Digital Media for Low-Income Preschoolers' Effective Science Learning: A Study of iPad Instructions with a Social Development Approach

As digital media devices have been increasingly used in early childhood educational settings, this study examined whether the iPad with a Vygotskian social development approach—namely, More Knowledgeable Other—can be integrated into low-income preschool classrooms to improve science learning. An analysis of variance was used to examine the overall improvement and differences in improvement among English language learners, children with special needs, and children without special needs or English language learner status. Results showed that all participants improved their science learning abilities as a consequence of the iPad instruction. Among all groups, English language learner children benefitted more than the other groups, but only with a game that had less verbal directions. There were no significant differences by gender.     

On Becoming a Qualitative Researcher: A View Through the Lens of Transformative Learning

This article describes a graduate-level qualitative research course informed by transformational learning theory. It presents strategies an interdisciplinary team of instructors used to engage and support students as they entered and moved through the course. The strategies focused on creating a safe, supportive, learner-centered environment, fostering critical reflection, engaging in ongoing discourse, and focusing on the centrality of experience by situating cognition in the personal context of students' lives and the research process itself.     

'Raising the bar': views on play and training in the Move & Walk pedagogy

In this study 20 beginning special education teachers were asked to describe their experiences in general education settings. To provide data, each teacher completed approximately three electronic reflective journals during a school year and also participated in a phone interview, which was aimed to give in-depth information regarding the participants’ comments in the journals. The participants described their experiences in regard to collaboration with mainstream teachers, the delivery of the curriculum and the understanding of their role with reference to identity. They reported some good experiences but also many difficulties in their attempts to support pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and enhance their learning and participation in mainstream schools. Challenges in collaboration, the delivery of the curriculum and the development of teachers’ identity at the beginning of a career in special education are discussed. We argue that the teachers’ experiences are associated with the legislative educational system and the school culture which does not encourage collaborative practices but rather promotes individualism and leads to exclusive practices.     

Acknowledging Spanish and English resources during mathematical reasoning

As English-only efforts continue in the US schooling system, dual-language programs have served as attempts to preserve students’ home language. An after-school, dual-language, Spanish–English, mathematics program, Los Rayos was developed in a predominantly Mexican/Mexican–American neighborhood in Chicago. As participant observers with a sociocultural perspective, we explored the linguistic and personal resources used by participating 4th grade bilingual Latina/o students. We found that students used imaginative, playful, and hybrid linguistic resources to make sense of and solve probability tasks when engaged within a zone of mathematical practice. Results challenge narrow perspectives on bilingual students’ linguistic resources. Language implications are discussed.     

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIETAL PROBLEMS AMONG SOVIET YOUTH

Dramatic changes in the perceptions of problems in the SovietUnion and in the USA are shown among samples of Soviet youthstudied over a three-year period, from 1988 to 1991. Growingdisillusionment with worsening domestic conditions was mirroredby a growing, unrealistic appreciation of life in the USA, reflectinga painful search for a new national identity.     

Understanding Gender through Disney’s Marriages: A Study of Young Korean Immigrant Girls

Much American popular culture has often been criticized for its negative portrayals of females and its potentially harmful influence on young children. However, there are insufficient studies about American young girls’ actual understanding of these female representations. Specifically, the perspectives of young immigrant girls have hardly been addressed in the existing research, even though their perspectives can be derived from what they learn about the social values associated with gender through their exposure to popular culture. This paper thus focuses on young Korean immigrant girls as a significant American immigrant group, and examines their ideas about gender in American popular culture—particularly, Disney films. Since their perceptions of gender were often derived from their discussions of marriage in the films, it closely investigates their understanding of gender roles, as considered through the marriages of Disney protagonists. It then discusses their perceptions of Disney by tracing these ideas to their beliefs about how these same themes become manifested in realistic situations. Finally, this paper provides implications and suggestions for researchers and early childhood educators.

A cross-cultural study of parents' perceptions of early childhood programs

Cross-cultural studies in early childhood education assist in expanding perspectives and gaining increased understanding and appreciation of programs in other countries. Because both Sweden and the United States are interested in parent involvement in early childhood programs, a survey was conducted to assess parent's perceptions of these programs. Following a review of family life and early childhood education in Sweden and the United States are the specific components of the cross-cultural study. A stratified random sample of parents whose children were involved in early childhood programs was done in St. Louis County, MN, United States, and Kronobergs Lan, Småland, Sweden. In the first section of the five-part survey, parents indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with statements about such areas as governmental support of children and families. Parents in Sweden felt more support of the government, whereas parents in the United States used early childhood programs as a support mechanism to increase their confidence. In the other four sections of the survey, parents rated the importance of various types of parental involvement and the importance of various materials, activities, and caregiver actions in their children's programs. In general, parents in Sweden valued informal contact and inner-directed creative materials and activities. Parents in the United States valued more confining activities such as rote counting, community-based experiences, and compliance with adult expectations. The influence of the macro-society on parents' perceptions as well as microsystem interactions and environments is evident in this study. As early childhood educators learn about and adapt new ideas to their own programs, the potential of cross-cultural studies becomes realized in improved opportunities for young children and their families.     

Biological Principles and Threshold Concepts for Understanding Natural Selection

Modern evolutionary theory is both a central theory and an integrative framework of the life sciences. This is reflected in the common references to evolution in modern science education curricula and contexts. In fact, evolution is a core idea that is supposed to support biology learning by facilitating the organization of relevant knowledge. In addition, evolution can function as a pivotal link between concepts and highlight similarities in the complexity of biological concepts. However, empirical studies in many countries have for decades identified deficiencies in students’ scientific understanding of evolution mainly focusing on natural selection. Clearly, there are major obstacles to learning natural selection, and we argue that to overcome them, it is essential to address explicitly the general abstract concepts that underlie the biological processes, e.g., randomness or probability. Hence, we propose a two-dimensional framework for analyzing and structuring teaching of natural selection. The first—purely biological—dimension embraces the three main principles variation, heredity, and selection structured in nine key concepts that form the core idea of natural selection. The second dimension encompasses four so-called thresholds, i.e., general abstract and/or non-perceptual concepts: randomness, probability, spatial scales, and temporal scales. We claim that both of these dimensions must be continuously considered, in tandem, when teaching evolution in order to allow development of a meaningful understanding of the process. Further, we suggest that making the thresholds tangible with the aid of appropriate kinds of visualizations will facilitate grasping of the threshold concepts, and thus, help learners to overcome the difficulties in understanding the central theory of life.