What good is a scientist in the classroom? Participant outcomes and program design features for a short-duration science outreach intervention in K-12 classrooms

Many short-duration science outreach interventions have important societal goals of raising science literacy and increasing the size and diversity of the science workforce. Yet, these long-term outcomes are inherently challenging to evaluate. We present findings from a qualitative research study of an inquiry-based, life science outreach program to K-12 classrooms that is typical in design and excellent in execution. By considering this program as a best case of a common outreach model, the "scientist in the classroom," the study examines what benefits may be realized for each participant group and how they are achieved. We find that K-12 students are engaged in authentic, hands-on activities that generate interest in science and new views of science and scientists. Teachers learn new science content and new ways to teach it, and value collegial support of their professional work. Graduate student scientists, who are the program presenters, gain teaching and other skills, greater understanding of education and diversity issues, confidence and intrinsic satisfaction, and career benefits. A few negative outcomes also are described. Program elements that lead to these benefits are identified both from the research findings and from insights of the program developer on program design and implementation choices.     

Team-based Course Design: Increasing Resource Utilization and Collaboration Across Campus

ABSTRACT

Community colleges continue to face accountability pressures without an increase in funding, requiring creativity to meet their goals. Collaborating across departments can maximize communication and minimize waste. Team-based course design is one way to encourage interdepartmental work. Within this article, a diverse team—composed of individuals representing not only faculty, but also staff and administrators from the library, student tutoring services, and distance education departments— explains best practices based on their experience with team-based course design.     

Dyslexia quotient: An index of reading ability

Summary A new index for expressing degree of reading disability in children is presented. Called the Dyslexia Quotient (D. Q.), it has the advantages of being simple to calculate and of being expressed in round numbers. Standardization of this new index is presented. In addition, the use of the Dyslexia Quotient in 50 patients who completed intensive dyslexia therapy is presented. An age-improvement distribution diagram, using the D. Q. is given. The authors suggest that the Dyslexia Quotient offers a valuable universal means of indicating degree of reading disability at any grade or age level.     

The Role of Teacher Training in Cognitive Strategy Instruction to Improve Math Problem Solving

The purpose of this article is to offer teacher training and professional development recommendations in mathematics based on the findings of a federally funded 3‐year intervention study that improved the problem solving of middle school students with a focus on students with learning disabilities. Over the 3‐year project, 29 seventh and eighth grade teachers implemented a problem‐solving intervention based on cognitive strategy instruction. Though the intervention was successful in improving students’ problem‐solving performance, several issues related to teaching effectiveness and teacher training came to light. The article will: (1) describe the intervention and its implementation, (2) present the findings of the study, and (3) discuss the issues of effectiveness and possible solutions via teacher education and professional development.     

The centrality of Aboriginal cultural workshops and experiential learning in a pre-service teacher education course: a regional Victorian University case study

This paper discusses a cross-cultural pedagogical approach, couched in a theory–practice nexus, used at a Victorian regional university to guide non-Indigenous pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and cultures. We have drawn on qualitative and statistical data, and current issues in Australian and international literature, to explore the relevance and success suggested by data from this cross-cultural pedagogical approach, in particular the notion of teacher ethnicity in racialised spaces. In doing so, we have addressed recent sentiments about a lack of quantitative and qualitative research that explores inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and discussions of ways in which tertiary educators construct and influence teachings about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. It is anticipated that this paper will generate further dialogue and research-based evidence on ways in which other tertiary education providers may draw on cross-cultural theories to guide inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and perspectives in PST education courses.     

Attribution in the classroom: How just is the just world?

Research in the area of attribution theory is reviewed which documents the tendency to explain whatever happens to someone else as a just consequence of his own personal characteristics, rather than the result of environmental circumstances. The ramifications of this tendency in teachers' perceptions of students are discussed, and suggestions are offered for guarding against this sort of attributional bias.     

From student to teacher: changes in preservice teacher educational beliefs throughout the learning-to-teach journey

Preservice teachers enter programs with beliefs about teaching and learning, constructed from prior schooling experiences. This longitudinal study examines preservice teachers’ K–12 memories, their initial educational beliefs, and the changes in those beliefs over their teacher education program. Analysis of questionnaires, interviews, work samples, and observations from six preservice teachers collected over a two-year period revealed that they initially believed that students were similar to themselves, that teaching was simple and autonomous, that students perform uniformly within grade levels, and that teaching ensures learning. At program’s end, however, they believed that students differ from one another and from themselves, that teaching is complex, that classroom freedom has limits, that differentiation is essential, and that teaching does not ensure learning. The data suggested a common progression from initial idealism, to cognitive dissonance, to a search for an authentic teaching persona, and finally, to confidence in their new role as teacher.