school contexts, we identified that school level (elementary, middle, and high school) was associated with teachers’ capacity for organizational learning in 2 different ways. First, as the school level increases, the capacity for organizational learning tends to decrease. Second, as school level increases, the positive relation between reflective dialogue and teachers’ capacity for organizational learning is weakened. Implications of these results are discussed.     

College chemistry and piaget: The relationship of aptitude and achievement measures

Cognitive performance on “An Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks” (IPDT) was related to the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and performance in both college chemistry lecture and laboratory classes. The IPDT is a valid and reliable 72-item, untimed, multiple-choice paper-and-pencil inventory. It has 18 subtests grouped into five problem areas representing different Piagetian tasks. Subjects (n = 225) from two different levels of introductory chemistry courses participated. IPDT scores were significantly correlated with SAT and placement data. In overall Piagetian development, “A” students rated higher than others. Performance in classification and proportional reasoning problem areas correlated with course achievement, particularly for higher-level students. Weakest areas of development were indicated by subtest scores and are described with implications for course performance. Finally, Piagetian tasks were related to learning and instructional activities in introductory chemistry classes and are discussed.     

The effectiveness of simulated robots for supporting the learning of introductory programming: a multi-case case study

This work investigates the effectiveness of simulated robots as tools to support the learning of programming. After the completion of a systematic review and exploratory research, a multi-case case study was undertaken. A simulator, named Kebot, was developed and used to run four 10-hour programming workshops. Twenty-three student participants (aged 16–18) in addition to 23 pre-service, and 3 in-service, teachers took part. The effectiveness of this intervention was determined by considering opinions, attitudes, and motivation as well as by analysing students’ programming performance. Pre- and post-questionnaires, in- and post-workshop exercises, and interviews were used. Participants enjoyed learning using the simulator and believed the approach to be valuable and engaging. The performance of students indicates that the simulator aids learning as most completed tasks to a satisfactory standard. Evidence suggests robot simulators can offer an effective means of introducing programming. Recommendations to support the development of other simulators are provided.     

Factors Affecting Efficiency of Inductive Reasoning

This experiment studied the separate effects on student achievement and time on-task of three components of the team learning technique, Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD): cooperative rewards, group tasks, and a focused schedule of instruction. The subjects were 336 fourth and fifth grade students in 14 classes who studied language mechanics for nine weeks in one of five treatments. The results of a curriculum-specific achievement test and behavioral observation of time on-task indicated significantly greater performance in cooperative than traditional reward structures, but significantly lower performance in group than individual task structures. The focused schedule was found to be an important component of STAD in increasing academic achievement.     

Real‐fiction versus historical reality: Rhetorical purification in “kent state”—the docudrama

This essay analyzes the ways in which Kent State, the made‐for‐TV docudrama, purified the image of William Knox Schroeder‐one of the four students killed on May 4, 1970, by Ohio National Guardsmen on the Kent State University campus. The author was a boyhood friend of Schroeder, his roommate at Kent State University at the time of his death, and an observer of many of the major events of the Kent State affair. This essay views the making of a docudrama as a complex problem to be solved and characterizes a docudramatist as a less‐than‐perfect decision maker. Also, this essay views Kent State as a real‐fiction through which the act of rhetorical purification was accomplished. The paper discusses the docudrama's efforts in this regard by analyzing important scenes in which inaccuracies are presented in order to achieve the purification of Schroeder's image.