Transforming a Traditional Inquiry-Based Science Unit into a STEM Unit for Elementary Pre-service Teachers: A View from the Trenches

The need to prepare students with twenty-first-century skills through STEM-related teaching is strong, especially at the elementary level. However, most teacher education preparation programs do not focus on STEM education. In an attempt to provide an exemplary model of a STEM unit, we used a rapid prototyping approach to transform an inquiry-based unit on moon phases into one that integrated technology in a meaningful manner to develop technological literacy and scientific concepts for pre-service teachers (PSTs). Using qualitative case study methodology, we describe lessons learned related to the development and implementation of a STEM unit in an undergraduate elementary methods course, focusing on the impact the inquiry model had on PSTs’ perceptions of inquiry-based science instruction and how the integration of technology impacted their learning experience. Using field notes and survey data, we uncovered three overarching themes. First, we found that PSTs held absolutist beliefs and had a need for instruction on inquiry-based learning and teaching. Second, we determined that explicit examples of effective and ineffective technology use are needed to help PSTs develop an understanding of meaningful technology integration. Finally, the rapid prototyping approach resulted in a successful modification of the unit, but caused the usability of our digital instructional materials to suffer. Our findings suggest that while inquiry-based STEM units can be implemented in existing programs, creating and testing these prototypes requires significant effort to meet PSTs’ learning needs, and that iterating designs is essential to successful implementation.     

Participation in an intergenerational service learning course and implicit biases

Biases against the elderly and people with disabilities can lead to discriminatory behaviors. One way to conceptualize attitudes toward the elderly and people with disabilities is through the differentiation of explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) factors. Although both explicit and implicit attitudes and biases contribute to the full picture of peoples’ attitudes, explicit ideas alone may not accurately reflect people’s attitudes. This may be due to societal pressure to conceal explicit biases or the fact that often times, people are not aware they hold prejudiced views. The Implicit Association Test is a computer-based categorization task designed to assess implicit or unconscious attitudes. This test was used in in the current study to assess the impact of an intergenerational service-learning course. We designed this study to determine if greater exposure or contact with the elderly or people with disabilities might influence college students’ implicit attitudes. Pre- and post-assessment of participating students, using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, found statistically significant decreased biases after participation. Results from this study that suggest participating in an intergenerational service-learning course can positively affect implicit attitudes. This is encouraging, especially because these attitudes are developed over a long period of repeated exposure, are consistently reinforced by cultural factors, and are notoriously difficult to change.     

University–industry collaboration: Patterns of growth for low- and middle-level performers

Following landmark legislation passed more than 20 years ago, university–industry relationships have now become central to understanding the changing role of research universities in American Society. The paper analyzes the development of university–industry partnerships during the 1990s. Past studies have used a broad array of measures of ties and a variety of research methodologies, but they have shared a focus on top collaborators or on samples of universities skewed toward the top. However, findings based on top collaborators may not be valid for other universities. Universities involved in mid- to low-levels of collaboration are qualitatively different in many ways from the more extensively studied set of top collaborators, suggesting that characteristics affecting university–industry ties may not be the same for these institutions. The paper shifts the focus away from top collaborators to this sizable and less studied majority. In general, we find that the same characteristics predicting high levels of involvement for the sample as a whole also predict high levels of involvement for the sub-sample of mid- and low-level collaborators. However, We find some particular characteristics of these institutions, such as land grant status, are also associated with stronger ties to industry, and that some characteristics of 25 top institutions do not predict the level of involvement of these lower-level collaborators. We will discuss whether the licensing of new technology is likely ever to become an important source of net revenues for current middle and low-level collaborators. Our findings raise doubts about whether many universities below the top 25 will earn substantial net revenues from licensing, though they do not dispute the potential service value of these ties. The study is based on examination of a wide range of potential influences on university–industry collaboration for institutions that are not currently among the most heavily involved in partnerships. These include status, other institutional characteristics (such as size and control), investment in science and engineering, and characteristics of offices or technology transfer.     

Exploring the variety of parental talk during shared book reading and its contributions to preschool language and literacy: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort

Although many studies have explored shared book reading between preschoolers and their families, very few have examined this practice within a large, nationally representative sample. Using the ECLS-B dataset, this study investigated shared reading among nearly 700 families of diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Coding of families’ book-related discussion focused on the variety of types of talk that parents used during reading. Results showed that parents focused primarily on the meaning of the story, with little attention to the code of the text. The range of talk techniques that parents used was largely independent of background factors such as child gender, ethnicity, or age, as well as family home language. A wider variety of meaning-related remarks by parents was linked to more advanced language skills among preschoolers. Findings provide a portrait of the nature of shared book reading discussion among American families, a profile of the background factors that are linked to this talk, and a precise account of the unique contributions of this talk to key emergent language and literacy competencies.     

Preschoolers’ Visual Attention during Electronic Storybook Reading as Related to Different Types of Textual Supports

Preschoolers’ (n?=?32) attention to print and pictures was documented during an electronic storybook reading session. Children (M?=?51.06 months; SD?=?7.34 months) looked at a 12-page book that contained three types of pages, each of which was presented four times over the course of the book: (1) silent presentation of print, (2) print that was read aloud, and (3) print that was both read aloud and highlighted. Our research objectives were to analyze whether the way in which print was presented related to the ways in which children attended to print and pictures during the reading session. Gaze fixation duration to print and pictures was assessed using a Tobii X2-60 portable eye tracking unit, which captured corneal reflection data for each child. Children’s total fixation duration to print was greatest when print was read aloud and highlighted as compared to when it was presented silently or read aloud. In addition, children looked at print more when it was displayed silently than when the computer read the story to children, although this difference was much smaller in magnitude. Children attended to pictures more than print across pages, but this difference was most notable when the story was read aloud. Results demonstrate the potential utility of nonverbal print referencing strategies during book reading.     

Sharing Books and Learning Language: What do Latina Mothers and Their Young Children Do?

This study examined low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latina mothers' book sharing behaviors in relation to their children's vocabulary. Participants were 47 3-year-old children and their mothers. We addressed two research questions: (a) What interactive behaviors are evident when low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their 3-year-old children look at books together? (b) For these children and their mothers, which book-sharing behaviors are related to children's expressive language? Overall, our results indicated that mothers were involved in several kinds of interactions with the books. They enhanced their children's attention to the printed text, promoted interaction or conversation with their children about what was in the books, and somewhat less often, used more complex literacy strategies. Mothers who did these things most had children with the largest vocabularies even when mothers' vocabulary was taken into account. Implications for designing interventions for similar families are discussed.     

Using time dynamically in static intervals: Does it close the achievement gap?

A mixed-methods study was undertaken with 118 biology students in two urban high schools. A Student-Centered Adaptable Learning Environment (SCALE) was created to improve engagement from affective and cognitive perspectives using choice, creativity and technological allowances. Results demonstrated that fast and slow learners are generally separated by about 30 min in terms of inputting speeds, but can be as much as 65 min apart from one another. Given that traditional classrooms afford students only 45 min in which to learn, static time could have become a source of inequity in public schools. SCALE optimally allowed for the dynamic use of time in constrained periods, therefore reducing and even eliminating any negative relationships between speed of learning and resultant achievement gains in the block setting. Especially benefitting from their ability to maneuver were the slowest learners, who showed the largest achievement improvements in either time interval amongst ability groupings. As learning speed can be the most critical contributing component of resultant educational outcomes, providing students the ability to use time dynamically should be considered as a feasible solution to helping teachers reestablish equity in mixed-ability classrooms in public schools.     

Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program: impact in preventing child abuse and neglect

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of home visiting in preventing child abuse and neglect in the first 3 years of life in families identified as at-risk of child abuse through population-based screening at the child's birth. METHODS: This experimental study focused on Hawaii Healthy Start Program (HSP) sites operated by three community-based agencies. From 11/94 to 12/95, 643 families were enrolled and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Child abuse and neglect were measured by observed and self-reported parenting behaviors, all hospitalizations for trauma and for conditions where hospitalization might have been avoided with adequate preventive care, maternal relinquishment of her role as primary caregiver, and substantiated CPS reports. Data were collected through annual maternal interviews (88% follow-up each year of all families with baseline interviews); observation of the home environment; and review of CPS, HSP, and pediatric medical records. RESULTS: HSP records rarely noted home visitor concern about possible abuse. The HSP and control groups were similar on most measures of maltreatment. HSP group mothers were less likely to use common corporal/verbal punishment (AOR=.59, p=.01) but this was attributable to one agency's reduction in threatening to spank the child. HSP group mothers reported less neglectful behavior (AOR=.72, .02), related to a trend toward decreased maternal preoccupation with problems and to improved access to medical care for intervention families at one agency. CONCLUSIONS: The program did not prevent child abuse or promote use of nonviolent discipline; it had a modest impact in preventing neglect. Possible targets for improved effectiveness include the program's implementation system and model.     

Kindergarten Adjustment Difficulty: The Contribution of Children's Effortful Control and Parental Control

Research Findings: This paper examines the extent to which children's effortful control and early family experiences predict difficulty in kindergarten adjustment. One hundred and eighty-two children from 31 kindergarten classrooms in rural elementary schools in the Southeast participated. Teachers reported on children's difficulty with kindergarten adjustment, and parents completed measures assessing children's effortful control (inhibitory control and attentional focus) and types of parental control (i.e., lax, firm, and harsh). A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to address three research questions: First, how does effortful control (inhibitory control and attentional focus) contribute to children's difficulty with kindergarten adjustment? Second, how does parental control predict children's difficulty with kindergarten adjustment? Third, to what extent does parental control moderate the relation between effortful control and difficulty with kindergarten adjustment? Practice or Policy: Children lower on inhibitory control showed greater difficulty with kindergarten adjustment than children with higher inhibitory control. Furthermore, lax parental control, but not firm or harsh parental control, predicted children's adjustment problems. Lax parental control moderated the relation between children's inhibitory control and difficulty with kindergarten adjustment; specifically, higher levels of lax parental control coupled with lower levels of inhibitory control predicted more difficulty with the adjustment to kindergarten.     

Perceptions of Science and Technology: A Comparison of Criminal Justice and Traditional Science and Technology Majors

Due to the increased demands for science and technology (S&T) in criminal justice (CJ) occupational preparation and in response to the growing interest of students in forensics, this study explores the attitudes of CJ majors towards S&T. Despite the acknowledgment that S&T skills are helpful in gaining employment, CJ majors reported less favorable attitudes than S&T majors, reporting: less interest in gaining S&T knowledge, fewer social benefits of S&T, and greater concerns that S&T are dangerous to society than traditional forensic science majors. While these findings raise some fundamental questions about the suitability of increased representation of S&T courses within CJ curriculum, authors argue that CJ curricular goals must continue to evolve to foster innovative students who are academically prepared to meet the twenty-first century challenges of their future careers.