Measuring Professional Identity Development Among Counselor Trainees

This study examined the differences in professional identity development between novice and advanced counselor trainees (N = 161). Multivariate analyses of variance indicated significant differences between groups. Specifically, advanced counselor trainees demonstrated greater professional development compared with novice counselor trainees. No differences existed between groups with understanding of professional orientation and values. Implications are presented.     

The Globalizing Labor Market in Education: Teachers as Cultural Ambassadors or Agents of Institutional Isomorphism?

Institutional isomorphists and other proponents of world culture theory argue that schools around the world are converging in many ways, whereas anthropologists and others question this conclusion, often arguing that local cultural differences belie superficial similarities. These viewpoints are not merely academic explanations of the spread and apparent convergence of education policies and practices around the world but are often present in policy and practice. The authors seek both to shed new light on these often-entrenched positions and to refocus the debate by considering the presence and influence of such views in the policies and practices of international teacher exchanges. In the context of the expanding global labor market for teachers, the authors consider the implicit theories underpinning international exchange policies and the ways in which the exchange teachers themselves make sense of these policies.

In particular, we recognize that although extensive work has been done on the dynamics of policy borrowing, little attention has been paid to international exchange teachers as potential agents of isomorphism, adopting and disseminating practices at the local level. Paradoxically, the exchange policies construct a universal teacher who is interchangeable across national (and cultural) contexts, a view resonant with institutional isomorphists, while justifying the exchanges rhetorically on the basis of their value as a cultural exchange, a view more consistent with the culturalists. The teachers who participate, however—and who effectively self-select by their beliefs that such exchanges are possible—accept the interchangeability thesis and view such exchanges as a professional development opportunity.     

Reading from print,laptop computer,and e-reader: Differences and similarities for college students’ learning

Abstract

Digital and print readings differ in their affordances. Past research supports a print advantage, but few studies have used within-subjects approaches or compared handheld devices and multiple reading genres. We compared college students’ reading of several excerpts on paper, a laptop, and an e-reader. Students read on all platforms, completed comprehension tasks, and answered questions on their perceptions and preferences. Results indicated that students’ learning experience with print was superior, with the laptop a close second. In contrast, students’ learning from and perceptions of the e-reader were lower. There was no interaction with reading genre. This research suggests that students’ preference for print remains strong. When digital materials are used, e-readers appear to be a less viable option for academics relative to laptops.     

Use of Contextual Information and Prediction by Struggling Adult Readers: Evidence From Reading Times and Event-Related Potentials

We employed self-paced reading and event-related potential measures to investigate how adults of varying literacy levels use sentence context information when reading. Community-dwelling participants read strongly and weakly constraining sentences that ended with expected or unexpected target words. Skilled readers showed N400s that were graded by the cloze probability of the targets, with larger N400s for more unexpected words. Moreover, it took these participants longer to read unexpected targets in strongly than weakly constraining sentences, suggesting a processing cost for revising predictions. Among less skilled readers, a reliable N400 difference was found between expected and unexpected targets only for the strongly constraining sentences. They also took longer when targets were unexpected, regardless of the context. These findings suggest that lower literacy readers could only immediately take advantage of strongly constraining context information to facilitate word processing and that they do not make as much use of predictive processing during comprehension.     

Integrating Science and Technology: Using Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a Framework to Study the Practices of Science Teachers

Journal of Science Education and Technology - In this study, we examined how teachers involved in a yearlong technology integration initiative planned to enact technological, pedagogical, and...     

When Should I Use a Measure to Support Instructional Improvement at Scale? The Importance of Considering Both Intended and Actual Use in Validity Arguments

Despite the ease of accessing a wide range of measures, little attention is given to validity arguments when considering whether to use the measure for a new purpose or in a different context. Making a validity argument has historically focused on the intended interpretation and use. There has been a press to consider both the intended and actual interpretations and how users make sense of the data when constructing validity arguments, but the practice is not widespread. This paper contributes to existing research on validity by highlighting the value of attending to the actual interpretation and use of a measure aimed at supporting instructional improvement in mathematics. We describe the use of the same measure across two contexts to highlight the importance of attending to characteristics of both users and the contexts in which the measures are used when assessing the validity of inferences for the purpose of instructional improvement efforts.     

Map of dermatology: 'first-impression' user feedback and agenda for further development

BACKGROUND: Map of Dermatology (http://healthcybermap.org/dermap/) is a free web resource that enables users to search for images of skin conditions by body region and morphology rather than by condition name, which is much more useful and natural in answering questions about unknown clinical presentations/diagnoses, especially for non-specialists. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: This paper presents responses received from twelve users, including specialist dermatologists, non-specialists (some with interests in health informatics), and lay persons, who provided their 'first-impression' feedback on Map of Dermatology by responding to a very short e-mail questionnaire covering service usefulness and interface usability. The paper also provides a brief review of the gaps in current online dermatology information service provision in general. RESULTS: The overall user feedback received was very positive. An exploratory discussion of the arguments and possibilities for radically improving Map of Dermatology to produce 'the ultimate web-based dermatology diagnostic tool' is also provided, together with some desiderata and preliminary 'design and feature specifications' for such a tool based on users' suggestions, the gaps highlighted in other existing online dermatology tools, and the author's own reflections and experience. CONCLUSIONS: When successfully developed, the proposed tool is expected to have significant potential for efficiently and effectively addressing many of the currently unmet educational needs of clinicians.     

A bridge between worlds: understanding network structure to understand change strategy

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of the central office as a support to the work of reform and offer strategies for building relations between district offices and sites in order to implement and sustain change efforts. What is frequently overlooked in these studies is that organizational change efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying social networks may provide insight into structures that support or constrain efforts at change. This exploratory case study uses social network analysis and interviews to examine the communication and knowledge network structures of central office and site leaders in an ‘in need of improvement’ district facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Findings indicate sparse ties among and between school site and central office administrators, as well as a centralized network structure that may constrain the exchange of complex information and ultimately inhibit efforts at change.     

What influences a pet dog’s first impression of a stranger?

Dogs live in the dynamic human social networks full of strangers, yet they form strong and selective bonds with familiar caretakers. Little is known about how a bond is initially formed between a dog and a complete stranger. The first-impression hypothesis suggests that interacting with strangers can present an opportunity to form a mutualistic partnership. It predicts that dogs should respond positively toward a complete stranger to facilitate bonding (Prediction 1) and adjust their preferences in response to the perceived risk and benefit of interacting with strangers (Prediction 2). We examine the social preferences of pet dogs toward a complete stranger whom they have never met before and several other potential partners – the owner with whom subjects have had a positive, long-term bond (Experiment 1), and an exposed stranger with whom they have had a positive short-term interaction (Experiment 2) or a negative one (Experiment 3). In support of Prediction 1, subjects were exceptionally trusting across contexts. Mixed results were found with regard to Prediction 2. Subjects preferred their owner over a stranger when following social cues and (to a lesser degree) when approaching and feeding in close proximity. However, relative to a complete stranger, subjects did not consistently prefer the positively exposed stranger or avoid the negatively exposed one. The lack of clear selectivity might be due to pet dogs’ high baseline level of trust of complete strangers or reflect the strength of their existing bonds that negated the need for another positive bond with a new human partner.     

Shorter Version of the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE): A Sample from Turkish Counselor Candidates (COSE-TR)

Counseling self-efficacy is defined as a counselor’s beliefs regarding their ability to counsel a client effectively. Larson et al. (1992) developed the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) to determine counselors’ self-efficacy in the dimensions of microskills, counseling process, difficult client behavior, cultural competence, and awareness of values. The COSE has been used widely in the United States as well as being adapted to other cultures. The purpose of the present study was to obtain validity and reliability evidence for the COSE in a Turkish sample towards the creation of a Turkish version (COSE-TR). Analyses regarding internal consistency and construct validity were undertaken via CFA and EFA, and divergent and convergent validity assessments were performed. The devised COSE-TR obtained a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .92. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor model with 53.82% of the total variance explained, which the CFA also supported. The COSE-TR correlated negatively with trait anxiety as measured on the ‘State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale’ (involving only Trait anxiety STAI-T; Spielberger 1983), but positively with generalized self-efficacy as measured via the ‘General Self-Efficacy Scale’ (GSE; Schwarzer and Jerusalem 1995). As for language equivalence, there was no difference between the means of total scores obtained from the original COSE and the created Turkish shorter version. Results revealed that the shortened COSE-TR can be regarded as a valid and reliable instrument for measuring counseling self-efficacy with Turkish counselors. Implications for counseling psychology, counselor education and supervision in developing nations and the transculturality of counseling self-efficacy are discussed.