Children’s Protagonism in a Science Exhibition: an Exploratory Study of an Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Research in Science Education - Despite the fact that the majority of museum visitors are often very young children, much research in museums focuses on pre-teen learners (ages 8–12). Our...     

Make learning personal: Recommendations for classroom practice

Structuring the curriculum and the classroom experience in ways that promote community building and develop an appreciation for diversity is a powerful way to deepen and personalize a student's learning experience.     

Finger Counting: Continuous Daily Diagnoses

Monitoring reading behaviour is a major aspect of the work of teachers of reading. Clearly, in order to plan a sensible reading programme, teachers need information about children’s reading performance and needs. This article describes the use of a finger counting system as one way for teachers to continually monitor children’s reading behaviour and development.     

KEEPING IT LIVE: STAFF DEVELOPMENT AS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE CHANGE PROCESS

This cross‐institutional evaluation assesses the effectiveness of promoting staff development as the central strategy for change within the EATE initiative. Increasingly, in institutions of initial teacher education as elsewhere, accountability requires output‐oriented staff who are able to attain given targets at reasonable cost. This “impact” case study is both explanatory and confirmatory, justifying the process of change specified by EATE in relation to organisational efficiency, current relevance and need.

The evaluation demonstrates how change can be effectively managed to improve teaching and learning within a short time scale and how EATE has played a critical part in opening up institutions to working with the business community, an integral element of the EATE strategy previously seldom encountered within initial teacher education.

The EATE initiative sought behavioural changes in participants through raising awareness, identifying the catalysts, better networking, the critical support of management and the business community, in order to keep it live and consequently embed thechange. Whilst staff in differing institutions perceived and defined some changes differently, the evidence suggests that strategies employed by EATE have been and are being efficient and effective contributors to the process of change.     

Conceptions of Science Teacher Mentoring and Mentoring Practice in an Alternative Certification Program

Conceptions of mentoring held by six mentors and six beginning science teachers in an alternative certification program were explored qualitatively by means of case studies and phenomenography. Interviews with the six mentors and six beginning teachers produced 379 statements that were grouped into six conceptual categories. The categories of apprenticeship, personal support, and colearning revealed the variation in how mentors and beginning teachers conceptualized school-based mentoring. The conceptions functioned as referents for their mentoring practice. Mentoring as apprenticeship was the dominant conception among both the beginning teachers and mentors. The findings of this study imply that conceptions of mentoring held by mentors and beginning science teachers should be considered when organizing the school-based component of alternative certification programs.     

Cross-Validation of the Revised Motivation for Physical Activity Measure in Active Women

Abstract

The five different training methods used in this study consisted of various proportions of swimming and of weight training exercises. Sixty subjects were divided into five equated groups. Each group was exposed to a different treatment over a period of six weeks. Tests of swimming speed were administered at the beginning of the experiment, and at the end of each week. All five treatments resulted in significant swimming improvements, but none of the treatments were significantly more effective than the other treatments.