A study of the use of instructional development in selected college/university continuing professional education programs

This article reports on a recent study on the use of instructional development to enhance the quality of university continuing education programs for professionals. As an instructional mode of continuing professional education, instructional development principles and procedures are potentially appropriate means for achieving and maintaining the quality and effectiveness of such programs. Although the application of instructional development in higher education has been studied by several researchers, there has been little research to address its application with regard specifically to the area of continuing professional education in higher education. Based on a national survey of continuing educators, the extent of use and the major factors associated with the use or lack of use of instructional development are presented and discussed. Three models of the use of instructional development developed through selected cases are provided.Philip L. Doughty is Associate Professor of Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation and Director of the Division of Educational Development, Counseling, and Administrative Studies at Syracuse University.The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dr. Margaret Holt, former chair of the NUCEA Survey Research Committee; Dean Frank Funk, Dr. David Krathwohl, and Dr. Roger Hiemstra, at Syracuse University; Dr. Paul Ilsley, University of Northern Illinois; and the editorial staff and reviewers ofInnovative Higher Education for their helpful comments and assistance.     

A qualitative study of middle school students' perceptions of factors facilitating the learning of science: Grounded theory and existing theory

The purpose of this study was to explore middle school students' perceptions of what factors facilitated their learning of science. Florida's Educational Reform Act of 1983 funded programs providing the state's precollege students with summer learning opportunities in science. mathematics, and computers. The programs were intended to encourage the development of creative approaches to the teaching of these disciplines. Under this program, between 50 and 60 high-achieving middle school students were in residence on the University of South Florida campus for 12 consecutive days of study in the World of Water (WOW) program. There were two sessions per summer involving a total of 572 participants. Eighi specially trained teachers were in residence with the students. Between 50 and 70 experts from the university, government. business, and industry interacted with the students each year in an innovative science/technology/society (STS) program. An assignment toward the close of the program asked students to reflect on their experiences in residence at the university and write an essay comparing learning in the WOW program to learning in their schools. Those essays were the base for this study. This was a qualitative study using a discursive approach to emergent design to generate grounded theory. Document review, participant observation, and open-ended interviews were used to gather and triangulate data in five phases. Some of the factors that middle school students perceived as helpful to learning science were (a) experiencing the situations about which they were learning; (b) having live presentations by professional experts; (c) doing hands-on activities: (d) being active learners; (e) using inductive reasoning to generate new knowledge; (f) exploring transdisciplinary approaches to problem solving; (g) having adult mentors; (h) interacting with peers and adults; (i) establishing networks; (j) having close personal friends who shared their interest in learning; (k) trusting the individuals in their learning environment, including adults and students; and (1) experiencing a sense of self-reliance. The preceding information was used to generate a series of hypotheses which were woven into a theoretical model. This model suggests that middle school science teacher education would be enhanced by helping prospective and in-service teachers develop and implement strategies that build trust, provide immersion in learning, and use inductive reasoning. This model is currently being used as the theoretical base to convert a traditional junior high school in the South to a middle school.     

Authority and control in the maltese educational system

This study of educational policy in Malta¹ exemplifies in microcosm the obstacles faced by teachers who seek a higher degree of professional emancipation. It points to the frustrations that educators are likely to encounter in situations where central authorities attempt to curtail teachers' autonomy through stricter administrative control. The paper argues that teachers' professional status cannot be enhanced by the granting of honorific titles when they have to go on working in a highly bureaucratic and authoritarian environment that pervades the educational system and dominates teachers' occupational perspectives. Malta's traditions in public administration, which it inherited from the British, militate against teachers' bid for full professionality. In a small developing country striving to shed its colonial past, legislative measures and industrial agreements do not suffice to change the traditional mentality of its public service. Genuine attempts to professionalise the teaching corps require measures that reduce teachers' dependence on central authority, and opportunities that promote occupational initiatives to a high degree.

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Zusammenfassung Diese Studie über Bildungspolitik in Malta¹ veranschaulicht im Mikrokosmos die Schwierigkeiten, denen Lehrer, die ein höheres Maß an beruflicher Emanzipation anstreben, gegenüberstehen. Die Frustrationen, die Ausbilder wahrscheinlich in den Situationen erleben werden, in denen zentrale Behörden die Autonomie der Lehrer durch strengere administrative Kontrolle beschneiden, werden aufgezeigt. Der Autor argumentiert, daß der Berufsstatus der Lehrer nicht durch das Verleihen von Ehrentiteln aufgewertet werden kann, wenn sie weiterhin in einer stark bürokratisierten und autoritären Umgebung arbeiten müssen, die das Bildungswesen durchdringt und die beruflichen Perspektiven der Lehrer dominiert. Maltas von den Briten ererbte Tradition in der öffentlichen Verwaltung behindert die Bemühungen der Lehrer um vollständige Professionalität. In einem kleinen Entwicklungsland, das sich bemüht, seine koloniale Vergangenheit abzulegen, reichen legislative Maßnahmen und Industrieabkommen nicht aus, um die Traditionsmentalität des öffentlichen Dienstes zu ändern. Ernsthafte Versuche, den Lehrberuf zu professionalisieren, erfordern eine verringerte Abhängigkeit der Lehrer von zentralen Behörden, sowie Möglichkeiten zur intensiven Förderung beruflicher Initiativen.

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Résumé La présente étude sur la politique éducative de Malte¹ illustre dans un microcosme les obstacles rencontrés par les enseignants recherchant un degré élevé de liberté professionnelle. Elle montre les frustrations que les enseignants sont susceptibles d'éprouver dans les situations oû les autorités centrales tentent de restreindre l'autonomie des maîtres en appliquant un contrôle administratif plus strict. On prétend dans cet article que le statut professionnel des enseignants ne peut être rehaussé par la remise de titres honorifiques s'ils doivent continuer de travailler dans un environnement hautement bureaucratique et autoritaire qui pénètre le système éducatif et détermine les perspectives professionnelles des enseignants. Les traditions de l'administration publique maltaise, léguées par le système britannique, vont à rencontre du désir des maîtres d'accéder à un plus grand professionnalisme. Dans un petit pays en développement qui s'efforce de se défaire de son passé colonial, les mesures législatives et les accords industriels ne suffisent pas pour changer la mentalité traditionnelle de son service public. Les véritables tentatives pour professionnaliser le corps enseignant requirèrent des mesures qui réduisent la dépendance des enseignants de l'autorité centrale, et des occasions qui favorisent les initiatives professionnelles à un haut degré.

     

Infant Temperament Profiles,Cultural Orientation,and Toddler Behavioral and Physiological Regulation in Mexican-American Families

This study sought to (a) replicate infant temperament profiles from predominantly White samples in a sample of low-income, predominantly first-generation Mexican-American families, (b) investigate associations between infant temperament profiles and toddler behavioral and physiological regulation, and (c) explore whether mothers’ cultural orientation would moderate those associations. Mothers and infants (n = 322; 46% male) were assessed during pregnancy and at infant ages 9, 12, and 24 months. Latent profile analysis yielded three temperament profiles that were consistent with those from extant research. Compared to the high positive affect, well-regulated profile, the negative reactive, low regulated profile was associated with poorer behavioral and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) regulation, but associations depended on mothers’ Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation.     

Longitudinal Effects of Student Mobility on Three Dimensions of Elementary School Engagement

Working within the developmental science research framework, this study sought to capture a dynamic and complex view of student mobility. Second‐ through fifth‐grade data (N = 1,003, predominantly Caucasian) were drawn from a longitudinal study, and growth curve analyses allowed for the examination of mobility effects within the context of other factors that put children at risk, including behavior problems and family stress. School changes predicted declines in academic performance and classroom participation but not positive attitude toward school. Time‐varying factors such as peer acceptance and teacher support had a positive influence on the growth trajectories of child outcomes. Additionally, teacher support had a particularly strong influence on positive attitudes toward school among children who had more school changes.     

Does peer assessment promote student learning? A meta-analysis

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing use of peer assessment in classrooms and other learning settings. Despite the prevailing view that peer assessment has a positive effect on learning across empirical studies, the results reported are mixed. In this meta-analysis, we synthesised findings based on 134 effect sizes from 58 studies. Compared to students who do not participate in peer assessment, those who participate in peer assessment show a .291 standard deviation unit increase in their performance. Further, we performed a meta-regression analysis to examine the factors that are likely to influence the peer assessment effect. The most critical factor is rater training. When students receive rater training, the effect size of peer assessment is substantially larger than when students do not receive such training. Computer-mediated peer assessment is also associated with greater learning gains than the paper-based peer assessment. A few other variables (such as rating format, rating criteria and frequency of peer assessment) also show noticeable, although not statistically significant, effects. The results of the meta-analysis can be considered by researchers and teachers as a basis for determining how to make effective use of peer assessment as a learning tool.