Enclothed cognition: putting lab coats to the test

ABSTRACT

Although there has been some success with programmes that aim to increase STEM involvement by women and underserved minorities, science educators continue to seek ways to promote students’ interest in STEM. This study builds on social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the theory of enclothed cognition to assess the impact of wearing lab coats on 5th-grade students. Students were assigned to a treatment group (that wore lab coats, n = 106) or a control group (that did not wear lab coats, n = 110) for 10 science classes taught by their classroom science teacher. Students were assessed pre and post to the intervention with a survey designed to measure science interest, recognition from others as a science person, science self-efficacy, and STEM career goals. Results showed students’ interest in science was not significantly changed due to wearing the lab coat, but the lab coats did have significant effects on students’ perceived recognition by others as being a science learner. Furthermore, those treatment students with low self-efficacy (compared to those with high self-efficacy) and those with who did not report having access to a parent with a STEM career had significant increases in perceptions of self-efficacy in science.     

Tensions in learning content and technology: the experience of education students in a web-based research project

Abstract

There has been little research on how a content-based teacher education course can embed effective training in the use of the World Wide Web to search for information and present learning outcomes. To address this gap, the present study documents the experience of 64 pre-service and inservice teachers who completed a web-based group project in an applied linguistics course. Participants expressed general appreciation of the experience but also felt tension between technology and content learning. The study raises questions about the role of technology in knowledge construction, teachers' beliefs regarding what constitutes learning in a content-based course, and how new technology can be used to enhance the learning of content knowledge.     

Recoding Discourses in Higher Education: Critical Views on Recruiting Materials for Latin@ College Students

R. Stanton-Salazar (1997) suggested that minority students who successfully navigate the contexts of higher education are able to do so by “decoding” the system. Rather than obligating students to decode the system, we contend that institutions should recode the information they provide to prospective students from minority backgrounds. We focus on the promotional materials of an aspiring Hispanic-Serving Institution for our analysis.     

Legal Research for the Nonlaw Librarian: An Introduction

Special Libraries, Special Challenges is a column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, and business. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in given subject libraries, while drawing links to how such issues affect librarianship in general. Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact Tammy R. Pettinato at pettinato@law.ucla.edu.

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Dealing with Pro Se Patrons

ABSTRACT

Special Libraries, Special Challenges is a new column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, and so forth. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in given subject libraries, while drawing links to how such issues affect librarianship in general. Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact Tammy R. Pettinato at pettinato@law.ucla.edu.     

How Framing Climate Change Influences Citizen Scientists’ Intentions to Do Something About It

How we communicate the dangers of climate change may influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Here we test two pairs of positive and negative framing statements with North American citizen scientists interested in gardening and birdwatching. Mentioning dangers for humans did not increase participants’ interest in taking personal action on climate change, but mentioning dangers for birds was highly effective. Highlighting the positive collective impacts of small behavioral changes also increased participants’ interest in taking personal action. These results suggest that while some dire messages are ineffective, those evoking concern for target species of significance to the learners may be as successful as positive messages.     

Researcher Study Thyself: AERA Participants' Speaking Times and Turns by Gender

This research compares speaking times and turns of female and male presenters and audience members at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In their presentations, males spoke longer than females, but the differences were not statistically significant. They spoke significantly longer than females, however, when posing questions or comments during open discussions, and they made a significantly greater number of responses to these questions and comments. Some chairs were inconsistent in monitoring allotted speaking times. Females' participation was lower in less-structured situations, such as open discussions and co-presented papers, than in settings with greater structure.     

Bridging Education and Practice With a Competency-Based Learning Contract

ABSTRACT

Field work programs have a substantial responsibility for providing support and gatekeeping functions while ensuring an educational experience that allows students to master the nine holistic, multidimensional social work accreditation competencies. With additional emphasis on field as a “signature pedagogy,” field directors are tasked with finding placements that can support these explicit competencies. Through the utilization of a learning contract that combines the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards competencies (including component behaviors) students and supervisors can begin to discuss their joint progress on meeting each of these prior to the final evaluation. This process will ensure that students have demonstrated the necessary outcomes to become a generalist social work practitioner.     

ENACTED TYPES OF ALGEBRAIC ACTIVITY IN DIFFERENT CLASSES TAUGHT BY THE SAME TEACHER

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers enact the same written algebra curriculum materials in different classes. The study addresses this issue by comparing the types of algebraic activity (Kieran, 2004) enacted in two 7th grade classes taught by the same teacher, using the same textbook. Data sources include lesson observations and an interview with the teacher. The findings show that students in the two classes were offered somewhat different algebraic experiences. At one school, more emphasis was placed on global/meta-level activities (activities that are not exclusive to algebra and suggest general mathematical processes), whereas at the other school, more emphasis was placed on transformational activities (“rule-based” algebraic activities). Analysis of the sources of the differences related to the ways in which the teacher used and enacted the curriculum materials in the two classes revealed that these were linked to the teacher’s attempts to be attentive to the students in the class and to the nature of the students’ work.