Process over product: the next evolution of our quest for technology integration

Educational technology research and development - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the next evolution of our quest for technology integration, one that moves away from the product of...     

Fremdk?rper assoziierte Infektionen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Applying social production function theory to benefits of schooling: the concept of values of education

Abstract

Many approaches to explaining educational inequalities relate explicitly and implicitly to benefits of education, and rational choice theories in particular consider monetary benefits. We specify a concept of the value of education that allows for an empirical analysis of educational benefits, considering both monetary and non-monetary dimensions (instrumental goals) outlined in social production function theory. Our objectives include introducing a sound theoretical framework, the validation of an empirical measurement instrument and an analysis of the differences between certain dimensions of educational values structured by social origin, gender and immigrant background. Analyses are based on a two-wave panel study (SASAL-School Alienation in Switzerland and Luxembourg) carried out in secondary schools in Luxembourg and Switzerland. We distinguish four dimensions within the concept of values of education: stimulation, comfort/status, behavioural confirmation and affection. The different dimensions of the value of education are influenced by gender and immigrant backgrounds in both national settings.     

Infant Proneness-to-Distress Temperament, Maternal Personality, and Mother-Infant Attachment: Associations and Goodness of Fit

66 mother-infant pairs were examined when the infants were 9 and 13 months. The purpose of this report was to examine relations between infant proneness-to-distress temperament, maternal personality characteristics, and mother-infant attachment. There were no main-effect relations between infant proneness-to-distress temperament as assessed at 9 months and infant attachment classification at 13 months. This was true whether security of attachment (A and C vs. B) or proposed temperament (A1-B2 vs. B3-C2) groupings of attachment classifications were examined. Infant proneness-to-distress temperament, however, was associated with maternal behavior and personality. Furthermore, security of attachment could be predicted by an interaction between maternal personality and infant proneness-to-distress. The importance of considering goodness-of-fit relations in predicting attachment security is discussed.     

Theory of educational art: A reply

Educational technology research and development -     

Translation and its discontents II: a German perspective

International cooperation in history teaching and related teacher education requires clarification of terminology as well as of underlying concepts and theoretical foundations, since these levels are fundamentally intertwining. If these levels are addressed, both comparison and translation do not only make cooperation possible, but promise valuable contributions to the clarification of such concepts on either side. Being the German counterpart to the viewpoint of Peter Seixas, this article both corroborates and adds to his reflections. Three complexes of theory and terminology are addressed: ‘Geschichtsbewusstsein’ (‘historical consciousness’) with special regard to the concept of ‘Sinnbildung’ in Jörn Rüsen’s theory, the German focus on the concepts of source (‘Quelle’) compared to the Anglosaxon concept of ‘evidence’ and the challenges posed by translating Jörn Rüsen’s concept of ‘Triftigkeiten’ (plausibility) as a criterion for assessing the quality of historical statements.     

Understanding and describing mathematical knowledge for teaching: knowledge about proof for engaging students in the activity of proving

This article is situated in the research domain that investigates what mathematical knowledge is useful for, and usable in, mathematics teaching. Specifically, the article contributes to the issue of understanding and describing what knowledge about proof is likely to be important for teachers to have as they engage students in the activity of proving. We explain that existing research informs the knowledge about the logico-linguistic aspects of proof that teachers might need, and we argue that this knowledge should be complemented by what we call knowledge of situations for proving. This form of knowledge is essential as teachers mobilize proving opportunities for their students in mathematics classrooms. We identify two sub-components of the knowledge of situations for proving: knowledge of different kinds of proving tasks and knowledge of the relationship between proving tasks and proving activity. In order to promote understanding of the former type of knowledge, we develop and illustrate a classification of proving tasks based on two mathematical criteria: (1) the number of cases involved in a task (a single case, multiple but finitely many cases, or infinitely many cases), and (2) the purpose of the task (to verify or to refute statements). In order to promote understanding of the latter type of knowledge, we develop a framework for the relationship between different proving tasks and anticipated proving activity when these tasks are implemented in classrooms, and we exemplify the components of the framework using data from third grade. We also discuss possible directions for future research into teachers’ knowledge about proof.

Making Explicit the Analysis of Students’ Mathematical Discourses – Revisiting a Newly Developed Methodological Framework

Sfard and Kieran [Kieran, C., Educational Studies in Mathematics 46, 2001, 187–228; Sfard, A., Educational Studies in Mathematics 46, 2001, 13–57; Sfard, A. and Kieran, C., Mind, Culture, and Activity 8, 2001, 42–76] have developed a methodological framework, which aims at characterizing the students’ mathematical discourses while they are working in groups. In this study, I focus on an important aspect of this methodological framework, namely the interactive flowcharts. The aim of this study is to suggest two complementary analyses for the construction of the interactive flowcharts: an additional analysis by means of the analytical construct of contextualization as well as an analysis of types of mathematical discourses. Based on data from a study of how four groups of Swedish engineering students collaboratively construct concept maps in linear algebra. I show that the two complementary analyses make the construction of the interactive flowcharts more coherent and transparent, and hence, more reliable. Furthermore, the two complementary analyses dramatically changed the picture as to whether the studied discourses were to be seen as mathematically productive or not. In the end of the article, I discuss the possibilities of performing the suggested additional analyses within the original methodological framework.     

Improving the judgment of task difficulties: prospective teachers’ diagnostic competence in the area of functions and graphs

To teach adaptively, teachers should be able to take the students’ level of knowledge into account. Therefore, a key component of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is the ability to assume the students’ perspectives. However, due to the so-called expert blind spot, teachers tend to misestimate their students’ knowledge, such as when estimating the difficulty of a given task. This empirically well-documented estimation bias is predicted by Nickerson’s anchoring and adjustment model, which generally explains how people take on other people’s perspectives. In this article, we present an intervention study that aims to improve the accuracy of prospective teachers’ judgments of task difficulty in the area of functional thinking. Two types of treatments are derived from Nickerson’s model. In the first condition (PCK group), participants acquire knowledge about task characteristics and students’ misconceptions. The second condition (sensitizing group) serves to control the idea that potential improvements in the PCK group are not merely based on a pure sensitization of the expert’s estimation bias. Accordingly, these participants are only informed about the general tendency of overestimating task difficulties. The results showed that the PCK group improved both in terms of the accuracy of the estimated solution rates and the accuracy of rank order, whereas the sensitizing group only improved in regard to the former. Thus, the study shows that prospective teachers’ diagnostic judgments can be improved by teaching them relevant PCK in a short amount of time.