A case example of one state's efforts to measure and address the critical shortage of school psychologists

Despite persistent calls for school psychologists to provide comprehensive and integrated services, school psychologists may have difficulty providing these services because of critical shortages in the profession. This practical action research study involved surveying district supervisors of school psychologists and training program directors in the state to identify the current and projected shortages in Florida. This multimethod, multi‐informant case example also focused on facilitators of and barriers to addressing the critical shortage. How the data have been used to inform recruitment, retention, and advocacy efforts to identify school psychology as a critical shortage legislatively are provided as well as recommendations for future research.     

Learning for autonomy

There is a need for a new concept of post-literacy which goes beyond the learning of codes. The target population is defined on the basis of their need to be given the capacity to take decisions on essential economic, civic, political and day-to-day aspects of their lives.The main arena of post-literacy lies in the countries of the Third World, where the economic crisis has serious effects on the quality of life and impairs the motivation to learn. Particular reference is made to the concept of participation and to the ability to determine four types of basic educational need: fundamental needs, productivity needs, social service needs and community organization needs.Four Latin American programmes linked to these four types of need are presented and discussed in terms of their particular features: popular participation in decision making; the search for methods and techniques which give the population a certain degree of autonomy; and respect for the cultures and world visions of the communities in the conduct of post-literacy, educational innovation and other activities. The programmes are: post-literacy in Nicaragua (fundamental education needs); research on post-literacy and employment in 13 countries (productivity needs); the CIPCA project for peasants in Piura, on the northern coast of Peru (social service needs); and the Talking Maps project developed with the Paez community in Cauca, Colombia (community organization needs).

---

Zusammenfassung Ein neues Nachalphabetisierungskonzept, das über das Erlernen von Codes hinausgeht, wird benötigt. Die Zielgruppe wird aufgrund ihrer Bedürfnisse genau bestimmt, die sie dann in die Lage versetzen soll, Entscheidungen über wichtige ökonomische, staatsbürgerliche, politische und alltägliche Aspekte ihres Lebens zu treffen.Das Hauptgebiet der Nachalphabetisierung liegt in den Ländern der Dritten Welt, wo die Wirtschaftskrise ernsthafte Auswirkungen auf die Lebensqualität hat und die Lernmotivation beeinträchtigt. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird auf das Konzept der Partizipation gelenkt und auf die Fähigkeit, vier Arten von Grundbedürfnissen der Bildung festzusetzen: fundamentale Bedürfnisse, Produktivitätsbedürfnisse, Bedürfnisse im Sozialbereich und in der Gemeindeorganisation.Vier lateinamerikanische Programme, die mit diesen vier Arten von Grundbedürfnissen verbunden sind, werden in Bezug auf ihre besonderen Merkmale vorgestellt und erörtert: Beteiligung der Bevölkerung an Entscheidungsprozessen; die Suche nach Methoden und Techniken, die der Bevölkerung einen gewissen Grad an Autonomie verleihen; Achtung vor den Kulturen und Weltvisionen der Gemeinden bei der Ausführung der Nachalphabetisierung, der Innovationen auf dem Bildungssektor und anderer Aktivitäten. Diese Programme sind: Nachalphabetisierung in Nicaragua (fundamentale Bildungsbedürfnisse); Forschung über Nachalphabetisierung und Beschäftigung in 13 Ländern (Produktivitätsbedürfnisse); das CIPCA-Projekt für die Landbevölkerung in Piura an der Nordküste Perus (Bedürfnisse im Sozialbereich); und das sprechende Landkarten-Projekt, das mit der Paezgemeinde in Cauca, Kolumbien entwickelt wurde (Bedürfnisse in der Gemeindeorganisation).

---

Résumé Un nouveau concept de post-alphabétisation, qui transcende l'apprentissage de codes, s'avère nécessaire. On définit les populations-cibles sur la base de leur besoin de recevoir la capacité de prendre des décisions sur les principaux aspects économiques, civiques, politiques et courants de leurs vies.Le champ d'activité de la postalphabétisation se trouve essentiellement dans les pays du Tiers Monde, où la crise économique produit des effets sérieux sur la qualité de la vie et entrave la motivation à l'apprentissage. On mentionne en particulier le concept de participation et l'aptitude à déterminer quatre types de besoins éducatifs de base: les besoins fondamentaux, les besoins en matière de productivité, de services sociaux et d'organisation de la communauté.Quatre programmes d'Amérique latine liés à ces quatre types de besoin sont présentés et examinés en fonction de leurs caractéristiques particulières: la participation des populations à la prise de décision; la recherche de méthodes et de techniques qui donnent à la population un certain degré d'autonomie; et le respect des cultures et des visions du monde des communautés lors de la conduite des programmes de post-alphabétisation, d'innovations éducatives et autres. Ces programmes sont: la post-alphabétisation au Nicaragua (besoins éducatifs fondamentaux); la recherche sur la post-alphabétisation et l'emploi dans 13 pays (besoins en matière de productivité); le projet CIPCA à l'adresse des paysans de Piura, situé sur la côte nord du Pérou (besoins en matière de services sociaux); et le projet Cartes parlantes développé avec la communauté Paez dans le Cauca, en Colombie (besoins d'organisation de la communauté).

     

Studying mathematics problem-solving classrooms. A comparison between the discourse of in-service teachers and student teachers

In the article we compare the approaches of 3 in-service teachers and 3 student teachers when they tried to solve a verbal arithmetic problem in the classroom. Each interaction was studied using a System of Analysis that takes into account the cognitive processes involved in the solution of a mathematic problem and describes the interaction at different levels showing what is done and to what degree teachers and/or pupils are responsible for what is done. The results of the study suggest that both groups of teachers are different in how they direct the student’s attention toward the essential aspects implied in the resolution of word problem. On the one hand, the in-service teachers guaranteed students’ understanding of the problem before dealing with the solution, while students teachers only did so when pupils committed errors. On the other hand, the in-service teachers allowed a high level of student participation, while student teachers took a more prominent role so children’s participation was lower.     

A Systematic Approach to Designing,Implementing, and Evaluating Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments and Its Effect on Self-regulation in Tertiary Science Education

Research in Science Education - This study explored the self-regulation strategies and learning experiences of undergraduate science students completing Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM)...     

Images of Science Linked to Labwork: A Survey of Secondary School and University Students

This paper presents findings about the images of science drawn upon in laboratory work, by upper secondary and university students, in academic streams with a science focus. Data were collected through four written questions, administered to a total of 368 students. The questions all required students to comment on laboratory investigations carried out by research scientists or by science students. We show that students' reasoning has an epistemological and an ontological dimension, and that it often differs significantly from accepted perspectives on the nature of science. The issue for teaching appears to be showing students what counts (and what does not count) as appropriate reasoning in actual situations. In other words, explicit teaching about the various relationships that can exist between theory and data would transform labwork towards a more critical process that involves making and justifying decisions.     

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment of Plant Identification

Developing plant identification skills is an important part of the curriculum of any botany course in higher education. Frequent practice with dried and fresh plants is necessary to recognize the diversity of forms, states, and details that a species can present. We have developed a web-based assessment system for mobile devices that is able to pose appropriate questions according to the location of the student. A student’s location can be obtained using the device position or by scanning a QR code attached to a dried plant sheet in a herbarium or to a fresh plant in an arboretum. The assessment questions are complemented with elaborated feedback that, according to the students’ responses, provides indications of possible mistakes and correct answers. Three experiments were designed to measure the effectiveness of the formative assessment using dried and fresh plants. Three questionnaires were used to evaluate the system performance from the students’ perspective. The results clearly indicate that formative assessment is objectively effective compared to traditional methods and that the students’ attitudes towards the system were very positive.     

You can run but you can’t hide: a grounded theory analysis of suppression among older prisoners in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Numerous studies have dealt with suppression and its long-term effects. However, little is known about the dynamics of suppression among older prisoners in the context of a developing country like the Philippines whose penal conditions are currently in crisis. This grounded theory investigation is an attempt to describe the process of how a select group of older prisoners (n = 25) from the largest penitentiary in the Philippines experiences suppression. Field texts were subjected to thematic analysis involving open, axial and selective coding. Interestingly, the researchers’ Yo-yoing model of Suppression emerged to portray stages of their suppression experiences. The model shows four stages: devastating, or the rapid heightening of emotions upon encounter of intrusive situation; contemplating, or the progressive receding of the wallowing emotions given one’s gradual realization of the situation; diverting, or the use of various diversionary activities to relieve tension; and iterating, or the unexpected recurrence of the past characterized by “rebounding” a feeling of suffering. The emerged model may become valuable to guide health professionals and gerontological workers in developing appropriate interventions and support mechanisms to improve the overall mental health and well-being of this vulnerable group.