Types of reasoning in 3D geometry thinking and their relation with spatial ability

The aim of this study is to describe and analyse the structure of 3D geometry thinking by identifying different types of reasoning and to examine their relation with spatial ability. To achieve this goal, two tests were administered to students in grades 5 to 9. The results of the study showed that 3D geometry thinking could be described by four distinct types of reasoning which refer to the representation of 3D objects, spatial structuring, conceptualisation of mathematical properties and measurement. The analysis of the study also showed that 3D geometry types of reasoning and spatial abilities should be modelled as different constructs. Finally, it was concluded that students’ spatial abilities, which consist of spatial visualisation, spatial orientation and spatial relations factors, are a strong predictive factor of the four types of reasoning in 3D geometry thinking.     

Leading Developmental Peer Observation of Teaching in Higher Education: Perspectives from Australia and England

Whilst peer observation of teaching is well established as a practice that can enhance teaching quality, the challenge to fully embed this practice in universities remains unresolved. This article analyses the perspectives of 18 university leaders (nine Australian and nine English) drawn from a range of school-based leaders to senior leaders of learning and teaching. Our study indicates that some of the challenges associated with leading such schemes can be mitigated through approaches to educational leadership that enact a respectful and collegiate ethos. This we suggest can support developmental academic engagement in peer observation for positive and lasting change.     

Conditioned defensive burying in rats: Availability of burying materials

Rats shocked once by a stationary, wire-wrapped prod mounted on the wall of the test chamber incorporated sand, wooden blocks, or commercial bedding material on the floor of the chamber into a defensive response. They moved the available material toward and over the shock prod in all three conditions, adapting the response topography to the particular demands of the available material. In the sand and bedding conditions, the rats buried the prod by pushing and spraying piles of the material with snout and forepaws, whereas, in the blocks condition they picked up the blocks with their teeth and placed them individually around the prod. In Experiment 2, the rats buried the shock prod with blocks even when they had to first carry the blocks to the prod from the back of the chamber. Thus, conditioned defensive burying is not a simple, reflexive response to objects paired with a painful stimulus: it is a complex behavioral sequence that can vary as a function of the availability of burying materials.     

Burning out during the practicum: the case of teacher trainees

The purpose of the present study was to empirically examine the link between practicum-related stressors, perceived general practicum stress, personal variables (i.e. general and teaching self-efficacy, epistemological beliefs, conceptions about teaching and learning, and trait anxiety) and burnout dimensions in a sample of 174 Greek student teachers, immediately after the completion of their practicum. In addition, the study sought to identify the best predictive combination of the studied variables for each burnout dimension. Participants who reported high general practicum stress indicated moderate levels of emotional exhaustion, but low depersonalisation and high personal accomplishment. Statistically significant correlates of burnout dimensions were used in three regression analyses. Results revealed that emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment were predicted by practicum workload, whereas depersonalisation was predicted by teachers’ epistemological beliefs (i.e. learning process) and practicum-related stressors (i.e. meeting pupils’ needs). The present study contributes to the limited body of existing evidence on burnout in student teachers. The results are discussed in terms of both theoretical and practical implications.     

Teachers' concerns regarding the adoption of a new mathematics curriculum: An application of CBAM

The main purpose of the present study was to identify and examine the concerns of primary school teachers in Cyprus in relation to the recent implementation of a new mathematics curriculum and the use of new mathematics textbooks. An adaptation of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) was administered to a representative sample of teachers. According to the findings, the concerns of teachers largely focused on the task stage of the CBAM model. Furthermore, there were significant differences in the concerns of teachers across years of teaching experience but not across years of implementation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rating students’ problem behaviour: the role of teachers’ individual characteristics

This study examined the role of teachers’ personal characteristics and mental health status on their frequency ratings of student problem behaviour. A sample of 121 primary school teachers were asked to rate the frequency of a student’s behavioural problems, and to self-report their personality traits, psychopathology symptoms and burnout. Overall, the results revealed that teachers’ ratings were significantly predicted by their psychopathology symptoms and to a lesser extent by their personality traits and burnout levels. Student and teacher demographic characteristics were also predictive of teacher ratings. Since teachers are among the primary informants of students’ mental health, the results of this study pose the need to take into consideration teachers’ individual characteristics, when their ratings are critically evaluated during a student’s referral process.     

The Gender Agenda in Teacher Education

This paper explores some of the relationships between the understanding of gender equity and gender issues in education held by academic staff in an institute of higher education, and their views on the importance of incorporating gender into the curriculum. The paper discusses findings pertaining to how academics approach gender issues in their teaching in their relationships with students and with other members of staff. In so doing the question is raised—what messages are trainee teachers receiving about gender issues? The findings also discuss some of the pedagogical implications arising from the absence of theoretical perspectives or orientations in relation to gender in preservice teacher education.     

Reflective, systemic and analytic thinking in real numbers

The aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical model to analyze prospective teachers?? reasoning and knowledge of real numbers, and to provide an empirical verification of it. The model is based on Sierpinska??s theory of theoretical thinking. Data were collected from 59 prospective teachers through a written test and interviews. The data indicated that mathematical tasks on real numbers, based on Sierpinska??s theory, could be categorized according to whether they require reflective, systemic or analytic thinking. Analysis of the data identified three different groups of prospective teachers reflecting different types of theoretical thinking about real numbers. The interviews confirmed the empirical data from the written test, and provided a better insight into the thinking and characteristic features of the prospective teachers in each group. The analysis also indicated that the participants were more successful in tasks requiring systemic and analytic thinking, and only when this was achieved were they able to solve problems which required reflective thinking. Implications for teaching related to the findings of the study are discussed.     

School Turnaround Principals: What Does Initial Research Literature Suggest They Are Doing to Be Successful?

As the research literature on principals leading school turnaround grows, determining whether or not real differences between good, even effective, principals and turnaround principals becomes increasingly important. Recent federal government policy and investment established turnaround models that emphasize the role of the school principal, suggesting that turnaround principals do need to be different than other principals in some meaningful ways. But any difference in skill or characteristic remains undefined. For this article, we conducted a systematic review of empirical research literature to identify studies of principals who led successful school turnaround initiatives. We reviewed 18 empirical studies to categorize the education leadership areas in which turnaround principals must excel. We also present the limited evidence regarding attitudes, traits, or perspectives principals leading turnaround should likely possess. Finally, we consider implications of our findings for research and practice.     

The Educational Challenge of Unraveling the Fantasies of Ontological Security

In this article we address the current context of intensified racialized state securitization by tracing its roots to the naturalized colonial architectures of everyday modern life—which we present through the metaphor of “the house modernity built.” While contemporary crises are often perceived to derive from external threats to the house, we argue that in fact these crises are a product of the violent and unsustainable practices that are required in order to build and sustain the house itself. As the structural integrity of the house increasingly comes under strain, there are different possible responses, three of which we review here. We conclude by asking what kind of education might enable us to imagine and practice alternative formations of existence in a context where the house appears to be crumbling, and, indeed, has always been a fantasy.