Mini-languages: a way to learn programming principles

Mini-languages are a visually intuitive, simple and powerful way to introduce students to programming. They are a good foundation for general computer science instruction, provide insight into programming for the general population, and teach algorithmic thinking. The goal of the paper is to provide an extensive review of the mini-language approach to teaching programming. For different audiences and in different countries, the authors have extensive experience in design and application of mini-languages. We outline the problems that motivate the application of this approach, present a brief history, review several existing mini-languages, and provide discussion of lessons learned. In particular, we discuss how to choose a mini-language for a particular group of students and list some requirements for a successful application of a mini- language. We conclude with a discussion of possible future directions of the mini-language approach development     

Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Professional Communication Pedagogy

Critical thinking pedagogy offers a supportive environment for teaching ethics in the professional communication classroom. Four important aspects of critical thinking which particularly encourage ethical thought and behavior are identifying and questioning assumptions, seeking a multiplicity of voices and alternatives on a subject, making connections, and fostering active involvement. Focusing on these behaviors allows an ongoing incorporation of ethics into many different aspects of the classroom.     

Pre-service physical education teachers’ Indigenous knowledge,cultural competency and pedagogy: a service learning intervention

In this paper, we investigate the effects of a community- and school-based service learning experience (SLE) on pre-service physical education teachers’ Indigenous knowledge, cultural competency and pedagogy. Informed by the theoretical tenets of Indigenous research methodologies, experiential learning and critical reflection, we examine 55 final-year pre-service physical education teachers’ (age: 21.9 [8.3]; 10.7% low SES; 68% females) cultural learning and competency in a core unit of study with a six-week SLE. Measures of their experiences included reflective journals, multicultural teaching competency scales and focus group interviews. Findings support the design of the SLE, with statistically significant changes in pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their cultural competency (p < 0.001). Pre-service teachers were able to challenge their assumptions about Indigenous students, plan and implement student-centred and culturally relevant pedagogies. Attention is drawn to the design of this SLE and demonstrates the importance of using Indigenous community members and teachers as mentors, which has not been explored in previous SLE studies.     

Teaching in inclusive classrooms: efficacy and beliefs of Canadian preservice teachers

This study provides a Canada-wide snapshot of the self-efficacy and beliefs of 1490 preservice teachers in relation to inclusive teaching using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice and the Beliefs about Learning and Teaching Questionnaire. At the time of data collection, these preservice teachers were in the final stages of their teacher education programmes. Based on the results of surveys in 11 Faculties of Education, men have higher self-efficacy than women for managing behaviour in the classroom, elementary preservice teachers have higher self-efficacy in collaboration than those teaching in secondary schools, those enrolled in the 1-year post-degree programme show lower self-efficacy than those enrolled in programmes of other durations, and those who have experience with people with special education needs show higher self-efficacy than those who do not. Differences illustrated that women were more inclusive than men, 1-year post-degree preservice teachers were less inclusive than others, and those who have experience with people with special education needs are more inclusive than those who do not. Recommendations for teacher education and limitations surrounding the practical significance of the findings are discussed.     

Interactions between retroactive-interference and context-mediated treatments that impair Pavlovian conditioned responding

In Pavlovian fear conditioning, context-mediated decrements in conditioned responding (e.g., the US preexposure effect) can counteract competition between cues trained together (e.g., overshadowing). Two experiments were conducted using rats in a conditioned lick suppression preparation to determine whether context-mediated competition also counteracts competition between cues trained separately (retroactive interference, or RI). In Experiment 1, a combination of degraded contingency and RI treatments produced less of a decrement in conditioned responding than did either of those treatments alone. Experiment 2 showed that RI treatment attenuates the normally deleterious effect of trial massing. The results suggest that empirical similarities are shared by interference between cues trained apart and competition between cues trained together.     

Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.     

Doing the right thing: infants' selection of actions to imitate from observed event sequences

Two studies were conducted to investigate how 14- to 16-month-old infants select actions to imitate from the stream of events. In each study, an experimenter demonstrated two actions leading to an interesting effect. Aspects of the first action were manipulated and whether infants performed this action when given the objects was observed. In both studies, infants were more likely to imitate the first action when it was physically necessary to generate the effect, and in Study 2 they were also more likely to imitate the action when it was socially cued. It seems that infants' own knowledge of space and causality as well as their sensitivity to others' social signals both contribute to their tendency to imitate actions.     

Mobile learning in higher education: A comparative analysis of developed and developing country contexts

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast characteristics of use and adoption of mobile learning in higher education in developed and developing countries. A comparative case study based on a survey questionnaire was conducted with 189 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Adelaide in Australia. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was employed as the theoretical framework. The results indicated that higher education students in developed and developing countries use a range of technologies for learning, with major differences between Uganda and Australia. The study concludes that mobile learning in higher education in developed and developing country contexts is still at an experimental stage with students using mobile devices in pedagogically limited ways.     

Quantifying Qualitative Scholarship: A Fool’s Errand or a Methodological Necessity?

This paper describes our efforts to systematically generate knowledge from ethnographic and other qualitative scholarship as a way of bridging intellectual gaps found in quantitative research. We ground this scholarly endeavor in the study of gangs, which has a lengthy history in the field of criminology, yet lacks a coherent, coordinated, and comparative understanding of gang dynamics, behavior, and impacts. We discuss the importance of acknowledging the multiple and mixed methodologies used in gang scholarship and detail the inductive, deductive, and iterative process that helped us (1) develop a comprehensive coding instrument for coding a range of qualitative works, (2) establish the instrument’s inter-rater reliability, and (3) remain cognizant and reflexive about the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, we share the critical yet informative challenges we faced throughout the project and conclude with reflections on why the project was unsuccessful in the way we originally envisioned.     

Understanding the Use of Student-Centered Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses

A growing body of research suggests that student-centered teaching methods are associated with positive learning outcomes for undergraduate students. Yet, the extent of their use and factors leading to their adoption in fields, such as chemistry, continue to be under-explored. Utilizing survey data collected during 2015, we begin to fill this gap, first by considering the degree to which faculty and instructors use and plan to use various student-centered teaching methods in their undergraduate chemistry courses. Then, we examine three potential factors that may help us understand variation in (1) use of and (2) intentions to implement student-centered methods: attitudes toward teaching methods; teaching approaches; and institutional characteristics. Importantly, our findings suggest attitudes and individual teaching approaches are significant predictors of the use and intention to implement student-centered methods in the classroom. Perhaps surprisingly, several institutional factors examined (such as class size, percentage of time spent teaching, and type of institution) play no significant role. Given the positive student outcomes associated with various student-centered methods reported in literature, these findings suggest potential avenues for faculty and instructors’ professional development toward further implementation of these methods.