Do teachers’ educational philosophies affect their digital literacy? The mediating effect of resistance to change

Education and Information Technologies - This study aims to reveal the direct and indirect effects of primary school teachers' educational philosophies on their digital literacy through...     

Aspects of Intercultural Education and Curriculum Decision‐making

This article presents an analysis of intercultural education from the viewpoint of the dynamics of agenda building as a political process. In this analysis, particular attention is given to the theoretical and ideological assumptions on which the concept of intercultural education is based. The author contends that the employment of this concept serves the purpose of issue containment within the arena of conflict where educational policy alternatives are determined.

     

基于边疆稳定的民族高考政策改革的思考——以新疆维吾尔自治区南疆地区为例

科学合理的高考政策对于维护边疆少数民族地区经济社会的和谐稳定具有重要作用.应通过制定科学合理、适合边疆民族地区基础教育实际的高考招生政策,采取强硬措施,杜绝高考"移民"现象的反弹,坚决纠正高考中的假"民考汉"现象,做好高考与大学预科模式的衔接工作,实施民族地区师范生免费教育制度,为基础教育改革特别是"双语"教学的开展培养急需的高素质人才.要改革考试方式,实现民族地区高考多元化等措施,使少数民族地区高考政策在"稳疆兴疆,富民固边"战略的实施中、在和谐边疆的建构中发挥出更加重要的作用.     

Integrating Gender and Group Differences into Bridging Strategy

The main goal of this study was to integrate gender and group effect into bridging strategy in order to assess the effect of bridging analogy-based instruction on sophomore students’ misconceptions in Newton’s Third Law. Specifically, the authors developed and benefited from anchoring analogy diagnostic test to merge the effect of group and gender into the strategy. Newton’s third law misconception test, attitude scale toward Newton’s third law, and classroom observation checklists were the other measuring tools utilized throughout this quasi-experimental study. The researchers also developed or used several teaching/learning materials such as gender and group splitted concept diagrams, lesson plans, gender splitted frequency tables, make sense scales, PowerPoint slides, flash cards, and demonstrations. The convenience sample of the study chosen from the accessible population involved 308 students from two public universities. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the bridging strategy had a significant effect on students’ misconceptions in Newton’s third law whereas it had no significant effect on students’ attitudes toward Newton’s third law.     

Can We Make Definite Categorization of Student Attitudes? A Rough Set Approach to Investigate Students’ Implicit Attitudinal Typologies Toward Living Things

This study investigates the possibility of analyzing educational data using the theory of rough sets which is mostly employed in the fields of data analysis and data mining. Data were collected using an open-ended conceptual understanding test of the living things administered to first-year high school students. The responses of randomly selected 60 students among the participants were analyzed using rough set approach on the basis of “nine attitudinal typologies toward wildlife” defined by Kellert (1996). Student responses were tabulated to be used in rough sets and upper and lower approximation analyses were carried out. Students were found to display the characteristics of four out of nine typologies. Analyses revealed that some students who possessed characteristics of a certain typology may partially display the characteristics of other typologies and these typologies could be determined using rough set theory.     

Development of self-efficacy towards using alternative assessment scale

Determining the candidate teachers’ opinions regarding self-efficacy towards alternative assessment will be beneficial in that this will improve their competencies while using these approaches in their applications within the classroom. In this article, the development and validation of the “Self-efficacy towards Using Alternative Assessment Scale” (SUAAS) is introduced. The SUUAS is a 26-item scale for assessing candidate teachers’ self-efficacy towards using alternative assessment. Data collected from 424 candidate teachers provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the scale. The results provide evidence for a valid and reliable self-efficacy scale with 3 factors, which are named as “Self-efficacy towards Using”, “Self-efficacy towards Challenges” and “Self-efficacy towards Using Sources”. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the entire scale has been found as 0.89, while those of the sub-factors are 0.88, 0.86 and 0.71, respectively. Followed by additional validation studies, the SUAAS will serve as a valuable tool for both instructors and researchers in education to assess teachers’ and candidate teachers’ beliefs related to their self-efficacy towards using alternative assessment approaches.     

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) in a Community College Setting: A Case Study

This study examined the initial implementation process of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) in a northern California community college. Focus groups of students, faculty, and administrators were conducted in the spring of 2008, as well as observations of several planning meetings in the spring and summer of 2008. The community college students enrolled in the AVID class reported that the support they received through AVID has helped them focus, become more organized, and become more motivated to continue their studies. This was so even though not all of AVID's 11 essentials were implemented on campus. In addition, challenges such as faculty buy-in and resistance to changing institutionalized practices were encountered by staff members responsible for implementing AVID. In this initial implementation, faculty and administration sought to change the culture of the college to better serve the underrepresented students in their quest to transfer to four-year institutions. This study provides a framework for other community colleges and higher education institutions to leverage the academic potential of underprepared and historically underrepresented students.