Counselor Experience Related to Complexity of Case Conceptualization and Supervision Preference

The authors investigated the relationship among trainees' counseling experience, familiarity with specific client symptomatology, case conceptualization integrative complexity (i.e., the ability to differentiate and integrate knowledge related to specific client symptomatology), and preference for supervisor style. Data from 100 beginning practicum to intern‐level counselor trainees revealed that general trainee experience and familiarity with specific client symptomatology were related to trainee case conceptualization integrative complexity. However, contrary to developmental models of counselor supervision, neither trainee experience, familiarity with specific symptomatology, nor trainee case conceptualization integrative complexity significantly predicted preference for supervisor style.     

Revitalising Traditional Street Markets in Rural Korea: Design Thinking and Sense‐Making Methodology

This article reports on an academic–industrial cooperation between students at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and a local foundation working to revitalise the Eonyang traditional market in Ulsan, South Korea. Students majoring in disciplines ranging from natural and applied sciences to business administration were introduced to design thinking, the double diamond model, and sense‐making as frameworks for generating creative outcomes. Those outcomes included media, signage and packaging, a display stand, an accessory for hikers, an artistic reinterpretation of the traditional store shutter, the design for a guesthouse and new packaging for locally produced products. Students presented their ideas at a public exhibition as team projects that involved 3D printing, CAD, Web‐design, graphic design and motion‐picture editing tools. The study reveals that students learn more effectively when pedagogy emphasises active learning and on‐site observation through design‐based integrated education. Its qualitative research involved interviews in which students experienced how design thinking methodology can transform a local economy. The methods reveal a new educational model centred upon creative and applied learning.     

What lies behind graphicacy? Relating students' results on a test of graphically represented quantitative information to formal academic achievement

Based on studies carried out on qualitative data an instrument was constructed for investigating how larger numbers of students handle graphics. This test, consisting of 18 pages, each with its own graphic display(s) and a set of tasks, was distributed to 363 students, 15–16 years of age, from five different schools. The format of the questions varied, as did the format of the graphics. As students' performance was expected to be multidimensional, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out with a structural equation modeling technique. In addition to the identification of a general graphicacy‐test factor (Gen) and an end‐of‐test effect (End′), a narrative dimension (Narr′) was vaguely indicated. This model was then related to a six‐factor model of students' formal academic achievement measured by their leaving certificates from compulsory education. The strongest correlation obtained was between the general graphicacy‐test dimension (Gen) and a mathematic/science factor (MathSc′) in the grades model. In addition, substantial relationships were detected between the Gen factor and both an overall school achievement factor (SchAch) and a language factor (Lang′) in the grades model. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 43–62, 2006     

Promoting social and academic competence in the classroom: An intervention study examining the contribution of the Responsive Classroom approach

This exploratory study examined the contribution of the RC Approach over a two‐year period. The RC Approach integrates social and academic learning in order to produce classroom environments that are conducive to learning by integrating social and academic learning. Two questions are addressed. First, how does teachers' use of RC practices contribute to children's academic and social growth? Second, how is the relation between teachers' use of RC practices and children's academic and social growth moderated by the presence of environmental adversity in the home? Participants included 62 teachers and 157 children at six schools. Findings showed that teachers' use of RC practices was associated with students' improved reading achievement, greater closeness between teachers and children, better pro‐social skills, more assertiveness, and less fearfulness, even after controlling for family risk and children's previous years' performance. Family risk did not moderate the relation between RC practices and children's performance. These findings suggest to the positive contribution of the RC Approach in relation to children's gains over a one‐year period. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 397–413, 2007.     

Assessing and Promoting Self‐Regulated Strategy Use

College counselors can assist students in enhancing their academic performance by assessing student self‐regulated strategies. Key aspects of self‐regulated strategy use (SRSU) are identified, and a semistructured interview to assess SRSU is presented. The rich data collected in the interview can assist the counselor in designing academic counseling interventions consistent with the needs and life situation of the individual student.     

‘Let's Save Energy!’: incorporating an environmental education dimension in the teaching of energy

A curricular unit called ‘Let's Save Energy!.’ was developed and tested as part of a project of Science Materials for Secondary Education. The project is focused on human needs, and how Science relates to them. This paper discusses how E.E. is built into a ‘traditional’ science topic (Energy), and some of the activities used to develop an awareness about the need and ways to ‘save’ Energy. A simulation game is presented with a focus on international co‐operation and environmental protection. The process of the development of the materials, and some results of its use in the classroom with 15/16‐year‐old pupils are discussed.     

Touchstones as sprezzatura: the significance of attachment to teacher literary formation

A touchstone is a smooth dark stone that, when rubbed against gold and silver, proves the metal's quality. Figuratively, it has come to signify ‘that which serves to test or try the genuineness of anything’ (Oxford English Dictionary). Here I consider why certain literary ‘touchstones’ of teachers are more formative than others. This leads to an exploration of the close association between the aesthetics of literary response and the sprezzatura of childhood reading. The pedagogical question of involving teachers and teacher educators in critical reflection on their practices should begin with these formative stories.     

English Language Teaching in Taiwan Today

This paper gives an overview of English education in Taiwan. It traces the historical development of ELT in the country, discusses ELT today, and the implications of foreign language policies on ELT in schools in Taiwan.