Comparative study of the evaluation of professional competencies by experienced and trainee Spanish primary teachers

Taking as reference the proposals of the European Higher Education Area, the aim of this study is to identify the competencies which a wide sample of teachers in Spanish primary schools (6–12 age group) consider to be important for their professional performance and which they use in their everyday teaching, and to what extent their university training prepared them for their practising professional development. To do this, an ad hoc instrument was devised and applied to experienced practising teachers and to teacher trainees who were on teacher training placements during the last semester of their course. The results of the study show that initial teacher training should deal in depth with the competencies related to the organisation and management of teaching–learning, the use of new technologies in the primary classroom, the involvement of the families, education in values, social skills and skills for working in professional groups. Finally, proposals are made for training based on the articulation between theory and practice, to allow the professional competencies mentioned to be developed and used in practice, as well as encouraging close collaboration between teacher trainers and experienced practising teachers.     

Auditory Context and Memory Retrieval in Young Infants

Three-month-old infants were trained to move an overhead crib mobile while 1 of 2 musical selections was played. Retention was assessed 1 or 7 days later in the presence of either the same music or a different musical selection. in Experiment 1, the musical selections were very different (classical versus jazz); in Experiment 2, they were much more similar (two classical pieces). Infants in both experiments displayed 1 day retention regardless of wich music was played during the retention test. At 7 days, retention was seen only when the music played during the retention test matched the training music. These data are consistent with similar findings showing that 3-month-old infants'memory is disrupted at long retention intervals when the context present during retention testing does not match the learning context. As the infant's memory wanes, context appears to function as a necessary cue for the retrieval of acquired expectancies.     

The Hourglass Approach: Analysing Science Classroom Discursive Interactions Through Intercontextual Lens

One of the challenges for analysing science classroom discourse is a better understanding of intercontextual relationships in the learning process. In this paper, we used orientations from ethnography in education to organise and propose an analytical metaphor called the hourglass approach. It involves three phases of analysis that correspond to the parts of the hourglass. The first phase involves obtaining a continuous cross section of classroom history and the intersections between sociocultural contexts and the science learning contexts, throughout this track record. The second phase involves discourse analysis of few selected events is the vertex of the hourglass. Finally, in the third phase, the analysis of interactions is focused on intercontextual relationships for the interpretation of science learning opportunities. We illustrate this approach based on interactions during science lessons in a first-grade class. In particular, we discuss, in greater detail, how a meaningful intercontextual element in the participants’ group (i.e. the gender norm), intermingled with the engagement of students in practices from the conceptual, epistemic and social domains of scientific knowledge.

     

Reliability, sensitivity and validity of the assistant referee intermittent endurance test (ARIET) - a modified Yo-Yo IE2 test for elite soccer assistant referees

We examined the reliability and validity of the assistant referee intermittent endurance test (ARIET), a modified Yo-Yo IE2 test including shuttles of sideways running. The ARIET was carried out on 198 Italian (Serie A-B, Lega-Pro and National Level) and 47 Danish elite soccer assistant referees. Reproducibility was tested for 41 assistant referees on four occasions each separated by one week. The ARIET intraclass correlation coefficients and typical error of measurement ranged from 0.96 to 0.99 and 3.1 to 5.7%, respectively. ARIET performance for Serie A and B was 23 and 25% greater than in Lega-Pro (P < 0.001). The lowest cut-off value derived from receiving operator characteristic discriminating Serie A-B from Lega-Pro was 1300 m. The ARIET performance was significantly correlated with VO(2max) (r = 0.78, P < 0.001), %HR(max) after 4 min of ARIET (r = - 0.81, P < 0.001) and Yo-Yo IR1 performance (r = 0.95, P < 0.001), but not sprint performance (r = -0.15; P = 0.58). The results showed that ARIET is a reproducible and valid test that is able to discriminate between assistant referees of different competitive levels. The lack of correlation with sprinting ability and close correlations with aerobic power, intermittent shuttle running and sub-maximal ARIET heart rate loading provide evidence that ARIET is a relevant test for assessment of intermittent endurance capacity of soccer assistant referees.     

Mary Budd Rowe: a storyteller of science

This article examines Mary Budd Rowe’s groundbreaking and far-reaching contributions to science education. Rowe is best known for her research on wait-time: the idea that teachers can improve the quality and length of classroom discussions by waiting at least 3 s before and after student responses. Her wait-time research grew from and helped inform her staunch advocacy of science education as inquiry; Rowe saw wonder and excitement as central to the teaching and learning of science. She spent much of her professional life designing professional development experiences and innovative curriculum materials to help teachers, particularly elementary school teachers, enact inquiry in their classrooms.

Epistemic beliefs: Setting the standards for self-regulated learning

Relations were examined between epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, learning strategies, and achievement. We sought to empirically test Muis’ [Muis, K. R. (2007). The role of epistemic beliefs in self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 42, 173–190] hypothesis that epistemic beliefs influence processes of self-regulated learning via the standards students set for learning once goals are produced. Two hundred one undergraduate students from an educational psychology course completed questionnaires designed to measure the various constructs. Students’ final grades were also collected at the end of the semester. Students’ recollections of course tasks revealed that their epistemic beliefs are activated during learning. Results from structural equation modeling revealed epistemic beliefs influenced the types of achievement goals students adopted, which subsequently influenced the types of learning strategies they used in their education course, and their achievement. Moreover, achievement goals mediated relations between epistemic beliefs and learning strategies, and learning strategies mediated relations between achievement goals and achievement.     

Professional development for university scientists around issues of equity and diversity: Investigating dissent within community

We investigated the role of dissent in a community of university scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and social scientists engaged in a 2‐year professional development project around issues of equity and diversity. Members of this teacher learning community explored issues related to gender and ethnicity in science education, and attempted to develop course materials and instructional strategies inclusive of students from underrepresented groups. We focused our attention on those professional development sessions (6 of the 19) devoted to a contentious yet integral topic in science education: the gendered and multicultural nature of science. We examined conversations initiated by a member's concerns to learn how dissent led (or failed to lead) to new insights into feminist science studies scholarship or to greater understanding of ways to address equity issues in undergraduate science education. We also explored how teacher learners' resulting views of feminist science studies scholarship informed (or failed to inform) changes in their own educational practices. From our qualitative analyses, we highlight the challenges in balancing respect for members' individual voices with collective progress toward project goals, and in structuring conversations initiated by dissent to provide adequate space for deliberation and movement toward deeper understanding of equity and excellence. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 738–771, 2002     

Epistemic profiles and metacognition: support for the consistency hypothesis

Relations were examined between epistemic profiles, metacognition, problem solving, and achievement in the context of learning in an educational psychology course. Two hundred thirty-one university students completed self-report inventories reflecting their epistemic profiles and use of metacognitive strategies, and were epistemically profiled as rational, empirical, or both rational and empirical in their approaches to knowing. From the larger sample, 78 students participated in a problem-solving session using a think aloud protocol. Results demonstrated that for self-reported metacognitive strategies, students profiled as both rational and empirical had the highest frequency of metacognitive strategy use compared to students profiled as empirical. Similarly, during problem solving, students profiled as both rational and empirical had the highest frequency of regulation of cognition compared to students profiled as empirical or rational. Finally, students profiled as both rational and empirical attained higher levels of problem-solving achievement compared to students profiled as empirical.