Working on What Works: working with teachers to improve classroom behaviour and relationships     

Emma L. Brown  Emma Powell  Adele Clark 《Educational Psychology in Practice》2012,28(1):19-30

The Working on What Works (WOWW) approach, which is based upon Solution-focused Brief Therapy, was implemented in a mainstream primary classroom over a 10-week period. The focus was on improving behaviour and relationships in class. Results demonstrated an improvement in teacher ratings for targets set by the class teacher compared with baseline. Pupils also set, and rated themselves on class targets. Observation of pupils, and their class-ratings, demonstrated a positive impact for these targets. Longer term follow-up suggested that this positive impact was maintained. It is concluded that WOWW had a positive impact on behaviour and relationships within this classroom.  相似文献   

Promoting staff support in schools: Solution Circles     

Emma Brown  Linda Henderson 《Educational Psychology in Practice》2012,28(2):177-186

The Solution Circle (SC) approach is a flexible tool which encourages participants to maintain a positive, creative approach to problem-solving. This project focussed on the introduction of this approach to staff in a primary and a secondary school. The rationale was to implement a problem-solving/discussion tool that would allow staff to utilise expertise present within the school before looking to outside agencies for support. In both schools staff participants reported positively about the process, highlighting its potential use to promote the inclusion of pupils with a wide range of needs.  相似文献   

Embedded C programming: a practical course introducing programmable microprocessors     

David M. Laverty  Jonny Milliken  Matthew Milford  Michael Cregan 《European Journal of Engineering Education》2012,37(6):557-574

This paper presents a new laboratory-based module for embedded systems teaching, which addresses the current lack of consideration for the link between hardware development, software implementation, course content and student evaluation in a laboratory environment. The course introduces second year undergraduate students to the interface between hardware and software and the programming of embedded devices; in this case, the PIC (originally peripheral interface controller, later rebranded programmable intelligent computer) microcontroller. A hardware development board designed for use in the laboratories of this module is presented. Through hands on laboratory experience, students are encouraged to engage with practical problem-solving exercises and develop programming skills across a broad range of scenarios.  相似文献   

Water,sanitation, and primary school attendance: A multi-level assessment of determinants of household-reported absence in Kenya     

Robert Dreibelbis  Leslie E. Greene  Matthew C. Freeman  Shadi Saboori  Rachel P. Chase  Richard Rheingans 《International Journal of Educational Development》2013

This cross-sectional analysis examined the influence of school and household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions on recent primary school absence in light of other individual, household, and school characteristics in western Kenya. School latrine cleanliness was the only school WASH factor associated with reduced odds of absence. The marginal effect of household characteristics, such as distance to water source, child involvement in water collection, and presence of a latrine, differed by gender. Demographic features were more important predictors of absence, suggesting that interventions to improve attendance must consider existing differentials attributable to gender, socio-economic status, and other household characteristics.  相似文献   

Exploring patterns of Latino/a children's school readiness at kindergarten entry and their relations with Grade 2 achievement     

Matthew Quirk  Karen Nylund-GibsonMichael Furlong 《Early childhood research quarterly》2013

This study contributed to the school readiness literature by taking an intrachild perspective that examined the relations between Latino/a children's school readiness profiles and later academic achievement. Teachers rated the school readiness of 781 Latino/a kindergartners during the first month of school using the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP). Latent class analysis (LCA) examined KSEP profiles across social-emotional, physical, and cognitive domains and identified five distinct school readiness classes that described students’ strengths and weaknesses at kindergarten entry. Among the predictors examined, gender was the only significant difference among the top two readiness classes, with girls less likely to be in the lower of these two classes (OR = 0.38). In addition, children in the bottom three readiness classes were significantly less likely than students in the top readiness class to have preschool experience (ORs = 0.02–0.19) and had significantly lower levels of English proficiency (ORs = 0.51–0.72). Class membership was significantly associated with scores on the Grade 2 California Standards Tests and only the top two readiness classes had reading fluency rates near or above a national benchmark at the end of Grade 2. The variation of early achievement found across readiness classes also showed that considering the pattern of a child's social-emotional and cognitive readiness might enhance school readiness assessment. Implications for integrating universal school readiness screeners within a comprehensive multigating assessment model are also discussed.  相似文献   

TEACHER CANDIDATES' ACCURACY OF BELIEFS REGARDING CHILDHOOD INTERVENTIONS     

Sherry K. Bain  Katherine Sager Brown  Kelli R. Jordan 《The Teacher Educator》2013,48(2):71-89

The authors examined the beliefs of 351 teacher candidates, from various levels of training, regarding the effectiveness of potential interventions for childhood disorders. They were primarily interested in participants' responses to three categories of interventions: (a) evidence-based, (b) controversial, and (c) primarily anecdotal. They found that the participants' endorsement levels across three types of disorders (autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], and dyslexia) varied but not in a consistent manner, with only a few noticeable trends across interventions. Furthermore, respondents tended to endorse interventions, whether evidence-based or not, without admitted prior exposure to information about them. The results suggest that more attention should be paid to teaching critical evaluation skills as a part of preliminary training of future educators. The potential for practicing teachers, who often serve as a readily available consultant for parents of children with disabilities, to pass on misinformation poses a potential dilemma that should be addressed in teacher training programs.  相似文献   

A teacher's use of digital video with urban middle school students: Expanding definitions of representational literacy     

Jayne R. Beilke  Matthew J. Stuve 《The Teacher Educator》2013,48(3):157-169

Abstract

The role of educational technology as media is rapidly expanding. When placed directly into the hands of students, digital video, in particular, has the potential to transform schooling. In this case study, members of the Naptown Prodigy, an after school club, produced music videos and iMovies of streetball performances. The club's advisor, an urban middle school English teacher, participated in the PT3 Vanguard program, a university—public school staff development collaboration. The teacher's access to technology through the Vanguard program enabled her students to use digital video as both a construction and expression medium. This project provides a unique and promising example of the ways in which teachers can use digital video to foster representational literacy among inner‐city youth.  相似文献   

How to Assign Individualized Scores on a Group Project: An Empirical Evaluation     

Bo Zhang  Matthew W. Ohland 《教育实用测度》2013,26(3):290-308

One major challenge in using group projects to assess student learning is accounting for the differences of contribution among group members so that the mark assigned to each individual actually reflects their performance. This research addresses the validity of grading group projects by evaluating different methods that derive individualized scores from group work. Both Monte Carlo simulation and real test data analyses were conducted. The four investigated methods are the within-group adjustment method, the partial adjustment method, the between-group adjustment method, and the expected contribution adjustment method. For all methods, a weighting factor is computed based on the peer and self ratings of contributions to the group project by group members. This study finds that individual differences have to be taken into account if group grades are going to be assigned and utilized for evaluating individual performance at all. Adjusting contribution differences based on peer and self ratings could be an effective way to improve the validity of group grades. Among the four studied methods, adjusting both the within-group and between-group contribution differences is the most effective, and is thus recommended for classroom use.  相似文献   

Pathway Towards Fluency: Using ‘disaggregate instruction’ to promote science literacy     

Bryan A. Brown  Kihyun Ryoo  Jamie Rodriguez 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(11):1465-1493

This study examines the impact of Disaggregate Instruction on students’ science learning. Disaggregate Instruction is the idea that science teaching and learning can be separated into conceptual and discursive components. Using randomly assigned experimental and control groups, 49 fifth‐grade students received web‐based science lessons on photosynthesis using our experimental approach. We supplemented quantitative statistical comparisons of students’ performance on pre‐ and post‐test questions (multiple choice and short answer) with a qualitative analysis of students’ post‐test interviews. The results revealed that students in the experimental group outscored their control group counterparts across all measures. In addition, students taught using the experimental method demonstrated an improved ability to write using scientific language as well as an improved ability to provide oral explanations using scientific language. This study has important implications for how science educators can prepare teachers to teach diverse student populations.  相似文献   

Grasping the TLRP nettle: preliminary analysis and some enduring issues surrounding the improvement of learning outcomes     

Mary James  Sally Brown 《Curriculum Journal》2013,24(1):7-30

The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme is the largest ever programme of educational research in the UK. This article reports the purposes, processes, outcomes and issues arising from cross-programme thematic work on the conceptualization of, and research into, ‘enhancing learning outcomes’ which is a key aim of the programme. Early documentation from thirty projects is analysed, especially in relation to a classification of learning outcomes, dominant metaphors of learning, sector differences and evidence of outcomes. Discussion focuses upon persistent issues concerning the assessment of the broad range of outcomes, what leads to them, and how knowledge of these links might be established.  相似文献