University students’ conceptions of the good teacher: A Hong Kong perspective

One way that universities assess teaching effectiveness is by eliciting student feedback. However, what standards do students themselves use to judge whether a lecturer is a ‘good’ teacher? As part of a study carried out at a Hong Kong university, students were interviewed about their first-year learning experience and asked what they felt constituted ‘good’ and “bad’ teaching. Unlike when asked to complete teacher effectiveness surveys, no criteria or characteristics were given. Responses focused primarily on teaching skills that supported student learning and encouraged critical thinking, particularly the teacher’s ability to give clear explanations supported by relevant, practical examples.     

Domain‐General Learning and Memory Substrates of Reading Acquisition

Prior research has demonstrated that linguistic skills and knowledge contribute to successful reading acquisition. In contrast, little is known about the influence of domain‐general learning abilities on reading. To investigate associations between general memory functions and reading during the early stages of learning to read, performance measures of word‐level reading and of declarative and procedural learning were obtained in a cohort of 140 children, annually during their first 4 years of school. We hypothesized that differences in learning task performance would relate to reading ability in the early years, when children are first learning to read. We employed a series of linear mixed effects models to test the relationships between learning abilities and reading across time. Declarative learning performance predicted reading ability in first grade, while procedural learning performance predicted reading ability in second grade. Our findings suggest that reading acquisition may depend in part on general capacities for learning.     

The Relationship Between Changes in Teachers' Self-efficacy Beliefs and the Science Teaching Environment of Danish First-Year Elementary Teachers

This study's purpose was to determine whether science teaching self-efficacy beliefs among new teachers of elementary science interact significantly with teaching environments in their schools. The study hypothesized a mechanism by which environments can interact with self-efficacy and, consequently, affect the quality of science teaching. The self-efficacy of new elementary teachers from Denmark was assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of their first year of teaching. Their teaching success and environments were also assessed. It was found that positive changes in self-efficacy seemed positively related to the occurrence of environmental factors helpful to teaching (r= .401; p= .011; n= 39). In three case studies, there was some support for this association from assessments, interviews, and success in teaching.     

A study of test speededness as a potential source of bias in the quantitative score of the Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business

Minority and majority groups were administered a special quantitative section of the Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business (ATGSB) under varying time conditions to determine if increasing the time allotted for the test would eliminate any bias that may exist due to an irrelevant speed factor. By a commonly employed definition, the special section was found to be moderately speeded for all candidates under normal time conditions. Neither the main effects due to time condition nor the interaction between the ethnic and time factors was statistically significant, suggesting that increasing the time per item does not reduce any bias that may exist in the test. Although a substantial proportion of minority group scores fell at or below the chance level, these appeared to retain fairly high levels of reliability.The authors wish to thank the Graduate Business Admissions Council, which supported this research.     

Developing the Curriculum for Pupils Experiencing Difficulties in Learning in Ordinary Schools: a systematic,comparative analysis

Abstract A comparative analysis of the process of curriculum development in a sample of 10 primary and 10 secondary schools is presented. Interview reports and school documentation were analysed through the construction and application of a set of grounded data categories. These categories were grouped into a model in order to represent the process of curriculum development. The analysis revealed differences between schools which were associated with the organisation of provision for children experiencing difficulties in learning. The interplay between the organisation of provision and the process of curriculum development is discussed.     

Use of the semantic differential technique to study attitudes during classroom lessons

The use of semantic differential scales to detect attitude change and differences in attitudes in classroom lessons was studied with regard to semantic dimensions, reliability of scales, sensitivity, and construct validity. Two lessons in mathematics differing in terms of intrinsic interest were designed for each of two Grade 8 and two Grade 12 classes. The lessons were monitored at three points by use of semantic differential ratings. Additional ratings were used to provide information on reliability. In addition to factors similar to evaluation, activity, and potency, a general factor of affect was found. Composite scales proved to have adequate reliability for these subjects, and were sensitive to attitude changes that accompanied the lessons. The data were interpreted as supporting the construct validity of the composite scales, particularly the general affect factor.

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Résumé L'auteur a étudié l'emploi de l'échelle de la différentielle sémantique pour découvrir des changements d'attitudes et des différences d'attitudes dans la classe par rapport aux dimensions sémantiques, à la valeur opérationnelle des échelles, a la sensibilité, et à la validité des constructions. Deux leçons de mathématiques différentes dans leur intérêt intrinsèque ont été développées pour deux classes de 8ème année et deux classes de 12ème année. On a étudié les leçons à trois phases différentes en employant la différentielle sémantique. D'autres évaluations ont fourni des renseignements sur la valeur effective des méthodes. Outre les facteurs comme l'évaluation, l'activité, et la puissance, on a trouvé le facteur général de l'émotion. Les échelles composées ont été appropriées pour ces sujets et ont été sensibles aux changements d'attitudes qui avaient lieu pendant les leçons. Les données ont soutenu la validité des constructions des échelles composées, en particulier le facteur général de l'émotion.

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OISE

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The author expresses his thanks to Mr. John McLaren of OISE for his invaluable assistance in this work.     

Eye movements in shared book reading with children from kindergarten to Grade 4

Previous studies have revealed that preschool-age children who are not yet readers pay little attention to written text in a shared book reading situation (see Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005). The current study was aimed at investigating the constancy of these results across reading development, by monitoring eye movements in shared book reading, for children from kindergarten to Grade 4. Children were read books of three difficulty levels. The results revealed a higher proportion of time, a higher proportion of landing positions, and a higher proportion of reading-like saccades on the text as grade level increased and as reading skills improved. More precisely, there was a link between the difficulty of the material and attention to text. Children spent more time on a text that was within their reading abilities than when the book difficulty exceeded their reading skills. This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet) to Jean Saint-Aubin and to Mary Ann Evans. This article was part of Annie Roy-Charland doctoral exam.     

Learning in higher education – how cognitive and learning styles matter

The cognitive and learning styles research domain is a highly complex one which has recently been the focus of rigour–relevance debates (Coffield et al. 2004; Evans and Sadler-Smith 2006; Rayner 2006). There is considerable support for the existence and value of style as a construct (Sternberg 1996) even though further work is needed to evidence greater impact on practice. This paper shares the work and experiences of one international research community – the European Learning Styles Information Network (ELSIN) and its attempts to advance understanding of the theory and application of cognitive and learning styles in higher education and other contexts. In so doing it highlights the principles around the development, collation and integration of research as exemplified by the ELSIN experience and considered by other research domains in higher education. Future directions for cognitive and learning styles research within the context of higher education are outlined along with the role of ELSIN in highlighting and leading on these.     

‘Experiencing the Theory': Constructivism in a pre-service teacher preparation program

In two Bachelor of Education courses, students experienced social constructivist principles for teaching Elementary Language Arts. In the first course, they were introduced to the theory upon which curricula, methods, and strategies are based. Implications for instruction were explored through discussion of readings and participation in child-centered activities, later examined from the points of view of the learner and of the theory. In the second course, the seminar group pursued advanced questions about social constructivist theories, methods, and strategies. Students kept informal written responses to readings; shared reactions, ideas, and questions; suggested readings and approaches; and summarized their understanding in final papers. Students evaluated both experiences as being exceptionally useful to their own understanding of instruction. Four pedagogical points are worth consideration. First, despite differences in their undergraduate disciplines, all students demonstrated that they could contribute to their peers' construction of knowledge or meaning making of the concepts and theories examined. Second, the sequence of the two courses seemed to be important for establishing a base of understanding and inquiry for the seminar group. Third, students used metacognitive analysis of their experiences in order to examine their own learning, to investigate learning in general, and to inquire into the use of this understanding in their teaching. Fourth, students' excitement, as expressed in their evaluations, suggests that they began to construct a notion of what a teacher can be, of the obligation that a teacher has to continuous professional development, and of the need to inquire about their own practice.