Before,During, and After Examination: Development of Prospective Preschool Teachers’ Mathematics-Related Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy

This article examines the stability of Norwegian prospective preschool teachers’ enjoyment of mathematics and their mathematics-related self-efficacy before, during, and after a teacher-education examination. In addition, the stability of the two constructs across countries was examined through a comparison with Germany. The data revealed partial stability (technically speaking, metric invariance) of enjoyment but not of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy increased significantly before and after the examination without decreasing enjoyment, which may be a result of increased learning time. Prior mathematical knowledge predicted the level and development of enjoyment and self-efficacy in both countries. Many Norwegian students reported low mathematics-related enjoyment and self-efficacy, including negative developments. It may be important to provide positive experiences of mathematical activities during preschool teacher education.     

Complex Systems Approaches to Educational Research: Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

To explore the movement toward increased complex systems (CS) research in education, this special issue of the Journal of Experimental Education was developed to identify some under-examined places where CS approaches have advanced research. The articles provide empirical examples of research leveraging methods and analyses from complexity science. In this introduction article to the special issue, we discuss the authors’ contributions to defining and explicating concepts and methods that fall under the umbrella of CS perspectives and how these methods were used to investigate complex processes in their topics of study. The articles capture the goal of the special issue to demonstrate how the research questions framed by CS assumptions can change our expectations about the very nature of the processes under study in education. We then take a more global perspective and acknowledge the commonalities amongst the papers, including (a) the reliance on intensive data to answer research questions, and (b) the use of dynamic approaches that yield findings about the stability and change of these systems and phenomena.     

Dimensions of Time in the Jewish Educational Thought of Joseph Lukinsky: Reflections on Maybe the Lies We Tell Are Really True edited by Barry Holtz and David Kahn (JTS,New York 2016)

ABSTRACT

This article represents a first attempt to analyze and synthesize the theological, hermeneutic, and educational insights of Joseph Sander Lukinsky, who was one of the foremost Jewish educational thinkers and master practitioners of recent times. Particular attention is paid to Lukinsky’s theology of revelation, to his educational theory, his hermeneutic orientation, and his practical pedagogy. The conclusion represents an effort to integrate the major insights gathered from these areas into a coherent web of thought.     

A developmental investigation of word length effects in reading using a new on-line word identification paradigm

Third and fifth grade children (average age 8.6and 10.6 years) and adult participants weretested with printed words of varying length ina new on-line identification task (theluminance increment paradigm, LIP) and aspeeded naming task. Effects of general length(length in letters, phonemes and syllables)were shown to decrease systematically with agein both tasks. Third grade children showedsubstantial effects of word length while theeffect practically disappeared in adults. Ingeneral, this developmental pattern was alsofound when separately examining effects ofphonological length (with length in lettersheld constant) and small unit length (withnumber of syllables held constant), althoughsome differences were observed in performancein the identification and the naming task. Thetwo tasks also showed different developmentalpatterns, with the greatest gain in performancearising between 3rd and 5th grade inthe naming task, and the largest improvementoccurring between 5th grade and adults inthe identification task. The results suggestthat the new luminance increment paradigm canbe usefully applied as an on-line measure ofprinted word perception in beginning readers.     

The acquisition of basic quantitative reasoning skills during adolescence: Learning or development?

Five items requiring use of proportional, probabilistic, and correlational reasoning were administered to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Proportions are taught in the school district in grades 7 and 8, probability in grade 10, and correlations are not taught. Based on the hypothesis that successful performance is due to classroom instruction, improvements on the proportions item were predicted between grades 6 and 10 and improvements on the probability items were predicted between grades 10 and 12. Actual gradewise improvements did not correspond well with predictions. Yet performance did correlate significantly with enrollment in classes such as chemistry, physics, and trigonometry. It is argued that successful qualitative reasoning arises as a consequence of the process of equilibration, and influences one's selection of course work. Specific instruction may initiate the equilibration process.     

Learning and engagement through natural history museums*

This review examines how natural history museums (NHMs) can enhance learning and engagement in science, particularly for school-age students. First, we describe the learning potential of informal science learning institutions in general, then we focus on NHMs. We review the possible benefits of interactions between schools and NHMs, and the potential for NHMs to teach about challenging issues such as evolution and climate change and to use digital technologies to augment more traditional artefacts. We conclude that NHMs can provide students with new knowledge and perspectives, with impacts that can last for years. Through visits and their on-line presence, NHMs can help students see science in ways that the school classroom rarely can, with opportunities to meet scientists, explore whole topic exhibitions, engage with interactive displays and employ digital technologies both in situ and to support learning in the school science classroom. Although these interactions have the potential to foster positive cognitive, affective and social outcomes for students, there is a lack of reliable measures of the impact of NHM experiences for students. Opportunities to foster relationships between NHM staff and teachers through professional development can help articulate shared goals to support students’ learning and engagement.