A Comparison of Multiple-Choice and Constructed Figural Response Items

In contrast to multiple-choice test questions, figural response items call for constructed responses and rely upon figural material, such as illustrations and graphs, as the response medium. Figural response questions in various science domains were created and administered to a sample of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students. Item and test statistics from parallel sets of figural response and multiple-choice questions were compared. Figural response items were generally more difficult, especially for questions that were difficult (p < .5) in their constructed-response forms. Figural response questions were also slightly more discriminating and reliable than their multiple-choice counterparts, but they had higher omit rates. This article addresses the relevance of guessing to figural response items and the diagnostic value of the item type. Plans for future research on figural response items are discussed.     

Unsung Heroes: Exploring the roles of school-based professional experience coordinators in Australian preservice teacher education

The literature on practicum in preservice teacher education provides varied and detailed accounts of the roles of the student teacher, the supervising teacher, and the university-based teacher educator. However, the school-based professional experience coordinator, usually the principal or deputy principal, has been dismissed as an administrative outsider to the essential triad of supervision. Feedback from the field suggested that the coordinator's role may in fact be crucial in ensuring that practicum is an occasion for quality learning. This paper reports on a study to explore ways in which a small selection of professional experience coordinators contribute to the establishment, support and appraisal of high quality practicum experience in a variety of settings. The research fills a gap in the existing literature on the practicum by providing some illumination of the varied ways the school-based coordinator role is filled. In addition, the paper raises questions about selection and support of coordinators, about ownership of the practicum, and argues for a reconceptualisation of the practicum as the site where all shareholders engage in the partnership, with continual opportunities for construction, reconstruction and renewal of the teaching profession.     

Responsibilities,preparedness, and job satisfaction of paraprofessionals: working with young children with disabilities

To support teachers with their classroom responsibilities, schools have increasingly turned to paraprofessionals for assistance, with the largest numbers of paraprofessionals employed in the field of special education. Owing to this important role that paraprofessionals now perform in the education of children with disabilities in the USA, we set out to investigate the responsibilities that paraprofessionals working with young children with disabilities had. We were also interested in identifying how paraprofessionals and the teachers with whom they work alongside perceived the paraprofessionals' level of preparedness for their roles and their job satisfaction. Fifty‐two paraprofessionals and 59 teachers of young children with disabilities participated in the study. Overall, both paraprofessionals and teachers indicated that paraprofessionals were generally well prepared for activities they frequently engaged in and both viewed themselves as collaborative members of an educational team.     

Encounters of the first kind

This paper will discuss the analysis of the first stages of data gathering in an ethnographic research project designed to investigate the changing perspectives of beginning teachers. In November, 1986, four graduands of a B. Ed. programme of preparation for secondary teachers were interviewed. Follow-up interviews and classroom observations were conducted in February, 1987 in their third week of practice — three in state co-educational high schools and one in a private all-girls’ school. The investigation focused on the young teachers’ perspectives on teaching; on the origins of those perspectives; on their perceptions of the institutional contexts of their particular schools; and on their reactions to the world of practice. Beginning analysis suggests mixed patterns of stability and instability in teachers’ perspectives in practice, and mixed patterns of acceptance of and resistance to the institutional and systemic contexts in which these young teachers found themselves.     

The Movimiento Al Éxito summer pop-up program: The role of testimonio in moving new diasporic Latina/o youth through Iowa history to critical consciousness

Al Éxito supports the leadership development, post-secondary education, and civic engagement of Iowa Latina/o¹ youth. In the summer of 2015, it piloted Movimiento Al Éxito, a “pop up” summer program. In this article, we detail the innovative components and curriculum and describe our journey with “new diasporic” Latina/o youth learning about their place in Iowa and developing testimonios which challenge existing narratives. We explain how emergent critical consciousness led to the program’s continuation and expansion the following school year.     

The Relationship Between Running Economy and Biomechanical Variables in Distance Runners

In this study, we analyzed the relationship between running economy (RE) and biomechanical parameters in a group running at the same relative intensity and same absolute velocity. Sixteen homogeneous male long-distance runners performed a test to determine RE at 4.4 m.s^-1, corresponding to 11.1% below velocity at the ventilatory threshold. We found significant correlations between RE and biomechanical variables (vertical oscillation of the center of mass, stride frequency, stride length, balance time, relative stride length, range of elbow motion, internal knee, ankle angles at foot strike, and electromyographic activity of the semitendinosus and rectus femoris muscles). In conclusion, changes in running technique can influence RE and lead to improved running performance.     

Waiting for Gabriel: Philosophical literacy and teacher education

Abstract

The author presents a case for expanding the philosophical literacy of preservice teachers. It is argued here that increasing the philosophical literacy in teacher education programs will enable teachers to think deliberatively and, consequently, reflectively on the exigencies of their practice. For example, through guided experience with philosophy of education, preservice teachers can gain familiarity with the hermeneutics of inter‐subjectivity, thus making them better able to communicate and understand their own students and their families. The author uses John Dewey's pragmatic ideas about reflection, hermeneutics, and equity as examples of how philosophical literacy can guide preservice teachers’ professional contemplation.     

Teaching: A Job or a Profession? The Perceptions of Educators

Researchers designed a study to investigate educators’ perceptions about whether teaching is a job or a profession. A survey was developed to investigate factors such as individual definitions of a job and a profession, years of experience teaching, grade level or category of education, and individual perceptions of a profession. The respondents were 401 upper-level undergraduate preservice teachers and graduate students who were professional educators. Data collected showed many aspects of individuals’ perceptions of teaching including control of teaching and working situations, ethics, and personal perceptions of being a professional. Based on the findings from the study, researchers concluded that educators believe teaching is a profession.     

Trends in Network News Editing Strategies From 1969 Through 2005

Four editing variables were tracked through a content analysis of U.S. commercial network editing that spanned a 36-year period. The analysis revealed that synthetic-montage increased and continuity-realism decreased from 1969 through 1997. Network news editors also embraced faster pacing, shorter soundbites, and more special effects between 1969 and 2005. When taken together, the results suggest that U.S. network television journalism has evolved from more “camera of record” and realistic news techniques in favor of a variety of synthetic editing strategies that convey complex audio-visual arguments.     

对高水平乒乓球运动员腿部爆发力和弹跳力的评价

乒乓球运动是一项非周期性运动,对抗过程中涉及极其复杂的战术、心理和生理因素,球员面对对手的施压需要做出快速反应,其中速度和爆发力是基本的、必备的素质.研究目的探讨乒乓球运动员腿部爆发力的重要作用.研究方法本研究选用29名优秀运动员为实验对象,其中包括17名男性(年龄23.5±5.5岁)和12位女性(年龄20.8±2.9岁),均为西班牙国家乒乓球队成员.采用测力台(Ergotester Globus)、Acer笔记本电脑和一些登记册对运动员进行了全蹲跳(CMJ)和半蹲跳(SJ)测试,并对腿部爆发力和弹跳力进行了评价.实验数据的统计处理由SPSS v12.0和Excel v 10.2软件完成.研究结果在腿部爆发力和弹跳力方面,男女组存在显著性差异(p＜0.001),男运动员优于女性运动员.同样,不同打法的选手之间也存在差异,防守型打法的选手都低于进攻型选手.讨论和结论在CMJ和SJ测试中,防守型打法的选手腿部爆发力和弹跳力均低于进攻型选手.在实验中成绩较好的男女选手,排名均在西班牙前十二以内,进一步证实了腿部爆发力在此项运动中的重要性,尤其对进攻型打法的选手.其原因可归结为血液中所含睾丸激素水平的高低,男选手高于女选手,进攻型选手高于防守型.