Incorporating English Language Teaching Through Science for K-2 Teachers

English learners are faced with the dual challenge of acquiring English while learning academic content through the medium of the new language (Lee et al. in J Res Sci Teach 45(6):726?C747, 2008; Stoddart et al. in J Res Sci Teach 39(8):664?C687, 2002) and therefore need specific accommodations to achieve in both English and the content areas. Teachers require higher quality and new forms of professional development to learn and meet the needs of their students. This study examines the impact of one professional development model that explicitly embedded language learning strategies into science inquiry lessons. It also demonstrates how teachers involved in the PD program improve their self-efficacy about language instruction embedded in content and how they interpret and implement the methodology.     

Examining the extent and nature of online learning in American K-12 Education: The research initiatives of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

In 1992, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation began its Anytime, Anyplace Learning Program, the purpose of which was to explore educational alternatives for people who wanted to pursue an education via Internet technology. Part of this grant activity was a research award to the Babson College Survey Research Group to examine online learning in American K-12 education. Three studies were conducted based on national surveys of school district and/or high school administrators. The focus of these studies was twofold: one, to examine the extent and nature of online learning in K-12 school districts; second, to examine the role of online learning in high school reform initiatives. The purpose of this article is to share the findings from these studies and to look critically at what they mean for the future of online learning in American K-12 schools.     

Factors influencing school connectedness: Chinese adolescents’ perspectives

This study explored the concept of school connectedness and the factors that may influence its development with a sample of Chinese adolescents. Six focus groups involving 52 high school students were conducted using a set of predetermined discussion topics. Results indicated that the students fully understood the notion of school connectedness and could identify a number of key influences affecting its development. These factors could be grouped under several domains including teacher care, peer relations, broader school relationships, school disciplinary policies and practices, activities within the school’s guidance and counseling program, and opportunities for talent development. The students were also able to suggest practical strategies that schools might introduce to enhance and strengthen students’ acquisition of connectedness to school. The implications from the findings are discussed with particular reference to implementing comprehensive school guidance and counseling program in Hong Kong.     

Exploring the Influences of a Partner-Based Teacher Credential Program on Candidates’ Performance Outcomes

The study compared candidates in a 4-year undergraduate program for secondary mathematics and science teaching, based on the UTeach model, with candidates in a 1-year postbaccalaureate program at the same institution. Candidates in the undergraduate program participated in a partnership of university mathematics, science, and education departments and intensive field-based experiences in high-needs schools. We conjectured that this approach would better prepare prospective teachers to develop beginning teacher competencies. Analysis of the Performance Assessment for California Teachers Teaching Event identified few differences between candidates in both groups. Surveys revealed significant differences between candidates’ perceptions of their preparation for teaching. These findings suggest that different program models can offer differential support to prospective teachers but how the program features are enacted influences the impact that these programs have on teacher preparation.     

Filling up silences—first in family students,capital and university talk in the home

Internationally, research has indicated that returning to education for older learners provides the means for growth and change, for some students this can translate into a sense of ‘empowerment’ and control in their personal lives. However, what is not so well researched is how having a significant ‘other’ present within the university landscape impacts the household and other family members. Exploring how this return to education influences others provides a basis for institutional approaches to engaging with and supporting the lifelong learning of family members, ultimately assisting in the access and participation of current and future generations. This article draws on research conducted with first in family students to explore how their participation in the higher education environment led to conversations in the family around learning. Drawing upon theories of social and cultural capital, this article reflects upon the flow of capitals between home and university.     

Investigating pre-service teacher motivation across cultures using the Teachers’ Ten Statements Test

Motivations for choosing teaching as a career were investigated in 200 pre-service teachers from Canada and Oman. We used a novel structured qualitative approach and two theoretical models to analyze how pre-service teacher career-choice motivation varied according to cultural context. The results of the study showed that Canadian participants made more self-references, and expressed higher levels of individual-focused motivation and social utility value as career motivators than did Omani participants. Participants from Oman expressed greater endorsement of teaching as a fallback career and higher levels of socio-cultural influences than Canadian participants. Results extend teacher motivation “teacher motivation theory” by investigating socio-cultural influences.     

The independence of response structure and element production in timing sequences

In three experiments, participants were asked to produce a prescribed temporal sequence of key presses. The number of elements in a key press sequence, the movement time of the elements, and uniformity of the timing elements comprising the sequence were manipulated. If the processing of the sequence structure was independent of the processing of elements comprising the sequence, increasing the number of the elements in the sequence should affect the production of the sequence but not the proficiency with which the individual elements are, produced. Increasing the movement time of the elements, however, should affect the production of the elements but have little, if any, effect on the integrity of the sequence. The findings indicated that increasing the number of elements negatively affected sequence production when the elements were nonuniform but had little or no effect when elements were uniform. Alternatively, element production was affected by movement time but not number of elements. The results of these experiments appear to confirm the independence of sequence and element production. However, Experiment 3, in which the uniformity of the elements was directly contrasted, found strong evidence for coarticulatory influences in the learning processes, whereby the longer and shorter than average elements in the sequence negatively affected the sequence integrity and the production of the individual elements. When faced with a nonuniformn timing pattern, participants appear to elongate or shrink individual elements of a uniform timing pattern to fit the desired sequence requirements. The result is that the longer or shorter than average elements require more practice to produce correctly, tend to regress across retention intervals, and are generally less stable than the elements nearer the average.     

Error detection processes during observational learning

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a faded knowledge of results (KR) frequency during observation of a model's performance enhanced error detection capabilities. During the observation phase, participants observed a model performing a timing task and received KR about the model's performance on each trial or on one of two trials. Delayed retention and transfer tests were used to assess the observer's ability to detect error in the model's performance and in the participant's performance while physically practicing the task. Results indicated a beneficial effect of a reduced KR frequency for performance stability and the ability to detect errors in both the model and the participant's own performance. The results suggest that aspects of the processing mechanism(s) developed in observational learning and related to KR are probably similar to those developed through physical practice.     

Attention and motor performance: preferences for and advantages of an external focus.

This study examined individuad differences in the preference for and effectiveness of the type of attentional focus for motor learning. In two experiments, participants practicing a balance task (stabilometer) were asked to find out whether focusing on their feet (internal focus) or on two markets in front of their feet (external focus) was more effective. In Experiment 1, participants switched their attentional focus from trial to trial on Day 1 and used their preferred attentional focus on Day 2. In Experiment 2, participants were free to switch their attentional focus any time during 2 days of practice. Retention tests were performed on Day 3. Most participants chose an external focus. Also, they were more effective in retention than participants who preferred an internal focus.     

Effects of repeated retention tests on learning a single timing task

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that administering an initial retention test would influence any subsequent retention tests administered to the same participants. Participants performed 40 practice trials of a four-segment key-pressing task with a movement time goal of 925 ms. Participants were then administered either two retention tests (Day 1-Day 1 group, 10 min and 20 min after practice; Day 1-Day 2 group, 10 min and 24 hr after practice; Day 2-Day 2 group, 23 hr 50 min and 24 hr after practice) or one retention test (Day 1-Control group, 20 min after practice; Day 2-Control group, 24 hr after practice). The first test had a deleterious effect on performing the second test for the Day 2-Day 2 group, which would be expected if the task representation was updated and re-encoded at the time of recall using diminished information. This finding suggests that researchers should be cautious about using repeated retention tests that are administered 1 day after practice. In addition, teachers and coaches should consider administering a test under gamelike conditions following practice of a new technique. Otherwise, performance of the new technique may be degraded or perturbed at the time of later performances.