Instructional practices of teachers enrolled in educational technology and general education programs

This study investigated classroom practices of 38 teachers enrolled in university masters' degree programs in educational technology and in other areas of education. The classroom practices related to five key concepts associated with educational technology: (a) learner-centered instruction, (b) instructional design, (c) media and technology, (d) assessment, and (e) instructional alignment. Teachers rated their frequency of use of desirable practices in these five areas on a 30-item Likert type survey. In addition, one class of students per teacher rated its own teacher's frequency of use of the practices on 20 items parallel to items on the teacher survey. The mean overall rating across all teachers for the classroom practice items was very close to Often, or 4.0, on the 5-point scale. There were few reported differences between the teachers enrolled in educational technology programs and those enrolled in other education programs. Student ratings indicated less frequent teacher use of the desirable practices on 16 of the 20 common items, with significantly lower student ratings on 8 of these items. However, there was strong teacher-student agreement on several other comparisons.The study reported in this article was conducted as a doctoral dissertation at Arizona State University.     

The American College Counseling Association: A Historical View

The history of college counseling reflects its multifaceted, dynamic character. Numerous works track the historical development of counseling in higher education (Bragdon, 1929; Farnsworth, 1957; Fitzpatrick, 1968; Heppner& Neal, 1983; Siegel, 1968; Williamson, 1939). Contemporary authors also have analyzed current trends and issues facing the college counseling profession (Dean & Meadows, 1995; Steenbarger, 1990; Stone & Archer, 1990). The American College Counseling Association (ACCA) was created and has developed in the context of both history and recent issues in counseling within higher education settings. This article examines factors contributing to the birth and rapid growth of this successful and growing professional association.     

Learning Mathematics for Teaching: From a Teachers' Seminar to the Classroom

A successful practice grounded in the principles that guide the current mathematics education reform effort requires a qualitatively different and significantly richer understanding of mathematics than most teachers currently possess. However, it is not as clear how teachers' mathematical understandings develop and how those understandings affect instruction. This paper explores two avenues for K-6 teachers' mathematical development, (a) engagement in inquiry into mathematics itself, and (b) investigation of children's mathematical thinking, illustrating how the need for these two kinds of investigations arises in classroom situations and how they can be pursued in a professional development setting.     

Criterion‐Related and construct validity of the pervasive developmental disorders rating scale and the autism behavior checklist

This study investigated the validity of the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC; Krug, Arick, & Almond, 1993) and the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Rating Scale (PDDRS; Eaves, 1993a). Both instruments are screening devices designed to measure characteristics of individuals with autistic disorder or, more broadly, pervasive developmental disorders. Results showed that the total scores of the ABC and PDDRS measure significantly overlapping constructs (r= .80). Further, both instruments significantly discriminated between participants with autistic disorder and children with diagnoses frequently confused with autistic disorder. Both instruments provided respectable indices for classification accuracy (PDDRS overall accuracy = 88%, ABC overall accuracy = 80%). Finally, the ABC and PDDRS agreed in their classifications of 85% of the 136 participants; a phi coefficient based on the instruments' nominal classifications of the participants equaled .68 (p< .001). © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Concurrent validity of the early screening profiles and the differential ability scales with an at‐risk preschool sample

The relationship between the Early Screening Profiles (ESP; Harrison, 1990) and the Differential Ability Scales (DAS; Elliott, 1990a) was studied. The participants were 94 (57 males, 37 females) at‐risk preschoolers ranging in age from 3 years 6 months to 5 years 11 months (M= 4 years 7 months; SD= 6.3 months). The sample included 72 Caucasians, 21 African Americans, and one Hispanic. This study found that the DAS GCA (General Conceptual Ability) mean score was significantly lower than the ESP Total Screening mean score. However, a strong relationship (r= .78) was found between the ESP Total Screening and DAS GCA scores, indicating that the ESP is a good predictor of cognitive ability among at‐risk preschoolers. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Time-in/time-out as a response to noncompliance and inappropriate behavior with children with developmental disabilities: Two case studies

Time-in and time-out were used to treat inappropriate and noncompliant behaviors in a child with severe language disabilities and a child with a moderate mental disability and cerebral palsy. The target behaviors for Jeremy were compliance with first-time presented teacher instructions, elopement and aggression. Prior to intervention, archival baseline data for Jeremy suggested a compliance rate with teacher directives of approximately 9% and a high frequency of elopement and aggression. Following implementation of a compliance training package, compliance to teacher directives increased to 97% within the first week of intervention and minimal instances of elopement and aggression. Two, 24, and 40-week follow-up compliance checks yielded mean rates of 98%, 99%, and 98% respectively and no elopement or aggression. Reduction in object tossing behaviors was targeted for Jenny. Archival baseline, indicated through parent report, suggested tossing rates of 80% of the times objects were in hand. Frequency of object tossing behavior decreased to a near-zero level during intervention. The use of this intervention package with children in an effort to deter future chronic noncompliance and inappropriate behavior is discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Gender,prior knowledge,interest, and experience in electricity and conceptual change text manipulations in learning about direct current

The present study investigated relationships between gender, interest and experience in electricity, and conceptual change text manipulations on learning fundamental direct current concepts. Conceptual change text has been shown to lead to better conceptual understanding of electrical concepts than traditional didactic text, but previous research suggested that the effect interacted with the gender of the participants. We hypothesized that interest moderated this interaction. In this study, men and women who had higher or lower interest in electricity and greater or lessor experience with electricity read conceptual change or traditional text. When interest level, experience, and prior knowledge were not included in the analysis, both gender and text type produced significant main effects. When interest level, experience, and prior knowledge were included in the analysis, conceptual change text led to better understanding of electricity concepts than did the traditional text, and the effect of gender was eliminated. This finding supports the hypothesis that prior interest level, experience, and knowledge mediate apparent gender differences in learning about electricity. It suggests that conceptual change text manipulations are likely to be effective for both men and women. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 107–123, 1997.     

Competency beliefs,positive affect,and gender stereotypes of elementary students and their parents about science versus other school subjects

Iowa students and parents completed related attitude and belief questionnaires about school subjects. Grade K–3 students received simpler questionnaires than did Grade 4–6 students or parents. Among Grade 4–6 children, girls perceived higher competence in reading than did boys, but boys perceived higher competence in physical science. All children perceived physical science competence lower than reading or math competence. Parents perceived boys as more competent in science. Girls like reading more than boys did; boys and girls did not differ in liking of science. Grade 4–6 children also expected lower grades in and attached lower importance to physical science than to reading. Parents perceived science as more important for boys and expected higher performance of boys. Jobs related to math or science were seen as more male dominated. These results provided a more comprehensive picture of attitudes and beliefs about science in the elementary school than had existed and suggested that attitudinal gender differences related to physical science begin to develop by the earliest elementary school years. Policy implications are that intervention programs designed to promote gender equity should be extended to the early elementary school years and also should address parental attitudes. Additional implications for policy and research are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 719–747, 1999