National and Institutional Policies on Open Access in the United States

National and institutional policies on open access are not yet fully established in the United States because of the manner in which the open access movement has evolved. In this report, the authors illustrate how the open access movement has evolved within each community libraries, universities, publishing companies, government agencies, the professoriate, public interest groups, and the U.S. Congress and note what trends now are beginning to emerge.     

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Level of Reflective Thinking

Many courses aim to promote reflective thinking or reflection upon practice, but there is a scarcity of readily usable instruments to determine whether students engage in reflective thinking and, if so, to what extent. This paper reports the development and testing of such an instrument. To ensure validity, the constructs measured were derived from the extensive literature on reflective thinking, particularly the writing of Mezirow. A combination of the literature review and initial testing led to the development of a four-scale instrument measuring four constructs; habitual action, understanding, reflection and critical reflection. The final version of the instrument was tested with a sample of 303 students from eight classes of a health science faculty. The reliability of the scales was established by acceptable Cronbach alpha values. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the proposed four-factor structure. Comparison of mean scores between the eight classes showed predicted significant differences on each of the four scales between undergraduate and postgraduate students.     

Learning to teach physics through inquiry: The lived experience of a graduate teaching assistant

This investigation examines the difficulties encountered by one graduate teaching assistant as she taught Physics for Elementary Education, a large‐enrollment, inquiry‐based science course taught at a public Midwestern university. The methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology served as the lens to investigate the research question, “What is the lived experience of a graduate teaching assistant as she learned to teach physics through inquiry to elementary education students?” We summarize the findings in terms of the blending of two conceptual frameworks: orientations to science teaching and professional identity. We learned that fundamental beliefs about the nature of science support certain orientations, and if those beliefs remain unchallenged, then the orientation is unlikely to change. Finally, we discuss implications for strategies that may assist college‐level instructors with changing their orientation to teaching science. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 584–602, 2004     

Some implications of the results of a case study for the design of pre-constructed, dynamic geometry sketches and accompanying materials

The study that informs this article was undertaken to investigate the benefits and limitations of using pre-constructed,web-based, dynamic geometry sketches inactivities related to deductive proof at the secondary school level. Two distinct themes emerged from analysis of the results– first, the relationship between the activities and the development of geometric thinking skills, and second, the relationship between the design of the materials, and the exploration process. This article focuses on the latter. An analysis of the data showed that task question and sketch provision must work together to create an environment for exploration. It also indicated that explicit attention to visual interpretation and exploration using change is required in order for students to benefit fully from their experiences with pre-constructed dynamic geometry sketches. This article draws attention to the idea that pre-constructed dynamic sketches(whether web-based or not) and accompanying materials are central elements of the learning activity of which they are a part,and therefore, that decisions about their design have the potential to support or impede the development of exploration strategies and geometric thinking skills. An examination of student responses to particular questions in light of visual and dynamic geometry research suggests that through the materials we may be able to improve students' use of the mathematical investigation process in exploring pre-constructed dynamic geometry sketches. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Relationships and learning: a review and investigation of narrative coherence in looked‐after children in primary school

This review and investigation draws on principles from attachment theory regarding the importance of early relationships and their impact on the coherence and organisation of psychological functions. Comparisons are made between the narrative coherence scores of an experimental group of 17 looked‐after children with problematic relationship histories in mainstream school and a matched control group of 17 of their peers. There were significant differences between the groups in the coherence of children's narratives, denial and avoidance in story play themes and in their use of intentionality. The paper considers the theory and discusses the results in terms of the implications for teaching, learning and intervention.     

The Dynamic Association of Interest and Confusion: The Potential for Moderation by Utility Value and Gender

Abstract

To better understand students’ experiences while learning in an online computer-science course, we adopted a dynamical systems analytic framework in which we tested linked patterns of confusion and interest over time and investigated whether and how those patterns might change as a function of students’ exposure to a utility value (UV) intervention and gender. We assessed interest and confusion via event contingent experience-sampled questionnaires that displayed immediately after students had engaged with key examples or exercises. Results indicated that students’ exposure to a UV intervention and gender affected the levels of confusion that students reported and the associations between interest and confusion levels over time. Implications for educators and researchers are discussed.