Understanding teacher design practices for digital inquiry–based science learning: the case of Go-Lab

Designing and implementing online or digital learning material is a demanding task for teachers. This is even more the case when this material is used for more engaged forms of learning, such as inquiry learning. In this article, we give an informed account of Go-Lab, an ecosystem that supports teachers in creating Inquiry Learning Spaces (ILSs). These ILSs are built around STEM–related online laboratories. Within the Go-Lab ecosystem, teachers can combine these online laboratories with multimedia material and learning apps, which are small applications that support learners in their inquiry learning process. The Go-Lab ecosystem offers teachers ready–made structures, such as a standard inquiry cycle, alternative scenarios or complete ILSs that can be used as they are, but it also allows teachers to configure these structures to create personalized ILSs. For this article, we analyzed data on the design process and structure of 2414 ILSs that were (co)created by teachers and that our usage data suggest have been used in classrooms. Our data show that teachers prefer to start their design from empty templates instead of more domain–related elements, that the makeup of the design team (a single teacher, a group of collaborating teachers, or a mix of teachers and project members) influences key design process characteristics such as time spent designing the ILS and number of actions involved, that the characteristics of the resulting ILSs also depend on the type of design team and that ILSs that are openly shared (i.e., published in a public repository) have different characteristics than those that are kept private.

     

Through Musical Communication to Development of Competence in Culture Awareness and Expression

This study presents an example of a music workshop which brought together pupils and students of different music schools, students of musicology, composition and classroom teaching, teachers, professors and composer on the common topics in contemporary music. The purpose of the workshop was to encourage an active and creative participation of everybody involved in a way that went beyond the usual practice used in cultural activities in education. In this respect, the workshop emphasised the importance of the creative expression of experience, ideas and emotions in the field of music. The results of the interview, which were conducted by some of the workshop participants, point out the complex occurrence of various indicators, which at the level of personal and social factors have determined the nature of communication through contemporary music and indirectly influenced the development of competence in cultural awareness and expression. Challenges identified included students＇ lack of musical experiences for contemporary music at all educational levels, the low priority given to contemporary music in schools as well as teachers＇ lack of professional knowledge in this field. The study highlights the need for more experience in contemporary musical language in general and music professional schools.     

Developmental Relations Among Behavioral Inhibition,Anxiety, and Attention Biases to Threat and Positive Information

This study examined relations between behavioral inhibition (BI) assessed in toddlerhood (n = 268) and attention biases (AB) to threat and positive faces and maternal‐reported anxiety assessed when children were 5‐ and 7‐year‐old. Results revealed that BI predicted anxiety at age 7 in children with AB toward threat, away from positive, or with no bias, at age 7; BI did not predict anxiety for children displaying AB away from threat or toward positive. Five‐year AB did not moderate the link between BI and 7‐year anxiety. No direct association between AB and BI or anxiety was detected; moreover, children did not show stable AB across development. These findings extend our understanding of the developmental links among BI, AB, and anxiety.     

Peer Influence on Ethnic‐Racial Identity Development: A Multi‐Site Investigation

The peer context features prominently in theory, and increasingly in empirical research, about ethnic‐racial identity (ERI) development, but no studies have assessed peer influence on ERI using methods designed to properly assess peer influence. We examined peer influence on ERI centrality, private, and public regard using longitudinal social network analysis. Data were drawn from two sites: a predominantly Latina/o Southwestern (SW) school (N = 1034; Mage = 12.10) and a diverse Midwestern (MW) school (N = 513; Mage = 11.99). Findings showed that peers influenced each other's public regard over time at both sites. However, peer influence on centrality was evident in the SW site, whereas peer influence on private regard was evident in the MW site. Importantly, peer influence was evident after controlling for selection effects. Our integration of developmental, contextual, and social network perspectives offers a fruitful approach to explicate how ERI content may shift in early adolescence as a function of peer influence.     

Looking for Ways to Increase Student Motivation: Internationalisation and Value Innovation

Understanding what constitutes the perceived value of foreign education to international business students is critical for business schools in order to achieve their recruitment targets. One established method relies on a financial interpretation of the costs and benefits of business education. By contrast, this study advocates a holistic approach by employing the concept of “internal” and “external” career success as its theoretical underpinning. A survey of undergraduate Chinese students in two British business schools based on such approach provides confirmation of the importance of an individual's judgement of own success as the foundation of value‐related expectations and suggests that academic practice should be concerned with a wider range of competencies and responses to individual attitudes, shifting emphasis towards a greater spectrum of social values.     

The role of educational psychology in teacher education: expert opinions on what teachers should know about learning, development, and assessment

The aim of this study is to identify psychological topics within the areas of learning, development, and assessment that are especially important for teachers and should be included in the university teacher education curriculum. Based on the observation that teacher educators in psychology often face the challenge of having to select certain topics from a large body of possible content, at the risk of causing large variation of knowledge between teachers, we asked 48 experts from different fields of teacher education (psychologists, non-psychologists at university, and educators from the induction phase) to evaluate psychological topics with respect to their importance to teaching. In the following two rounds (Delphi method), experts selected topics which they felt should be taught at university. Although differences existed at the beginning, a ranking of topics was obtained. Further, we explored the way experts with different backgrounds achieved consensus to support the validity and acceptance of the results. Concluding, we discuss the usefulness of the results with a focus on the acquisition of psychological knowledge for teachers and to foster the position of educational psychology within teacher education.     

Book Reviews

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of intensive interaction during interactive play between a preschool boy with autism and his teacher and, as a consequence, improve the social interaction between the boy and a non-autistic girl in an inclusive class in Greece. A single subject ABA design was applied. Observed variables included changes in the frequency of initiations and responses of the two children. Results indicated significant improvement and post-training maintenance in the social interaction of the two children. Discussion of results in light of known research in autism is highlighted and implications are discussed.     

Do oarsmen have asymmetries in the strength of their back and leg muscles?

The aim of this study was to establish whether asymmetry of the strength of the leg and trunk musculature is more prominent in rowers than in controls. Nineteen oarsmen and 20 male controls matched for age, height and body mass performed a series of isokinetic and isometric strength tests on an isokinetic dynamometer. These strength tests focused on the trunk and leg muscles. Comparisons of strength were made between and within groups for right and left symmetry patterns, hamstring :quadriceps ratios, and trunk flexor and extensor ratios. The results revealed no left and right asymmetries in either the knee extensor or flexor strength parameters (including both isometric and isokinetic measures). Knee extensor strength was significantly greater in the rowing population, but knee flexor strength was similar between the two groups. No difference was seen between the groups for the hamstring:quadriceps strength ratio. In the rowing population, stroke side had no influence on leg strength. No differences were observed in the isometric strength of the trunk flexors and extensors between groups, although EMG activity was significantly higher in the rowing population. Patterns of asymmetry of muscle activity were observed between the left and right erector spinae muscles during extension, which was significantly related to rowing side ( P < 0.01). These observations could be related to the high incidence of low back pain in oarsmen.     

Welche bildungswissenschaftlichen Inhalte sind wichtig in der Lehrerbildung?

In reviews of university teacher training, the parts of the curriculum based on educational science are often criticized as missing practical relevance and being non-cumulative. At the same time, uncertainty exists regarding which educational science based content is important for teacher candidates. The objective of the Delphi study presented here was the identification of core educational science content in university training. To this aim, a survey was carried out amongst 49 experts from different subject areas and phases of teacher training in three rounds using a standardized questionnaire. In the first round, 213 topics were specified, which were then assessed by experts regarding their importance for various aspects of the teaching profession. In the second and third rounds, which had the objective of reducing the number of topics, the experts chose a limited number of topics based on their relevance for university teacher training and for the practical success of teaching itself. The results show that the original list was comprehensive and that there is a consensus among most of the experts on their respective importance for teaching training.