Making the Hidden Explicit: Learning About Equity in K-8 Preservice Science Education

Preservice teachers in a K–8 science methods course used guided video reflection to examine their interactions with children during science teaching. This inquiry approach helped preservice teachers identify and respond to gaps between their beliefs and intentions about teaching all children and their enactment of those beliefs. The experience of teaching a science lesson and then viewing it multiple times through a critical framework provided an opportunity for preservice teachers to recognize hidden assumptions, unexamined behaviors, and the unintentional meanings they may have conveyed to children. This encouraged them to think more critically about their roles as teachers in creating spaces where all children have access to quality science learning experiences.

Work-related burnout syndrome in special education teachers working with children with developmental disorders – possible correlations with some socio-demographic aspects and assertiveness

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research was to examine the levels of burnout syndrome dimensions in special education teachers and correlations with some socio-demographic characteristics, job characteristics, and levels of assertiveness. The research included 225 special education teachers from Serbia (82% were women, 18% were men, with the average age of 42.51 ± 9.23 years). Research instruments included Maslach Burnout Inventory, Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. There were differences in all burnout dimensions in relation to types of students’ special needs. Higher levels of burnout symptoms were observed in teachers working with children with motor skill disorders. The assertiveness scores had a significant negative correlation with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and a positive correlation with a lack of accomplishment. The results obtained may help in the planning of the adequate preventative measures for improving the mental health of those professionals.     

An Action Research Study of Student Self-Assessment in Higher Education

Although student self-assessment is considered a critical component of assessment for learning, its use and related research are rare in higher education. This article describes an action research study of self-assessment as an instructional strategy in two university courses. Results indicate that self-assessment exercises provided students the opportunity to reflect on the course and their performance, helped them monitor their own progress, motivated them to do well in the course, and provided them the opportunity to give feedback to the instructor. Additionally, from the instructor perspective, the exercises provided useful feedback for course improvement and facilitated interactions and relationships with students.     

Using Electroencephalography to Measure Cognitive Load

Application of physiological methods, in particular electroencephalography (EEG), offers new and promising approaches to educational psychology research. EEG is identified as a physiological index that can serve as an online, continuous measure of cognitive load detecting subtle fluctuations in instantaneous load, which can help explain effects of instructional interventions when measures of overall cognitive load fail to reflect such differences in cognitive processing. This paper presents a review of seminal literature on the use of continuous EEG to measure cognitive load and describes two case studies on learning from hypertext and multimedia that employed EEG methodology to collect and analyze cognitive load data.     

Effects of conceptual knowledge and availability of information sources on law students’ legal reasoning

Due to the complexity of the legal domain, reasoning about law cases is a very complex skill. For novices in law school, legal reasoning is even more complex because they have not yet acquired the conceptual knowledge needed for distilling the relevant information from cases, determining applicable rules, and searching for rules and exceptions in external information sources such as lawbooks. This study investigated the role of conceptual knowledge in solving legal cases when no information sources can be used. Under such ‘unsupported’ circumstances, novice and advanced students performed less well than domain experts, but even experts’ performance was rather low. The second question addressed was whether novices even benefit from the availability of information sources (i.e., lawbook), because conceptual knowledge is prerequisite for effective use of such sources. Indeed availability of the lawbook positively affected performance only for advanced students but not for novice students. Implications for learning and instruction in the domain of law are discussed.     

A coaches’ perspective on the contribution of anthropometry,physical performance,and motor coordination in racquet sports

ABSTRACT

Differences and similarities between table tennis and other racquet sports exist, but are not well documented in the literature, in spite of the relevance for talent identification. In this study we aimed at identifying the key characteristics of table tennis in comparison with tennis and badminton based upon a survey in coaches. A total of 177 licensed coaches from all across the world and with diverse professional backgrounds completed a survey on anthropometric measures, physical performance, and motor coordination skills. On a scale from 1 to 10, coaches indicated to what extent a talent characteristic was important for their sport. MANOVA identified key differences as well as similarities between all three racquet sports and a subsequent discriminant analysis allocated coaches correctly for table tennis, tennis, and badminton 81.01%, 55.6%, and 71.4% respectively. Our results show that table tennis and other racquet sport coaches are well aware of differences between the racquet sports and also the importance and value of testing and assortment of skill components. These findings can assist coaches in future talent orientation and transfer in racquet sports.     

Evaluation of the Redesign of an Undergraduate Cell Biology Course

This article offers a case study of the evaluation of a redesigned and redeveloped laboratory-based cell biology course. The course was a compulsory element of the biology program, but the laboratory had become outdated and was inadequately equipped. With the support of a faculty-based teaching improvement project, the teaching team redesigned the course and re-equipped the laboratory, using a more learner-centered, constructivist approach. The focus of the article is on the project-supported evaluation of the redesign rather than the redesign per se. The evaluation involved aspects well beyond standard course assessments, including the gathering of self-reported data from the students concerning both the laboratory component and the technical skills associated with the course. The comparison of pre- and postdata gave valuable information to the teaching team on course design issues and skill acquisition. It is argued that the evaluation process was an effective use of the scarce resources of the teaching improvement project.     

Interest Assessment and the Content Area Literacy Environment: Challenges for Research and Practice

Through our exploration of the assessment of interest, we highlight 5 issues that emerge in the effort to assess interest in content area literacy environments. First, we compare how interest is defined and generally how it has been assessed. Second, we focus more specifically on the assessment of text-based interest, and consider its assessment in less explored realms of the content area classroom that include hypertext and discussions. Third, we investigate how interest develops as students progress through their educational careers and how it is maintained over time. Fourth, we explore how assessing interest involves examining other student factors that are closely related to interest such as knowledge, importance, and strategic processing. Finally, we offer thoughts regarding directions educators can take in assessing interest within the complex literacy environment of today's content area classroom.     

More than just fun: a place for games in playful learning / Más que diversión: el lugar de los juegos reglados en el aprendizaje lúdico

Games play a significant role in childhood, fuelling hours of engagement and social interaction, and probably much learning as well. Board games, card games and outdoor games (such as Tag) first come to mind, but more recently, games have also gone digital. In this piece, we offer a new perspective by placing games within the established construct of ‘playful learning’. We review key elements of playful learning and the two subtypes: free play and guided play. We suggest that games promote learning in ways similar to other playful learning situations. Games involve fun, a sense of curiosity and an inhibition of reality, in active, engaging, meaningful and socially interactive contexts. We argue that games therefore belong alongside free play and guided play to form a trio of playful learning experiences. This perspective adds to a growing understanding of the role of games in supporting children’s learning and development.     

Passive Accomplice or Active Disruptor

Mediatization of politics in the institutional perspective is commonly taken to refer to the interactions between political actors and media actors, where the first become increasingly governed by media logic and the latter become increasingly independent from other institutions. Even though we could picture the relations between the different constituents as a triangle with audience, media and political actors as equally important corners, the institutionalist perspective does not give equal attention to the audience as actor in the process. In this article, I ask to what extent audience participation in news production affects our understanding of the process of mediatization of politics. I discuss both how audience participation can be seen as a challenge to media's role in politics (challenging the current conceptualization of mediatization of politics) as well as how the theory of mediatization can be seen to be confirmed by currently dominant audience participation practices. In the first understanding, we can argue that audience participation challenges independence of institutional media actors (to give more power to both audiences and politicians). In the latter understanding, audience participation can be seen to be governed by the same commercial interests as other media production and in addition that both mainstream and alternative media are subject to search engine logic. This article then calls for a critical examination of our understanding of mediatization of politics to do justice to the multiplicity of logics informing media practices, the multiplicity of actors producing news and, crucially, the interaction between those logics and actors.