Young learners: mapping the beliefs and practices of preschool teachers in relation to early literacy development     

Robert Brown  Janet Scull  Andrea Nolan  Bridie Raban  Jan Deans 《The Australian Educational Researcher》2012,39(3):313-331

This paper introduces the Young Learners?? Project, which is a large scale longitudinal study that aims to identify a number of factors associated with positive outcomes in literacy in the first year of school: the role of the preschool teacher, home life and child characteristics. In particular, it presents the design of one sub-study within the larger project that is focusing on the beliefs, theoretical constructs and literacy practices of 25 preschool teachers. The paper deliberates the methodological choices of a group of researchers who set out to represent in diverse ways, and for diverse purposes, the layered meanings inherent in preschool teachers?? beliefs and practices in relation to early literacy development. In particular, through reference to illustrative extracts of a single case analysis, the paper explores the possibilities and complexities of adopting mixed methods and in doing so, responds to a call for researchers to make explicit the purposes and challenges of case study methodologies.  相似文献   

Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs About Teaching Science and Classroom Practice: An Examination of Pre/Post NCLB Testing in Science     

Andrea R. Milner  Toni A. Sondergeld  Abdulkadir Demir  Carla C. Johnson  Charlene M. Czerniak 《Journal of Science Teacher Education》2012,23(2):111-132

The impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandated state science assessment on elementary teachers’ beliefs about teaching science and their classroom practice is relatively unknown. For many years, the teaching of science has been minimized in elementary schools in favor of more emphasis on reading and mathematics. This study examines the dynamics of bringing science to the forefront of assessment in elementary schools and the resulting teacher belief and instructional shifts that take place in response to NCLB. Results indicated that teachers’ beliefs about teaching science remained unchanged despite policy changes mandated in NCLB. Teacher beliefs related to their perceptions of what their administrators and peer groups’ think they should be doing influenced their practice the most. Most teachers reported positive feelings and attitudes about science and reported that their students had positive feelings and attitudes about science; however, teachers reported teaching science less as a result of NCLB. Implications for elementary science education reform and policy are discussed.  相似文献   

Quality Assurance in an International Higher Education Area: A summary of a case-study approach and comparative analysis     

Bernhard  Andrea 《Tertiary Education and Management》2012,18(2):153-169

Tertiary Education and Management - Transparency and comparability of higher education institutions especially in terms of their academic programmes and research activities are important issues for...  相似文献   

Seeking insights into young children’s beliefs about mathematics and learning     

Andrea McDonough  Peter Sullivan 《Educational Studies in Mathematics》2014,87(3):279-296

Challenges for researchers wishing to gain insights into student beliefs about mathematics and learning include the identification of prompts to which young children can respond easily and which have the potential to provide meaningful insights into their beliefs. This article reports on a selection of such prompts used within an exploratory study that investigated beliefs about mathematics, learning and helping factors for learning mathematics of eight children of 8 to 9 years of age. These prompts, described as creative interviewing procedures, are classified under the key categories of visual, verbal and text-based. The article provides brief details of the study as background but focuses on discussing the nature of the tasks, and, through the inclusion of a selection of responses, illustrates their potential value as research tools for gaining insights into young children’s beliefs about mathematics and learning. It seems that teachers could use the prompts to gain alternate perspectives into children’s beliefs which in turn might inform their instruction.  相似文献   

Informal Learning Through Science Media Usage     

Michaela Maier  Tobias Rothmund  Andrea Retzbach  Lukas Otto  John C. Besley 《教育心理学家》2014,49(2):86-103

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Teaching writing to middle school students: a national survey     

Steve Graham  Andrea Capizzi  Karen R. Harris  Michael Hebert  Paul Morphy 《Reading and writing》2014,27(6):1015-1042

A random sample of language arts, social studies, and science middle school teachers from the United States were surveyed about their preparation to teach writing, beliefs about responsibilities for teaching writing, use of evidence-based writing practices, assessment of writing, use of technology, and adaptations for struggling writers. The findings from this survey raised concerns about the quality of middle school writing instruction. Many teachers believed their preservice and inservice preparation to teach writing was inadequate. Middle school students spend little time writing or being taught how to write. While most teachers used a variety of evidenced-based writing practices and made adaptations for struggling writers, such methods were applied infrequently. Most teachers did not appear to use assessment data to shape how they taught writing, and computers played a relatively minor role in middle school writing instruction. Even though teachers generally agreed that writing was a collective responsibility, language arts teachers placed a greater emphasis on writing instruction than social studies and science teachers.  相似文献   

I want to be a scientist/a teacher: students' perceptions of career decision-making in gender-typed,non-traditional areas of work     

Christine Bieri Buschor  Christa Kappler  Andrea Keck Frei  Simone Berweger 《Gender and education》2014,26(7):743-758

The study examines the career decision-making of Swiss academic high school students opting for a career in a non-traditional, gender-typed area of work during the transition to higher education. Based on a longitudinal study, a qualitative study with 11 female students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and 13 male student teachers was conducted in order to analyse their perceptions of the career decision-making process. They felt supported by their parents and teachers. Women showed a strong sense of identity as future scientists without mentioning specific career goals. Men, by contrast, referred to job security-related considerations and emphasised the importance of role models for their choice. Female students emphasised their status of being ‘unique in a men's world' whereas male student teachers highlighted the role of ‘masculinity in the classroom'.  相似文献   

Training Planning and Working Memory in Third Graders     

Andrea Paula Goldin  María Soledad Segretin  María Julia Hermida  Luciano Paz  Sebastián Javier Lipina  Mariano Sigman 《Mind, Brain, and Education》2013,7(2):136-146

Working memory and planning are fundamental cognitive skills supporting fluid reasoning. We show that 2 games that train working memory and planning skills in school‐aged children promote transfer to 2 different tasks: an attentional test and a fluid reasoning test. We also show long‐term improvement of planning and memory capacities in 8‐year‐old children after playing adaptive computer games specifically tailored to entrain these cognitive functions. Working memory capacity expanded from 5 to 7 items by using our games. Furthermore, steady progression in the task indicates that this capacity can be trained rapidly. Planning abilities persisted in a nonmarkovian form of play, where a move is highly influenced by previous moves, avoiding back‐ups. Here, we introduce a public and growing platform ( http://www.matemarote.com.ar/ ) developed for this research which has the potential for wide use in educational research.  相似文献   

The Impact of Professional Development on Library Faculty Attitudes,Practices, and Knowledge of Student Learning Assessment     

Lyda Fontes McCartin  Andrea Falcone  Shannon Marie Smith 《Public Services Quarterly》2013,9(3):214-230

In order to align with university-wide assessment initiatives and to promote a systematic approach to one-shot assessment within our library, a team of five librarians participated in a campus-wide professional development program about student learning assessment. We then implemented library-specific professional development about student learning assessment for one-shot instruction. We provide an overview of the professional development program and discuss our study that explored the impact of the program on librarians’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes about student learning assessment. Our findings indicate that faculty participants had a positive change in practice, knowledge, and attitude after participating in the professional development program.  相似文献   

Resting Prefrontal Cortex Asymmetry and Communication Apprehension,Verbal Aggression,and Other Social Interaction Constructs: A Meta-Analytic Review     

John S. Seiter  Andrea Sandry 《Communication Research Reports》2013,30(4):287-298

This study examined the effect of body piercing on perceptions of an employment seeker's credibility, hirability, and attractiveness. Participants (undergraduate students and managers) viewed a photograph of a job candidate who wore either no jewelry, an earring, or a nose ring, and then rated dimensions of the candidate's credibility, hirability, and attractiveness. Analysis indicated that although the candidate's attractiveness ratings were not affected by the type of jewelry he wore, his credibility ratings decreased when he was wearing jewelry, and his hirability ratings decreased when he was wearing a nose ring. These results and their implications are discussed.  相似文献