In response to David Greenwood’s ‘Place mobility and faculty life: mindfulness through change’ through the lens of science teacher education programs

In writing this review, I draw on the experience of David Greenwood (Cult Stud Sci Educ 10:5–16, 2015) whose ethnographic study sheds light on his growth as a faculty member who has taught in various settings that are quite different from the culture that he grew up with. I extend his thoughts on ecological mindfulness to encompass a culturally aware method of teaching based on place sensitized more to the needs of science teacher preparation programs. The methods used in writing the review included literature searches for articles that incorporate ecological mindfulness and culturally responsive teaching in science teacher preparation programs and reflected ideas voiced in Greenwood’s article. Although he seems that he is primarily addressing other faculty members, his experiences can be used as lifelong lessons for preservice teachers entering a primarily homogeneous workforce expected to teach an increasingly diverse student population. His humor, use of Haiku, poetry and mindfulness as a way of becoming one with a culture that he is not accustomed has many lessons that prove useful in training more culturally responsive teachers. In light of an increasingly diverse US student population versus a stagnantly homogeneous teaching workforce, his reflective practice will prove useful to teachers who are expected to teach students with cultures different from their own.     

The Teacher Research Update Experience: Perceptions of Practicing Science, Mathematics, and Technology Teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine how the practicing science and mathematics teachers participating in the University of Florida's Teacher Research Update Experience (TRUE) perceived their experiences in Summer 2000. We conducted in-depth interviews and collected data from survey questionnaires and addressed research in the following areas: How do participants perceive their experiences during the 7-week program designed to enhance science, mathematics, and technology knowledge and skills? How have these experiences contributed to their professional and personal growth and development, and how will they influence teaching and student learning? Findings from interviews provided insights into the thoughts, motivations, and, in some cases, insecurities of these adult learners. Follow-up studies are indicated on long-term impact of immersion professional development programs.     

A Transactional Approach to Transfer Episodes

In this article we present an analytical framework for approaching transfer episodes—episodes in which participants declare or can be declared to bring prior experience to bear on the current task organization. We build on Dewey’s writings about the continuity of experience, Vygotsky’s ideas of unit analysis, as well as more recent developments in continental philosophy to develop a transactional approach that involves reconceptualizing the notion of experience. In this view, experience is not something that individuals have but an analytical category that denotes the unity of whole persons, their material and social environment, and their changing transactional relations (mutual effects on each other) across time. In the 1st part of the article, we present the theory and contrast it with past and present literature on transfer. In the 2nd part, we develop the methodological implications and analyze an episode of transfer from a technology-enhanced science education curriculum in which students were presented with analogous models of scientific phenomena across different tasks. We describe instances of recognition, of analogical reasoning, and of how students applied theoretical knowledge in terms of transactional units of change. We conclude by discussing implications with regard to further theoretical development and educational practice.     

Alterations in the memory code for temporal events induced by differential outcome expectancies in pigeons

The effect of differential outcome expectancies on memory for temporal and nontemporal information was examined. Pigeons were trained to match short (2-sec) and long (8-sec) sample durations to red and green comparison stimuli, and vertical and horizontal lines to vertical and horizontal comparison stimuli. In Experiment 1, one differential outcome (DO) group received food for correct choices on short-sample trials, whereas another received food for correct choices on long-sample trials. On line-orientation trials, half of each DO group received food for correct responses following vertical samples, whereas the other half received food for correct responses following horizontal samples. Overall retention was greater in the DO groups than in a nondifferential (NDO) group that received either food or no food for correct responses on a random half of all trials. Furthermore, although the NDO group displayed a choose-short bias for temporal samples, both DO groups displayed equivalent biases to select the comparison stimulus associated with food. In Experiment 2, differential outcome expectancies were extinguished off-baseline. Subsequently, in the first nondifferential outcome test session, the. DO groups performed less, accurately than the NDO group. These findings indicate that temporal samples are not retrospectively and analogically coded when they are differentially associated with food and no food. Instead, they are remembered in terms of the corresponding outcome expectancies.     

Examining the Effectiveness of a Professional Development Program: Integration of Educational Robotics into Science and Mathematics Curricula

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This study describes a professional development (PD) program designed to support middle school teachers in effectively integrating robotics in science...     

Improving Elementary Grade Students’ Science and Social Studies Vocabulary Knowledge Depth,Reading Comprehension,and Argumentative Writing: a Conceptual Replication

Educational Psychology Review - This experimental study aimed to replicate and extend a previous efficacy study of an elementary grade content literacy intervention that demonstrated positive...     

Teachers’ Role in Students’ Learning at a Project-Based STEM High School: Implications for Teacher Education

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - This study explored how teachers engage and support students at a project-based STEM high school to identify key elements defining...     

Indicators for national science and technology policy: how robust are composite indicators?

This article addresses a set of issues that were central to Keith Pavitt's research, that is, the construction and use of tools to measure national innovative performance and to design national policies relating to innovation. It presents an overview of the development of science and technology (S&T) indicators and their use in national policy making and provides evidence of the vulnerability of composite S&T indicators to manipulation. A brief history of the development of S&T indicators begins with the role of the United States followed by their worldwide diffusion with particular emphasis on Europe. Newer developments towards composite indicators, benchmarking and scoreboarding are discussed. To investigate the robustness of innovation scoreboards empirically, a sensitivity analysis of one selected case is presented. It is shown that composite scores and country rank positions can vary considerably depending on the selection process. Thus, the use of scoreboards leaves room for manipulation in the policymaking system. Further research is needed on alternative methods of calculation to prevent their misuse and abuse.     

The venture capital market and technological innovation

This paper was stimulated by assertions that technological innovation in the United States by new or small firms is being delayed or altogether stifled by an inadequate supply of capital for such firms. Analysis of available data on the performance and activities of public venture capital sources and information supplied by knowledgeable people in the field provided little support, on strictly economic grounds, for the argument that a major problem exists. The data, however, are extremely thin and inadequate to suport recommendations for major policy changes.