Using Peer Feedback to Improve Students’ Scientific Inquiry

This article examines a 7th grade teacher’s pedagogical practices to support her students to provide peer feedback to one another using technology during scientific inquiry. This research is part of a larger study in which teachers in California and Washington and their classes engaged in inquiry projects using a Web-based system called Web of Inquiry. Videotapes of classroom lessons and artifacts such as student work were collected as part of the corpus of data. In the case examined, Ms. E supports her students to collectively define “meaningful feedback,” thereby improving the quality of feedback that was provided in the future. This is especially timely, given the attention in Next Generation Science Standards to cross-cutting concepts and practices that require students discuss and debate ideas with each other in order to improve their understanding and their written inquiry reports (NGSS, 2013).     

The role of Aboriginal literacy in improving English literacy in remote Aboriginal communities: an empirical systems analysis with the Interplay Wellbeing Framework

Indigenous language endangerment is critical in Australia, with only 120 of 250 known languages remaining, and only 13 considered strong. A related issue is the gap in formal education outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians, with the gap wider in remote regions. Little empirical research exists in Australia to explore the role of developing Aboriginal literacy through bilingual education to address these combined issues. As a ‘shared space’ collaboration between remote communities, government, and scientists, the Interplay Wellbeing Framework and associated Survey were designed to represent community values and priorities in a quantifiable system to inform policy and practice. A cohort of 842 Aboriginal people aged 15–34 years from four remote communities completed individual surveys designed and administered by Aboriginal community researchers. We applied structural equation modelling to this data to understand the role of cultural indicators on education outcomes. Results confirmed the importance of strong relationships between community and schools. Furthermore, learning about culture and learning literacy in ones first language in schools to develop Aboriginal literacy, is established as a necessary step to improve English literacy in remote schools. This suggests bilingual education and strengthening culture and community involvement in schools are necessary to improve both education outcomes and language preservation.     

Developing an Interdepartmental Training Program for E-Resources Troubleshooting

The purpose of this article is to show how analysis of historical data from reported e-resources access problems at the Georgia State University Library was employed to improve the format and quality of future access problem identification and reportage and to create training for public services staff. The goal of the training was to provide front line staff at public service points with an appropriate level of knowledge, enabling them to either resolve basic issues with patrons in real time, or to report critical information effectively to others, thereby ensuring faster and more accurate problem resolution. The authors discuss the development, delivery, and impact of this ongoing training.     

The design and implementation of learning paths in a learning management system

Learning paths have the potential to play an important role in the way educators serve their learners. Empirical research about learning paths is scarce, particularly in a secondary education setting. The present quasi-experimental study took place in the context of a biology course involving 360 secondary school students. A 2?×?2 factorial research design was adopted. Learners were engaged in learning activities in a learning path. These learning activities (1) differed in design and (2) were either undertaken individually or collaboratively. Gender was considered as a critical co-variable, given the focus on science learning. All learning paths were developed on the basis of visual representations, but in the experimental design conditions, learners worked with learning paths designed according to Mayer's multimedia guidelines (2003). Multilevel analyses were applied to study the impact on learning outcomes according to the design of learning paths, the individual/collaborative setting, and the co-variable gender. The study provides empirical evidence that both the design and the group setting (collaborative versus individual) have an impact on learning outcomes. Although there was no main effect, several significant interaction effects with gender were found. The results are helpful to direct research about the design and implementation of learning paths in a secondary school setting and underpin the relevance of representation modes in science learning.     

Meaningfulness is in the eye of the reader: eye-tracking insights of L2 learners reading e-books and their pedagogical implications

This study employed eye-tracking technology to probe the online reading behavior of 52 advanced L2 English learners. These participants read an e-book containing six types of multimedia supports for either vocabulary acquisition or comprehension. The six supports consisted of three micro-level supports that provided information about specific words (glosses, vocabulary focus, and footnotes), and three macro-level supports that provided global or background information (illustrations, infographics, and photos). The participants read the ebook under two presentation modes: (1) simultaneous mode: where digital input and supports were presented at the same time; and (2) sequential mode: where the digital content and supports were incrementally presented. Analyses showed that when reading for vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary focus and glosses were significantly fixated on, and when reading for comprehension, illustrations were more intensely fixated on. Additionally, when the digital content was incrementally presented, vocabulary focus received significantly higher total fixation duration. This suggests that reading under the sequential mode has the potency to guide L2 learners’ focal attention toward micro-level supports. In contrast, under the simultaneous presentation mode, L2 learners seemed to divide their focal attention among both micro-level and macro-level supports. Pedagogical implications are discussed based on the findings of this study.     

Mentors' perceptions of their roles in mentoring student teachers

Mentoring may be seen as a process that helps student teachers become professional teachers. In this context, a variety of significant roles played by mentors have been identified in the literature. This paper reports on mentors' perceptions of the most important roles selected from a given list, as revealed through questionnaire and interview data. This analysis forms part of a large‐scale evaluative project of a school–university partnership scheme initiated by the University of Hong Kong. The findings indicate overwhelming attention given to the role of ‘provider of feedback’, which stresses the provision of pragmatic advice given to student teachers according to their personal strengths and weaknesses. However, for those mentors whose perception of the most important role had changed over time, the direction of change was towards roles such as ‘counselor’, ‘equal partner’ and ‘critical friend’, which emphasize a more relational aspect of working together with student teachers to achieve professional development.     

An evaluation of racial bias in a life satisfaction scale

This study investigated the possibility of racial bias in one of the few extant life satisfaction measures appropriate for children and adolescents, the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991a). Participants were 115 Black and 106 White adolescents in Grades 8 through 12. There was no evidence of bias with respect to reliability, factorial validity, or concurrent validity.