Environmental education professional development for teachers: A study of the impact and influence of mentoring

Rivers2Lake helps teachers learn to provide watershed educational experiences for students through a summer institute followed by mentoring. Teacher focus groups were conducted to investigate the impact of mentoring, as well as toward understanding what was influential in bringing about those impacts. Mentoring impacted teachers in affective ways and helped them use what they learned at the institute. The influential nature of the mentoring may be due to the mentors providing a sense of accountability, personalized support, as well as encouragement of reflection and assistance with navigating barriers. Teachers also articulated qualities of effective mentors: invested, flexible, and responsive. With teachers varying in the degree to which they felt they could continue R2L implementation without the support of mentors, implications are discussed.     

Peer Assessment Training in Teacher Education: Effects on performance and perceptions

The implementation of peer assessment receives much attention in teacher education. This paper reports the effects of peer assessment training on the performance of student teachers. Ninety-three student teachers were randomly assigned to control groups and experimental groups. The experimental groups were trained in defining performance criteria, giving feedback and writing assessment reports. This was done through peer assessment tasks that were embedded in a redesigned course. Analyses of data derived from peer assessment reports written by the students showed that the experimental groups surpassed the control groups in the quality of the assessment skill. As a result of the training, students from the experimental groups also scored significantly higher grades for the end products of the course than students from the control groups. The results of the questionnaire showed that all students were significantly more satisfied with the redesigned course.     

Effective practices for creating transformative informal science education programs grounded in Native ways of knowing

There are a growing number of informal science education (ISE) programs in Native communities that engage youth in science education and that are grounded in Native ways of knowing. There is also a growing body of research focusing on the relationship between culture, traditional knowledge, and science education. However, there is little research documenting how these programs are being developed and the ways in which culture and Western science are incorporated into the activities. This study outlines effective practices for using Native ways of knowing to strengthen ISE programs. These effective practices may also be used to promote change in formal education. The authors combine an overview of current research in informal science education with personal interviews with educators engaged in ISE programs offered to youth both on and off tribal reservations as well as experts in Indigenous education. Participating individuals and programs included Native communities across the United States, including Alaska and Hawai??i. Keeping in mind that each community is unique, ISE programs that are grounded in Native ways of knowing will benefit by utilizing the effective practices outlined here as a guide for starting or strengthening existing ISE programs relevant to the needs of their communities.     

The differential effects of task complexity on domain-specific and peer assessment skills

In this study the relationship between domain-specific skills and peer assessment skills as a function of task complexity is investigated. We hypothesised that peer assessment skills were superposed on domain-specific skills and will therefore suffer more when higher cognitive load is induced by increased task complexity. In a mixed factorial design with the between-subjects factor task complexity (simple, n?=?51; complex, n?=?59) and within-subjects factor task type (domain-specific, peer assessment), secondary school students studied four integrated study tasks, requiring them to learn a domain-specific skill (i.e. identifying the six steps of scientific research) and to learn how to assess a fictitious peer performing the same skill. Additionally, the students performed two domain-specific test tasks and two peer assessment test tasks. The interaction effect found on test performance supports our hypothesis. Implications for the teaching and learning of peer assessment skills are discussed.     

What are we trying to understand and improve? Educational research as Leerlaufreaktion. 1

The problems that educational research are supposed to solve have been poorly analyzed and the basic phenomena that we are trying to understand have not been clearly described. Educational experimenters often resemble Leerlaufreaktionen in lower animals, i.e., complex, highly integrated activities that take place despite the absence of an appropriate environmental occasion.

We have tended to forget the practical origins of science and have allowed ourselves to be dominated by overly abstract ideas that betray our goals. Experimenters require tangible events to think and wonder about in order to improve their intuitions and in order to generate and test ideas that will deepen our understanding of nature and make a real difference in the practical world. Better observations of what actually goes on in instructional situations are therefore needed and more detailed records of teaching and learning must be kept. An instructional record‐keeping system called a course memory is described.     

Understanding the effects of training programs for vulnerable adults on social inclusion as part of continuing education

According to the increasing rates of unemployment and poverty a significant share of the European population can be considered at-risk-of-social exclusion. In order to combat social exclusion adult education seemed to be a possible tool, which can increase social inclusion among adult learners. This study explores factors relating to training programs considered as adult and continuing education which enhance social inclusion for vulnerable adults and their life environment. The results indicate that after following the training programs as part of continuing learning, the participants show a significant increase in activation and internalisation as well as participation and connection (as processes of social inclusion). Moreover, non-parametric correlation analysis and logistical regression analysis shows that the training design feature transfer possibilities is significantly related to the increase of almost all social inclusion variables. Besides this direct surroundings and learning contents and activities only significantly relates to the increase of social inclusion variables of activation and internalisation and care to the social inclusion variables of participation and connection.     

Preservice early childhood educators’ perceptions of outdoor settings as learning environments

In the context of encouraging the use of natural settings for educational experiences with young children, an exploratory study using survey research and photographs of outdoor settings was conducted to understand how preservice early childhood educators perceive these settings and what educational opportunities, motivations, and barriers they associate with them. Based on the results of 110 participants, this study suggests preservice early childhood educators perceive parks as the most conducive outdoor setting for achieving educational outcomes, specifically structured learning about nature, and that they are more inclined to use maintained outdoor settings than natural outdoor settings. The strongest predictors of intention to use natural outdoor settings were perceived difficulty in using natural settings, participants’ level of nature relatedness, and the degree to which they agreed that experiences in nature were important for young children’s health and wellness. Barriers to address include perceived lack of access to natural settings and safety concerns.     

L’apprentissage précoce des langues : Des pratiques sociologiquement et politiquement marquées

Throughout the world there is a great diversity of curricula for introducing early foreign language training more or less intensively. These curricula correspond to different pedagogical approaches. But these pedagogical choices are not neutral. They are the result of political choice. They are also sociologically discriminatory. The author studies and contrasts various forms of language training of certain countries and within the same countries (for example, the correlation between bilingual training and private schools, or the choice of bilingual education as a political goal). She proposes a scale for classifying the kinds of early foreign language training, depending on sociological criteria and political choice.     

Modes of learning and profitability in Colombian and Mexican SMEs

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of different modes of learning on innovation and profitability in SMEs in two Latin American countries; Mexico and Colombia. The data were obtained using a sample of 250 companies in the industrial sector operating in both countries. Results show that an integrated mode of learning based on internal and external knowledge supported by technological infrastructure have positive and significant effects on the degree of innovation and the profitability in SMEs However this effect appears to be not significantly different from the traditional SMEs mode of learning based mainly on market orientation.