Assessment Outcomes of Pre-service Teachers

As a response to the shortage of credentialed teachers in California, a four-year major called Urban Learning (ULRN), combining both the undergraduate and a teaching credential program was developed by professors at the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. The assessment results of the program after its first two-year pilot period showed that ULRN students (N=153) exhibited higher motivation to learn and tended to take fuller course loads as compared to other undergraduate students at the university. This was attributed to faculty collaboration and cohort modeling of the program. Compared to students in the regular credential programs, ULRN students were more likely to remain enrolled in their program and more likely to complete the program and graduate sooner. This blended program as a whole including the assessment course appeared to have help pre-service teachers become competent as teachers. This blended program with its structure emphasizing efficiency and effectiveness was comparatively successful.     

Boys into Modern Languages: An investigation of the discrepancy in attitudes and performance between boys and girls in modern languages

It is widely acknowledged that girls outperform boys across the curriculum in the GCSE examinations which are taken at the end of five years' compulsory secondary education. However, the gap in performance between boys and girls in modern languages is very marked and may suggest a need to reassess patterns of teaching and learning. This paper examines the differences in attitudes between boys and girls in modern languages after five years' study in an attempt to give some explanation for the considerable discrepancy in performance. Although previous research findings relating to boys' and girls' attitudes to their studies were confirmed, the significance of teacher personality and classroom practices emerged clearly from pupil interviews with both sexes. The article recognises the changes in the nature of the modern languages curriculum brought about by the introduction of GCSE and the on-going implementation of the National Curriculum, but points to the limitations and frustrations posed by these new agendas. Drawing extensively on pupil interviews, factors are highlighted which significantly affect pupils' perspectives and attitudes towards modern languages, and tentative suggestions are made which could help to improve the performance of both boys and girls in this traditionally 'female' subject.     

A Collaborative Substance Abuse Model for Counselors in Training: Knowledge and Practicum Experiences

A school-based substance abuse training model for counselors was sponsored by a federal grant and designed by a counselor education department. The program was successful in training counselors to design and implement prevention and intervention programs in the school setting.     

Contextualising Authentic Assessment

The term 'authentic assessment' has recently gained widespread use in education. This paper explores various ways in which authentic assessment is being interpreted and the relationship between these different interpretations and the original focus of authenticity in learning. The paper explores briefly the ways in which implicit and explicit beliefs about the nature of learning and knowledge formation direct the ways in which authentic assessment is interpreted and used. Educational issues that arise from some implementations of authentic assessment, identified as camouflage, simulation and abstraction, are discussed. The need for authentic assessment to be contextualised through a coherent teaching, learning and assessment domain is stressed.     

留学小语种国家

能学一门专业还能再掌握一门外语,无疑在职场中独具竞争力,工薪阶层也可以选择去留学,小语种国家的费用优势开始突显出来——有的国家只收注册费,还可以打工等优惠条件更吸引了不少生源前往小语种国家去留学。     

Revisiting the Conceptualization,Measurement, and Generation of Interest

This article provides an overview of recent interest research, focusing on the conceptualization, measurement, and generation of interest. It includes work that reflects differing theoretical backgrounds, research traditions, domains, and participants. Research on interest needs to be theoretically grounded if it is to be generally applicable and inform practice. Investigators must consider their own research questions, including learners’ age and characteristics of the learning context, in relation to the range of conceptualizations in the field. Whereas researchers’ questions should drive research on interest, their conceptualization of interest should inform their choice of measures. In addition, research addressing the ways in which interest might be generated and/or supported to develop should be aligned with both the conceptualization and measurement(s) of interest.