Waiting for Gabriel: Philosophical literacy and teacher education     

Ana M. Martinez Alemán 《The Teacher Educator》2013,48(1):35-51

Abstract

The author presents a case for expanding the philosophical literacy of preservice teachers. It is argued here that increasing the philosophical literacy in teacher education programs will enable teachers to think deliberatively and, consequently, reflectively on the exigencies of their practice. For example, through guided experience with philosophy of education, preservice teachers can gain familiarity with the hermeneutics of inter‐subjectivity, thus making them better able to communicate and understand their own students and their families. The author uses John Dewey's pragmatic ideas about reflection, hermeneutics, and equity as examples of how philosophical literacy can guide preservice teachers’ professional contemplation.  相似文献   

The Ibero American Network for Research on School Effectiveness and School Improvement: A Way to Increase Educational Quality and Equity     

F. Javier Murillo  M Lourdes Hernández Rincón 《School Effectiveness & School Improvement》2013,24(1):123-132

Education systems in Latin America are demanding an improvement in their present levels of quality and equity. In order to achieve higher levels in these fields, decision-taking is necessary in all educational areas, and the theoretical–practical movements of school effectiveness and school improvement (SE and SI) can help in this task. Nevertheless, current research is neither sufficient nor satisfactory, as it is deeply ethnocentric. At the beginning of the year 2000, the Ibero American Network for Research on School Effectiveness and School Improvement (RIEME) was created with the aim of promoting research and communication on these research fields. Among its activities, the following can be mentioned: to promote international research on SE and SI; to develop and maintain a closed e-list and a web page; to organise meetings, training and advise activities, and so forth. RIEME works as a Network of networks, and is widespread in Spain, Portugal and most countries in Latin America.  相似文献   

Engaging with parents: the relationship between school engagement efforts,social class,and learning     

Raquel L. González  Cara L. Jackson 《School Effectiveness & School Improvement》2013,24(3):316-335

Using data from the U.S. Department of Education's (2000) Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), this study investigates the relationship between school efforts to engage parents, average socioeconomic status (SES) of families within a school, and kindergarteners' end-of-year reading and mathematics achievement. Drawing from Epstein's (2001 Epstein, J.L. 2001. School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.  [Google Scholar]) parent involvement framework, the 4 types of engagement efforts explored are intended to promote communication, parent volunteering, parent influence in school decision making, and parenting skills. We apply multilevel methods to explore the impact of schools' efforts to engage parents on student achievement. Our findings indicate certain types of school efforts to engage parents influence achievement. Depending on average school SES, efforts to promote volunteering has a differential impact on reading achievement, efforts to involve parents in school decision making has a differential impact on mathematics achievement, and efforts to increase communication and promote parenting skills have a differential impact on reading and mathematics achievement.  相似文献   

Modelling activities integrating construction and simulation supported explanatory and evaluative reasoning     

Gretchen P. King  Heather Bergan-Roller  Nicholas Galt  Tomáš Helikar 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(13):1764-1786

ABSTRACT

Model-based instruction offers numerous benefits to students, including increased content knowledge and critical thinking. This study explored the differences in the knowledge outcomes and reasoning processes employed by undergraduate students in an introductory biology lab as they constructed, revised, and simulated a computational model of a prokaryotic gene regulatory system. We analysed post-lesson conceptual models (n?=?335) and audio-recorded small group discussions (n?=?10) of students that either constructed and revised a computational model and then investigated a pre-constructed computational model or only investigated a pre-constructed computational model to determine the impact of constructing and revising a computational model. No significant differences were found between the mental models of students who constructed and revised a computational model and those who only simulated a pre-constructed computational model. However, this study demonstrated that constructing and revising a model before simulating it offered additional benefits to students by fostering deeper cognitive reasoning processes. Constructing and revising a model elicited more explanatory and evaluative reasoning and prompted students to discuss the underlying mechanisms of the biological system.  相似文献   

High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Spiders: A cross‐cultural comparison     

Pavol Prokop  Andrea Tolarovičová  Anne M. Camerik  Viera Peterková 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(12):1665-1688

Spiders are traditionally considered to be among the least popular of animals. Current evidence suggests that a negative attitude towards spiders could be influenced by both cultural and evolutionary pressures. Some researchers suggest that science education activities could positively influence students’ perceptions of spiders. Their evidence is, however, ambivalent. Using a five‐point score Likert‐type questionnaire in which the items were developed in a similar way to four of Kellert’s categories of attitude (scientistic, negativistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic) towards invertebrates, we compared the level of knowledge of and attitudes towards spiders of high school students from two countries, Slovakia (n = 354) and South Africa (n = 382). The students represented different cultures and followed dissimilar science education curricula. Only among the Slovakian students there was a statistically significant but low correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.30). The South African students scored higher in the categories of scientistic, naturalistic, and ecologistic attitudes. Comparison of attitude towards spiders of indigenous Africans from coeducational Catholic schools revealed that South African students have greater fear of spiders than Slovakian students, supporting the biological preparedness hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a greater fear of spiders in South Africa than in Europe since several South African spiders possess venoms that are dangerous to humans. The results of this study are discussed from science education, cultural, and evolutionary perspectives.  相似文献   

Understanding Quantum Numbers in General Chemistry Textbooks     

Mansoor Niaz  Ramón Fernández 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(7):869-901

Quantum numbers and electron configurations form an important part of the general chemistry curriculum and textbooks. The objectives of this study are: (1) Elaboration of a framework based on the following aspects: (a) Origin of the quantum hypothesis, (b) Alternative interpretations of quantum mechanics, (c) Differentiation between an orbital and electron density, (d) Differentiation and comparison between classical and quantum mechanics, and (e) Introduction of quantum numbers based on electron density; (2) Formulation of five criteria based on the different aspects (a, b, c, d, and e), and (3) Evaluation of 55 freshman college‐level general chemistry textbooks. Results obtained show: Criterion 1, none of the textbooks described satisfactorily that Planck’s role in the origin of the quantum hypothesis was more at the level of an empirical adjustment, whereas Einstein provided the physical significance of the quantum hypothesis; Criterion 2, few textbooks (two satisfactory and four mentioned) included alternative interpretations of quantum mechanics (e.g., Bohm) and thus ignored that most theories are underdetermined by experimental evidence; Criterion 3, none of the textbooks described satisfactorily that orbitals are mathematical constructs and the shapes of the orbitals (s, p, d, f) are not derived from quantum mechanics but instead from electron density measurements; Criterion 4, although, quantum mechanics approaches classical mechanics as a limiting case, none of the textbooks presented a framework to facilitate transition in student understanding from classical to quantum mechanics (28 textbooks made a simple mention); and Criterion 5, few textbooks (one satisfactory, five mentioned) facilitated the introduction of quantum numbers based on experimental determination of electron density (photoelectron spectrum). It is concluded that the inclusion of these criteria in textbooks can facilitate students’ conceptual understanding of quantum numbers and electron configurations.  相似文献   

A Latina mother on TV: challenges of intragroup advocacy for equity in a Latinx community     

Katherine C. Rodela  Erica Fernández 《International journal of qualitative studies in education》2013,26(10):1270-1288

Abstract

This article analyzes a ‘critical race moment’ in an ethnographic study to examine intragroup advocacy in a diverse Latinx community. In this moment, a Spanish-language TV newscast used an image of the first author and her young son to report on local Latinx leaders’ advocacy to address disparities impacting the broader Latinx community. Informed by Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Race Theory, and Chicana Feminist Epistemology, this paper employs a unique analytical approach of unpacking a ‘critical race moment’ to examine the intragroup representative messages used by leaders. While their advocacy efforts led to investments in educational programming, Latinx leaders at times employed deficit ideologies about low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latinx families as they spoke to policymakers. Findings reveal the potential political binds Latinx leaders may encounter when they seek to advocate and speak for (rather than with) other Latinx community members in White dominant policy spaces.  相似文献   

Feedback on feedback: eliciting learners’ responses to written feedback through student-generated screencasts     

María Fernández-Toro  Concha Furnborough 《Educational Media International》2013,50(1):35-48

Despite the potential benefits of assignment feedback, learners often fail to use it effectively. This study examines the ways in which adult distance learners engage with written feedback on one of their assignments. Participants were 10 undergraduates studying Spanish at the Open University, UK. Their responses to feedback were elicited by means of student-generated screencast (Jing®) recordings in which students talked through the feedback written by their tutors. The recordings were analysed in terms of the students’ cognitive, affective and metacognitive responses to the tutors’ feedback. Results show that, while students do engage with tutor feedback and make active efforts to integrate it, they sometimes use ineffective strategies, especially when tutor and student make different assumptions about the role of feedback. The richness of the data obtained from the Feedback on feedback (F on F) method suggests that it has the potential to promote much needed feedback dialogue between students and tutors.  相似文献   

Self-Efficacy Ratings of Technology Proficiency Among Teachers in Mexico and Texas     

Cesáreo Morales  Gerald Knezek  Rhonda Christensen 《学校用计算机》2013,30(1-2):126-144

The Technology Proficiency Self-Assessment (TPSA) questionnaire was administered to 978 elementary and middle school teachers from Mexico City, and 932 elementary and middle school teachers from the Dallas, Texas, metroplex in the USA, in order to examine self-efficacy similarities and differences for technology proficiency self-appraisals in a cross-cultural environment. Results indicate acceptable reliability and clear cross-cultural discriminant validity among the four subscales of the 20-item instrument. Texas teachers perceived themselves as more proficient in using e-mail and the World Wide Web than teachers from Mexico City, while the differences between the two groups were not large for self-ratings of integrated applications or teaching with technology. It is concluded that the TPSA is a useful measure for assessing level of proficiency in using technology among teachers from Texas and from Mexico City. It is also concluded that the measure is appropriate for studying differences between teachers from the two cultural contexts. Suggestions for future research include the need to control for certain variables such as large differences in technology access and a Hispanic ethnicity factor that appears to be present in the Texas sample.  相似文献   

How do doctoral students experience supervision?     

Gabriela González-Ocampo  Montserrat Castelló 《Studies in Continuing Education》2013,35(3):293-307

Supervision has been shown to have a high impact on doctoral students' development. However, little is known about how students perceive not only negative but also positive doctoral experiences, as well as their strategies for dealing with perceived problematic situations. The aim of this study is to analyse and relate doctoral students' significant supervision experiences to the strategies they use to cope with these experiences when they perceive them as challenging or negative. A total of 1173 doctoral students from different research-intensive Spanish universities responded to four open-ended questions about their most significant experiences in their doctoral journey, associated feelings and strategies to deal with them. We identified a total of 223 experiences related to supervision that were distributed into five categories: 1) central prerequisites for supervision, 2) supervisor choice, 3) supervision of the research process, 4) coaching and 5) project management. The results showed three distinct ways, as reported by the students, of handling the perceived negative supervision experiences: 1) no strategy, 2) local strategy and 3) regulatory strategy. The results suggest that analysing both positive and negative experiences may better capture variability in students' supervision experiences. A relation between experiences with supervision and students' satisfaction was also detected.  相似文献