Learning to Teach with Two Mentors: Revisiting the “Two-Worlds Pitfall” in Student Teaching

Research on learning to teach repeatedly cites the disjuncture in teaching practices promoted across universities and K–12 schools. Much of the literature that is focused on this “two-worlds pitfall” (Feiman-Nemser & Buchmann, 1985 Feiman-Nemser, S. and Buchmann, M. 1985. Pitfalls of experience in teacher preparation. Teachers College Record, 87(1): 53–65. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) describes the influence of cooperating teachers' more traditional teaching practices on teacher candidates' developing practice. This article, however, provides a case study of a student teacher whose commitment to social constructivist practices was reinforced by the intersection of competing views of teaching and mentoring that collided during her student teaching. We highlight the significant impact of the cooperating teacher's approach to mentoring—more so than teaching—on a student teacher's developing practice. We conclude with recommendations for supporting student and cooperating teachers to develop shared understandings of the purpose of student teaching and mentoring and to engage in educative dialogues about teaching that support the cross-institutional negotiations inherent in mentoring and learning to teach.     

To Study or to Sleep? The Academic Costs of Extra Studying at the Expense of Sleep

This longitudinal study examined how nightly variations in adolescents’ study and sleep time are associated with academic problems on the following day. Participants (N = 535, 9th grade M_age = 14.88) completed daily diaries every day for 14 days in 9th, 10th, and 12th grades. Results suggest that regardless of how much a student generally studies each day, if that student sacrifices sleep time to study more than usual, he or she will have more trouble understanding material taught in class and be more likely to struggle on an assignment or test the following day. Because students are increasingly likely to sacrifice sleep time for studying in the latter years of high school, this negative dynamic becomes increasingly prevalent over time.     

Communication and decision‐making styles,power base usage,and satisfaction in marital dyads

This research focused on use of power, decision‐making and communication styles of spouses in marital dyads, and the level of marital satisfaction of the partners in these relationships. Drawing primarily on previous work involving Management Communication Style and decision‐making styles in organizational and instructional communication contexts, but also examining directly relevant work within the marital context, three hypotheses and five research questions were advanced. Marital satisfaction for members of 136 marital dyads was examined to determine its relationship with self‐ and spouse‐reported communication and decision‐making styles and use of various power bases in communication designed to influence marital partner. The three hypotheses were supported by the findings: 1) Self‐reported satisfaction as a member of a marital dyad was positively related to the spouse's use of a more co‐active style of communication and decision‐making; 2) Such satisfaction was positively related to one's spouse's communication of referent power; and 3) Such satisfaction was negatively related to one's spouse's communication of coercive power. Use of reward power was also found to be negatively associated with a spouse's marital satisfaction. With only one meaningful exception, results for husbands and wives were very similar.     

A Structural Equation Modeling Evaluation of the General Model of Instructional Communication

The General Model of Instructional Communication introduced by McCroskey, Valencic, and Richmond (2004) is supported in its original conception by canonical data. This study, however, uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to provide a more detailed analysis. Although the model as originally hypothesized fits the data poorly, analysis of the SEM results suggests adjustments to the original model that substantially improve the model's fit. The revised model accounts for significant portions of the variance in the outcome variables, provides a more detailed explanation of the relationships involved, and has implications for future research. Bootstrapped parameter estimates suggest that the results are replicable.     

Identifying challenges in supervising school psychologists

Previous studies suggest that the majority of school psychologists do not believe they receive sufficient supervision, despite a growing body of research providing empirical support for supervision to maintain and improve skills. This study explores the dynamics underlying the challenges of providing adequate supervision to school psychologists. Findings suggest that supervision of school psychologists is characterized by challenges that extend beyond the traditional demarcations of clinical and administrative supervision typical in clinical settings. Supervisors of school psychologists encounter systemic challenges, unique to school settings, which must be addressed for their supervisees to be able to function successfully. The findings suggest that a clinical–administrative–systemic model of supervision is most appropriate in the supervision of school psychologists. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Elaborated metaphors support viable inferences about difficult science concepts

Instructional metaphors scaffold learning better when accompanied by an elaboration. Applying structure mapping theory, we developed and used an elaborated instructional metaphor (text and illustrations) for introductory chemistry concepts. In two studies (N ₁ = 44, N ₂ = 57), college students with little chemistry background read either the elaborated metaphor, sub‐concept metaphor statements (e.g. an atom is like a tile) only or (Study 2) sub‐concept labels (e.g. atom) only. When asked to write what they knew about the sub‐concept, those in the elaborated metaphor condition wrote more sophisticated domain inferences than those in the other condition(s), p < .05. The elaborated metaphor helped participants construct accurate pre‐conceptual mental models that could prepare them for future learning (i.e. acquisition of new knowledge). The results also suggested that acquisition of high‐level concepts may require active learner transactions with the analogue, as can be had in interactive instructional game worlds.     

遇到黄灯该不该过?(英文)

遇到黄灯该不该过?这个问题不仅仅是2013年新交规实施后中国司机面临的新考验,即使在"汽车上的国家"——美国——如何应对黄灯也是一个让司机头疼的两难问题。