Children's perspectives on building science models

This study describes the experiences of 10- and 11-year-old students with building science models during a unit on weather. With the teacher, we prepared and gathered materials for the students to use in the building of dynamic physical models demonstrating the key features of the weather concepts they were learning. An important aspect of the approach used in the construction of the models was that students were given a significant amount of time to build and explore their models. Students were interviewed following the completion of the unit and their comments suggest that they began to understand the value of the building activities. The enthusiasm for the activities demonstrated by the students also helped increased the meaning the construction held for them. This enthusiasm combined with an increased confidence helped create an environment where students were excited about science and were better able to display their understanding of concepts.     

Cooperative writing response groups: revising global aspects of second-language writing in a constrained educational environment

This article describes a cooperative writing response initiative designed to develop writing skills in foreign/second-language contexts (hereafter L2). The strategy originated from my desire to cater for my learners’ need to become better writers in English within a constrained educational environment in Argentina. In this article I describe this strategy and show how it has worked in my setting. First, I offer the rationale on which it rests, based on a sociocultural conception of reading and writing. This involves brief considerations about the notions of collaborative writing groups, social responses to texts and coherence in L2 writing. Second, I describe and explain the strategy in detail, and include one handout with specific written instructions (as my learners received them) for the cooperative writing response groups with a focus on coherence, i.e. global aspects of the composing process. Finally, I exemplify the strategy using one learner’s written text as a foundation (disclosed by permission).     

System leaders using assessment for learning as both the change and the change process: developing theory from practice

Many schools and school systems have been deliberately working towards full implementation of Assessment for Learning for more than a decade, yet success has been elusive. Using a leader's implementation of Assessment for Learning in one school as an illustration, this article examines eight positional leaders’ experiences as they implemented both the ‘spirit and the letter’ of Assessment for Learning at all levels. This longitudinal qualitative research study draws on the experiences of leaders from Alberta, British Columbia, Germany, Georgia, Hawai`i, Manitoba, New Zealand and Ontario. The authors identify five findings that show how positional leaders use Assessment for Learning as the focus for system-wide change, as well as the change process itself.     

The Battle of 42nd Street

This essay discusses the New York Public Library’s (NYPL)’s unique importance and chronicles the history and execution of the NYPL plan to remodel the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street (also known as the Central Library). The plan would have sent millions of books to a storage facility in New Jersey and resulted in the sale of several NYPL branches to finance the remodeling of the building on 42nd Street. Not surprisingly these plans were greeted with alarm and galvanized efforts of librarians, citizens, bookworms, activists, and writers to halt the Central Library Plan. The essay concludes with some thoughts about the importance of transparency in the public library milieu.     

Urban High School Student Engagement Through CincySTEM iTEST Projects

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This paper focuses on the notable heightening of underrepresented students’ engagement in STEM education through project-based learning CincySTEM...     

Teacher education in Bhutan: highlights and challenges for reform

Bhutan is embarking on a comprehensive education reform process, with teachers and teacher education at the centre of a number of initiatives. This study describes the current state of affairs based on interviews with key informants and semi-structured focus groups in Bhutan. Several major themes emerged, including issues of quality of students and teaching, the integration of theory and practice, organizational structure and culture, and working conditions at the present Colleges of Education, and in the broader education sector.     

Modification of attending behavior in hyperactive children

This study investigated the efficacy of using a behavioral feedback procedure as a means of reducing the nonattending behavior in children with attentional deficits and/or motoric restlessness. It was hypothesized that children with an attentional deficit would be able to learn to attend to classroom work when provided information about their behavior. Subjects consisted of 4 children with attentional deficits and motoric restlessness, 4 with motoric restlessness alone, and 8 without attentional deficits or motoric restlessness. A modified operant design was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the feedback procedure. Significant changes were evidenced by all groups of subjects. Initial results and follow-up observations indicated that the attending behavior of the experimental subjects increased, and was manitained, without the use of tangible reinforcers.