Gender Difference in Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in the Context of Single-Sex Classrooms

This study examines gender differences of teachers on their mathematical knowledge for teaching in the context of single-sex classrooms in Saudi Arabia. A translated version of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) instrument (Learning Mathematics for Teaching [LMT], 2008) in Number and Operation Content Knowledge (CK) and Knowledge of Content and Student (KCS) scales were administered to 197 teachers (146 male and 51 female). Two-sample t test and multiple regression were conducted to compare the two groups and test the effect of teacher background variables. Female teachers significantly scored better than their male counterpart. Gender, years of teaching experience, and specialization significantly predicted teachers’ content knowledge, F(3, 187) = 13.180, explaining 41.8 % of the variance. Only gender and specialization significantly predicted teachers’ knowledge of content and student, F(2, 191) = 6.335, explaining 24.9 % of the variance. Further comparing items in the MKT instrument where female teachers outperformed male teachers confirmed that female teachers were better in attending to the content knowledge in the context of student’s learning.

     

Instructional leadership practices in Singapore

This paper presents a review of the literature on principal instructional leadership in Singapore. The authors investigated the dimensions of instructional leadership in the practices of Singapore principals and highlighted the strategies these leaders adopt to enact their instructional roles. Singapore principals were found to play an active role in defining the school vision and promoting the school climate. However, in the areas of curriculum implementation and classroom instruction, the middle management team in the school played more active roles as compared to principals. Five broad conclusions were discussed to provide perspectives on instructional leadership practices in Singapore. This paper also highlighted limitations on current instructional leadership research in Singapore and pointed to areas of future research.     

Counselor Educators’ Perceptions of and Experiences with International Students

Thirty-six counselor educators’ perceptions and experiences with international student trainees were examined in this online survey research. Findings support the issues identified in the literature as confronting international students and also surface some issues specific to students in counselor training. International counselor education students tend to experience more difficulties in areas related to language, clinical training, adjustment, and cultural differences. Similarities and differences were also found within international student categories involving western and non-western countries and between international and domestic students. Counselor educators in general reported favorably on working with international students. Findings support attention being given to further examine the specific training and supervisory needs of international counseling students.Portions of this article were presented at the 2003 Southern Association of Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, Chattanooga, U.S.A. and at the 2004 American Counseling Association Convention, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.     

网络教学平台使用的师资培动——香港理工大学的经验

面授和网上教学有机结合的整合式教学越来越成为高校教育和培训的主要模式。本文旨在介绍和分析香港理工大学教学发展中心（简称EDC）如何通过网上教学平台的功能,与面授教学结合起来,发挥面授教学和网上教学的各自优势,使教师培训更加有效。EDC的实践表明,在大学教师培训课程中,发挥网上教学的优势,能帮助学员弥补由于有限的面授教学产生的师生之间、学员和学员之间互动的不足。在网上学习中,通过互相的学习观摩和观念碰撞,能激发学员的学习兴趣,有效地促进学员之间进行探究性学习,同时,这种集体学习的方法,能促进在职教师之间的友好交往和学术交流。     

EUROPEAN DISSERTATION SUMMARIES

To alleviate teachers’ reluctance toward practical work, there has been much discussion on teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, teaching materials, and failsafe strategies for practical work. Despite these efforts, practical work is still regarded as a challenging task for many elementary science teachers. To understand the complexity of teachers’ conflicts in practical work, this study examines teachers’ ideas about teaching and learning that influence teachers’ decision‐making and action on teaching practical work. More important than knowing technical–rational aspects of practical work is to understand the internal contradictions that teachers have to resolve within themselves regarding their capabilities and beliefs about science teaching and practical work. Using stories and experiences of 38 third‐year university students in a science method course in Korea, we seek to understand the conflicts and negotiations that they experience as they make decisions regarding practical work throughout their course. Reflective writings and group discussions on their lived experiences and concerns were used to probe participants’ ideas on teaching using practical work. From written and verbal data, themes were saturated in terms of the aspects which could (dis)encourage their practice. Results suggest that there are multifactorial challenges in pre‐service teachers’ understandings and concerns in practical work. Besides time, materials, and curriculum, pedagogical assumptions and values also compositely challenge the minds of teachers. As the pre‐service elementary teachers negotiated within themselves the importance of science in classroom and social levels, the question is raised about their identities as pre‐service elementary teachers to appreciate the balance between science teaching and practical work.     

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Examining the Career Choices of Alternatively Licensed Teachers in Urban Schools

In order to address the issue of persistent teacher shortages, urban districts increasingly rely on alternatively licensed teachers who are often viewed as well-suited to work in urban areas because of their greater age, life and work experiences, and understanding of diverse communities. Yet, research on the retention of these teachers remains inconclusive, with some notable studies suggesting that alternatively licensed teachers are as likely as their traditionally prepared counterparts to quit teaching or migrate out of urban school settings. In this study, we explore the process and salient considerations of five alternatively licensed math and science teachers deciding whether or not to continue teaching in a Midwestern, urban school district. Whereas previous studies typically examine teacher recruitment and retention issues through a narrow analysis of labor market incentives and other external inducements, our study situates teachers’ career decisions within a more holistic narrative that illustrates how individual actions are never determined by any single factor, but rather a web of simultaneous and sometimes contradictory forces generated by prior expectations and immediate realities that are professional as well as personal in nature.     

Technology-Enhanced Science Partnership Initiative: Impact on Secondary Science Teachers

Research in Science Education - The issue of student disengagement in school science continues to pose a threat to lifting the participation rates of students undertaking STEM courses and careers...