The Impact of an Inquiry-Based Geoscience Field Course on Pre-service Teachers

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a field-based, inquiry-focused course on pre-service teachers?? geoscience content knowledge, attitude toward science, confidence in teaching science, and inquiry understanding and skills. The field-based course was designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, compare, and investigate geological structures in their natural environment and to gain an understanding of inquiry via hands-on learning activities designed to immerse students in authentic scientific investigation. ANCOVA and MANCOVA analyses examining differences in outcome measures between students in the field experience (n?=?25) and education students enrolled in the traditional, classroom-based course (n?=?37) showed that students in the field course generally had significantly higher scores. Results provide evidence of the value of the field and inquiry-based approach in helping pre-service teachers develop the needed skills and knowledge to create effective inquiry-based science lessons.     

Ensuring quality in EPs’ use of dynamic assessment: a Delphi study

Dynamic Assessment (DA) is an interactive form of cognitive assessment used by some educational psychologists (EPs) to assess the learning potential of children and young people, through a focus on cognitive and affective aspects of learning. In terms of UK EP practice, this approach has the potential to complement the focus on ‘person-centred planning’ set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice. However, there is little guidance or consensus on what constitutes good DA practice. This research employed a Delphi methodology to identify competencies required to carry out quality DA. A panel of five international experts in DA and 17 EPs, using DA in practice, participated in three rounds of a Delphi study that identified 13 knowledge and 12 skills competencies considered essential for quality DA practice. The resulting framework could inform training and professional development programmes for EPs wishing to develop their skills and competence in practice.     

Disciplinary Text-Dependent Questions: Questioning for Learning in the Disciplines. The Challenge of Literacy in the Disciplines

The challenge of reading across disciplines is often not a matter of word recognition or general comprehension instruction; it is a matter of understanding how ideas are represented in the language and conventions of that discipline. In this article we describe a strategy for foregrounding the disciplines in the design and implementation of text-dependent questions in content area courses in order to accomplish a dual focus on content and discourse when using discipline-specific texts.     

Experiences with Counselor Training in Central Europe: Voices from Student Trainees

Globalization has led to an increase in United States-influenced counseling programs the world over; however, the extent to which these training models apply to other cultures is unclear. Using a sample of master’s-level counseling students studying in the Czech Republic (n?=?5), the authors conducted a phenomenological inquiry examining the experiences of European students trained in a program developed and supervised by faculty in the United States. Three themes (and potential barriers) related to English-language training programs in Central Europe included: cultural differences between faculty and students, complications related to the notion of professional identity, and concerns related to the utility of wellness-based principles in the Czech Republic. Implications for educators include cultural adaptation of training and course material as well as reframing illness perspectives through a wellness lens.     

Word reading fluency: A transfer appropriate processing account of fluency transfer

Word reading fluency, as indexed by the fast and accurate identification of single words, predicts both general reading ability and reading comprehension. This study compared the effects of context training and isolated word training on subsequent measures of word reading fluency. Good and poor readers were given 12 repetitions of two sets of words; 48 new words were learned in each condition. Words were presented in a story during context training and on a computer screen during isolated word training. Target words were read in isolation at test, randomly displayed within a series containing 72 untrained words. Results show that words trained in isolation are remembered longer and read faster when presented in isolation at test compared to words trained in context. Theoretical implications are discussed in relation to transfer appropriate processing.     

Are the Notion of Mean and Related Concepts too Difficult for 6th and 7th Grade Biology Students?

Basic statistical concepts are considered to be part and parcel of any modern biological education. Micro‐computer assisted activities may offer new opportunities for the early development of relatively young children's skills and understandings, thus preparing them efficiently for a meaningful secondary school science education. However, the relevant skills and concepts may well be beyond the ken of such children. In this study, we attempted to check the level which could be reached with 6th and 7th grades primary school students (11‐12 years of age), concerning the connected concepts of “mean” and “deviation” from the mean, and some major implications of these concepts. Special learning activities were developed, and an electronic spreadsheet was used as the main tool for the quantitative tasks. A one year period of intensive teacher training preceded the actual experiment. The main results will be delineated, as well as the main responses of the students and of the teachers. Although the schools selected for the experiment (experimental as well as control groups) were located in areas of a relatively high socio‐economic level, there was some heterogeneity in the classes. The results will show that educators are confronted with problems of heterogeneity even in “good” classes, and that finding the appropriate level of intellectual stimulation of different pupils is not an easy task. Some concepts appeared to be at the limit of, or beyond, the abilities of many students, but by no means of all of them.     

Universities as a meeting point with new academic knowledge,society and culture: cognitive and emotional transitions during higher education

This paper examines how exposure to a different culture, acquired knowledge and everyday practices at Israeli universities affected the identities of the ‘First Women’ students from the Druze minority who broke gender roles and turned to acquire higher education. The short distance between the Druze villages and the university required a longer and far more complex journey than the women imagined when they decided to study. The paper analyses ways in which the university atmosphere imparts values, norms, knowledge and practices that enable individuals to reassess their identities. Thirty‐four interviews with Druze women, who were the first in their community or their respective villages to obtain higher education, were analysed, allowing a study of the different experiences and various paths of change and their intricate effects on framing identity.     

Adolescent social competence: effectiveness in a group setting

We used a longitudinal data set to evaluate an observational assessment of adolescent competence within a group context. Participants were 40 (21 males, 19 females) ethnically diverse children who had earlier been observed in summer camp (age 10) and preschool (age 4 1/2), as well as in infancy. A revealed differences task was videotaped as part of an intensive weekend camp reunion at ages 15 to 16. Raters, blind to the adolescents' developmental histories, coded each adolescent on the following behavioral rating scales: enjoyment of the task, involvement, leadership, self-confidence in the task, and global social competence. Both concurrent validity (strong correlations with independent camp reunion counselor ratings and peer sociometric measures) and clear associations with antecedent measures of peer competence in preschool and middle childhood were demonstrated. A pattern of correlations revealed considerable discriminate validity. Neither IQ nor socioeconomic status accounted for these associations. Overall, the results confirm the power of a developmentally appropriate, taxing, behaviorally based assessment of group functioning as a measure of competence in adolescence.     

A coaching partnership: resource teachers and classroom teachers teaching collaboratively in regular classrooms

The purpose of this study was to determine how resource teachers (n = 13) and classroom teachers (n = 12) experience a coaching partnership, in which both teachers work in the regular classroom to support students with special educational needs. The focus of the partnerships was to build classroom teacher capacity around inclusionary practices. Classroom teachers and resource teachers completed questionnaires about the partnerships and their impact. Results indicated that both groups of teachers found the partnerships to be valuable. The partnerships were supported by coaching principles, as well as relationship, attitudes, understanding of students, and time spent together. Benefits of the model included increased support for students; increased learning for students; learning of different approaches, for classroom teachers and resource teachers; shared responsibility for students, between classroom and resource teachers; feeling more valued, for resource teachers; and seeing a model of collaboration, for students, teachers and the community.