Using psychological constructs from the MUSIC Model of Motivation to predict students’ science identification and career goals: results from the U.S. and Iceland

ABSTRACT

We investigated students’ perceptions related to psychological constructs in their science classes and the influence of these perceptions on their science identification and science career goals. Participants included 575 middle school students from two countries (334 students in the U.S. and 241 students in Iceland). Students completed a self-report questionnaire that included items from several measures. We conducted correlational analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. Students’ class perceptions (i.e. empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) were significantly correlated with their science identification, which was correlated positively with their science career goals. Combining students’ science class perceptions, science identification, and career goals into one model, we documented that the U.S. and Icelandic samples fit the data reasonably well. However, not all of the hypothesised paths were statistically significant. For example, only students’ perceptions of usefulness (for the U.S. and Icelandic students) and success (for the U.S. students only) significantly predicted students’ career goals in the full model. Theoretically, our findings are consistent with results from samples of university engineering students, yet different in some ways. Our results provide evidence for the theoretical relationships between students’ perceptions of science classes and their career goals.     

Analysing the integration of engineering in science lessons with the Engineering-Infused Lesson Rubric

ABSTRACT

Science teachers are being called on to incorporate engineering practices into their classrooms. This study explores whether the Engineering-Infused Lesson Rubric, a new rubric designed to target best practices in engineering education, could be used to evaluate the extent to which engineering is infused into online science lessons. Eighty lessons were selected at random from three online repositories, and coded with the rubric. Overall results documented the strengths of existing lessons, as well as many components that teachers might strengthen. In addition, a subset of characteristics was found to distinguish lessons with the highest level of engineering infusion. Findings are discussed in relation to the potential of the rubric to help teachers use research evidence-informed practice generally, and in relation to the new content demands of the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards, in particular.     

Action research: A situated perspective

Rigoberta Menchú has become an icon for the struggles of oppressed peoples for justice and self-determination. For many academics and activists around the world, the accusations of lying made against Ms. Menchú by David Stoll brought into sharp focus the politics of "truthmaking" and the absolutist categories of fact and fiction. In this attempt to discredit Ms. Menchú, and through her, the Mayan experience of genocide by the Guatemalan military and its U.S. sponsors, important questions have been raised about how and when Third World women can speak, the conditions under which they will be heard, and the strategies used to silence them. In this paper, the author draws upon some of the lessons of the Rigoberta Menchú case to examine the politics of truth making in Canada in a recent controversy regarding a speech she made criticizing American foreign policy and urging the women's movement to mobilize against America's War on Terrorism. The highly personalized nature of the attacks on the author by political and media elites sought to accomplish a closing down of public space for informed debate about the realities of U.S. foreign policy and to silence dissent. Repeatedly emphasizing her status as an immigrant outsider, this controversy also contributed to the (ongoing) racialization of people of color as a treacherous "enemy" within the nation's geographical borders, against whom "Canadians" had to be mobilized.     

Comparisons of Four Methods for Estimating a Dynamic Factor Model

Four methods for estimating a dynamic factor model, the direct autoregressive factor score (DAFS) model, are evaluated and compared. The first method estimates the DAFS model using a Kalman filter algorithm based on its state space model representation. The second one employs the maximum likelihood estimation method based on the construction of a block-Toeplitz covariance matrix in the structural equation modeling framework. The third method is built in the Bayesian framework and implemented using Gibbs sampling. The fourth is the least squares method, which also employs the block-Toeplitz matrix. All 4 methods are implemented in currently available software. The simulation study shows that all 4 methods reach appropriate parameter estimates with comparable precision. Differences among the 4 estimation methods and related software are discussed.     

The Role of Set for Variability in Irregular Word Reading: Word and Child Predictors in Typically Developing Readers and Students At-Risk for Reading Disabilities

ABSTRACT

In a quasiregular orthography like English, children inevitably encounter irregular words during reading. Previous research suggests successful reading of an irregular word depends at least partially on a child’s ability to address the mismatch between decoded form and stored word pronunciation, referred to as a child’s set for variability, and the word’s relative transparency, measured here using a spelling to pronunciation transparency rating. Item-level analyses were used to explore the relationship between general child performance on the set for variability mispronunciation task, word specific set for variability (predicting reading of that word), spelling to pronunciation transparency rating, and irregular word reading. Significant predictors included general word reading, general set for variability performance, and item-specific set for variability performance; word frequency and spelling to pronunciation transparency rating; and an interaction between word reading and the transparency rating. Results underscore the importance of considering both general and item-specific factors affecting irregular word reading.     

The relationship between teacher’s autonomy support and students’ autonomy and vitality

Abstract

Within education, some teachers’ interpretation of professionalism emphasizes conformity to the perceived norms of collective associations. Unprofessional behaviour, often equated with ‘unethical’ behaviour, is seen by many to be that which threatens solidarity and loyalty to colleagues. Informal norms typified by casual collegial relations as well as more formal attachments to organized unions or teachers’ federations exert a significant influence on individuals’ behaviour within the group. Professional ethics, in this sense, become concerned primarily with how one relates to colleagues rather than how one fulfils moral responsibilities to students. Qualitative findings from interviews with elementary and secondary school teachers suggest that, as a result of an ethic of collegial loyalty, some teachers experience personal moral and ethical dilemmas that they find difficult to resolve. Some respondents acknowledged that this can enable serious situations to be ignored or ‘covered up’. This paper examines some of the tensions and dilemmas experienced by teachers and raises questions about the ethical adequacy of defining professionalism in terms of inter‐colleague behaviour.     

Preparing pre‐service secondary education majors for inclusive classrooms in the USA

This study serves as a pilot study for a longitudinal study that will be conducted a year later. The purpose of this research is to determine how a course in special education has impacted secondary general education pre‐service teachers’ attitudes towards individuals with disabilities, teaching students with mild disabilities and the degree of their preparedness (self‐reported) in working with students with disabilities. Forty‐two secondary pre‐service teachers’ reflection papers written at the beginning and end of a mandatory special education course (16 weeks) were analysed using qualitative methodology. The findings supported our research hypothesis that a course in special education with necessary components (i.e. introductory special education knowledge, activities designed to enhance students’ dispositions toward students with disabilities, and instructional strategies that will help general education teachers teach students with mild disabilities at the middle and secondary levels more effectively) can be effective in preparing secondary education pre‐service teachers to work in inclusive classrooms.     

Learning by starch potato growers: learning in small businesses with no employees

In small businesses with no employees, learning environments have a low learning readiness. Consequently, learners need to rely on their own agency to shape their learning experiences. Results from a study of agricultural entrepreneurs indicated that the components of motivation and self-regulated learning strategies shape learner's agency and explain learning environment configuration in small businesses with no employees. Configuration of the learning environment was found to be a weak determinant of the learning performance of these learners. However, results showed that prior performance of learners in small businesses with no employees dictates how their agency operates and what learning effect is achieved; higher prior performance results in higher learning effects. We conclude that mechanisms that underlie learning in traditional learning environments work similarly in learning environments in small businesses with no employees.     

Telling Them Their Own Stories: Legitimizing sexual and reproductive health education in rural Bangladesh

Most people in Bangladesh are rural, poor and underprivileged. The incidence of sexual disease has increased, but little has been done to educate rural people about sexual and reproductive health. In 1997, a sexual and reproductive health project was initiated within a collaborative research agreement between the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B) and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an indigenous non-governmental organization which pursues integrated rural development strategies. Qualitative in-depth interviews with 65 different women, men, boys and girls revealed significant sexual health problems and a lack of knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. The interviews were transformed into composite problem-solving picture stories and information about sexual and reproductive health. Stories mirrored respondents' interpretations of sexual behavior. Those who had achieved or ascribed legitimacy to talk about sex, e.g. traditional health providers, were trained to utilize the methods and materials. Qualitative evaluations revealed important changes in health providers' self-confidence, business and personal interactions as well as changes in clients' behavior. This project found that sexual and reproductive health education can be integrated into indigenous health activities if the sociocultural context in which sex, relationships, risks, diseases and communication occur is reflected in a program's content and methods. Unquestionably, there is a great need for sex education in rural Bangladesh.     

Using a college human sexuality course to combat homophobia

The present study seeks to identify factors among university students that may be associated with homophobic attitudes and whether homophobia may be reduced by educational interventions, such as knowledge-based curricula found in college sexuality courses. Participants were 128 undergraduate students attending a small, private university in the northwestern region of the United States. At the beginning and end of the fall semester 2004, survey packets consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Homophobia Scale, a sexual knowledge survey, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory were administered to students attending a human sexuality class and a comparison group of students enrolled in professional and social science introductory courses. Relative to the comparison group, homophobia levels significantly decreased over the course of the semester among students attending the sexuality class. The effect of attending the class on reducing homophobia was partially mediated by an increase in self-reported knowledge about sexual matters. Taken together, these results suggest that the knowledge-based curriculum of sexuality courses may play an important role in affecting broader attitudes about sexuality among college students, including attitudes about homosexuality.