Comparison of Quebec and British teachers' beliefs about,training in and experience with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

This study compares belief patterns of teachers from Quebec and Britain about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It also compares teacher training in ADHD in both countries, as well as their experience with students who have this disorder. The results indicate that: (1) teacher belief patterns about ADHD in Quebec and Britain are different, although teachers from both countries have predominant beliefs about ADHD that are of an allopathic medical nature; (2) British teachers have received less information on ADHD in their initial training than Quebec teachers; and (3) British teachers are contacted more often than Quebec teachers by doctors when they have a youngster using medication to treat ADHD in their classroom. Results are discussed from a sociological and an educational perspective.     

The development of an entrepreneurial mindset in primary education

This article provides insights into the design thinking method, a teaching strategy for developing creativity, innovative thinking, and an entrepreneurial mindset in young people as a universally applicable skill. It presents results from a study of 146 seventh- and eighth-grade students, aged 12–14 and 20 teachers across 10 Slovene schools. Teachers used the design thinking method to facilitate hands-on student projects and evaluated their effectiveness in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset. The two teachers per class submitted a combined final report of their experience and observations. In addition, a study facilitator visited each school several times to discuss the project with the teachers, observe the class, and take notes. Thirteen factors that contributed to students’ entrepreneurial mindset were identified and organized into three clusters: project factors, the learning environment in which it was carried out, and the learning and teaching factors.     

Stability of repeated student evaluations of teaching in the second preclinical year of a medical curriculum

The second preclinical year of the medical curriculum at the Medical Faculty of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland includes nine multidisciplinary organ-system-oriented modules consisting of lectures and problem-based-learning tutorials. This study reports the experience accumulated with the evaluation of lectures during the academic years 1998–1999 and 1999–2000. The ratings of the different modules were highly variable, indicating the ability of students to have a critical view on the teaching and the teachers. There was a close to very close correlation between the ratings obtained during the two study years. The high discriminative capacity of students in evaluating the teaching and the teachers was also supported by their critical point of view expressed in free comments. Our observations stress therefore the reliability of teaching evaluations systematically performed by medical students.