Structure and development of pre-service physics teachers’ professional knowledge

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ professional knowledge is considered one of the most important predictors of instructional quality. According to Shulman, such professional knowledge includes content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge. Although recent research shed some light on the structure of the dimensions of professional knowledge, little is known how teacher education impacts pre-service physics teachers’ professional knowledge. In an effort to address this issue, we examined the content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge of N?=?200 pre-service physics teachers enrolled in different years of teacher education at 12 major teacher education universities in Germany. We used structural equation modelling (1) to examine the relations amongst pre-service physics teachers’ content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge, (2) to explore how the three kinds of knowledge and their relations differ across different stages of teacher education and (3) to identify factors affecting the level of each component of professional knowledge. Our findings suggest that content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge represent distinct types of knowledge. Furthermore, our findings show that in the first years of professional education, pedagogical content knowledge is more closely related with general pedagogical knowledge while in later years, it is more closely related with content knowledge, suggesting that it develops from a general knowledge about teaching and learning into knowledge about the teaching and learning of specific content. Finally, beyond school achievement and years of enrolment as predictors, we find in particular the amount of classroom observations to have a positive impact on the professional knowledge of pre-service physics teachers.     

HUMANIZING EDUCATION AND THE EDUCATIONALIZATION OF HEALTH

Abstract Theorists often take a condescending stance when speaking about the educationalization of social problems. Given their confidence with postmodern and poststructuralist perspectives, the educationalization of social problems is easily perceived as a set of questionable interventions by governments into educational practices. In this essay, Bert Lambeir and Stefan Ramaekers question the extent to which one can conceive of social problems without an understanding of education or, put more sharply, the extent to which social problems are conceivable without some form of educationalization. After describing four meanings of the concept of educationalization, Lambeir and Ramaekers discuss three popular criticisms of it. With these criticisms as context, the authors use the example of concerns about and initiatives in health education to investigate whether education can be completely freed from the educationalization of social issues. They conclude that it cannot.     

Child Rearing: Passivity and being able to go on. Wittgenstein on shared practices and seeing aspects

It is not uncommon to hear parents say in discussions they have with their children 'Look at it this way'. And called upon for their advice, counsellors too say something to adults with the significance of 'Try to see it like this'. The change of someone's perspective in the context of child rearing is the focus of this paper. Our interest in this lies not so much in giving an answer to the practical problems that are at stake, but at disentangling the issues on a conceptual level. Within the so-called second part of his Philosophical Investigations , Wittgenstein deals with shared practices and with concepts such as 'seeing' and 'seeing as'. What he says there is in terms of content linked with his earlier Tractatus position concerning ethics, a matter which will first be dealt with. After that, the relevant sections of his later work are discussed. Following Cavell, it is concluded that to try to get someone to see what one sees, necessarily presupposes giving it out of one's hands. The passivity this points at highlights what Erziehung in the end comes down to.     

A behaviour‐genetic analysis of orthographic learning,spelling and decoding

As part of a longitudinal twin study of literacy and language, we conducted a behaviour‐genetic analysis of orthographic learning, spelling and decoding in Grade 2 children (225 identical and 214 fraternal twin pairs) in the United States and Australia. Each variable showed significant genetic and unique environment influences. Multivariate analyses revealed very high genetic correlations among the variables, indicating that the same genes are involved in their aetiology. These genes are partly independent of those contributing to intelligence. A further analysis indicated that the covariation between decoding and orthographic learning is mediated by shared genes rather than by a direct causal path. The authors argue that a learning parameter, most directly assessed by orthographic learning in this study, underlies all three literacy variables. The results are also discussed in relation to Share's self‐teaching hypothesis, which may require modification.     

语言正在全球5个热点地区快速消亡

语言学家警告说,每两个星期就至少有一种语言从地球上消亡。语言消亡这种现象是语言自身进化中的一个阶段还是退化中的一个阶段?在一些语言消亡的同时,一些新的语言也在出现。我们要尽可能地挽救语言消亡给人类文化带来的损失,但就语言本身来说,我们也不需要过分恐慌……     

Adaptive progressive download based on the MPEG-4 file format

In this paper we describe how progressive download and adaptive streaming can be combined into a simple and efficient streaming framework. Based on the MPEG-4 file format (MP4) we use HTTP for transport and argue that these two components are sufficient for specifying an open streaming architecture. The client selects appropriate chunks from the MP4 file to be transferred based on (1) the header information (i.e. the “moov” box) in the first part of the file and (2) his observation of network throughput. The framework is completely client driven which allows for better server scalability and reduces signalling overhead. We discuss architecture and implementation issues such as complexity, interoperability and scalability and compare to 3GPP PSS Rel-6 adaptive streaming when appropriate. Measurements from a simple MP4/HTTP streaming client are presented showing that appropriate chunks are selected such that increased reliability is achieved.     

Der Mathematikunterricht der PISA-Schülerinnen und -Schüler

Der Beitrag besch?ftigt sich mit dem Mathematikunterricht der PISA-Schülerinnen und -Schüler in Deutschland und berichtet über Ergebnisse aus einer Zusatzstudie zu PISA 2003. Aufbauend auf der mathematik-didaktischen Rahmenkonzeption von PISA, die Unterricht als Gelegenheitsstruktur für verst?ndnisvolle Lernprozesse versteht, wurden Schülerinnen und Schüler und ihre Mathematiklehrkr?fte zu Merkmalen der Unterrichtsqualit?t befragt. Es zeigen sich schulformspezifische Unterrichtskulturen: Ein kognitiv aktivierender Umgang mit mathematischen Inhalten ist eher in Gymnasien zu beobachten, w?hrend vor allem in Hauptschulen die Unterrichtsform mit geringem kognitiven Gehalt und ausgepr?gter Unterstützung überwiegt. Dennoch wird die Angebotsstruktur des Mathematikunterrichts von Jugendlichen an Hauptschulen positiv beurteilt, w?hrend Gymnasiasten ihren Unterricht eher kritisch bewerten. Diese Differenzen sind vor allem durch Unterschiede in der individuellen Lernunterstützung durch die Lehrkr?fte zu erkl?ren, welche von Schülerinnen und Schülern an Hauptschulen als besonders ausgepr?gt, an Gymnasien eher als gering beschrieben wird.     

Prediction of elementary mathematics grades by cognitive abilities

European Journal of Psychology of Education - In the present study, the relationship between the mathematics grade and the three basic cognitive abilities (inhibition, working memory, and...