WorldWideScience

Sample records for helps teachers link

  1. Helping Struggling Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Pamela

    2001-01-01

    About 5 to 15 percent of teachers in 2.7 million public-education classrooms are marginal or incompetent. Assistance plans offer structure, purpose, and remedial help. Plans have six components: definition of the problem, statement of objectives, intervention strategies, a timeline, data-collection procedures, and final judgment. (MLH)

  2. Helping Elementary Teachers Understand Children and Divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hrymak, Marilyn J.; Smart, Laura S.

    1984-01-01

    Describes a workshop designed to help elementary teachers understand the recent literature on the effects of divorce on children and help the children through the crisis. Indicates that secondary home economics teachers may have to deal with students who have not adjusted to divorce. (JOW)

  3. Helping Teachers Help Themselves: Professional Development That Makes a Difference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patton, Kevin; Parker, Melissa; Tannehill, Deborah

    2015-01-01

    For school administrators to facilitate impactful teacher professional development, a shift in thinking that goes beyond the acquisition of new skills and knowledge to helping teachers rethink their practice is required. Based on review of the professional development literature and our own continued observations of professional development, this…

  4. How to help teachers' voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saatweber, Margarete

    2008-01-01

    It has been shown that teachers are at high risk of developing occupational dysphonia, and it has been widely accepted that the vocal characteristics of a speaker play an important role in determining the reactions of listeners. The functions of breathing, breathing movement, breathing tonus, voice vibrations and articulation tonus are transmitted to the listener. So we may conclude that listening to the teacher's voice at school influences children's behavior and the perception of spoken language. This paper presents the concept of Schlaffhorst-Andersen including exercises to help teachers improve their voice, breathing, movement and their posture. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  5. Perceptions of Helpfulness of Teachers in Didactic Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moate, Randall M.; Cox, Jane A.; Brown, Steven R.; West, Erin M.

    2017-01-01

    Thirty-five novice counselors completed a Q sort that assessed their perceptions of what was most helpful about teachers of didactic classes in their master's degree program. Participants perceived teachers who used a contextual teaching pedagogy and had an authentic, empathic, and compassionate way of being as helpful to their learning.

  6. Teacher Burnout: Will Talking about It Help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossnickle, Donald R.

    1980-01-01

    Teachers are beginning to collectively voice their complaints about the stresses they face in school. While talking about the problems of low morale and poor school climate won't solve these problems, the public is being alerted that teachers need help, not further criticism. (SJL)

  7. Linking the Teacher Appraisal Process to the School Improvement Plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddekopp, Therese

    2007-01-01

    If a school improvement plan includes input from all stakeholders and focuses on data-driven processes that are linked to teacher appraisal, it can be powerful in leading the school toward the common mission of achieving student success. Linking the school improvement plan to the teacher appraisal process creates a system whereby all individuals…

  8. Sweet Rejuvenation: Linking In-Service and Teacher Induction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNair, Veda; And Others

    This paper describes a collaborative effort between a local education agency (LEA) and an institution of higher education to link inservice education with induction--teachers teaching teachers. The program, based on the Joyce coaching paradigm and recent cognitive development research, posits that long-term training conducted by trained teachers…

  9. Decentralising Curriculum Reform: The Link Teacher Model of In-Service Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wildy, Helen; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Presents a (Western Australian) case study of the link teacher model, a decentralized, "train the trainer" approach to inservice education. Discusses the model's perceived effectiveness, the link teachers' role, central authority support, and new experimentation opportunities. Combining centralized syllabus change with decentralized…

  10. Perceived Helpfulness of Teachers in Clinical Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moate, Randall M.; Holm, Jessica M.; West, Erin M.

    2017-01-01

    Clinical courses are important in the development of students pursuing a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling (CMHC). Despite the importance of clinical courses, little is known about what CMHC students perceive as being helpful about their teachers of clinical courses. To investigate this, we sought the viewpoints of beginning…

  11. Helping Preservice Teachers (PSTs) Understand the Realities of Poverty: Innovative Curriculum Modules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Moon-Heum; Convertino, Christina; Khourey-Bowers, Claudia

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop an innovative addition to the curriculum to help preservice teachers cultivate an understanding of poverty. Using technology, an interdisciplinary team created two online learning modules entitled Teacher as Learning Facilitator and Teacher as Anthropologist. Preservice teachers valued the newly developed…

  12. Helping Mathematics Teachers Develop Noticing Skills: Utilizing Smartphone Technology for One-on-One Teacher/Student Interviews

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Theodore; Murray, Eileen; Star, Jon R.

    2016-01-01

    Teaching mathematics for understanding requires listening to each student's mathematical thinking, best elicited in a one-on-one interview. Interviews are difficult to enact in a teacher's busy schedule, however. In this study, the authors utilize smartphone technology to help mathematics teachers interview a student in a virtual one-on-one…

  13. Suicide and Homosexual Teens: What Can Biology Teachers Do to Help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Mike U.; Drake, Mary Ann

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the teacher's role in helping students deal with homosexuality and suicide. Teachers can provide unbiased information about personal relevant biological issues; be good listeners and confidantes; and value each student without regard to race, gender, class, or sexual orientation. Provides useful information on addressing homosexuality in…

  14. Peer group reflection helps clinical teachers to critically reflect on their teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boerboom, Tobias B B; Jaarsma, Debbie; Dolmans, Diana H J M; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; Mastenbroek, Nicole J J M; Van Beukelen, Peter

    2011-01-01

    Student evaluations can help clinical teachers to reflect on their teaching skills and find ways to improve their teaching. Studies have shown that the mere presentation of student evaluations is not a sufficient incentive for teachers to critically reflect on their teaching. We evaluated and compared the effectiveness of two feedback facilitation strategies that were identical except for a peer reflection meeting. In this study, 54 clinical teachers were randomly assigned to two feedback strategies. In one strategy, a peer reflection was added as an additional step. All teachers completed a questionnaire evaluating the strategy that they had experienced. We analysed the reflection reports and the evaluation questionnaire. Both strategies stimulated teachers to reflect on feedback and formulate alternative actions for their teaching practice. The teachers who had participated in the peer reflection meeting showed deeper critical reflection and more concrete plans to change their teaching. All feedback strategies were considered effective by the majority of the teachers. Strategies with student feedback and self-assessment stimulated reflection on teaching and helped clinical teachers to formulate plans for improvement. A peer reflection meeting seemed to enhance reflection quality. Further research should establish whether it can have lasting effects on teaching quality.

  15. Transactional Relations between Motivational Beliefs and Help Seeking from Teachers and Peers across Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amemiya, Jamie; Wang, Ming-Te

    2017-08-01

    Adolescents often avoid seeking academic help when needed, making it important to understand the motivational processes that support help seeking behavior. Using expectancy-value theory as a framework, this study examined transactional relations between motivational beliefs (i.e., academic self-concept or academic importance) and seeking help from teachers and peers across adolescence (i.e., from approximately age 12 to 17 years). Data were collected from 1479 adolescents (49% female; 61.9% African American, 31.2% European American, 6.9% other race). Analyses were conducted with cross-lagged panel models using three waves of data from seventh, ninth, and eleventh grade. Results indicated that both academic self-concept and academic importance were associated with increases in teacher help seeking in earlier adolescence, but were associated only with increases in peer help seeking in later adolescence. Help-seeking behavior positively influenced motivational beliefs, with teacher help seeking increasing academic self-concept earlier in adolescence and peer help seeking increasing academic importance later in adolescence. These transactional relations differed by adolescents' prior achievement and racial background, but not by adolescents' gender.

  16. Technology for curriculum and teacher development : Software to help educators learn while designing teacher guides

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McKenney, Susan

    2005-01-01

    This article describes research on the quality of a computer program designed to help secondary level science teachers in southern Africa create exemplary paper-based lesson materials. Results of this study show that the content, support, and interface of the program combine to form a tool that is

  17. Lessons from the Other Side of the Teacher's Desk: Discovering Insights to Help Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westbrook, Frances

    2011-01-01

    Most language teachers become teachers because they are fascinated by language. They like the way languages work, they are intrigued by differences between their native tongues and other languages, and they enjoy the process of helping their students learn. Most language teachers have had positive experiences as language students themselves…

  18. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... AIDS : This site provides information both for health care providers and for Veterans and the public. Send the Message Overview Please help us send the message to young people and to parents, teachers, and the media about the link between ...

  19. The Linking Study: An Experiment to Strengthen Teachers' Engagement with Data on Teaching and Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supovitz, Jonathan; Sirinides, Philip

    2018-01-01

    In a randomized controlled trial of a teacher data-use intervention, the Linking Study tested the impacts of a cyclical and collaborative process that linked teachers' data on instructional practice with data on their students' learning. This article describes the theory of the intervention and its roots in the literature as a backdrop for an…

  20. Teacher spatial skills are linked to differences in geometry instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otumfuor, Beryl Ann; Carr, Martha

    2017-12-01

    Spatial skills have been linked to better performance in mathematics. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher spatial skills and their instruction, including teacher content and pedagogical knowledge, use of pictorial representations, and use of gestures during geometry instruction. Fifty-six middle school teachers participated in the study. The teachers were administered spatial measures of mental rotations and spatial visualization. Next, a single geometry class was videotaped. Correlational analyses revealed that spatial skills significantly correlate with teacher's use of representational gestures and content and pedagogical knowledge during instruction of geometry. Spatial skills did not independently correlate with the use of pointing gestures or the use of pictorial representations. However, an interaction term between spatial skills and content and pedagogical knowledge did correlate significantly with the use of pictorial representations. Teacher experience as measured by the number of years of teaching and highest degree did not appear to affect the relationships among the variables with the exception of the relationship between spatial skills and teacher content and pedagogical knowledge. Teachers with better spatial skills are also likely to use representational gestures and to show better content and pedagogical knowledge during instruction. Spatial skills predict pictorial representation use only as a function of content and pedagogical knowledge. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  1. Enzymatic cross-linking of human recombinant elastin (HELP) as biomimetic approach in vascular tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozzini, Sabrina; Giuliano, Liliana; Altomare, Lina; Petrini, Paola; Bandiera, Antonella; Conconi, Maria Teresa; Farè, Silvia; Tanzi, Maria Cristina

    2011-12-01

    The use of polymers naturally occurring in the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a promising strategy in regenerative medicine. If compared to natural ECM proteins, proteins obtained by recombinant DNA technology have intrinsic advantages including reproducible macromolecular composition, sequence and molecular mass, and overcoming the potential pathogens transmission related to polymers of animal origin. Among ECM-mimicking materials, the family of recombinant elastin-like polymers is proposed for drug delivery applications and for the repair of damaged elastic tissues. This work aims to evaluate the potentiality of a recombinant human elastin-like polypeptide (HELP) as a base material of cross-linked matrices for regenerative medicine. The cross-linking of HELP was accomplished by the insertion of cross-linking sites, glutamine and lysine, in the recombinant polymer and generating ε-(γ-glutamyl) lysine links through the enzyme transglutaminase. The cross-linking efficacy was estimated by infrared spectroscopy. Freeze-dried cross-linked matrices showed swelling ratios in deionized water (≈2500%) with good structural stability up to 24 h. Mechanical compression tests, performed at 37°C in wet conditions, in a frequency sweep mode, indicated a storage modulus of 2/3 kPa, with no significant changes when increasing number of cycles or frequency. These results demonstrate the possibility to obtain mechanically resistant hydrogels via enzymatic crosslinking of HELP. Cytotoxicity tests of cross-linked HELP were performed with human umbilical vein endothelial cells, by use of transwell filter chambers for 1-7 days, or with its extracts in the opportune culture medium for 24 h. In both cases no cytotoxic effects were observed in comparison with the control cultures. On the whole, the results suggest the potentiality of this genetically engineered HELP for regenerative medicine applications, particularly for vascular tissue regeneration.

  2. Levi-Strauss's "Bricolage" and Theorizing Teachers' Work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatton, Elizabeth

    1989-01-01

    A teacher's work is compared to Claude Levi-Strauss's concept of "bricolage." A "bricoleur" is a professional do-it-yourself person, falling somewhere between an odd-job person and a craftsperson. The concept helps to explain pedagogical inadequacy by linking inherent limiting features of teachers' work and some causal…

  3. Help provided by school counsellor to teachers and students in behaviour management at secondary school

    OpenAIRE

    Atıcı, Meral; Çekici, Ferah

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of teachers, school counsellors, and students on counsellor help for dealing with misbehaviour at school. Qualitative data were collected from counsellors, teachers and students using interviews to address the research questions. Five counsellors, 20 teachers and 35 students in five high schools with a low socioeconomic level in Adana, Turkey, participated in the study. Data were analysed by using a content analysis technique. Results sho...

  4. Helping Foster Children in School: A Guide for Foster Parents, Social Workers and Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeGarmo, John

    2015-01-01

    "Helping Foster Children in School" explores the challenges that foster children face in schools and offers positive and practical guidance tailored to help the parents, teachers and social workers supporting them. Children in care often perform poorly at school both in terms of their behavior and their academic performance, with many…

  5. A Teacher's Bookshelf: The Historical Geography of the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danzer, Gerald A.

    1993-01-01

    Contends that historical geography helps teachers understand the link between history and geography. Presents an annotated bibliography of recommended geography books for teachers. Asserts that the most essential volume is an atlas of U.S. history. (CFR)

  6. Linking a Learning Progression for Natural Selection to Teachers' Enactment of Formative Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furtak, Erin Marie

    2012-01-01

    Learning progressions, or representations of how student ideas develop in a domain, hold promise as tools to support teachers' formative assessment practices. The ideas represented in a learning progression might help teachers to identify and make inferences about evidence collected of student thinking, necessary precursors to modifying…

  7. Linking research and practice through teacher communities: A place where formal and practical knowledge meet?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pareja Roblin, Natalie; Ormel, Bart; McKenney, Susan; Voogt, Joke; Pieters, Jules

    2015-01-01

    This study characterizes the links between research and practice across twelve projects concerned with the collaborative design of lesson plans by teacher communities. Analyses focused on sources of knowledge used to inform lesson design, participants’ roles, and knowledge generated by the teacher

  8. Helping Immigrants Become Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Flynn

    2001-01-01

    Describes Newcomers Entering Teaching, a program designed by the Portland (Maine) Public Schools to prepare recent immigrants and refugees to enter local university's 9-month teacher-certification program. (PKP)

  9. Linking Research and Practice through Teacher Communities: A Place Where Formal and Practical Knowledge Meet?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pareja Roblin, Natalie N.; Ormel, Bart J. B.; McKenney, Susan E.; Voogt, Joke M.; Pieters, Jules M.

    2014-01-01

    This study characterises the links between research and practice across 12 projects concerned with the collaborative design of lesson plans by teacher communities (TCs). Analyses focused on sources of knowledge used to inform lesson design, participants' roles and knowledge generated by the teacher community. Three patterns emerged pertaining…

  10. A Collaborative Approach to Helping Teacher Education Faculty Model Technology Integration in Their Courses: An Informal Case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zachariades, Iacovos; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

    1995-01-01

    Describes an innovative and collaborative approach to helping teacher educators better prepare preservice teachers to utilize technology for effective instruction. A mentoring program that paired graduate students in instructional technology with interested faculty members is discussed, and attitudes of the mentors and the faculty members are…

  11. Urban High School Teachers' Beliefs Concerning Essential Science Teaching Dispositions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Rommel

    2012-01-01

    This qualitative study addresses the link between urban high school science teachers' beliefs about essential teaching dispositions and student learning outcomes. The findings suggest that in order to help students to do well in science in urban school settings, science teachers should possess essential teaching dispositions which include…

  12. A school mental health literacy curriculum resource training approach: effects on Tanzanian teachers' mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking efficacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutcher, Stan; Wei, Yifeng; Gilberds, Heather; Ubuguyu, Omary; Njau, Tasiana; Brown, Adena; Sabuni, Norman; Magimba, Ayoub; Perkins, Kevin

    2016-01-01

    Mental health literacy (MHL) is foundational for mental health promotion, prevention, stigma reduction, and care; School supported information pertaining to MHL in sub-Saharan Africa is extremely limited, including in Tanzania. Successful application of a school MHL curriculum resource may be an effective way to increase teacher MHL and therefore help to improve mental health outcomes for students. Secondary school teachers in Tanzania were trained on the African Guide (AG) a school MHL curriculum resource culturally adapted from a Canadian MHL resource (The Guide) for use in Africa. Teacher training workshops on the classroom application of the AG were used to evaluate its impact on mental health literacy in a sample of Tanzanian Secondary school teachers. Pre-post training assessment of participant knowledge and attitudes was conducted. Help-seeking efficacy for teachers themselves and their interventions for students, friends, family members and peers were determined. Paired t test (n = 37) results demonstrate highly significant improvements in teacher's overall knowledge (p Teachers' stigma against mental illness decreased significantly following the training (p teacher's overall knowledge (p Teachers also reported high rates (greater than ¾ of the sample) of positive help-seeking efficacy for themselves as well as for their students, friends, family members and peers. As a result of the training, the number of students teachers identified for potential mental health care totaled over 200. These positive results, when taken together with other research, suggest that the use of a classroom-based resource (the AG) that integrates MHL into existing school curriculum through training teachers may be an effective and sustainable way to increase the MHL (improved knowledge, decreased stigma and positive help-seeking efficacy) of teachers in Tanzania. As this study replicated the results of a previous intervention in Malawi, consideration could be given to

  13. The Financial Education Tool Kit: Helping Teachers Meet State- Mandated Personal Finance Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    St. Pierre, Eileen; Richert, Charlotte; Routh, Susan; Lockwood, Rachel; Simpson, Mickey

    2012-01-01

    States are recognizing the need for personal financial education and have begun requiring it as a condition for high school graduation. Responding to teacher requests to help them meet state-mandated financial education requirements, FCS educators in the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service developed a financial education tool kit. This article…

  14. Helping technophobic teachers ease the burden of marking with easy-to-use online quizzes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LIP Paul Chi Hong

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available A number of studies have shown that teacher stress was due to teachers spending long hours in marking their students’ work such as quizzes and examination papers from large class sizes. With this problem in mind, a new web 2.0 technology has emerged, Quiz Center supported by DiscoverySchool.com which can help technophobic teachers make a free and easy-to-use online quiz. Online quizzes can be automatically marked by a script or managed by a server. In this paper, the following sections were addressed:1 the need for using online quizzes to ease the burden of teachers:2 the definitions of different types of online quizzes and the advantages and reasons for using them;3 the reasons for using Quiz Center from DiscoverySchool.com; 4 a sharing of how I made an online multiple-choice email quiz with Quiz Center from the perspective of a technophobic teacher; and 5 a discussion on the limitations, recommendations and implications for using online quizzes.

  15. Selective Teacher Attention in Lower-Income Countries: A Phenomenon Linked to Dropout and Illiteracy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abadzi, Helen; Llambiri, Stavri

    2011-01-01

    In lower-income countries students face an important challenge that has not been well documented: selective teacher attention. In classes with many low-income students, teachers may concentrate on those few who can perform and neglect those who require more help. The latter may fail to learn, attend school less often, and eventually drop out.…

  16. SCHOOL and WORK. HOW TO HELP TEACHERS AND STUDENTS COPE WITH CHANGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Anca COLIBABA

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The School and Work project (2014-1-UK01-KA204-000071, co-financed by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme, intends to capitalise the existing results of previous European projects addressing the early school leaving issue with a view to establish a more concrete and effective cooperation between schools and the world of work, which will enhance students’motivation to learn and complete their studies. The article introduces e-learning resources focusing on strategies teachers could use in order to help students unveil their interests and aptitudes. This will enable teachers plan and implement personalized educational paths and guidance services and valorize students' talents through curricular and extracurricular activities , which will motivate students to stay at school.

  17. Teachers as Air Traffic Controllers: Helping Adolescents Navigate the Unfriendly Skies of Executive Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgkinson, Todd; Parks, Stephanie

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to familiarize teachers with the concept of executive functioning and to provide them with a collection of strategies that they can use to help support middle and high school students with planning, organization, task-initiation, and impulse control.

  18. Developmental Links Between Children's Working Memory and their Social Relations with Teachers and Peers in the Early School Years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Wilde, Amber; Koot, Hans M; van Lier, Pol A C

    2016-01-01

    This study assessed the developmental links between children's working memory development and their relations with teachers and peers across 2 years of kindergarten and early elementary school. Kindergarten and first grade children, N = 1109, 50% boys, were followed across 2 school-years. Children were assessed across 3 waves, in the fall and spring of the first school-year (within school-year), and finally in the spring of the second school-year. Working memory was assessed using a visuo-spatial working memory task. The developmental links between working memory and child-reported teacher-child relationship quality (warmth and conflict) and peer-nominated likeability and friendedness were assessed using autoregressive cross-lagged models. Lower working memory scores were related to increases in teacher-child conflict and decreases in teacher-child warmth one school-year later, in addition to decreases in likeability by peers within the same school-year. Conversely, teacher-child conflict was negatively associated with the development of working memory across the studied period. Path estimates between working memory and social relational factors were similar for boys and girls. Findings show developmental links between working memory and social-relational factors and vice versa. These results suggest that children's working memory development can be fostered through pro-social relations with teachers in early elementary school children.

  19. "Don't Leave Me!": Helping the Child Whose Parents Are Separating. Between Teacher & Parent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodkin, Adele M.

    2005-01-01

    This article relates the story of a young girl's difficulties in accepting her parents' separation, and offers suggestions for both teachers and parents on how to help a child cope with his or her feelings and anxiety in this situation. Resources for further study are also offered.

  20. Linking the Organizational Forms Teachers and Teaching Methods in a Class Instructional Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graciela Nápoles-Quiñones

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available A descriptive study was conducted to show the link between the organizational forms teachers and teaching methods, to expose the pedagogical theory, to deepen the teaching-learning process through methodological class. The main content of the work of teachers is the preparation and level rise; which requires the selection and use of working methods, ways and procedures in accordance with the real and objective conditions of staff who have received the action and conducive to teaching work. Teachers should be aware that you need to master the content they teach, be aware of the level of development of its students, the specific characteristics of the group and of each student, and competent to reciprocate the content they teach with reality.

  1. Chinese Preservice Teachers' Professional Identity Links with Education Program Performance: The Roles of Task Value Belief and Learning Motivations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yan; Hawk, Skyler T; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhao, Hongyu

    2016-01-01

    Professional identity is a key issue spanning the entirety of teachers' career development. Despite the abundance of existing research examining professional identity, its link with occupation-related behavior at the primary career stage (i.e., GPA in preservice education) and the potential process that underlies this association is still not fully understood. This study explored the professional identity of Chinese preservice teachers, and its links with task value belief, intrinsic learning motivation, extrinsic learning motivation, and performance in the education program. Grade-point average (GPA) of courses (both subject and pedagogy courses) was examined as an indicator of performance, and questionnaires were used to measure the remaining variables. Data from 606 preservice teachers in the first 3 years of a teacher-training program indicated that: (1) variables in this research were all significantly correlated with each other, except the correlation between intrinsic learning motivation and program performance; (2) professional identity was positively linked to task value belief, intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations, and program performance in a structural equation model (SEM); (3) task value belief was positively linked to intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivation; (4) higher extrinsic (but not intrinsic) learning motivation was associated with increased program performance; and (5) task value belief and extrinsic learning motivation were significant mediators in the model.

  2. Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberle, Eva; Schonert-Reichl, Kimberly A

    2016-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the link between classroom teachers' burnout levels and students' physiological stress response. Drawing from a stress-contagion framework, we expected higher levels of teacher burnout to be related to elevated cortisol levels in elementary school students (N = 406, 50% female, Mean age = 11.26, SD = .89). Classroom teacher burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory modified for teachers. Salivary cortisol was collected as an indicator of students' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) functioning. We collected salivary cortisol in children at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. in the classroom setting. Using Multilevel Modeling, we found that children's morning cortisol levels significantly varied between classrooms (10% variability). Higher levels of classroom teacher burnout significantly predicted the variability in morning cortisol. Teacher burnout reduced the unexplained variability in cortisol at the classroom level to 4.6%. This is the first study to show that teachers' occupational stress is linked to students' physiological stress regulation. We discuss the present findings in the context of potential stress contagion in the classroom, considering empirical and practical relevance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Caring Enough to Teach Science. Helping Pre-service Teachers View Science Instruction as an Ethical Responsibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinell, Smith; Rabin, Colette

    2017-11-01

    The goal of this project was to motivate pre-service elementary teachers to commit to spending significant instructional time on science in their future classrooms despite their self-assessed lack of confidence about teaching science and other impediments (e.g., high-stakes testing practices that value other subjects over science). Pre-service teachers in science methods courses explored connections between science and ethics, specifically around issues of ecological sustainability, and grappled with their ethical responsibilities as teachers to provide science instruction. Survey responses, student "quick-writes," interview transcripts, and field notes were analyzed. Findings suggest that helping pre-service teachers see these connections may shape their beliefs and dispositions in ways that may motivate them to embark on the long road toward improving their science pedagogical content knowledge and ultimately to teach science to their students more often and better than they otherwise might. The approach may also offer a way for teachers to attend to the moral work of teaching.

  4. Facilitating mental health help-seeking by young adults with a dedicated online program: a feasibility study of Link.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauer, Sylvia D; Buhagiar, Kerrie; Blake, Victoria; Cotton, Sue; Sanci, Lena

    2017-07-09

    To explore the feasibility of a dedicated online youth mental health help-seeking intervention and to evaluate using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design in order to identify any modifications needed before commencement of the full-scale RCT. A pilot RCT with 1:1 randomisation to either the intervention or comparison arm. An online study conducted Australia-wide. 18-25 year olds living in Australia were recruited via social media. Link is a dedicated online mental health help-seeking navigation tool that matches user's mental health issues, severity and service-type preferences (online, phone and face-to-face) with appropriate youth-friendly services. The comparison arm was usual help-seeking strategies with a link to Google.com. The primary outcome was the number of acceptability and feasibility criteria successfully met. Intervention and study design acceptability and feasibility were assessed by nine criteria. Secondary outcomes, via online surveys (at baseline, 1 week and 1 month) measured service use, help-seeking intentions, psychological distress, barriers to help-seeking, attitudes towards mental health help-seeking, mental health literacy, satisfaction and trust. Fifty-one participants were randomised (intervention: n=24; comparison: n=27). Three out of four of the intervention and two out of five of the study design criteria were met. Unmet criteria could be addressed by modifications to the study design. Qualitative analysis demonstrated that Link was useful to participants and may have increased their positive experiences towards help-seeking. There were no observable differences between arms in any outcome measures and no harms were detected. Generally, the Link intervention and study design were acceptable and feasible with modifications suggested for the four out of nine unmet criteria. The main trial will hence have shorter surveys and a simpler recruitment process, use positive affect as the primary outcome and will not link to

  5. A Curriculum-Linked Professional Development Approach to Support Teachers' Adoption of Web GIS Tectonics Investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodzin, Alec; Anastasio, David; Sahagian, Dork; Henry, Jill Burrows

    2016-01-01

    A curriculum-linked professional development approach designed to support middle level science teachers' understandings about tectonics and geospatial pedagogical content knowledge was developed. This approach takes into account limited face-to-face professional development time and instead provides pedagogical support within the design of a…

  6. Linking educational leadership styles to the HR architecture for new teachers in primary education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vekeman, Eva; Devos, Geert; Valcke, Martin

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to gain insight in the relationship between principals' leadership styles and the configuration of different HR practices for new teachers in primary education. Besides the longstanding interest in educational leadership as a key element in teacher and student performance, there is a growing interest in strategic human resource management (SHRM) in the educational sector. However, few educational studies link educational leadership to SHRM. In particular, this study examines the relationship between principals' instructional and transformational leadership style and principals' strategic and HR orientation in configuring HR practices for new teachers. Data were gathered using a mixed methods approach, including interviews with 75 principals as well as an online survey of 1058 teachers in Flemish primary education. Qualitative interview data were transformed and analysed together with the quantitative survey data using logistic regression and ANOVA analyses. The results indicate that both instructional and transformational leadership is associated with the strategic orientation of principals. The HR orientation, on the other hand, is not reflected in the principals' leadership style. Recommendations for further research in this area are discussed.

  7. Local Talent: By Tapping into the Resources Just outside Their School Walls, Music Teachers Can Help Broaden Their Students' Horizons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randall, Mac

    2009-01-01

    Many music teachers across the country have learned how beneficial it can be to tap into the communities around them. The author discusses how music teachers can help broaden their students' horizons by tapping into the resources just outside their school walls. One way is by employing local talents. Another is to put an ad in nearby music stores,…

  8. Linking Student Achievement and Teacher Science Content Knowledge about Climate Change: Ensuring the Nations 3 Million Teachers Understand the Science through an Electronic Professional Development System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niepold, F.; Byers, A.

    2009-12-01

    The scientific complexities of global climate change, with wide-ranging economic and social significance, create an intellectual challenge that mandates greater public understanding of climate change research and the concurrent ability to make informed decisions. The critical need for an engaged, science literate public has been repeatedly emphasized by multi-disciplinary entities like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academies (Rising Above the Gathering Storm report), and the interagency group responsible for the recently updated Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science. There is a clear need for an American public that is climate literate and for K-12 teachers confident in teaching relevant science content. A key goal in the creation of a climate literate society is to enhance teachers’ knowledge of global climate change through a national, scalable, and sustainable professional development system, using compelling climate science data and resources to stimulate inquiry-based student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This session will explore innovative e-learning technologies to address the limitations of one-time, face-to-face workshops, thereby adding significant sustainability and scalability. The resources developed will help teachers sift through the vast volume of global climate change information and provide research-based, high-quality science content and pedagogical information to help teachers effectively teach their students about the complex issues surrounding global climate change. The Learning Center is NSTA's e-professional development portal to help the nations teachers and informal educators learn about the scientific complexities of global climate change through research-based techniques and is proven to significantly improve teacher science content knowledge.

  9. School environment as predictor of teacher sick leave: data-linked prospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ervasti, Jenni; Kivimäki, Mika; Kawachi, Ichiro; Subramanian, S V; Pentti, Jaana; Oksanen, Tuula; Puusniekka, Riikka; Pohjonen, Tiina; Vahtera, Jussi; Virtanen, Marianna

    2012-09-11

    Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and psychosocial problems are common in schools worldwide, yet longitudinal research on the issue is scarce. We examined whether the level of or a change in pupil-reported school environment (IAQ, school satisfaction, and bullying) predicts recorded sick leaves among teachers. Changes in the school environment were assessed using pupil surveys at two time points (2001/02 and 2004/05) in 92 secondary schools in Finland. Variables indicating change were based on median values at baseline. We linked these data to individual-level records of teachers' (n = 1678) sick leaves in 2001-02 and in 2004-05. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for baseline sick leave and covariates showed a decreased risk for short-term (one to three days) sick leaves among teachers working in schools with good perceived IAQ at both times (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.5-0.9), and for those with a positive change in IAQ (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-0.9), compared to teachers in schools where IAQ was constantly poor. Negative changes in pupil school satisfaction (OR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-2.8) and bullying (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.3) increased the risk for short-term leaves among teachers when compared to teachers in schools where the level of satisfaction and bullying had remained stable. School environment factors were not associated with long-term sick leaves. Good and improved IAQ are associated with decreased teacher absenteeism. While pupil-related psychosocial factors also contribute to sick leaves, no effect modification or mediation of psychosocial factors on the association between IAQ and sick leave was observed.

  10. Helping Them Grow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kreidler, William J.; And Others

    1995-01-01

    Three articles present suggestions to help elementary teachers promote student development. The first describes games that encourage a sense of community. The second deals with making parent teacher conferences a positive experience. The third discusses how to give confused children who are involved in custody battles an alternative to acting out.…

  11. Linked Health Data: how linked data can help provide better health decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farinelli, Fernanda; Barcellos de Almeida, Maurício; Linhares de Souza, Yóris

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides a brief survey about the use of linked data in healthcare to foster better health decisions and increase health knowledge. We present real cases from the Brazilian experience and emphasize some issues in research. This paper is not intending to be fully comprehensive, we discuss some open issues and research challenges in linked data and the technologies involved. We conclude that even though linked data has been adopted in many countries, some challenges have to be overcome, for example, interoperability between different standards. A defined solution able to foster the semantic interoperability between different standards must be developed. Benefits contributed through linked health data involve better decision making on diagnostics, assertive treatments, knowledge acquisition, improvements in quality healthcare service to citizens.

  12. Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gershenson, Seth

    2016-01-01

    Research on the effectiveness of educational inputs, particularly research on teacher effectiveness, typically overlooks teachers' potential impact on behavioral outcomes, such as student attendance. Using longitudinal data on teachers and students in North Carolina I estimate teacher effects on primary school student absences in a value-added…

  13. The science teacher as the organic link in science learning: Identity, motives, and capital transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexakos, Konstantinos

    This life history study is based on in-depth interviews of five science teachers and explores themes of science teachers' experiences as science learners and how these experiences frame what I have come to call "the subjective aspects of teaching." These themes seem to imply that through such individual experiences individuals develop a personally unique lens through which they view and interpret science, science meanings, and science teaching and learning. Emerging themes created new questions to pursue and they in turn produced new themes. These were further investigated in an attempt to connect science learning and science teachers to broader issues in society. These themes include that of a dynamic, dialectical learning and understanding of science by the participants, developed and influenced through a combination of their families, their schools, and their professional experiences, and in which morals and passion play major roles. The theme of the "organic link" is also introduced and developed in this research. It includes these individuals' views of science and the scientific enterprise, their path to learning, their morals, passions, and choices, and their way of constructing knowledge and the transmission of such a process. As organic links, they are seen as a direct and necessary social connection between science and the science learner, and they foster educational experiences grounded in the social lives of their students. Not only are they seen as "transmitters" of science knowledge and the process of constructing knowledge, but they are also seen as correcting and adjusting perceived diversions of the students' thinking from that of their own. It is in this context that the concept of capital (human and cultural capital, as well as capital exchange) is also explored. These themes are seen as having immense impact on how these science teachers teach, where they teach, what is communicated to their students, and whether they become or remain science

  14. Bridging "The Gap"--Linking Workplace-Based and University-Based Learning in Preschool Teacher Education in Sweden

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlsson Lohmander, Maelis

    2015-01-01

    Professional experience in preschool settings comprises an important part of the education of preschool teachers. During their placements, students are expected to link theory to practice, to integrate university-based knowledge with workplace-based knowledge and skills essential for their future profession. They often refer to a perceived gap…

  15. Crossing a Broad Gray Line to Help Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Megan M.

    2015-01-01

    Helping students with mental health issues sometimes presents teachers with the dilemma of following the letter of school rules or doing what is best for the child. One teacher tells her story of crossing such lines, but only in service to children. She also outlines what teachers can and should do to help students who need mental health services.

  16. Morally injurious experiences and meaning in Salvadorian teachers exposed to violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currier, Joseph M; Holland, Jason M; Rojas-Flores, Lisseth; Herrera, Sofia; Foy, David

    2015-01-01

    Helping professionals working to alleviate the effects of violence and injustice can confront morally injurious experiences (MIE) that violate deeply held moral values/beliefs, placing them at risk for burnout and trauma-related problems (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]). Focusing on 257 teachers from educational departments throughout El Salvador, we incorporated structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine (1) whether exposure to MIEs for this population (e.g., betrayal, witnessing harm to an innocent student) are directly linked with higher PTSD symptomatology and work-related burnout and (2) whether MIEs contribute to these outcomes via meaning made of trauma. SEM results revealed that MIEs were in fact uniquely linked with PTSD symptoms and burnout, above and beyond rates of direct victimization and demographic factors. In addition, greater MIEs were indirectly linked with study outcomes via the extent to which teachers were able to make meaning of their identified stressors. These findings support the importance of screening for MIEs among helping professionals and also suggest that meaning making could serve as a central mediating factor for how MIEs contribute to trauma-related problems among persons working to promote peace and justice in the world. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Changes in teachers' involvement versus rejection and links with academic motivation during the first year of secondary education: a multilevel growth curve analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maulana, Ridwan; Opdenakker, Marie-Christine; Stroet, Kim; Bosker, Roel

    2013-09-01

    Research consistently shows that the learning environment plays an important role for early adolescents' learning and outcomes and suggests that good teacher-student relationships can serve as a protective factor for maintaining young adolescents' interest and active engagement in learning. However, less is known about the dynamic nature of teacher-student relationships and how they link with academic motivation development. Furthermore, little is known about the nature and the effects of teacher-student relationships in a cross-national context. The present study investigated changes in two components of teacher-student relationships (teachers' involvement vs. rejection) and examined links with students' academic motivation during the first grade of secondary school. Ten Dutch and ten Indonesian teachers (65 % female) from 24 classes were videoed 12 times across the school year, and four videos for each class were selected randomly and coded on teachers' involvement versus rejection. A total of 713 students (52 % girls) completed four-wave measures of their academic motivation after each video observation. Multilevel growth curve modeling revealed that the teacher's involvement changed in a curvilinear way and decreased across the first year of secondary education, while changes in the teacher's rejection did not follow a linear time function. Academic motivation changed in an undesirable way: controlled motivation increased, while autonomous motivation decreased over time. Teachers' involvement had a unique contribution in preventing high levels of controlled motivation in both countries. Findings suggest that teacher-student relationships (teachers' involvement) play an essential role in early adolescents' motivation regardless of the nations and should be a priority for schools.

  18. Claude Bernard Distinguished Lecture. Becoming a truly helpful teacher: considerably more challenging, and potentially more fun, than merely doing business as usual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jason, Hilliard

    2007-12-01

    Few medical faculty members are adequately prepared for their instructional responsibilities. Our educational traditions were established before we had research-based understandings of the teaching-learning process and before brain research began informing our understandings of how humans achieve lasting learning. Yet, there are several advantages you may have. If your expertise is at one of the frontiers of human biology, your teaching can be inherently fascinating to aspiring health professionals. If your work has implications for human health, you have another potential basis for engaging future clinicians. And, thanks to Claude Bernard's influence, you likely are "process oriented," a necessary mindset for being an effective teacher. There are also challenges you may face. Your medical students will mostly become clinicians. Unless you can help them see connections between your offerings and their future work, you may not capture and sustain their interest. To be effective, teachers, like clinicians, need to be interactive, make on-the-spot decisions, and be "emotional literate." If you aren't comfortable with these demands, you may have work to do toward becoming a truly helpful teacher. Program changes may be needed. Might your program need to change 1) from being adversarial and controlling to being supportive and trust based or 2) from mainly dispensing information to mainly asking and inviting questions? In conclusion, making changes toward becoming a truly helpful teacher can bring benefits to your students while increasing your sense of satisfaction and fulfillment as a teacher. If you choose to change, be gentle with yourself, as you should be when expecting your students to make important changes.

  19. Earth Exploration Toolbook Workshops: Helping Teachers and Students Analyze Web-based Scientific Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAuliffe, C.; Ledley, T.; Dahlman, L.; Haddad, N.

    2007-12-01

    One of the challenges faced by Earth science teachers, particularly in K-12 settings, is that of connecting scientific research to classroom experiences. Helping teachers and students analyze Web-based scientific data is one way to bring scientific research to the classroom. The Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET) was developed as an online resource to accomplish precisely that. The EET consists of chapters containing step-by-step instructions for accessing Web-based scientific data and for using a software analysis tool to explore issues or concepts in science, technology, and mathematics. For example, in one EET chapter, users download Earthquake data from the USGS and bring it into a geographic information system (GIS), analyzing factors affecting the distribution of earthquakes. The goal of the EET Workshops project is to provide professional development that enables teachers to incorporate Web-based scientific data and analysis tools in ways that meet their curricular needs. In the EET Workshops project, Earth science teachers participate in a pair of workshops that are conducted in a combined teleconference and Web-conference format. In the first workshop, the EET Data Analysis Workshop, participants are introduced to the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE). They also walk through an Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET) chapter and discuss ways to use Earth science datasets and tools with their students. In a follow-up second workshop, the EET Implementation Workshop, teachers share how they used these materials in the classroom by describing the projects and activities that they carried out with students. The EET Workshops project offers unique and effective professional development. Participants work at their own Internet-connected computers, and dial into a toll-free group teleconference for step-by-step facilitation and interaction. They also receive support via Elluminate, a Web

  20. Teacher's sleep quality: linked to social job characteristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kottwitz, Maria U; Gerhardt, Christin; Pereira, Diana; Iseli, Lionel; Elfering, Achim

    2018-02-07

    Besides dealing with high workload, being a teacher is challenging with respect to the social context. There is increasing evidence that adverse social job characteristics challenge sleep quality. The current study tests whether restraint sleep quality (defined as worse sleep quality before than during vacation) is related to time-related job stressors, job resources, and social job characteristics. Forty-eight elementary school teachers (42% women) participated both during the last week before and the first week after vacation. Before vacation, teachers were asked for demographics and working conditions with reference to the last 30 d, and sleep quality with reference to the last 7 d. After vacation sleep quality during vacation was assessed and used as reference for working time sleep quality. Results showed mean levels of sleep quality increased during vacation. In teachers with restrained working time sleep quality (38%), experiences of failure at work, social exclusion, and emotional dissonance were more frequent than in teachers with unrestrained working time sleep quality (Psquality in teachers.

  1. Teacher Satisfaction with School and Psychological Well-Being Affects Their Readiness to Help Children with Mental Health Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sisask, Merike; Värnik, Peeter; Värnik, Airi; Apter, Alan; Balazs, Judit; Balint, Maria; Bobes, Julio; Brunner, Romuald; Corcoran, Paul; Cosman, Doina; Feldman, Dana; Haring, Christian; Kahn, Jean-Pierre; Poštuvan, Vita; Tubiana, Alexandra; Sarchiapone, Marco; Wasserman, Camilla; Carli, Vladimir; Hoven, Christina W.; Wasserman, Danuta

    2014-01-01

    Objective: In support of a whole-school approach to mental health promotion, this study was conducted to find out whether and how significantly teachers' satisfaction with school and their subjective psychological well-being are related to the belief that they can help pupils with mental health problems. Design: Cross-sectional data were collected…

  2. Helping Teachers Use Research Findings: The Consumer-Validation Process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eaker, Robert E.; Huffman, James O.

    A program stressing teacher involvement and classroom implementation of educational research findings is described. The program was designed to familiarize teachers with current findings, have them apply the findings in their classrooms, analyze their own teaching behavior, and critically evaluate the findings in terms of their applicability to…

  3. Mathematics Teachers' Use of Information and Communication Technologies: An International Comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiru, Elisheba W.

    2018-01-01

    There is an urgent need to understand how often teachers use information and communication technologies (ICT) in mathematics instruction. This information can provide vital links that can help stakeholders make connections about ICT use in mathematics instruction and student learning experiences with ICT. Scholars in the field have reported on the…

  4. Reflections on "A Qualitative Analysis of Mainstreamed Behaviorally Disordered Aggressive Adolescents' Perceptions of Helpful and Unhelpful Teacher Attitudes and Behaviors."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowley, E. Paula

    1993-01-01

    The author of EC 607 583 responds to questions about her research on mainstreamed behaviorally disordered aggressive adolescents' perceptions of helpful and unhelpful teacher attitudes and behaviors. Issues relevant to future research in this area are noted. (JDD)

  5. Fostering Skills to Enhance Critical Educators: A Pedagogical Proposal for Pre-service Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jahir Aguirre Morales

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to share with teacher-educators a pedagogical proposal which we have applied in the past year. This investigation analyzes issues linked to critical pedagogy using movies connected to educational themes and readings based on critical pedagogy. We have used this study to generate class discussions in order to analyze educational topics from a critical point of view. This experience has guided us to help pre-service teachers acquire skills to eventually become critical educators of the future.

  6. Helping Teachers to Help Children Living with a Mentally Ill Parent: Teachers' Perceptions on Identification and Policy Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bibou-Nakou, I.

    2004-01-01

    The material presented here is based on a pilot European project (Daphne Project, 2000/EU funding, collaboration of Greece and England) regarding parental mental illness and children's welfare and needs (1).The presentation focuses upon the responses of a group of teachers working in primary education in relation to identification issues and…

  7. Obscuring Power Structures in the Physics Classroom: Linking Teacher Positioning, Student Engagement, and Physics Identity Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazari, Zahra; Cass, Cheryl; Beattie, Carrie

    2015-01-01

    In the process of reforming physics education over the last several decades, a tension has developed between engaging students with the content in more conceptually challenging ways and helping them identify with physics so they are personally motivated in their learning. Through comparative case studies of four high school physics teachers, we…

  8. Could Salviati, the teacher, exist

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almeida, E.S. de; Mello, S.P.

    1988-01-01

    We see the things and say - why we imagine the things and say - why not (* ) why not a software teaching nuclear energy which links fantasy and reality. Combining 3 caracters of the world of imagination: Salviati a teacher dog, Saegredo a curious duck and Simplicio an importunate mouse; with basic facts and datas about nuclear energy, we obtain a software agile, criative and innovator, that stimulate the curiosity and imagination - mainly, it help us to understand and to comprehend one of the most polemics themes of our era. (author) [pt

  9. Teacher quality and teacher salaries: the case of Pennsylvania

    OpenAIRE

    Tin-chun Lin

    2009-01-01

    Both teacher quality and teacher salaries are endogenously correlated in the teacher labor market. Therefore, due to endogeneity, we develop three econometric simultaneous-equation models to examine the link between teacher quality and teacher salaries. A total of 500 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania during the school years 1999-2000 to 2001-2002 are selected for a case study. Results reveal a positive and significant relationship between these two.

  10. Burnout Syndrome of Teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Semrádová, Michaela

    2013-01-01

    The bachelor's thesis covers burnout syndrome of teachers. Defines burnout syndrome, describes its causes and symptoms. Describes teaching as helping profession and focousing on stressful situations at school. In the last chapter described different prevention strategies burnout syndrome. Key words: burnout syndrome, teaching, teacher, helping professions, beginning teacher, stress

  11. The Perceptions of Elementary School Teachers Regarding Their Efforts to Help Students Utilize Student-to-Student Discourse in Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craddock, Jennifer Lovejoy

    The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of elementary teachers who teach science as opposed to science teacher specialists regarding their efforts to help students use student-to-student discourse for improving science learning. A growing body of research confirms the importance of a) student-to-student discourse for making meaning of science ideas and b) moving students' conceptual development towards a more scientific understanding of the natural world. Based on those foundations, the three research questions that guided this study examined the value elementary teachers place on student-to-student discourse, the various approaches teachers employ to promote the use of student-to-student discourse for learning science, and the factors and conditions that promote and inhibit the use of student-to-student discourse as an effective pedagogical strategy in elementary science. Data were gathered from 23 elementary teachers in a single district using an on-line survey and follow-up interviews with 8 teachers. All data were analyzed and evolving themes led to the following findings: (1) elementary teachers value student-to-student discourse in science, (2) teachers desire to increase time using student-to-student discourse, (3) teachers use a limited number of student-to-student discourse strategies to increase student learning in science, (4) teachers use student-to-student discourse as formative assessment to determine student learning in science, (5) professional development focusing on approaches to student-to-student discourse develops teachers' capacity for effective implementation, (6) teachers perceive school administrators' knowledge of and support for student-to-student discourse as beneficial, (7) time and scheduling constraints limit the use of student-to-student discourse in science. Implications of this study included the necessity of school districts to focus on student-to-student discourse in science, provide teacher and

  12. Linking Reform-Oriented Experiences to Teacher Identity: The Case of an Elementary Mathematics Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jong, Cindy

    2016-01-01

    Novice teachers often have difficulty transferring what they learn in teacher education programs to classroom practice. This is especially true for elementary school teachers who are expected to teach mathematics with reform-oriented methods. The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to examine the experience of one novice elementary school…

  13. Model program for the recruitment and preparation of high ability elementary mathematics/science teachers: A collaborative project among scientists, teacher educators and classroom teachers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-12-01

    This teacher education program will provide a model for recruiting, educating and retaining high ability students to become mathematics and science lead teachers in elementary schools. The quality experiences and support provided these students will help them develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary to provide leadership for elementary mathematics and science programs. Students will have research experiences at the Ames Laboratory, high quality field experiences with nationally recognized mathematics and science teachers in local schools and opportunities to meaningfully connect these two experiences. This program, collaboratively designed and implemented by scientists, teacher educators and classroom teachers, should provide a replicatable model for other teacher education institutions. In addition, materials developed for the project should help other laboratories interface more effectively with K-8 schools and help other teacher education programs incorporate real science and mathematics experience into their curriculum.

  14. Exploring physics concepts among novice teachers through CMAP tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suprapto, N.; Suliyanah; Prahani, B. K.; Jauhariyah, M. N. R.; Admoko, S.

    2018-03-01

    Concept maps are graphical tools for organising, elaborating and representing knowledge. Through Cmap tools software, it can be explored the understanding and the hierarchical structuring of physics concepts among novice teachers. The software helps physics teachers indicated a physics context, focus questions, parking lots, cross-links, branching, hierarchy, and propositions. By using an exploratory quantitative study, a total 13-concept maps with different physics topics created by novice physics teachers were analysed. The main differences of scoring between lecturer and peer-teachers’ scoring were also illustrated. The study offered some implications, especially for physics educators to determine the hierarchical structure of the physics concepts, to construct a physics focus question, and to see how a concept in one domain of knowledge represented on the map is related to a concept in another domain shown on the map.

  15. How Physical Education Teachers Can Help Encourage Students to Read

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, Maurine; Richardson, James; Sacks, Mary Kathleen

    2012-01-01

    The pressure to ensure that all children learn to read and become lifelong readers has never been as strong at it is now. For this to become a reality for all students, including those that are not motivated to read, teachers must use any and all appropriate strategies. With this in mind, literacy teachers should enlist assistance from other…

  16. Divorce: Helping Children Cope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Alicia S.; McBride, Jean

    1982-01-01

    Examines children's reactions to the divorce process and explores ways in which adults can promote growth and adjustment in children of divorce. Suggests ways in which parents, teachers, and counselors can help children. (RC)

  17. Differentiation: Lessons from Master Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carolan, Jennifer; Guinn, Abigail

    2007-01-01

    Carolan and Guinn assert that differentiated instruction helps diversity thrive. Observing how experienced teachers practice differentiation in real-life situations helps teachers who are reluctant to try such strategies take the plunge. The authors draw on two observational studies they conducted of five expert teachers in a high-performing,…

  18. Music Teachers and Music Therapists: Helping Children Together.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Allyson

    2003-01-01

    Provides background information on music therapy. Discusses how music therapy works in the public school setting and offers advice to music teachers. Explores music therapy and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, addressing the benefits of having access to music therapists. (CMK)

  19. Does Teacher Preparation Matter? Evidence about Teacher Certification, Teach for America, and Teacher Effectiveness.

    OpenAIRE

    Linda Darling-Hammond; Deborah J. Holtzman; Su Jin Gatlin; Julian Vasquez Heilig

    2005-01-01

    Recent debates about the utility of teacher education have raised questions about whether certified teachers are, in general, more effective than those who have not met the testing and training requirements for certification, and whether some candidates with strong liberal arts backgrounds might be at least as effective as teacher education graduates. This study examines these questions with a large student-level data set from Houston, Texas that links student characteristics and achievement ...

  20. The Attitude of Math Teachers toward Cooperative Learning and Institutional Elements that May Help or Hinder its Use as a Teaching Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Gerardo Meza-Cascante

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of research conducted in high schools in the central region of the Cartago province, Costa Rica. The goal of the research was to determine the attitude of high school math teachers toward cooperative learning in math and identify factors in secondary education institutions that can help or hinder the implementation of cooperative learning as a strategy for teaching mathematics. The research was conducted with 39 secondary education math teachers, who participated in a workshop on cooperative learning in mathematics. The attitude toward this methodology was measured by using semantic differential. This information was triangulated with data obtained from non-participant observation. A combination of in-depth interviews and non-participant observation was used to access data that identifies institutional factors helping or hindering the implementation of math cooperative learning. Findings suggest a positive attitude from teachers toward integrating cooperative work as a teaching strategy to promote math learning and toward the role played by school principals in the adoption of educational innovations. It also reveals that high schools have adequate material conditions to implement the methodology, although the need for training is considered. This finding should be taken into account by the proponents of this methodological option.

  1. Links between teacher assessment and child self-assessment of mental health and behavior among children affected by HIV/AIDS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Hongfei; Li, Xiaoming; Weinstein, Traci L; Chi, Peilian; Zhao, Junfeng; Zhao, Guoxiang

    2015-01-01

    Teachers are considered to be one of the most important influences in the lives of students. Teachers' assessments of students may be a primary source of information on children's mental and behavioral health; however, this topic has received little attention in research. We examined this issue through linking teachers' ratings of students and mental and behavioral outcomes of children affected by HIV. The hypothesis is that teacher ratings will be predictive of specific child mental and behavioral health outcomes. A quantitative cross-sectional design with self-administered paper-and-pencil instruments was used. The sample included 1221 children (aged 6-18, grades 1-11) affected by HIV including 755 orphans who lost one or both parents to AIDS and 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-infected parents in a central province of China. The corresponding teacher sample included 185 participants. Each child completed an assessment inventory of demographic information and mental and behavioral health measures. Teachers completed a questionnaire about children's school performance. SEM analyses revealed a good model fit according to all fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.93, root mean square error of approximation = 0.07, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.04. Structural equation modeling revealed that problem ratings by teachers were positively associated with child loneliness and behavioral problems, social competence ratings by teachers were negatively related to child depression, and personal growth and social interaction ratings by teachers were negatively related to child loneliness, depression, and trauma. The current study represents a unique contribution to the field in that it recognizes that teachers can be a valuable source of information on children's psychological health. Results from this study have implications for health prevention and intervention for children and families suffering from HIV/AIDS.

  2. Teacher-Child Relationships and Pedagogical Practices : Considering the Teacher's Perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thijs, Jochem T.; Koomen, Helma M.Y.; Leij, Aryan van der

    2008-01-01

    This study explored the link between teachers' reports of their relationships with individual kindergartners and their self-reported pedagogical practices toward these children. Two samples of kindergarten teachers were examined. They were questioned about, respectively, 117 and 167 children

  3. Teacher Competence and Teacher Quality in Cambodia's Educational Context Linked to In-Service Teacher Training: An Examination Based on a Questionnaire Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phin, Chankea

    2014-01-01

    Competent teacher is an indispensable pillar for students' learning outcome and education quality improvement. This paper examines Cambodian teachers' perception regarding: (1) teacher competence and improving education quality and (2) ensuring teacher quality and in-service teacher training. This study used questionnaire that targeted a line of…

  4. Math Anxiety: Can Teachers Help Students Reduce It? Ask the Cognitive Scientist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beilock, Sian L.; Willingham, Daniel T.

    2014-01-01

    How does the mind work--and especially how does it learn? Teacher's instructional decisions are based on a mix of theories learned in teacher education, trial and error, craft knowledge, and gut instinct. Such knowledge often serves teachers well, but is there anything sturdier to rely on? Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field of…

  5. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... the link between drug misuse and HIV infection. It contains information for young people, parents and teachers, ... present time. The virus (HIV) and the disease it causes (AIDS) are often linked and referred to ...

  6. Vinculos Entre la Capacitacion de Docentes y el Desarrollo de Materiales Educativos Impresos--Anotaciones para Una Discusion (Links between In-service Teacher Training and the Development of Printed Educational Aids).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valle, Victor M.

    Textbooks and other printed materials will be ever present, in the foreseeable future, as major aids for teaching and learning processes. New textbooks imply new guidelines for teachers, and the ways to handle such guidelines demand teacher training. This paper explains some links between inservice teacher training programs and the development of…

  7. Parental Expectations of Their Adolescents' Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatar, Moshe; Horenczyk, Gabriel

    2000-01-01

    Examines parental expectations of their children's teachers through use of the Expectations of Teachers questionnaire. Participating parents (N=765) reported greater expectations for help and assistance, followed by teaching competence and fairness on the part of the teacher. Mothers were found to hold higher fairness, help, and assistance…

  8. Teachers Know Best: Making Data Work for Teachers and Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2015

    2015-01-01

    As part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's broader efforts to improve educational opportunities for all students, the "Teachers Know Best" research project seeks to encourage innovation in K-12 education by helping product developers and those who procure resources for teachers better understand teachers' views. The original…

  9. Planning for What Kind of Teaching? Supporting Cooperating Teachers as Teachers of Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norman, Patricia J.

    2011-01-01

    Planning is a central task of teaching and a central focus in learning to teach. But what does planning entail, and how is planning best learned? What challenges do experienced teachers serving as school-based teacher educators face in becoming teachers of planning? What role can university teacher educators play in helping mentor teachers learn…

  10. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... for young people, parents and teachers, and the media with links to our latest research findings and news updates. Read on to Learn the Link between ... to this site at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/public-education-projects/learn-link-drugs-hiv . ... Social Media Send the message to young people and to ...

  11. Promoting Teacher Adoption of GIS Using Teacher-Centered and Teacher-Friendly Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jung Eun

    2014-01-01

    This article reports the results of a case study that employed user-centered design to develop training tutorials for helping middle school social studies teachers use Web-based GIS in their classrooms. This study placed teachers in the center of the design process in planning, designing, and developing the tutorials. This article describes how…

  12. Helping yourself helps others: Linking children's emotion regulation to prosocial behavior through sympathy and trust.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Ju-Hyun; Colasante, Tyler; Malti, Tina

    2018-06-01

    Although emotionally well-regulated children are more likely to behave prosocially, the psychological processes that connect their emotion regulation abilities and prosocial behavior are less clear. We tested if other-oriented sympathy and trust mediated the links between emotion regulation capacities (i.e., resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA], negative emotional intensity, and sadness regulation) and prosocial behavior in an ethnically diverse sample of 4- and 8-year-olds (N = 131; 49% girls). Resting RSA was calculated from children's electrocardiogram data in response to a nondescript video. Sympathy was child and caregiver reported, whereas negative emotional intensity, sadness regulation, trust, and prosocial behavior were caregiver reported. Regardless of age, higher resting RSA was linked to higher sympathy, which was associated with higher prosocial behavior. The positive link between sadness regulation and prosocial behavior was mediated by higher sympathy and trust. Children's other-oriented psychological processes may play important roles in translating certain emotion regulation capacities into prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. Teacher-Child Relationships and Pedagogical Practices: Considering the Teacher's Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thijs, Jochem T.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; van der Leij, Aryan

    2008-01-01

    This study explored the link between teachers' reports of their relationships with individual kindergartners and their self-reported pedagogical practices toward these children. Two samples of kindergarten teachers were examined. They were questioned about, respectively, 117 and 167 children selected as socially inhibited, hyperactive, or average…

  14. Designing a Reflective Teacher Education Course and Its Contribution to ELT Teachers' Reflectivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajik, Leila; Pakzad, Kazem

    2016-01-01

    Researchers in the present study planned a reflective teacher education course and documented the contribution of such a course to improving teachers' reflectivity. Five English teachers took part in the reflective teacher education course designed by the researchers. To record how the course could help improve reflective teaching, researchers…

  15. PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE IN TEACHER EDUCATION

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    User

    therefore, argued that the academic program of the teacher education should be coupled ... practicum which provides students with supervised experiences and help the student teachers to ... Lecturer, Department of Pedagogy, Eduction Faculty, Jimma University. ... teachers, different approaches to teacher .... Leadership.

  16. Helping Students Acquire Thinking Skills through Mathematics Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Devender, Evelyn M.

    1992-01-01

    Describes three activities that the teacher can employ to help students develop thinking skills through mathematics instruction: (1) memorization using the technique of chunking; (2) higher order thinking with magic squares; and (3) predicting games. Identifies eight facets of the teacher's role in promoting thinking skills. (MDH)

  17. Linking Home and School: Teacher Candidates' Beliefs and Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindin, Alisa

    2010-01-01

    The role of family in children's education is unquestionable. While a number of factors influence the type and level of educational support that parents provide for children, researchers have found that the greatest influence on parent involvement is the classroom teacher. Despite the important role teachers play in parent involvement, little is…

  18. The Role of Physical Educators in Helping Classroom Teachers to Promote Physical Activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russ, Laura

    2015-01-01

    Elementary classroom teachers are an increasingly important constituency in school-based physical activity promotion. This article situates the need for classroom teacher physical-activity promotion at the intersection of what we know about teacher actions, what informs those actions, and what recent research has uncovered. Recommendations are…

  19. Perceptions of Asian-American and Hispanic-American teachers and their students on teacher interpersonal communication style

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brok, den P.J.; Levy, J.; Rodriguez, R.; Wubbels, Th.

    2002-01-01

    The study investigated the relationship of teacher and student ethnic background to their perceptions of teacher interpersonal behaviour. It is theoretically linked to research on multicultural education and teacher interpersonal communication styles. Perceptions of 27 Asian-American and

  20. Reactions of teachers versus non-teachers toward people who stutter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jian; Arnold, Hayley S

    2015-01-01

    The primary purpose of this study was to assess whether kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers differ from people in non-teaching occupations in their reactions to people who stutter (PWS). Taking differences in age and education into account, we compared reactions to PWS between 263 teachers and 1336 non-teachers in the United States based on their responses on the Public Opinion Survey on Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S, St. Louis, 2012). Findings indicated that teachers use a greater number and variety of information sources about PWS than the general public and that male teachers do so even more than female teachers. With regard to the other POSHA-S components, accommodating/helping, knowledge/experience, and sympathy/social distancing of PWS, teachers' responses were not significantly different from their non-teaching counterparts. Regardless of occupation, women reported reactions to PWS that are considered more accommodating and helpful to PWS than the reported reactions of men. Readers should be able to: (1) identify the challenges that students who stutter encounter in the K-12 school setting, (2) identify recommended ways teachers can react to their students who stutter, (3) summarize findings regarding teachers' reactions to people who stutter (PWS), and (4) identify key variables that are associated with reactions to PWS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/public-education-projects/learn-link-drugs-hiv . 120x90 460x80 486x60 Social Media Send the message to young people and to parents, teachers, and the media about the link between drug ...

  2. Who Wants to Become a Teacher? Typology of Student-Teachers' Commitment to Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moses, Ikupa; Berry, Amanda; Saab, Nadira; Admiraal, Wilfried

    2017-01-01

    Understanding student-teachers' decisions to enter and stay in the teaching profession after graduation could help teacher educators to find appropriate procedures to enhance commitment to teaching. This study classified student-teachers based on their levels of commitment to teaching, and described these types based on student-teachers'…

  3. How Do Teachers Teach? Insights from Teachers and Students. Teaching in Focus No. 18

    Science.gov (United States)

    OECD Publishing, 2017

    2017-01-01

    Educational quality is defined and shaped by the classroom practices implemented by teachers in our schools. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)-PISA link presents a unique opportunity to explore what takes place in the classroom by listening to the voices of teachers and students. Teachers, with their professional training and…

  4. Teacher Efficacy and Disciplinary Expectations in Charter Schools: Understanding the Link to Teachers' Career Decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, A. Chris

    2016-01-01

    Much scholarly work describes a culture of low expectations in low-income, urban schools, the challenges these teachers face managing student behavior, and why these problems so strongly influence teacher turnover. By contrast, some urban charter schools, particularly those associated with high achieving Charter Management Organizations (CMOs),…

  5. Teacher Portfolios.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfe-Quintero, Kate; Brown, James Dean

    1998-01-01

    A portfolio of achievements, experiences, and reflections can help English-as-a-Second-Language teachers attain professional development goals and offer administrators greater insight for making informed hiring and job-performance decisions. This paper focuses on what teacher portfolios are, what their contents should be, and what their uses are…

  6. Teachers' Ability and Help Attributions and Children's Math Performance and Task Persistence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tõeväli, Paula-Karoliina; Kikas, Eve

    2016-01-01

    The present longitudinal study examined the reciprocal relationships between teachers' causal attributions and children's math performance and task persistence. In total, 760 elementary school children and their teachers participated in this study. The children were tested in math twice, at the end of the second and third grades. At both time…

  7. Authoritative School Climate, Aggression toward Teachers, and Teacher Distress in Middle School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Juliette K.; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-01-01

    Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less…

  8. Earth Science for Educators: Preparing 7-12 Teachers for Standards-based, Inquiry Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sloan, H.

    2002-05-01

    "Earth Science for Educators" is an innovative, standards-based, graduate level teacher education curriculum that presents science content and pedagogic technique in parallel. The curriculum calls upon the resources and expertise of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to prepare novice New York City teachers for teaching Earth Science. One of the goals of teacher education is to assure and facilitate science education reform through preparation of K-12 teachers who understand and are able to implement standard-based instruction. Standards reflect not only the content knowledge students are expected to attain but also the science skills and dispositions towards science they are expected to develop. Melding a list of standards with a curriculum outline to create inquiry-based classroom instruction that reaches a very diverse population of learners is extremely challenging. "Earth Science for Educators" helps novice teachers make the link between standards and practice by constantly connecting standards with instruction they receive and activities they carry out. Development of critical thinking and enthusiasm for inquiry is encouraged through engaging experience and contact with scientists and their work. Teachers are taught Earth systems science content through modeling of a wide variety of instruction and assessment methods based upon authentic scientific inquiry and aimed at different learning styles. Use of fieldwork and informal settings, such as the Museum, familiarizes novice teachers with ways of drawing on community resources for content and instructional settings. Metacognitive reflection that articulates standards, practice, and the teachers' own learning experience help draw out teachers' insights into their students' learning. The innovation of bring science content together with teaching methods is key to preparing teachers for standards-based, inquiry instruction. This curriculum was successfully piloted with a group of 28 novice teachers as

  9. Allowing the Voices of Parents To Help Shape Teaching and Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholson, Karen; Evans, Judith F.; Tellier-Robinson, Dora; Aviles, Leticia

    2001-01-01

    Three teachers describe how parents of deaf, severely disabled, and bilingual children participated in their children's learning. Qualitative research methods were used to help parents share their knowledge with teachers. (SK)

  10. Why Mentor? Linking Mentor Teachers' Motivations to Their Mentoring Conceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ginkel, Gisbert; Verloop, Nico; Denessen, Eddie

    2016-01-01

    Current mentoring models for teacher preparation and induction emphasize the need to engage novice teachers' learning through collaborative professional learning communities. Mentors in such communities are expected to engage in joint knowledge construction with novices, and to be "co-thinkers" who enact a developmental view of…

  11. Globalization and Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flinders, David J.

    2009-01-01

    Educational researchers and teacher educators are often concerned with immediate and practical questions. How can health teachers help youth avoid substance abuse? Should a high school biology teacher show Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," or is that film too political for a science classroom? What sports should be included in a physical…

  12. The Cost-Effectiveness of Raising Teacher Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Stuart S.

    2009-01-01

    Econometric studies suggest that student achievement may be improved if high-performing teachers are substituted for low-performing teachers. Drawing upon a recent study linking teacher performance on licensure exams with gains in student achievement, an analysis was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of requiring teacher applicants to…

  13. Care and support of orphaned and vulnerable children at school: helping teachers to respond

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lesley Wood

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is acknowledged that teacher training programmes around HIV in most of sub-Saharan Africa appear not to have been very effective in assisting teachers to respond to the demands placed on them by the pandemic. In response to the need identified by international development agencies, for research into teacher education and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, this study investigated teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of training programmes offered in a specific school district in South Africa to equip them to deal with issues arising from having orphans and vulnerable children in their classrooms. A qualitative research design was followed to purposively select teachers who had attended the departmental training to participate in focus groups to explore the phenomenon of teaching orphaned and vulnerable children. The findings that emerged from the thematic data analysis provided supporting evidence that current teacher education approaches in this regard are not perceived to be effective. The results are used to suggest guidelines for an alternative approach to the current forms of HIV and AIDS training for teachers that is more likely to be sustainable, culturally appropriate and suited to the context.

  14. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/public-education-projects/learn-link-drugs-hiv . 120x90 460x80 486x60 Social Media Send the message to young people and to parents, teachers, and the media about the link between drug misuse and HIV. Post on Facebook or Twitter ; add photos to your Flickr , ...

  15. Teachers under examination: reflections on teacher assessment policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eneida Oto Shiroma

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses the current proposals of teacher assessment in Brazil. Based on historical materialism, we analysed national and international documents aiming at identifying the goals of this sort of assessment, the justifications for its implementation and debates about its outcomes. We found convergences between the policies recommended by the multilateral agencies, especially by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and those adopted in Brazil, which indicates the great interest and influence of multilateral organizations in the development of policies for teachers. The first reactions of teachers, researchers, teacher associations and training institutions, added to the experiences of other countries that have adopted teacher assessment policies earlier, help us to understand possible outcomes and implications of these policies for teachers as a class, their careers and unions.

  16. Trying To Reduce Your Technostress?: Helpful Activities for Teachers and Library Media Specialists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenzie, Barbara K.; And Others

    1997-01-01

    As pressure increases to integrate technology into instruction, many teachers and library media specialists are having difficulty coping with "technostress." Presents suggestions and activities for teachers and library media specialists designed to reduce "technostress." (PEN)

  17. Evaluating the Effects of Lesson Study as a Way to Help Student Teachers Learn How to Use Student Thinking when Planning and Revising Mathematics Lesson Plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sisofo, Eric Joseph

    2010-01-01

    The use of student thinking in teaching has been linked to improved instruction and learning. It is reasonable to assume that the University of Delaware's undergraduate program might be interested in figuring out ways to develop this skill in its mathematics specialist pre-service teachers. Currently, the student teaching experience at the…

  18. Grief: Helping Young Children Cope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Frances B.

    2008-01-01

    In their role as caregivers supporting the children they teach, it is important for teachers to understand the grieving process and recognize symptoms of grief. The author explains Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's five stages of grief and offers 10 classroom strategies to help young children cope with their feelings.

  19. Teacher training in Chile: perceptions of teachers in the school system and university teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudio H. Díaz Larenas

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the results of research on perceptions of teacher training. The study design is transactional and descriptive, for which an ad hoc survey of two groups was developed: the school sysrtem teachers and academics in the region of Bio Bio in Chile. Its aim is to analyze the perception of these groups on six themes: evaluation, learning, innovation, research, development and relationship university / school / community. The main results show a high evaluation of assessment practices, introducing innovations in the classroom and refinement. The reasearch is carried out by both teachers and university profressors in the school system, although at different frequencies. The university / school / community relations are considered relevant but are not consolidarted. Finally some thoughts arise that link the themes discussed in terms of improving teacher education.

  20. What Schools Are Doing To Help the Children of Divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sammons, William A. H.; Lewis, Jennifer M.

    2000-01-01

    Describes how teachers' observations of children can help behavioral pediatricians identify family situations contributing to marked changes in children's behavior related to divorce. Discusses ways teachers can support children of divorce, including maintaining consistency and discipline, making children feel competent, listening to the child's…

  1. Care and Support of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children at School: Helping Teachers to Respond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Lesley; Goba, Linda

    2011-01-01

    It is acknowledged that teacher training programmes around HIV in most of sub-Saharan Africa appear not to have been very effective in assisting teachers to respond to the demands placed on them by the pandemic. In response to the need identified by international development agencies, for research into teacher education and HIV in sub-Saharan…

  2. K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators and Higher Education Faculty: Partners Helping Rural Disadvantaged Students Stay on the Pathway to a Geoscience Career

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slattery, W.; Antonucci, C.; Myers, R. J.

    2013-12-01

    The National Science Foundation funded project K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators and Higher Education Faculty: Partners Helping Rural Disadvantaged Students Stay on the Pathway to a Geoscience Career is a research-based proof of concept track 1 pilot project that tests the effectiveness of an innovative model for simultaneous K-12 teacher professional development, student learning and workforce development. The project builds a network of science experiences designed to keep eighth and ninth grade students from the Ripley, Union, Lewis, Huntington (RULH) Ohio school district on the path to a geoscience career. During each summer of the ongoing two-year project teams of RULH students, parents, teachers, administrators and college faculty traveled to the facilities of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium at Sandy Hook, New Jersey to study science from an Earth system perspective. Teachers had the opportunity to engage in professional development alongside their students. Parents participated in the science activities alongside their children. Administrators interacted with students, parents and their teachers and saw them all learning science in an engaging, collaborative setting. During the first academic year of the project professional development was provided to RULH teachers by a team of university scientists and geoscience educators from the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), a National Science Foundation funded project. Teachers selected for professional development were from science disciplines, mathematics, language arts and civics. The teachers selected, taught and assessed ESSEA Earth system science modules to all eighth and ninth grade students, not just those that were selected to go on the summer trips to New Jersey. In addition, all ninth grade RULH students had the opportunity to take a course that includes Earth system science concepts that will earn them both high school and college science credits. Professional

  3. Teacher-Pay Experiments Mounting Amid Debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Lynn

    2007-01-01

    The debate over linking teacher pay to student test scores that ignited on Capitol Hill recently underscores the growing momentum--and continued controversy--behind tying what teachers earn to what students learn. Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers came out swinging against language in a draft bill for…

  4. Gathering Requirements for Teacher Tools: Strategies for Empowering Teachers Through Co-Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matuk, Camillia; Gerard, Libby; Lim-Breitbart, Jonathan; Linn, Marcia

    2016-02-01

    Technology can enhance teachers' practice in multiple ways. It can help them better understand patterns in their students' thinking, manage class progress at individual and group levels, and obtain evidence to inform modifications to curriculum and instruction. Such technology is most effective when it is aligned with teachers' goals and expectations. Participatory methods, which involve teachers closely in the design process, are widely recommended for establishing accurate design requirements that address users' needs. By collaborating with researchers, teachers can contribute their professional expertise to shape the tools of their practice, and ultimately ensure their sustained use. However, there is little guidance available for maintaining effective teacher-researcher design partnerships. We describe four strategies for engaging teachers in designing tools intended to support and enhance their practice within a web-based science learning environment: discussing physical artifacts, reacting to scenarios, customizing prototypes, and writing user stories. Using design artifacts and documents of teachers' reflections, we illustrate how we applied these techniques over 5 years of annual professional development workshops, and examine their affordances for eliciting teachers' ideas. We reflect on how these approaches have helped inform technology refinements and innovations. We moreover discuss the further benefits these strategies have had in encouraging teachers to reflect on their own practice and on the roles of technology in supporting it; and in allowing researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between technology, teaching, and design.

  5. The evolution of a science teacher: An autobiography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincent, Daniel E.

    This qualitative study explores the experiences of a science teacher as he seeks to understand the foundations of his pedagogy, his view of learning, and his role as a teacher. By using the autobiographical style of currere, the author investigates the significant events of his educational journey and describes the transformation that occurred while teaching science in secondary schools. The author discovers how his instructional methods were intimately linked to his perception of the content and nature of science, how his interactions with others within a learning community challenged him to grow professionally, and how his educational metaphors helped him make sense of teaching, learning, and life. By telling his story, the author/researcher was able to use his transformed notions of how people learn to construct personal meaning about his own educational foundations and pedagogical perspectives, and in turn, give others a story within which they might find their own personal meaning.

  6. Helpful Entry Level Skills Checklist--Revised Manual [and] Helpful Entry Level Skill Checklist--Revised Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Child Development Centers of the Bluegrass, Lexington, KY.

    The Helpful Entry Level Skills Checklist was designed to assist preschool teachers in selecting functional skills that children (including children with disabilities) may need to make a successful transition into the public schools. These skills, for the most part, deal with attending, compliance, ability to follow directions, turn taking, ability…

  7. Aquaculture. Teacher Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Susan S.

    This color-coded guide was developed to assist teachers in helping interested students plan, build, stock, and run aquaculture facilities of varied sizes. The guide contains 15 instructional units, each of which includes some or all of the following basic components: objective sheet, suggested activities for the teacher, instructor supplements,…

  8. Teacher cognition and the teaching of EFL reading in Norwegian upper primary classrooms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trine Mathiesen Gilje

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This article is about a qualitative study of teacher cognition and the teaching of EFL reading in Norwegian upper primary classrooms. Teacher cognition, defined by Borg (2003, p.81 as ‘what teachers think, know, and believe and the relationships of these mental constructs to what teachers do in the language teaching classroom’, is a relatively new field of research, with few studies focussing on its link to the teaching of EFL reading skills in state schools or in young language learner classrooms. The study therefore aimed to explore upper primary EFL teachers’ reading-related materials and practices, what knowledge, attitudes and beliefs formed the basis of their choices, and the role of teacher education in this context. The method was semi-structured interviews with eight randomly selected 6th grade EFL-teachers. The study showed that the teachers primarily based their teaching of EFL reading on textbooks, used them in similar ways, but also used additional reading materials to varying extents. The teachers thus appeared to be heavily guided by their textbooks, in addition to intuition and routines. The impact of formal teacher education varied from teacher to teacher. Nevertheless, it was argued that pre-service and in-service teacher education will play an important role in helping future EFL teachers make and understand the choices they make about reading materials and pracices, so that they can meet the demands of increasingly diverse classrooms due to differences in linguistic, social and national backgrounds between pupils.

  9. Documentation Panels Enhance Teacher Education Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warash, Bobbie Gibson

    2005-01-01

    Documentation of children's projects is advantageous to their learning process and is also a good method for student teachers to observe the process of learning. Documentation panels are a unique way to help student teachers understand how children learn. Completing a panel requires a student teacher to think through a process. Teachers must learn…

  10. Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man: A Novel Approach to Teacher Learning and Professional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renate Schulz

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to investigate how stories can be a learning tool to help teachers make sense of and learn from their own stories of teaching. The participants in this study were teachers enrolled in a graduate level course.  Frank McCourt’s novel, Teacher Man acted as a stimulus, springboard and guide for class discussions and for teachers writing their own story of teaching. My mode of inquiry included collecting the teachers’ written responses to class readings, noting their oral responses during class discussions, asking them to complete a short questionnaire, and following up with a taped focus group three months after the completion of the course. By reading, hearing and discussing the stories of others, teachers came to recognize the power of stories.  Writing their own stories helped them to understand their own practice better.

  11. Chinese Teachers' Perceptions of Students' Classroom Misbehaviour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Meixia; Li, Yeping; Li, Xiaobao; Kulm, Gerald

    2008-01-01

    This study focuses on Chinese teachers' perceptions of students' classroom misbehaviour. A questionnaire was designed to assess teachers' general concerns about classroom management, teachers' perceptions of the most frequent and troublesome types of misbehaviour, and teachers' perceived needs for help with improving classroom management. A total…

  12. Does Teacher Preparation Matter? Evidence about Teacher Certification, Teach for America, and Teacher Effectiveness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Darling-Hammond

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available Recent debates about the utility of teacher education have raised questions about whether certified teachers are, in general, more effective than those who have not met the testing and training requirements for certification, and whether some candidates with strong liberal arts backgrounds might be at least as effective as teacher education graduates. This study examines these questions with a large student-level data set from Houston, Texas that links student characteristics and achievement with data about their teachers' certification status, experience, and degree levels from 1995-2002. The data set also allows an examination of whether Teach for America (TFA candidates-recruits from selective universities who receive a few weeks of training before they begin teaching-are as effective as similarly experienced certified teachers. In a series of regression analyses looking at 4th and 5th grade student achievement gains on six different reading and mathematics tests over a six-year period, we find that certified teachers consistently produce stronger student achievement gains than do uncertified teachers. These findings hold for TFA recruits as well as others. Controlling for teacher experience, degrees, and student characteristics, uncertified TFA recruits are less effective than certified teachers, and perform about as well as other uncertified teachers. TFA recruits who become certified after 2 or 3 years do about as well as other certified teachers in supporting student achievement gains; however, nearly all of them leave within three years. Teachers' effectiveness appears strongly related to the preparation they have received for teaching.

  13. EPIC: Helping School Life and Family Support Each Other.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montgomery, David

    1992-01-01

    Born out of a 1981 murder, Buffalo (New York) Public Schools' EPIC (Effective Parenting Information for Children) program successfully combines parenting, effective teaching, and community programs to help family and school life support each other. Under EPIC, teachers are advised to help students acquire 23 skills involving self-esteem, rules,…

  14. The Teacher-Scholar Project: how to help faculty groups develop scholarly skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinrich, Kathleen T; Hurst, Helen; Leigh, Gwen; Oberleitner, Melinda Granger; Poirrier, Gail P

    2009-01-01

    Nursing education's challenge in the new millennium is to prepare all nurses as scholars. With many nurse educators feeling like impostors when it comes to scholarship, this is no small task. Turning the millenial challenge into an opportunity, this article describes how a collaborative faculty development initiative is turning a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence school's "scholar-impostors" into teacher-scholars. This Teacher-Scholar Project will interest those in teaching intensive schools of nursing or in teaching tracks in research-intensive institutions.

  15. Link Schools: An Evaluation of an Innovatory Scheme in Teacher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boydell, Deanne

    1990-01-01

    The first year of an innovative British partnership between elementary schools, the school district, the teacher training institution, and teacher trainees is evaluated. The program integrates the needs of institutions, students, and professionals. Guiding principles relevant to the development of such partnerships and evaluation issues are…

  16. Revising Teacher Candidates' Views of Science and Self: Can Accounts from the History of Science Help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewthwaite, Brian; Murray, John; Hechter, Richard

    2012-01-01

    Our inquiry uses accounts from the history of science to develop teacher-candidate (student teacher) understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in a science teacher education methods course. This understanding of the NOS is then used as a foundation for developing teacher candidate appreciation of the attributes of authentic science lessons.…

  17. Teaching Primary Science: How Research Helps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harlen, Wynne

    2010-01-01

    The very first edition of "Primary Science Review" included an article entitled "Teaching primary science--how research can help" (Harlen, 1986), which announced that a section of the journal would be for reports of research and particularly for teachers reporting their classroom research. The intervening 24 years have seen…

  18. Linking Theory and Practice: Teacher Research in History and Geography Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Admiraal, Wilfried; Buijs, Maartje; Claessens, Wout; Honing, Terence; Karkdijk, Jan

    2017-01-01

    The impact of scholarly research in education on the educational practice in secondary school is low. Academics examine problems that teachers in school perceive as irrelevant, want to publish in peer-reviewed journals instead of disseminate their work, and aim at generalizing insights rather than improving school practice. Teacher research might…

  19. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... she went to a party and under the influence of drugs and alcohol engaged in risky sexual ... the message to young people and to parents, teachers, and the media about the link between drug ...

  20. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... It contains information for young people, parents and teachers, and the media with links to our latest ... greater injury to cells in the brain and cognitive impairment among people who use methamphetamine than among ...

  1. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... works, disrupting the parts of the brain that people use to weigh risks and benefits when making ... and HIV infection. It contains information for young people, parents and teachers, and the media with links ...

  2. Vocational teachers taking the lead: VET teachers and the career services for teachers reform in Sweden

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Alvunger

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In 2013 the Swedish government launched a reform on career services for teachers that introduced first-teachers as a new category of teachers. Since this reform still is in the process of being rolled out, we know fairly little of its impact, especially concerning VET teachers that are appointed first-teachers. This paper explores and analyses two cases of VET first-teachers with focus on the implications on educational leadership practices in their work with school improvement where 'distributed leadership' is used as a lens for understanding the characteristic features of leader-ship practices. The results show that the VET first-teachers consider themselves to represent an important educational leadership being process leaders for creating a culture built on mutual trust, turning the focus of school improvement from a 'top-down' perspective to change 'from below'. They become 'brokers' and a link between school management and their colleagues, even if there are some difficulties. Moreover they visualise different practices and foster a new awareness - concerning e.g. assessment and the relationship between school and work-place - that seem to influence collegial discourse.

  3. TPACK in teacher education: are we preparing teachers to use technology for early literacy?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

    2017-01-01

    This study examines if and how five teacher education institutes are helping students to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge needed to effectively use technology for early literacy. Focus group discussions were held with teacher educators in which their responses to expert

  4. Teachers for Multicultural Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rivlin, Harry N.; Gold, Milton J.

    Developing teachers for multicultural education is an essential assignment for teacher education and school administration today so that educators might help their students learn to live in a multicultural society. In an earlier view, public schools were considered the "great equalizers" among America's social institutions. The assumption was that…

  5. Teacher in Residence: Bringing Science to Students

    CERN Multimedia

    Daisy Yuhas

    CERN welcomes its first Teacher in Residence, Terrence Baine of the University of Oslo. Baine, who originally hails from Canada, will be concurrently completing his PhD in Physics Education during his time at CERN. Like CERN’s High School Teacher Programme (HST), of which Baine is an alumnus, the Teacher in Residence position is designed to help educators spread the science of CERN in a form that is accessible to students and can encourage them to pursue physics throughout their education.   Terrence Baine, first 'teacher in residence' at CERN Baine explains, “It’s very important to have a teacher present who can be that middle person between the young peoplecoming here, whom we are trying to enlighten, and the physicists who work at CERN. The Teacher in Residence can act as an on-site educational consultant.” As Teacher in Residence, Baine’s primary project will be to develop teaching modules, or a series of lesson plans, that can help high schoo...

  6. Grounding Teacher Education in Practice around the World: An Examination of Teacher Education Coursework in Teacher Education Programs in Finland, Norway, and the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenset, Inga Staal; Klette, Kirsti; Hammerness, Karen

    2018-01-01

    Worldwide, teacher educators and policy makers have called for teacher preparation that is more deeply linked to practice. Yet we know little about how such linkages are achieved within different international programs. We examine the degree to which programs provide opportunities to learn that are grounded in practice, during university…

  7. Emerging technologies, innovative teachers and moral cohesion

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Batchelor, J

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available efficacy when they engage with emerging technologies. The concept of moral cohesion is further expanded and forms the main focus of this article. Keywords: emerging technologies, innovative teachers, moral cohesion, pedagogies, ethics, teacher.... African Renaissance and teacher disposition is identified as the strongest drivers. Teacher training forms the link between the strong drivers and the outcomes manifest as Stewardship and ethical considerations. 3.2 Professional Burden The theme...

  8. Preservice Teachers Connecting Mathematics and Drumming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Anne Marie

    2014-01-01

    Increasingly, elementary classroom teachers are being called to teach a myriad of subjects, including visual art, dance, and music. Preservice teachers must be prepared to teach and integrate multiple subjects. To that end, preservice teachers will need experiences in their preparation that help them to see connections across content areas and…

  9. The Relation of Teachers' Emotional Intelligence and Students' Social Skills to Students' Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties: A Study of Preschool Teachers' Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poulou, Maria S.

    2017-01-01

    The present study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine predictors of students' emotional and behavioral difficulties in preschool classrooms. Specifically, the study examined (a) the link between teachers' perceptions of their own emotional intelligence and students' emotional and behavioral difficulties, (b) the link between teachers'…

  10. Relations between Teachers' Classroom Goals and Values: A Case Study of High School Teachers in Far North Queensland, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pudelko, Claudia E.; Boon, Helen J.

    2014-01-01

    To date, there is an empirical gap in the evidence of the relations between teachers' classroom goals and values, two key variables linked to students' achievement motivation. The purpose of this study was to investigate this relationship in an Australian teacher sample. We surveyed 102 high school teachers from seven schools in Cairns, Queensland…

  11. The Future of Instructional Teacher Leader Roles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangin, Melinda M.; Stoelinga, Sara Ray

    2010-01-01

    In response to increased performance expectations, schools and districts are turning to nonsupervisory, school-based, instructional teacher leader roles to help improve teachers' instruction and enhance student learning. Increased opportunities to learn about teacher leadership may facilitate the implementation and institutionalization of…

  12. Helping Children Develop Resiliency: Providing Supportive Relationships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kersey, Katharine C.; Malley, Catherine Robertson

    2005-01-01

    Helping children develop resiliency begins with positive, meaningful connections between teachers and students. This article defines the importance of encouraging children to develop characteristics related to resiliency including confidence in their ability to bounce back from setbacks, overcome challenges and frustrations. Furthermore, critical…

  13. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... En español Researchers Medical & Health Professionals Patients & Families Parents & Educators Children & Teens Search Connect with NIDA : Facebook ... HIV infection. It contains information for young people, parents and teachers, and the media with links to ...

  14. Linking the microscopic view of chemistry to real-life experiences: Intertextuality in a high-school science classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hsin-Kai

    2003-11-01

    Chemistry learning involves establishing conceptual relationships among macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representations. Employing the notion of intertextuality to conceptualize these relationships, this study investigates how class members interactionally construct meanings of chemical representations by connecting them to real-life experiences and how the teachers' content knowledge shapes their ways to coconstruct intertextual links with students. Multiple sources of data were collected over 7 weeks with a participation of 25 eleventh graders, an experienced teacher, and a student teacher. An examination of classroom discourse shows that the intertextual links between the microscopic view of chemistry and students' real-life experiences could be initiated by students and instigated by the teachers. The teachers applied several discursive strategies to scaffold students building meaningful links based on their prior knowledge and experiences. Additionally, the experienced teacher with stronger content knowledge tended to present links in both dialogic and monologic discourses. Yet, the relatively limited content knowledge did not necessarily constrain the student teacher's interactions with students. The findings of this study provide a backdrop for further research to explore how chemistry is learned and taught in a class through the social constructivist lens.

  15. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/public-education-projects/learn-link-drugs-hiv . 120x90 460x80 486x60 Social Media Send the message to young people and to parents, teachers, and the media ...

  16. COMMENTARY: I'M ONLY TRYING TO HELP: A ROLE FOR INTERVENTIONS IN TEACHING LISTENING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Rost

    2007-02-01

    Full Text Available In my work as an author and teacher trainer, I have the opportunity to travel around the world and talk to teachers in a variety of settings. Though I meet teachers with a range of backgrounds and a wide disparity of resources, I find that a few common themes come up whenever I talk with teachers about language teaching and technology. One of the familiar refrains is that most of us claim to lack the technological resources we feel we need to teach effectively. There’s always something new on the horizon that we feel we just have to have. Another recurring theme is the lament that most of our students just don’t seem to take advantage of the extra learning opportunities we present them anyway! Teachers want to help, but often feel under appreciated for their efforts. Personally, I have relished the ongoing advances in technology over the course of my teaching career. I started out as a secondary school teacher in Togo, West Africa with chalk – sometimes yellow or pink! – and a blackboard as my only teaching technology. When teachers express a sense of being overwhelmed by new technology, I sometimes talk about my own beginnings and also remind them of a few of Donald Norman’s principles of human-centered design. According to Norman (2004, for any new technology to be effective, it must be intuitively helpful and elegantly efficient. In the case of language teaching, this means the technology must – immediately and transparently – help us teach better than we do already. If it doesn’t, we simply shouldn’t use it. In addition, Norman says, for any new technology to be widely adopted, it must appeal to the emotions as well as to reason. If people don’t enjoy using a particular technology, no matter how logically useful it may be, they will tend to shun it. Perhaps because as language teachers we tend to favor eclecticism, we will often throw any emerging technology into the mix as a "helpful resource." As Doughty and Long (2003

  17. Instructional Coaching through Dialogic Interaction: Helping a Teacher to Become Agentive in Her Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haneda, Mari; Teemant, Annela; Sherman, Brandon

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the instructional coaching interactions between a kindergarten teacher and an experienced coach using the analytic lens of dialogic teaching. The data were collected in the context of a US professional development project that supports urban elementary school teachers in enacting critical sociocultural teaching practices. We…

  18. A Window into New Teachers' Minds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Jacqueline Grennon; Mammo, Behailu

    2016-01-01

    The authors--directors of the Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program that recruits new teachers to help students in high-needs schools learn math and science--gave participants in their program the chance to present a metaphor or symbol for good teaching. Each novice teacher presented an artifact or image and described what that artifact represented to…

  19. Linking Teacher Education to Redesigned Systems of Accountability: A Call for Multiple Measures in Pre-Service Teacher Effectiveness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farley, Amy N.; Clayton, Grant; Kaka, Sarah J.

    2018-01-01

    In this written commentary for the special issue of "Education Policy Analysis Archives" focused on "Redesigning Assessment and Accountability," we call for teacher preparation to embrace a multiple measures philosophy by providing teacher candidates with rich opportunities to engage with data from a variety of sources, beyond…

  20. TPACK in Teacher Education: Are We Preparing Teachers to Use Technology for Early Literacy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

    2017-01-01

    This study examines if and how five teacher education institutes are helping students to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge needed to effectively use technology for early literacy. Focus group discussions were held with teacher educators in which their responses to expert recommendations were probed. Findings indicate that,…

  1. Preparing Content Area Teachers for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: The Role of Literacy Teacher Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Zhihui

    2014-01-01

    The recent call for secondary reading instruction to move away from a focus on generic literacy strategies to discipline-specific language and literacy practices presents new challenges for secondary teacher preparation. This column identifies some of the roles literacy teacher educators can play in helping address these challenges.

  2. A school-based health promotion programme to increase help-seeking for substance use and mental health problems: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubman, Dan I; Berridge, Bonita J; Blee, Fiona; Jorm, Anthony F; Wilson, Coralie J; Allen, Nicholas B; McKay-Brown, Lisa; Proimos, Jenny; Cheetham, Ali; Wolfe, Rory

    2016-08-08

    Adolescence is a high-risk time for the development of mental health and substance use problems. However, fewer than one in four 16-24 year-olds with a current disorder access health services, with those experiencing a substance use disorder being the least likely to seek professional help. Research indicates that young people are keeping their problems to themselves or alternatively, turning to peers or trusted adults in their lives for help. These help-seeking preferences highlight the need to build the mental health literacy of adolescents, to ensure that they know when and how to assist themselves and their peers to access support. The MAKINGtheLINK intervention aims to introduce these skills to adolescents within a classroom environment. This is a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) with schools as clusters and individual students as participants from 22 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Schools will be randomly assigned to either the MAKINGtheLINK intervention group or the waitlist control group. All students will complete a self-report questionnaire at baseline, immediately post intervention and 6 and 12 months post baseline. The primary outcome to be assessed is increased help-seeking behaviour (from both formal and informal sources) for alcohol and mental health issues, measured at 12 months post baseline. The findings from this research will provide evidence on the effectiveness of the MAKINGtheLINK intervention for teaching school students how to overcome prominent barriers associated with seeking help, as well as how to effectively support their peers. If deemed effective, the MAKINGtheLINK programme will be the first evidence-informed resource that is able to address critical gaps in the knowledge and behaviour of adolescents in relation to help-seeking. It could, therefore, be a valuable resource that could be readily implemented by classroom teachers. Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12613000235707

  3. The Influence of Achievement Goals on Online Help Seeking of Computer Science Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Qiang; Barnes, Brad; Wright, Ewan; Branch, Robert Maribe

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the online help-seeking behaviors of computer science students with a focus on the effect of achievement goals. The online help-seeking behaviors investigated were online searching, asking teachers online for help, and asking peers or unknown people online for help. One hundred and sixty-five students studying computer…

  4. Social Goals and Willingness to Seek Help for School Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yablon, Yaacov B.

    2012-01-01

    The relation between students' social goals and their willingness to seek help for school violence was examined. Four hundred and sixty-two students from sixth, eighth, and tenth grades responded to vignettes used to assess willingness to seek help from teachers and friends for dealing with relational and physical violence. Intimacy goals enhanced…

  5. Key Issue: Enhancing Teacher Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, 2007

    2007-01-01

    "Teachers are leaders when they function in professional communities to affect student learning; contribute to school improvement; inspire excellence in practice; and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement" (Childs-Bowen, Moller, & Scrivner, 2000, p. 28). Enhancing teacher leadership can help schools and districts reach the…

  6. Using Diagnostic Assessment to Help Teachers Understand the Chemistry of the Lead-Acid Battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheung, Derek

    2011-01-01

    Nineteen pre-service and in-service teachers taking a chemistry teaching methods course at a university in Hong Kong were asked to take a diagnostic assessment. It consisted of seven multiple-choice questions about the chemistry of the lead-acid battery. Analysis of the teachers' responses to the questions indicated that they had difficulty in…

  7. Help! They Don't Speak English: Partnering Preservice Teachers with Adult English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooks, Laura M.

    2008-01-01

    It is well documented that parent and family involvement in children's education correlates with success in school. The increasing number of English Language Learners in public schools has created a need for teacher educators to prepare preservice teachers to be able to work with families who have limited English. This study examined the outcomes…

  8. Empathy Research and Teacher Preparation: Benefits and Obstacles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouton, Bobette

    2016-01-01

    Teacher preparation is critical in cultivating good teachers, but more importantly in helping teachers learn how to meet the academic and emotional needs of preK-12 students. Teaching and training the socio-emotional trait of empathy is an important skill for pre-service teachers to develop. However, due to the multiple definitions, fields of…

  9. Student Generated Rubrics: An Assessment Model To Help All Students Succeed. Assessment Bookshelf Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ainsworth, Larry; Christinson, Jan

    The assessment model described in this guide was initially developed by a team of fifth-grade teachers who wrote objectives of integrating social studies and language arts. It helps the teacher guide students to create a task-specific rubric that they use to evaluate their own and peers' work. Teachers review the student evaluations, determine the…

  10. Teacher to Researcher: Reflections on a New Action Research Program for University EFL Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, Anne; Westmacott, Anne

    2018-01-01

    One of the current challenges facing many universities is how to support teachers in becoming researchers. This article discusses the experiences at a small private Chilean university of a new action research programme that was developed as a vehicle for helping teachers to become involved in research and write a research publication for…

  11. Merit Pay and the Music Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elpus, Kenneth

    2011-01-01

    Current proponents of education reform are at present seeking to fundamentally change the system of teacher compensation by eliminating the traditional single salary schedule and instituting a merit pay system that directly links teacher pay to student achievement. To date, the scholarly literature in music education has been silent on the subject…

  12. A Multicultural Fairy Tale for Teacher Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Scott

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this narrative research is to examine cultural diversity among teacher candidates. A secondary purpose is to offer a pedagogical tool for teacher educators to use with their teacher candidates to help them develop a critical consciousness in their encounters with diverse students and their reflections on their own cultural…

  13. Introducing Rubrics to Physical Education Teacher Candidates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Gerard F.

    2014-01-01

    The importance of using rubrics as an assessment tool has been well established. Rubrics communicate to students what is expected of them, scaffold learning, provide feedback to students and teachers concerning the teaching-learning process, and allow teachers and students to self- and peer-assess. They also help teachers evaluate consistently and…

  14. Implication of formative assessment practices among mathematics teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samah, Mas Norbany binti Abu; Tajudin, Nor'ain binti Mohd

    2017-05-01

    Formative assessment of school-based assessment (SBA) is implemented in schools as a move to improve the National Education Assessment System (NEAS). Formative assessment focuses on assessment for learning. There are various types of formative assessment instruments used by teachers of mathematics, namely the form of observation, questioning protocols, worksheets and quizzes. This study aims to help teachers improve skills in formative assessments during the teaching and learning (t&l) Mathematics. One mathematics teacher had been chosen as the study participants. The collecting data using document analysis, observation and interviews. Data were analyzed narrative and assessments can help teachers implement PBS. Formative assessment is conducted to improve the skills of students in t&l effectively.

  15. Teachers and Coaches in Adolescent Social Networks Are Associated With Healthier Self-Concept and Decreased Substance Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudovitz, Rebecca N; Chung, Paul J; Wong, Mitchell D

    2017-01-01

    Poor academic (eg, "I am a bad student") and behavioral (eg, "I am a troublemaker") self-concepts are strongly linked to adolescent substance use. Social networks likely influence self-concept. However, little is understood about the role teachers and athletic coaches play in shaping both academic and behavioral self-concepts. We analyzed cross-sectional surveys of 929 9th-12th grade low-income minority adolescents in Los Angeles assessing self-concept, social networks, and 30-day use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. We performed generalized estimating equations, accounting for clustering at the school level and controlling for family and peer influences and contextual factors. We also tested whether self-concept-mediated associations between relationships with teachers or coaches and 30-day substance use. More perceived teacher support was associated with lower odds of marijuana and other drug use and better academic and behavioral self-concepts. Behavioral self-concept mediated the associations between teacher support and substance use. By facilitating relationships with adults and improving teachers' capacity to build supportive environments, schools may positively shape how adolescents see themselves, which might help reduce adolescent substance use. © 2016, American School Health Association.

  16. Evolving minds: Helping students with cognitive dissonance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bramschreiber, Terry L.

    Even 150 years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, public school teachers still find themselves dealing with student resistance to learning about biological evolution. Some teachers deal with this pressure by undermining, deemphasizing, or even omitting the topic in their science curriculum. Others face the challenge and deliver solid scientific instruction of evolutionary theory despite the conflicts that may arise. The latter were the topic of this study. I interviewed five teachers that had experience dealing with resistance to learning evolution in their school community. Through these in-depth interviews, I examined strategies these teachers use when facing resistance and how they help students deal with the cognitive dissonance that may be experienced when learning about evolution. I selected the qualitative method of educational criticism and connoisseurship to organize and categorize my data. From the interviews, the following findings emerged. Experienced teachers increased their confidence in teaching evolution by pursuing outside professional development. They not only learned more about evolutionary theory, but about creationist arguments against evolution. These teachers front-load their curriculum to integrate the nature of science into their lessons to address misunderstandings about how science works. They also highlight the importance of learning evolutionary theory but ensure students they do not have an agenda to indoctrinate students. Finally these experienced teachers work hard to create an intellectually safe learning environment to build trusting and respectful relationships with their students.

  17. Helping Farmers Access Farmland: New Jersey's New Land Link Website

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schilling, Brian J.; Marxen, Lucas J.; Everett, Jeffrey C.; Miller, Camille L.; Kimmel, David A.; Cook, Justine C.

    2015-01-01

    Access to land is a common obstacle for beginning farmers and established farmers seeking to expand their operations. Particularly in urban-influenced areas, leasing farmland is often more financially feasible than fee ownership. Locating available land or the right leasing situation, however, can be difficult. NJ Land Link (http://njlandlink.org)…

  18. Celebrating 40 years of Medical Teacher: As the "last man standing" I look back to help us look forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jason, Hilliard

    2018-04-01

    In this reflective, descriptive, analytical, first-person piece, I offer recollections, data, and literature to help elucidate the emergence of medical education as a scholarly field, as part of celebrating Medical Teacher's 40-year anniversary. I emphasize the impressive growth of the professional literature in medical education, and recognize that much remains to be done. Medical education as a domain for research and development has transitioned from being largely ignored during the first 20 of the past 60 years, through a slow growth phase, to rapid acceleration during the last 2 decades. By introducing the use and potential of "edumarkers," we can see that medical education as a focus of scholarly pursuits was absent to minimal before recent decades, and we can identify trends and questions that deserve further exploration. Concern and recommendations: Only a small subset of the large population assigned to instruct health professions learners actually conducts and responds to medical education scholarship. I raise several questions as possible guides to the future for those of us who are devoted to enhancing educational processes and outcomes for learners who are expected to help prevent and manage the health challenges faced by the world's people.

  19. Iranian EFL Teachers' Perceptions of Teacher Self-Disclosure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahimi, Ali; Askari Bigdeli, Rouhollah

    2016-01-01

    Teacher self-disclosure (TSD) as a communication behavior can influence students' learning by increasing their engagement and class participation as well as helping them establish effective interpersonal relationships. Owning to its context-sensitive and culture-dependent nature, however, TSD topics, purposes, and considerations may vary…

  20. Literacy teacher education principles and effective practices

    CERN Document Server

    Litt, Deborah G; Place, Nancy A

    2014-01-01

    Few resources exist to give literacy teacher educators a comprehensive view of effective, innovative practices in their field, making this uniquely practical volume an important addition to the literature. Each chapter describes research findings and pedagogical methods, with an emphasis on what teachers really need to know to succeed. Woven into the text are more than 30 detailed activities and assignments to support teacher development, written by outstanding teacher educators. Links to professional teaching standards and the Common Core State Standards are highlighted throughout. Suppleme

  1. Tried & Tested. Ideas from Teacher Centers in the Southeast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohstedt, Jinx, Ed.; Eisenmann-Donahue, Pat, Ed.

    Throughout the southeastern United States, teacher centers share much in common. The conceptual framework of teachers helping teachers inspires the development of resources and services which are similar whether the center serves a large district or only a few schools. Although the teacher centers share similar philosophies, concerns, successes,…

  2. Novice Mathematics Teachers Create Themselves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schatz Oppenheimer, Orna; Dvir, Nurit

    2018-01-01

    This study presents a qualitative research based on three narratives written by novice mathematics teachers. We examine their unique professional world during their first year of work. The methodology of narrative framework, on which this article is based, helps to gain better understanding of the need for novice mathematics teachers to have…

  3. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... young people and to parents, teachers, and the media about the link between drug misuse and HIV. We have produced a set of multicultural public service announcements (PSAs) that use text messaging as a means of communication. The "Text Message" PSA features two young girls ...

  4. Field-Based Teacher Research: How Teachers and Scientists Working Together Answers Questions about Turtle Nesting Ecology while Enhancing Teachers' Inquiry Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winters, J. M.; Jungblut, D.; Catena, A. N.; Rubenstein, D. I.

    2013-12-01

    Providing rigorous academic supplement to a professional development program for teachers, QUEST is a fusion of Drexel University's environmental science research department with Princeton University's Program in Teacher Preparation. Completed in the summers of 2012 (in partnership with Earthwatch) and 2013 in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, QUEST's terrapin field research program enhances K-12 teachers' ecological knowledge, develops inquiry-based thinking in the classroom, and builds citizen science engagement. With a focus on quality question development and data analysis to answer questions, teachers are coached in developing, implementing, and presenting independent research projects on diamondback terrapin nesting ecology. As a result, teachers participating in QUEST's week long program bring a realistic example of science in action into their classrooms, helping to develop their own students' critical thinking skills. For teachers, this program provides training towards educating students on how to do real and imaginative science - subsequently sending students to university better prepared to engage in their own independent research. An essential component of the collaboration through QUEST, in addition to the teacher's experience during and after the summer institute, is the research data collected which supplements that of the Principal Investigator. In 2012, by documenting terrapin nest site predators, teachers gained valuable scientific experience, while Drexel acquired important ecological data which would have not been able to be collected otherwise. In 2013, teachers helped answer important questions about terrapin nesting success post Superstorm Sandy. In fact, the 2013 QUEST teachers are the first to visualize the frighteningly increased erosion of a primary terrapin nesting site due to Sandy; showing how most terrapin nests now lie in the bay, instead of safe on shore. Teachers comment that interacting with scientists in the field, and contributing to

  5. Development: Ages & Stages--Helping Children Manage Fears

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poole, Carla; Miller, Susan A.; Church, Ellen Booth

    2004-01-01

    By watching, listening, and offering gentle reassurance, you can help young children work through their fears. Sudden noises, movement, or unfamiliar people often frighten babies. After 12 months of nurturing experiences with familiar teachers and routines, a baby is more prepared and less easily startled. Preschoolers have a variety of fears such…

  6. [Teachers' knowledge about suicide and its connection to burn-out and avoidant coping].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papp, Barbara; Láng, András

    2013-01-01

    Priority of suicide prevention is so-called "gatekeepers" ("helper professionals'") training on suicidology. Teachers' knowledge concerning suicide was examined mainly in search for the answer to the question whether poor knowledge of suicidology is just a result of lack of information. Assuming that the extent of suicidology knowledge is a complex issue, ignorance might be related to burnout and avoidant coping. Teachers participating in compulsory postgradual training were tested (N = 102). Hungarian version of the short form of Hubbard McIntosh's suicide questionnaire, Maslach's burnout questionnaire for teachers and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-48) were used. Our results show that teachers' knowledge concerning suicide is somewhat worse than that of helpers, but better than the that of the average population. Avoidant coping style was more typical of teachers having poorer knowledge about suicide; and education professionals with less task oriented coping style reported greater knowledge of this subject. Authors therefore suggest a link between avoidant coping and the extent of knowledge concerning suicide. Relationship of avoidant coping with burnout was not confirmed, but a mediational model could be set up regarding male participants. Suicide prevention trainings are definitely of high importance and utility among teachers. Based on our results it seems equally important to help them overcome the cultural taboos related to the topic, to provide them with psychological support and to enable them to discuss their own suicide-related experiences and personal involvement in professional-led groups.

  7. School Health Promotion and Teacher Professional Identity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jourdan, Didier; Simar, Carine; Deasy, Christine; Carvalho, Graça S.; McNamara, Patricia Mannix

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Health and education are inextricably linked. Health promotion sits somewhat uncomfortably within schools, often remaining a marginal aspect of teachers' work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the compatibility of an HP-initiative with teacher professional identity. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research design was…

  8. School Ethical Climate and Teachers' Voluntary Absence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapira-Lishchinsky, Orly; Rosenblatt, Zehava

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to offer a theoretical framework for linking school ethical climate with teachers' voluntary absence. The paper attempts to explain this relationship using the concept of affective organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 1,016 school teachers from 35 high schools in Israel. Data were…

  9. Providing Effective Feedback to EFL Student Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Holi Ibrahim Holi; Al-Adawi, Hamed Ahmed

    2013-01-01

    Feedback on school practicum is of utmost importance for student teachers to help them to develop their pedagogical and teaching skills. This paper attempts to collect data from both student teachers and their mentors in an ELT teacher training programme in Oman to answer the questions which are raised by this study: 1) What kind of feedback do…

  10. Queer English Language Teacher Identity: A Narrative Exploration in Colombia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lander, Roderick

    2018-01-01

    This article presents partial results of research exploring links between language teacher identity and queer identity in English language teachers working in Colombia. Three gay male teachers participated in a narrative research project framed within a poststructural perspective on identity. I conducted and recorded semi-structured interviews…

  11. Measuring Teachers' Knowledge of Vocabulary Development and Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duguay, Annie; Kenyon, Dorry; Haynes, Erin; August, Diane; Yanosky, Tiffany

    2016-01-01

    This article describes the development of an instrument to measure teachers' knowledge of vocabulary development and instruction, the Teacher Knowledge of Vocabulary Survey (TKVS). This type of knowledge has become increasingly important as all classroom teachers are expected to help students meet language and literacy standards that include…

  12. A framework for high-school teacher support in Geosciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bookhagen, B.; Mair, A.; Schaller, G.; Koeberl, C.

    2012-04-01

    To attract future geoscientists in the classroom and share the passion for science, successful geoscience education needs to combine modern educational tools with applied science. Previous outreach efforts suggest that classroom-geoscience teaching tremendously benefits from structured, prepared lesson plans in combination with hands-on material. Building on our past experience, we have developed a classroom-teaching kit that implements interdisciplinary exercises and modern geoscientific application to attract high-school students. This "Mobile Phone Teaching Kit" analyzes the components of mobile phones, emphasizing the mineral compositions and geologic background of raw materials. Also, as geoscience is not an obligatory classroom topic in Austria, and university training for upcoming science teachers barely covers geoscience, teacher training is necessary to enhance understanding of the interdisciplinary geosciences in the classroom. During the past year, we have held teacher workshops to help implementing the topic in the classroom, and to provide professional training for non-geoscientists and demonstrate proper usage of the teaching kit. The material kit is designed for classroom teaching and comes with a lesson plan that covers background knowledge and provides worksheets and can easily be adapted to school curricula. The project was funded by kulturkontakt Austria; expenses covered 540 material kits, and we reached out to approximately 90 schools throughout Austria and held a workshop in each of the nine federal states in Austria. Teachers received the training, a set of the material kit, and the lesson plan free of charge. Feedback from teachers was highly appreciative. The request for further material kits is high and we plan to expand the project. Ultimately, we hope to enlighten teachers and students for the highly interdisciplinary variety of geosciences and a link to everyday life.

  13. Across the Arctic Teachers Experience Field Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warnick, W. K.; Warburton, J.; Wiggins, H. V.; Marshall, S. A.; Darby, D. A.

    2005-12-01

    From studying snow geese on the North Slope of Alaska to sediment coring aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean, K-12 teachers embark on scientific expeditions as part of a program that strives to make science in the Arctic a "virtual" reality. In the past two years, seventeen K-12 teachers have participated in Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating (TREC), a program that pairs teachers with researchers to improve science education through arctic field experiences. TREC builds on the scientific and cultural opportunities of the Arctic, linking research and education through topics that naturally engage students and the wider public. TREC includes expeditions as diverse as studying plants at Toolik Field Station, a research facility located 150 miles above the Arctic Circle; climate change studies in Norway's Svalbard archipelago; studying rivers in Siberia; or a trans-arctic expedition aboard the USCGC Healy collecting an integrated geophysical data set. Funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, TREC offers educators experiences in scientific inquiry while encouraging the public and students to become active participants in the scientific inquiry by engaging them virtually in arctic research. TREC uses online outreach elements to convey the research experience to a broad audience. While in remote field locations, teachers and researchers interact with students and the public through online seminars and live calls from the field, online journals with accompanying photos, and online bulletin boards. Since the program's inception in 2004, numerous visitors have posted questions or interacted with teachers, researchers, and students through the TREC website (http://www.arcus.org/trec). TREC teachers are required to transfer their experience of research and current science into their classroom through the development of relevant activities and resources. Teachers and researchers are encouraged to participate

  14. Helping Young Children See Math in Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parks, Amy Noelle; Blom, Diana Chang

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to provide strategies for recognizing meaningful mathematics in common play contexts in early childhood classrooms and to offer suggestions for how teachers might intervene in these moments to help children attend to the mathematical ideas embedded in their play. In particular, the author's focus on the concepts of…

  15. The First Summer--Critical for Vo-Ag Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughn, Paul R.; Vaughn, Roscoe C.

    1979-01-01

    To aid beginning New Mexico vocational agriculture teachers, the New Mexico State Department of Vocational Education initiated two activities: developing a first-year handbook to provide direction and guidance and making a visit to beginning teachers before the start of school. Beginning teachers indicated that both activities have been helpful.…

  16. Teacher Attitude to Inspectors and Inspection: Quality Control ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Educational Research. Journal Home · ABOUT ... These will help to change the negative attitude of teachers to inspectors and inspection to positive. Keywords: Teacher Attitude; School Inspection; Education Inspectors.

  17. Teachers' Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheuch, Klaus; Haufe, Eva; Seibt, Reingard

    2015-05-15

    Almost 800,000 teachers were working in Germany in the 2012-13 school year. A determination of the most common medical problems in this large occupational group serves as the basis for measures that help maintain teachers' health and their ability to work in their profession. We present our own research findings, a selective review of the literature, and data derived from the German statutory health insurance scheme concerning medical disability, long-term illness, and inability to work among teachers. Compared to the general population, teachers have a more healthful lifestyle and a lower frequency of cardiovascular risk factors (except hypertension). Like non-teachers, they commonly suffer from musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases. Mental and psychosomatic diseases are more common in teachers than in non-teachers, as are nonspecific complaints such as exhaustion, fatigue, headache, and tension. It is commonly said that 3-5% of teachers suffer from "burnout," but reliable data on this topic are lacking, among other reasons because the term has no standard definition. The percentage of teachers on sick leave is generally lower than the overall percentage among statutory insurees; it is higher in the former East Germany than in the former West Germany. The number of teachers taking early retirement because of illness has steadily declined from over 60% in 2001 and currently stands at 19%, with an average age of 58 years, among tenured teachers taking early retirement. The main reasons for early retirement are mental and psychosomatic illnesses, which together account for 32-50% of cases. Although German law mandates the medical care of persons in the teaching professions by occupational physicians, this requirement is implemented to varying extents in the different German federal states. Teachers need qualified, interdisciplinary occupational health care with the involvement of their treating physicians.

  18. Can New Modes of Digital Learning Help Resolve the Teacher Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Bob; Villet, Charmaine

    2017-01-01

    Sub-Saharan Africa, more than any other part of the world, is experiencing a crisis in finding sufficiently qualified teachers to meet the needs of expanding school systems. The professional development support provided to serving teachers is also inadequate in most countries. The most recent data on learner outcomes has revealed a worrying…

  19. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... Link between drug use and HIV and to help us Send the Message . Get the Facts What ... and the public. Send the Message Overview Please help us send the message to young people and ...

  20. Professional Help-Seeking for Adolescent Dating Violence in the Rural South: The Role of Social Support and Informal Help-Seeking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedge, Jasmine M.; Sianko, Natallia; McDonell, James R.

    2016-01-01

    Structural equation modeling with three waves of data was used to assess a mediation model investigating the relationship between perceived social support, informal help-seeking intentions, and professional help-seeking intentions in the context of adolescent dating violence. The sample included 589 adolescents from a rural, southern county who participated in a longitudinal study of teen dating violence victimization and perpetration. Results suggest that informal help-seeking intentions are an important link between perceived social support and professional help-seeking intentions. Findings highlight the importance of informal help-seeking and informal help-giving in fostering professional help-seeking for adolescent victims and perpetrators of dating violence. PMID:27580981

  1. Minority Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kearney-Gissendaner, Janet E.

    2010-01-01

    The tools and resources in this book help school leaders seamlessly incorporate minority teacher recruitment and retention programs into current human-resources activities. With details about exemplary minority teacher recruitment and retention programs, this book also showcases strategies for how to replicate such programs in your own school or…

  2. Pre-Service Teacher Vision and Urban Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roselle, Rene; Liner, Kevin

    2012-01-01

    As preservice teachers enter their first teaching experience, they often have perceptions about what teaching will be like based on a vision that is typically linked to their own background and experiences. This study explores the changes in visions of 15 preservice teachers throughout student teaching in an urban environment. The research will…

  3. An alternative approach for teacher education framed by a collaborative partnership setting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pontoppidan, Birgitte Schou

    The study presents an alternative didactical approach to teacher education linking practice and theory through a collaborative partnership setting. Using a ―small scale teaching design in which students alternate between schools and college it was possible to show someevidence that, by following...... this approach, first year student teachers in a science & technology class developed teacher knowledge (as aspects of PCK). The study identifies an example using Co-Re and PaPeR as a Resource Folio to show where evidence of developing teacher knowledge is seen. This didactical approach turns the traditional...... teacher education on its head and begins with a focus on practice so students alternate between school–based and college–based teaching in a cyclical fashion, and are encouraged to link theory with practice. This kind of college teaching demands a new teacher educational paradigm for which collaboration...

  4. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH FOR TEACHER EDUCATION COURSES FRAMED BY A COLLABORATE PARTNERSHIP

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pontoppidan, Birgitte

    2010-01-01

    The study presents an alternative didactical approach to teacher education linking practice and theory through a collaborative partnership setting. Using a “small scale” teaching design in which students alternate between schools and college it was possible to show some evidence that, by following...... this approach, first year student teachers in a science & technology class developed teacher knowledge (as aspects of PCK). The study identifies an example using Co-Re and PaPeR as a Resource Folio to show where evidence of developing teacher knowledge is seen. This didactical approach turns the traditional...... teacher education on its head and begins with a focus on practice so students alternate between school–based and college–based teaching in a cyclical fashion, and are encouraged to link theory with practice. This kind of college teaching demands a new teacher educational paradigm for which collaboration...

  5. Co-operation Between Science Teachers and Mathematics Teachers. Volumes 1-6.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogerson, Alan, Ed.

    This document contains six separate works, titled: (1) Functions and Physics; (2) Links Between Geography and Mathematics; (3) Our Inheritance: Common Ground for the Mathematics and Biology Teacher; (4) Mathematics and Chemistry: The Classroom Interface; (5) Mathematical Modeling; and (6) Mathematical Modeling with Calculus. This series of…

  6. The Effects of Study Abroad on Teacher Competencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Altun

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Promoting harmony within diversity has become a goal of both global education and multicultural education. Schools need to help students to become more culturally aware today. Teachers who study abroad can enable diverse groups to live in harmony. Individuals need to promote respect and mutual understanding to function in modern diverse societies. Unless people develop better inter-community relations, a cohesive and tolerant society cannot be created. Study abroad experience helps teachers develop increased cultural awareness as they acquire more cultural knowledge and cultural sensitivity while studying abroad. It has been assumed that teachers who study abroad can work more effectively in an intercultural context. This article attempts to explain whether study abroad experience allows teachers to encourage students to recognize the diversity of cultures and values.

  7. Greek Teachers Programme 2015

    CERN Multimedia

    Hoch, Michael

    2015-01-01

    The 3rd edition of this year's Greek Teachers Programme was co-organized by CERN Education Group and the Hellenic Physical Society and took place from 8 to 12 November 2015. The programme targets physics high-school teachers from all over Greece. It aims to help teachers inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by motivating their students to understand and appreciate how science works at the world's largest physics laboratory, whereby increasing their interest in pursuing studies in STEM fields in secondary and post-secondary education. 33 teachers took part in this programme which comprised lectures by Greek members of the CERN scientific community, with visits to experimental facilities, hands-on activities and dedicated sessions on effective and creative ways through which participants may bring physics, particle physics and CERN closer to their school classroom. In 2015, more than 100 teachers took part in the three editions of the Greek Teachers Programme.

  8. 75 FR 8854 - Teacher Incentive Fund Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-26

    ..., evaluation, retention, and advancement into instructional leadership roles. When the PBCS's implementation... responsibilities and leadership roles; and (4) Include helping teachers and principals to better understand and use... high-need schools by creating incentives for effective teachers and principals in these schools. DATES...

  9. Elementary Teacher's Conceptions of Inquiry Teaching: Messages for Teacher Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ireland, Joseph E.; Watters, James J.; Brownlee, Jo; Lupton, Mandy

    2012-02-01

    This study explored practicing elementary school teacher's conceptions of teaching in ways that foster inquiry-based learning in the science curriculum (inquiry teaching). The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers' pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 elementary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science in the elementary years of schooling: (a) The Experience-centered conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centered conception where teachers focused on engaging students with challenging problems; and (c) The Question-centered conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers' conceptions has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviors during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in Science.

  10. Listen, Protect, Connect--Model & Teach: Psychological First Aid (PFA) for Students and Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schreiber, M.; Gurwitch, R.; Wong, M.

    2006-01-01

    Just as teachers help connect students with appropriate academic and counseling services under normal circumstances, after a disaster they can help them return to school, stay in school, continue to learn, and return to their usual school-based activities. This pamphlet presents some steps for teachers to follow to help themselves and their…

  11. University Student and Teacher Perceptions of Teacher Roles in Promoting Autonomous Language Learning with Technology outside the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Chun; Yeung, Yuk; Hu, Jingjing

    2016-01-01

    Helping students to become autonomous learners, who actively utilize technologies for learning outside the classroom, is important for successful language learning. Teachers, as significant social agents who shape students' intellectual and social experiences, have a critical role to play. This study examined students' and teachers' perceptions of…

  12. Teaching the teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zavalkoff, Anne

    2002-10-01

    SUMMARY This paper presents a conceptual tool designed to help teacher education students think critically about the roots and consequences of personal, parental, community, and institutional resistance to diverse sexual identities and behaviours. To explore the roots of sexualized and gendered prejudice and ground the conceptual tool theoretically, it begins with a careful examination of Judith Butler's work on performativity. The paper then describes and illustrates the conceptual tool. The Continuum of (Subversive) Drag Performance helps stimulate critical thinking about the power implications of people's sexed and gendered performances through its six ranges: Radical, Stealth, Commercial, Passing, Mainstream, and Privileged. Because these ranges are independent of common considerations of "normalcy," they offer teacher education students a relatively unthreatening framework for analyzing conceptions of sexuality and gender that, left unexamined, can contribute to sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia.

  13. Collaboration Model for ESL and Content Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broer, Kathleen

    2013-01-01

    This study will examine strategies that ESL teachers and content teachers can use to help middle school ESL students acquire science vocabulary and meta-cognitive strategies for writing skills in non-fiction text forms. Two appendixes are included. (Contains 3 figures and 2 footnotes.)

  14. Math Is Like a Scary Movie? Helping Young People Overcome Math Anxiety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulkin, Margaret

    2016-01-01

    Afterschool teachers who tutor students or provide homework help have a unique opportunity to help students overcome the social or emotional barriers that so often block learning. They can embrace a creative and investigative approach to math learning. Margaret Kulkin's interest in being a math attitude "myth-buster" led her to apply to…

  15. The Relationship between Teacher Support and Students' Academic Emotions: A Meta-Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Lei

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This meta-analysis examines the association between teacher support and students' academic emotions [both positive academic emotions (PAEs and negative academic emotions (NAEs] and explores how student characteristics moderate these relationships. We identified 65 primary studies with 58,368 students. The results provided strong evidence linking teacher support and students' academic emotions. Furthermore, students' culture, age, and gender moderated these links. The correlation between teacher support and PAEs was stronger for Western European and American students than for East Asian students, while the correlation between teacher support and NAEs was stronger for East Asian students than for Western European and American students. Also, the correlation between teacher support and PAEs was strong among university students and weaker among middle school students, compared to other students. The correlation between teacher support and NAEs was stronger for middle school students and for female students, compared to other students.

  16. Seniority Rules: Do Staffing Reforms Help Redistribute Teacher Quality and Reduce Teacher Turnover? CRPE Working Paper 2010-1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gross, Betheny; DeArmond, Michael; Goldhaber, Dan

    2010-01-01

    Education reformers routinely call on school districts to stop hiring teachers based on seniority, which they argue interferes with effective staffing, especially in disadvantaged schools. The few researchers who have empirically studied the issue, however, disagree about whether seniority-based hiring is systematically associated with staffing…

  17. Effects of Help Options in a Multimedia Listening Environment on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohsen, Mohammed Ali

    2016-01-01

    Several types of help options have been incorporated into reading and listening comprehension activities to aid second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Textbook authors, teachers, and sometimes even students may pick and choose which help options they wish to use. In this paper, I investigate the effects of two help options in a multimedia…

  18. Burnout does not help predict depression among French school teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianchi, Renzo; Schonfeld, Irvin Sam; Laurent, Eric

    2015-11-01

    Burnout has been viewed as a phase in the development of depression. However, supportive research is scarce. We examined whether burnout predicted depression among French school teachers. We conducted a 2-wave, 21-month study involving 627 teachers (73% female) working in French primary and secondary schools. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and depression with the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 grades depressive symptom severity and provides a provisional diagnosis of major depression. Depression was treated both as a continuous and categorical variable using linear and logistic regression analyses. We controlled for gender, age, and length of employment. Controlling for baseline depressive symptoms, linear regression analysis showed that burnout symptoms at time 1 (T1) did not predict depressive symptoms at time 2 (T2). Baseline depressive symptoms accounted for about 88% of the association between T1 burnout and T2 depressive symptoms. Only baseline depressive symptoms predicted depressive symptoms at follow-up. Similarly, logistic regression analysis revealed that burnout symptoms at T1 did not predict incident cases of major depression at T2 when depressive symptoms at T1 were included in the predictive model. Only baseline depressive symptoms predicted cases of major depression at follow-up. This study does not support the view that burnout is a phase in the development of depression. Assessing burnout symptoms in addition to "classical" depressive symptoms may not always improve our ability to predict future depression.

  19. Exploring the Job Satisfaction of Late Career Secondary Physical Education Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carson, Russell L.; Hemphill, Michael A.; Richards, K. Andrew R.; Templin, Tom

    2016-01-01

    As teachers move toward the end of their careers, understanding the experiences that help them derive satisfaction from their work has implications for helping them stay engaged in teaching. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the job satisfaction of late career physical education teachers. Jessica, Sandy, and Bill were later…

  20. Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptions of Probability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odafe, Victor U.

    2011-01-01

    Probability knowledge and skills are needed in science and in making daily decisions that are sometimes made under uncertain conditions. Hence, there is the need to ensure that the pre-service teachers of our children are well prepared to teach probability. Pre-service teachers' conceptions of probability are identified, and ways of helping them…

  1. State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2009. Hawaii

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Council on Teacher Quality, 2009

    2009-01-01

    The Hawaii edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

  2. 10,000th teacher visits CERN

    CERN Multimedia

    Kathryn Coldham

    2016-01-01

    This year, the 10,000th teacher will visit CERN since its first teacher programme in 1998.   HST 2016 teachers with CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti in the CERN Council Chamber. (Image: Maximilien Brice/CERN) This summer, CERN welcomed the 10,000th teacher to participate in one of its teacher programmes! This milestone was achieved in this year’s International High School Teacher (HST) programme, a three-week residential programme that saw 48 enthusiastic teachers flock from all over the world to help inspire young minds. Taking place every July since 1998, the HST programme aims to increase teachers’ knowledge on the cutting-edge particle physics research currently being carried out at CERN. It also opens up a whole new world of educational resources available for use by the teachers to inspire their students’ curious young minds. More information is available here.

  3. Queer Teachers' Ethical Dilemmas regarding Queer Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Vanessa Tamara

    2010-01-01

    Although all teachers are expected to be "role models," discursive trajectories reaching back to the West's gay liberation pressure queer teachers to be role models in specific ways--by "coming out" and helping queer students out of their "time of difficulty." Paradoxically, discourses that construct children as…

  4. Strangers and Professionals: Positioning Discourse in ESL Teachers' Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haneda, Mari; Nespor, Jan

    2013-01-01

    English Language Learners (ELLs) usually spend most of the school day with regular classroom teachers. The ability of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers to help these students, then, depends in part on their ability to influence how the classroom teachers think of ELL students and ESL itself. One way ESL teachers do this is through…

  5. Episode-Centered Guidelines for Teacher Belief Change toward Technology Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Er, Erkan; Kim, ChanMin

    2017-01-01

    Teachers' episodic memories influence their beliefs. The investigation of episodic memories can help identify the teacher beliefs that limit technology-integration. We propose the Episode-Centered Belief Change (ECBC) model that utilizes teachers' episodic memories for changing beliefs impeding effective technology integration. We also propose…

  6. [Are teachers at risk for psychiatric disorders? Stereotypes, physiology and perspectives of a job prevalently done by women].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lodolo D'Oria, V; Bulgarini d'Elci, G; Bonomi, P; Della Torre Di Valsassina, M; Fasano, A Iossa; Giannella, Valentina; Ferrari, Maria; Waldis, Francesca; Pecori Giraldi, Francesca

    2009-01-01

    Teachers are one of the so-called helping professions which are strongly exposed to the "Burnout syndrome". Nonetheless, public opinion is still convinced teachers enjoy a privileged status and physicians most often ignore psychiatric disorders following burnout due to teaching-related stress. Indeed, although France recently issued a suicide warning among teachers, and psychiatric diagnosis among this profession almost doubled in Japan in ten years, only few studies have been published on the subject in peer-reviewed journals. The present study was carried out by administering a questionnaire to 1295 teachers from ten different Italian regions aimed at evaluating teachers' conditions as well as their perception of work-related health risks. The outcome showed that teachers are mostly unaware of work-related health risks, they are discouraged by their employers, perceive union support as highly insufficient and feel under attack by the mass media as well as by the public. Further, any attempt by the head teacher to protect teacher's health--mandatory according to recent Italian legislation--is frequently misinterpreted as mobbing, due to the lack of appropriate legal knowledge. Interestingly, the study population believed that investigating the link between menopause and depressive disorders among teachers was extremely useful. In fact, over 82% of teachers are women with a median age of approximately 50. Social stress among women has in fact increased greatly given the triple role played by fifty-year-old teachers (mother of adolescents, care-giver for elderly parents and teacher). Lastly, general practitioners and psychiatrists need to be educated on psychiatric disorders due to teaching-related stress in order to achieve a correct diagnosis and treatment.

  7. Listening to Music: Helping Children Regulate Their Emotions and Improve Learning in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foran, Lucille M.

    2009-01-01

    Early education teachers are familiar with using music and rhythm as tools for learning language and building memory. However, the potential of music to help across all special education settings is largely unexplored. Work with music has been widely judged helpful in cases of psychological trauma, yet people do not know why it is helpful. The…

  8. Using a Conceptual-Change Approach to Help Preservice Science Teachers Reorganize Their Knowledge Structures for Constructivist Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhindsa, H. S.; Anderson, O. R.

    2004-02-01

    This study, based on constructivist learning theory, examined how effectively preservice chemistry teachers (N = 43) can be educated to think flexibly and to reorganize their thinking in a way that may complement diverse ways students approach the subject domain. The teacher's cognitive structure was assessed prior to and after a conceptual change intervention using flow-map narrative analyses. There was a significant change in the organization of the preservice teacher's narrative after the conceptual change intervention, including greater networking of ideas and more thematic development of the content. Hence, a conceptual change approach may be a useful way to educate teachers to be more responsive to student individual differences when planning and delivering science lessons.

  9. Jordanian Preservice Primary Teachers' Perceptions of Mentoring in Science Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abed, Osama H.; Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad

    2015-03-01

    Quality mentoring is fundamental to preservice teacher education because of its potential to help student and novice teachers develop the academic and pedagogical knowledge and skills germane to successful induction into the profession. This study focused on Jordanian preservice primary teachers' perceptions of their mentoring experiences as these pertain to science teaching. The Mentoring for Effective Primary Science Teaching instrument was administered to 147 senior preservice primary teachers in a university in Jordan. The results indicated that the greater majority of participants did not experience effective mentoring toward creating a supportive and reflexive environment that would bolster their confidence in teaching science; further their understanding of primary science curriculum, and associated aims and school policies; help with developing their pedagogical knowledge; and/or furnish them with specific and targeted feedback and guidance to help improve their science teaching. Substantially more participants indicated that their mentors modeled what they perceived to be effective science teaching. The study argues for the need for science-specific mentoring for preservice primary teachers, and suggests a possible pathway for achieving such a model starting with those in-service primary teachers-much like those identified by participants in the present study-who are already effective in their science teaching.

  10. Teacher Knowledge and Classroom Practice: Examining the Connection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Michael; Gilbert, Barbara

    2013-01-01

    This paper extends existing research regarding content knowledge for teaching (CKT) and the role it plays in advancing student learning. Two teachers, with high and low measured CKT respectively, are observed on the same day teaching similar content. Many studies have recently been published linking student achievement to teacher's CKT and many US…

  11. Teacher Perceptions of Their Curricular and Pedagogical Shifts: Outcomes of a Project-Based Model of Teacher Professional Development in the Next Generation Science Standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shernoff, David J; Sinha, Suparna; Bressler, Denise M; Schultz, Dawna

    2017-01-01

    In this study, we conducted a model of teacher professional development (PD) on the alignment of middle and high school curricula and instruction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSSs), and evaluated the impact of the PD on teacher participants' development. The PD model included a 4-day summer academy emphasizing project-based learning (PBL) in the designing of NGSS-aligned curricula and instruction, as well as monthly follow-up Professional Learning Community meetings throughout the year providing numerous opportunities for teachers to develop and implement lesson plans, share results of lesson writing and implementation (successes and challenges), provide mutual feedback, and refine curricula and assessments. Following the summer academy, six female teachers were interviewed about their current conceptualizations of NGSS, the extent of curricular shifts made that are required by NGSS, their self-perceptions regarding their level of accomplishment in curriculum writing, and the benefits of the PD in reaching their goals related to NGSS. Interviews were supplemented with an analysis of lesson plans written while participating in the PD program. The interviewed teachers suggested that they had made important conceptual and pedagogical shifts required by NGSS as they participated in the PD, and also noted a variety of challenges as they made this shift. While all teachers were relative novices at NGSS curriculum writing before the PD, most of the teachers interviewed felt that they had achieved the status of an "accomplished novice" following the summer academy. An analysis of their written lessons suggested a great range in the extent to which teachers effectively applied their understanding of NGSS to write lessons aligned to NGSS. Interviewed teachers believed that the PD model was helpful to their development as science teachers, and all reported that there were no aspects of the PD that were not helpful. Even though most teachers obtained a basic

  12. Accountability or Authenticity? The Alignment of Professional Development and Teacher Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yahui; Feng, Liyia; Hsu, Chang-Hui

    2017-01-01

    The alignment of professional development and teacher evaluation has been a growing concern in teacher professional development practices. The issue of how teacher evaluation can help authentic professional development is important in that teachers only learn what is real, useful and valuable to them. Based on our reflections on current…

  13. Attitude of Student Teachers towards Teaching Profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhargava, Anupama; Pathy, M. K.

    2014-01-01

    Teaching being a dynamic activity requires a favourable attitude and certain specific competencies from its practitioners. Teachers' proficiency depends on the attitude she possesses for the profession. The positive attitude helps teacher to develop a conductive learner friendly environment in the classroom. This also casts a fruitful effect on…

  14. Using an Adult Development Model to Help Explain Pre-Service Teacher Resistance to Learning about Race

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puchner, Laurel; Markowitz, Linda

    2016-01-01

    This article shows the potential usefulness of applying Kegan's constructive-developmental model to White teacher education students' difficulties in understanding racial dynamics in US society. The data for this analysis come from a study examining the evolution of White teacher candidates' understandings and practices related to diversity as…

  15. Reflection on the Teaching-Learning Process in the Initial Training of Teachers. Characterization of the Issues on Which Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers Reflect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamoso, J. M.; Caceres, M. J.; Azcarate, P.

    2012-01-01

    Our aim was to highlight the issues of the reflections of pre-service mathematics teachers in their learning portfolio about the teaching-learning process taking place in a university teacher-training classroom. Category systems were designed which, together with the analysis system used, could provide a method helpful to teacher educators,…

  16. The Strength of Accountability and Teachers' Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elstad, Eyvind; Christophersen, Knut-Andreas; Turmo, Are

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) involves discretionary behaviour advantageous to the organisation that goes beyond existing role expectations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between the strength of accountability and teachers' OCB within three different management systems in which teachers are working: a…

  17. Teaching Abroad: Why Teachers Prefer Teaching Overseas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Serbes

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Teaching overseas has always been a great opprotunity for academic and social development. Teachers who have international experiences stand a better chance of not only developing their teaching skills, communication skills and classroom management but also learning new languages and about other cultures. Teaching abroad can help teachers promote their skills for efficiency and effectiveness. It is important to stress that teachers with international experience can teach effectively and can contribute to the achievement of their students more. This paper focuses on five reasons why teachers prefer teaching overseas.

  18. Pedagogical Decision Making through the Lens of Teacher Preparation Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prachagool, Veena; Nuangchalerm, Prasart; Subramaniam, Ganakumaran; Dostal, Jirí

    2016-01-01

    Pedagogical decision making is very important for professional teachers, it concerns belief, self-efficacy, and actions that teachers expose to classroom. This paper employed theoretical lens and education policy in Thailand to examine the preservice teachers' views about pedagogical decision making. Discussion helps school mentors understand…

  19. The "Come and Go" Syndrome of Teachers in Remote Indigenous Schools: Listening to the Perspective of Indigenous Teachers about What Helps Teachers to Stay and What Makes Them Go

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    High turnover of teachers in remote Indigenous community schools in the Northern Territory has long been considered a significant contributing factor to low academic outcomes for students in those communities. The average length of stay for a non-Indigenous teacher in a remote school can more easily be measured in months than years. This…

  20. Teaching judging and judging teaching in teacher education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Birthe; Lindhart, Lars

    education may influence the professional judgment and influence the concrete practice. Since educating professional judgment is value-laden, and there are disagreements about the role of the school and the understanding of the ideal teacher, values and moral issues deserves serious attention. However......The concept of professional judgment and how to develop this within teacher education is the core focus in this paper. The aim of teacher education in Denmark is to qualify the students for a specific profession as teachers in the Folkeskole (the primary and lower secondary school). The teacher...... education is often criticized by students and politicians that theory and professional practice are not linked successfully and, consequently, the teacher education is often changed, recently brought about by competence-based curricula. It is therefore relevant to gain new knowledge about how teacher...

  1. TEACHER-ADVISORS: Where There's a Skill There's A Way.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamminen, Armas; And Others

    This report discusses a program to present the Teacher Advisement Training Model. This model for training teacher-advisors is based on the assumption that tentative commitment to making school a more rewarding experience for all is the first step in starting an effective program. The approach is to help teachers learn specific skills and methods…

  2. High School Physics Teacher Preparation: Results from the 2012-13 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. Focus On

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Susan; Tyler, John

    2015-01-01

    This report examines teachers' self-assessed preparedness to teach physics, their membership in professional organizations, and where they turn for help when they have questions. Almost every teacher reports feeling at least adequately prepared to teach basic physics knowledge and the application of physics to everyday experience. The smallest…

  3. Mental health first aid training for high school teachers: a cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorm, Anthony F; Kitchener, Betty A; Sawyer, Michael G; Scales, Helen; Cvetkovski, Stefan

    2010-06-24

    Mental disorders often have their first onset during adolescence. For this reason, high school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students who are developing mental health problems. To improve the skills of teachers in this area, a Mental Health First Aid training course was modified to be suitable for high school teachers and evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. The trial was carried out with teachers in South Australian high schools. Teachers at 7 schools received training and those at another 7 were wait-listed for future training. The effects of the training on teachers were evaluated using questionnaires pre- and post-training and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaires assessed mental health knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence in providing help to others, help actually provided, school policy and procedures, and teacher mental health. The indirect effects on students were evaluated using questionnaires at pre-training and at follow-up which assessed any mental health help and information received from school staff, and also the mental health of the student. The training increased teachers' knowledge, changed beliefs about treatment to be more like those of mental health professionals, reduced some aspects of stigma, and increased confidence in providing help to students and colleagues. There was an indirect effect on students, who reported receiving more mental health information from school staff. Most of the changes found were sustained 6 months after training. However, no effects were found on teachers' individual support towards students with mental health problems or on student mental health. Mental Health First Aid training has positive effects on teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence and some aspects of their behaviour. ACTRN12608000561381.

  4. `All We Did was Things Like Forces and Motion …': Multiple Discourses in the development of primary science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danielsson, Anna; Warwick, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Previous research has highlighted challenges associated with embracing an inquiry approach to science teaching for primary teachers, often associating these challenges with insecurity linked to the lack of content knowledge. We argue that in order to understand the extent to which primary student teachers are able to embrace science teaching informed by scientific literacy for all, it is important to take into account various, sometimes competing, science teacher and primary teacher Discourses. The aim of this paper is to explore how such Discourses are constituted in the context of learning to teach during a 1-year university-based Post Graduate Certificate of Education course. The empirical data consist of semi-structured interviews with 11 student teachers. The analysis identifies 5 teacher Discourses and we argue that these can help us to better understand some of the tensions involved in becoming a primary teacher with a responsibility for teaching science: for example, in terms of the interplay between the student teachers' own educational biographies and institutionally sanctioned Discourses. One conclusion is that student teachers' willingness and ability to embrace a Discourse of science education, informed by the aim of scientific literacy for all, may be every bit as constrained by their experience of learning science through 'traditional schooling' as it is by their confidence with respect to their own subject knowledge. The 5 Discourses, with their complex interrelations, raise questions about which identity positions are available to students in the intersections of the Discourses and which identity positions teacher educators may seek to make available for their students.

  5. Yes You Can...Help Your Teenager Succeed in School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamek, Sue; And Others

    Ways parents can help their teenagers succeed in school are offered by teachers in the Minnetonka (Minnesota) Public Schools. Sections of the parent guide concern: (1) encouragement--encouraging the student through generous praise, encouraging best efforts, communicating love, making education a family priority, avoiding pressuring the teen,…

  6. Reaching the Future Teachers in Your Classroom: New Directions in Pre-Service Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grier, Jennifer A.; Ruberg, L.

    2006-09-01

    We will present results and progress from initiatives seeking to improve the experiences of future teachers in college level science classes. A future teacher (pre-service teacher) is inspired to teach science based on personal experiences with college science classes. The most critical opportunity to make a real difference in science education in schools comes when the teachers themselves are first being educated. Given the difficulties in identifying future teachers and the wide variations in their needs, how can we best help future teachers in training? What critical thinking skills are most important for them to absorb from their exposure to science as undergraduates and graduate students? What teaching and learning experiences can we offer that will help science teachers in training confidently assess the relationship between evidence and explanations and then bring that understanding and experience effectively into their own classroom? Recent initiatives in pre-service education have identified several key strategies for improving teacher preparation at the post-secondary level: - Using a constructivist approach to teach physical science concepts and guided inquiry - Knowing common misconceptions about key scientific concepts that students bring to college-level science classrooms - Applying documented strategies for identifying and addressing student misconceptions; and - Knowing how to select and adapt curriculum materials based on common preconceptions held by students. The challenge of reaching these outcomes is complex and cannot be addressed with simple solutions. Teaching strategies that help prepare future teachers include modeling effective teaching of science, understanding the relationship between student/teacher misconceptions, designing and implementing evaluation and assessment, appropriate use of technology tools, and tapping into the existing community of learners to provide ongoing education opportunities and support as the pre

  7. The Mentoring Profile Inventory: An Online Professional Development Resource for Cooperating Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Anthony; Collins, John; Triggs, Valerie; Nielsen, Wendy; Augustine, Ann; Coulter, Dianne; Cunningham, Joni; Grigoriadis, Tina; Hardman, Stephanie; Hunter, Lee; Kinegal, Jane; Li, Bianca; Mah, Jeff; Mastin, Karen; Partridge, David; Pawer, Leonard; Rasoda,Sandy; Salbuvik, Kathleen; Ward, Mitch; White, Janet; Weil, Frederick

    2012-01-01

    We report on the origins, development and refinement of an online inventory to help cooperating teachers focus on selected dimensions of their practice. The Mentoring Profile Inventory (MPI) helps quantify important features of both the motivating and challenging aspects of mentoring student teachers and provides results to respondents in a…

  8. The Opinion of Latvian Teachers About the Most Suitable Teaching Methods and Possibilities to Make Lessons Interesting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Porozovs Juris

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Student’s learning motivation and learning outcomes depend on the ability of the teacher to interest students, the chosen teaching methods and proficiency to manage the learning process. Teacher who can successfully choose teaching content, material resources and different teaching methods is able to cause interest about his subject. Teacher who is interested in teaching process himself can help students to learn a subject. The aim of the study was to find out the Latvian teachers' opinion about the disturbing factors affecting the achievement of high learning outcomes for students, the most suitable teaching methods and the possibilities to make lessons interesting. The survey of teachers of different schools in Latvia regarding their students’ learning motivation was carried out. The data from 482 teachers’ answers were analysed. The results of the research showed that the majority of surveyed teachers consider that learning motivation of Latvia students has decreased during the last few years. Teachers point out several factors, which do not allow students to reach high learning outcomes, the most important of them are: the inability of students to link career and success with learning and lack of life goals; inability of students to concentrate attention during lessons; indisposition of students to do homework. The teachers consider laboratory works, discussions, project works, group works and teacher’s presentations and narrative of new material as the most suitable teaching methods. Teachers consider that the most important personality trait of teachers and learning motivation for students to improve their skills is the teacher’s ability to teach the subject in an interesting way. Teachers believe that lessons can be made interesting if modern technologies and teaching methods are used during lessons and when the teacher is able to connect the subject with real life.

  9. TEACHER TRAINING: How to Produce Better Math and Science Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mervis, J

    2000-09-01

    Two National Research Council panels have released new reports on improving science and math education in the United States. One panel says that the best way to improve teacher education is to make it a continuum, with school districts taking more responsibility for the initial preparation of new teachers and university faculty playing a bigger role in ongoing professional development. The other panel says that more recent science Ph.D.s would be willing to teach high school science and math if the government helped with the transition, if the certification process were compressed, and if they could retain ties to research.

  10. Rational-Emotive Therapy to Help Teachers Control Their Emotions and Behavior when Dealing with Disagreeable Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maag, John W.

    2008-01-01

    Students with challenging behaviors are very deft at engaging teachers in power struggles as a way to either feel empowered, obtain attention, or escape an unpleasant task. The more frustrated that teachers permit themselves to get, the less capable they are of responding in a therapeutic, productive fashion to students' challenging behaviors. The…

  11. Jordanian Preservice Primary Teachers' Perceptions of Mentoring in Science Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abed, Osama H.; Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad

    2015-01-01

    Quality mentoring is fundamental to preservice teacher education because of its potential to help student and novice teachers develop the academic and pedagogical knowledge and skills germane to successful induction into the profession. This study focused on Jordanian preservice primary teachers' perceptions of their mentoring experiences as these…

  12. Authoritative school climate, aggression toward teachers, and teacher distress in middle school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Juliette K; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-03-01

    Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less distress. The sample of 9,134 teachers in 389 middle schools came from the Virginia Secondary School Climate Survey, a statewide survey administered to all public schools with 7th and 8th grade enrollment. The majority of teachers (75%) were female. More than half (53%) reported that they had more than 10 years of teaching experience; 23% reported 6 to 10 years; 24% reported 1 to 5 years. Students reported on the degree to which their schools were structured and supportive. Teachers reported on their experiences of aggression by students, their level of distress, and their feelings of safety. Staff-related infractions computed from Department of Education records were also used. Multilevel modeling revealed that teachers in authoritative schools experienced less aggression and felt safer and less distressed. Lower aggression by students mediated the association between more authoritative schools and lower distress such that more structured and supportive schools had greater teacher safety and, in turn, less distress. The findings support the idea that more structured and supportive schools relate to greater safety for teachers and, in turn, less distress. Research limitations and implications for practice are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. Ethical leadership, employee well-being, and helping: the moderating role of human resource management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kalshoven, K.; Boon, C.T.

    2012-01-01

    In this multi-source study, we examined the link between ethical leadership, human resource management (HRM), employee well-being, and helping. Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, we proposed a mediated moderation model linking ethical leadership to helping, which includes well-being as

  14. The Research Portfolio: Educating Teacher Researchers in Data Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bates, Alisa J.; Bryant, Jill D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes research on a course assignment, the research portfolio, designed for a two-course teacher research experience in a Masters of Arts in Teaching program. The focus of the assignment is the process of data collection and analysis that is critical to the success of teacher research. We sought a way to help our teacher candidates…

  15. Teacher's Questions in Reading Classes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuliati Rohmah

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: The present paper discusses an English teacher's questions in Reading classes at MAN Malang III. Types of questions, functions of teacher's questions, question levels and the strategies applied by the teacher were put as the research problems. Non-participant observa­tion was applied to collect the data with the researcher as the main in­strument aided by field-notes and a tape recorder. It was found that the distribution of the questions did not allow the students to talk longer and to think more analytically. Meanwhile, the strategies applied by the teacher helped the students to respond to the questions previously unanswered. The teacher is suggested to produce more open and refer­ential question as well as inference and evaluation questions as to give more chances for the students to think aloud more.

  16. A recommendation module to help teachers build courses through the Moodle Learning Management System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Limongelli, Carla; Lombardi, Matteo; Marani, Alessandro; Sciarrone, Filippo; Temperini, Marco

    2016-01-01

    In traditional e-learning, teachers design sets of Learning Objects (LOs) and organize their sequencing; the material implementing the LOs could be either built anew or adopted from elsewhere (e.g. from standard-compliant repositories) and reused. This task is applicable also when the teacher works in a system for personalized e-learning. In this case, the burden actually increases: for instance, the LOs may need adaptation to the system, through additional metadata. This paper presents a module that gives some support to the operations of retrieving, analyzing, and importing LOs from a set of standard Learning Objects Repositories, acting as a recommending system. In particular, it is designed to support the teacher in the phases of (i) retrieval of LOs, through a keyword-based search mechanism applied to the selected repositories; (ii) analysis of the returned LOs, whose information is enriched by a concept of relevance metric, based on both the results of the searching operation and the data related to the previous use of the LOs in the courses managed by the Learning Management System; and (iii) LO importation into the course under construction.

  17. Factor Analysis of Teacher Professional Development in Chinese Military Medical Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Juan-Juan; Chen, Gang; Wang, Zhen-Wei; Liu, Wei-Dong

    2017-01-01

    Background and purpose: Teacher professional development potentially enhances teachers' professional morale, knowledge, skills and autonomy, which helps improve the quality of education. The military medical university is an important medical education institution in China; however, studies of teacher professional development within military…

  18. The ASSISTments Ecosystem: Building a Platform That Brings Scientists and Teachers Together for Minimally Invasive Research on Human Learning and Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heffernan, Neil T.; Heffernan, Cristina Lindquist

    2014-01-01

    The ASSISTments project is an ecosystem of a few hundred teachers, a platform, and researchers working together. Development professionals help train teachers and get teachers to participate in studies. The platform and these teachers help researchers (sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly) simply by using content the teacher selects. The…

  19. Comparing the Internet Usage of Pre-service Language Teachers With Teachers of Other Subjects: Distance Learning vs. On-Campus Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Firat

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Teachers play a crucial role in helping individuals gain adequate Internet competency, which requires teachers themselves to be Internet-literate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Internet use of the distance and on-campus pre-service teachers of language and other disciplines by multiple parameters. A total of 789 teacher candidates participated in this survey. The findings show that the candidate teachers in on-campus and distance-learning programs have an average level of Internet usage adequacy and that the younger candidate teachers and those in higher classes use the Internet more frequently. Pre-service foreign language teachers have been found to have a moderate level of Internet usage frequency, adequacy and technology ownership in comparison with the other preservice teacher groups.

  20. Evaluating the Impact of Teacher Professional Development: An Evidence-Based Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Fiona

    2014-01-01

    Does teacher professional development make a difference? How do we know? While researchers and policy-makers acknowledge that teacher professional development (PD) needs to be assessed and evaluated, there is often little clarity as to how this can be achieved. Evaluation of teacher PD by schools has been described as the weak link in the PD chain…

  1. "Dear Teacher, Johnny Copied."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Louise A.; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Presents the problem of intentional or unintentional plagiarism on the part of young students, several possible causes for it, and offers ways teachers can help students avoid copying and understand the value of owning one's writing. (JC)

  2. Linking Preservice Teachers' Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Mathematics Teaching Efficacy to Their Mathematical Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bates, Alan B.; Latham, Nancy; Kim, Jin-ah

    2011-01-01

    This study examined preservice teachers' mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics teaching efficacy and compared them to their mathematical performance. Participants included 89 early childhood preservice teachers at a Midwestern university. Instruments included the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES), Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs…

  3. The Social Intelligence of Principals: Links to Teachers' Continuous Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    McQuade, Joan

    2013-01-01

    Despite multiple efforts to reform 21st education to better meet the needs of all students, school improvement successes have been sporadic and debatable. Research suggests that significant improvement lies within the purview of teachers and principals, and this current research provided the underpinnings for the study. Based on neuroscience…

  4. A Review of Literature on Teacher Efficacy and Classroom Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dibapile, Waitshega Tefo Smitta

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper was to review the literature on teacher efficacy and classroom management. The conceptual framework of this paper was based on the theories of Rotter (1966) and Bandura (1977). The review of literature indicated that teacher efficacy helps teachers plan effective instructional strategies, increases performance, and…

  5. EFL Teachers' Perception of the Concept of Communicative Competence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazari, Ahmad

    2007-01-01

    This study briefly reviews Chomsky's and Hymes' ideas on competence and links them to Dubin's notions of autonomous and ideological communicative competence. Based on interviews with high school EFL teachers, the study hypothesizes that some of these teachers have an indistinct view about communicative competence that moves between autonomous and…

  6. Practices implemented by a Texas charter school system to overcome science teacher shortage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasar, Bilgehan M.

    The purpose of this study was to examine practices used by a charter school system to hire and retain science teachers. The research design for this study was a qualitative case study. This single instrumental case study explored the issue within a bounded system. Purposeful sampling strategy was used to identify the participants who were interviewed individually. Findings of the case study supported that using online resources, advertising in the newspaper, attending job fairs, using alternative certification programs, attracting alumni, contacting the college of educations and hiring internationally helped the charter school system with hiring science teachers. Improving teacher salary scale, implementing teacher mentorship programs, reimbursing teachers for certification and master's programs, providing professional development and supporting teachers helped to retain science teachers. Therefore, this study contributes to determining strategies and techniques, selecting methods and programs, training administrators, and monitoring for successful hiring and retaining science teacher implementation.

  7. Teachers Supporting Teachers in Urban Schools: What Iterative Research Designs Can Teach Us.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shernoff, Elisa S; Maríñez-Lora, Ane M; Frazier, Stacy L; Jakobsons, Lara J; Atkins, Marc S; Bonner, Deborah

    2011-12-01

    Despite alarming rates and negative consequences associated with urban teacher attrition, mentoring programs often fail to target the strongest predictors of attrition: effectiveness around classroom management and engaging learners; and connectedness to colleagues. Using a mixed-method iterative development framework, we highlight the process of developing and evaluating the feasibility of a multi-component professional development model for urban early career teachers. The model includes linking novices with peer-nominated key opinion leader teachers and an external coach who work together to (1) provide intensive support in evidence-based practices for classroom management and engaging learners, and (2) connect new teachers with their larger network of colleagues. Fidelity measures and focus group data illustrated varying attendance rates throughout the school year and that although seminars and professional learning communities were delivered as intended, adaptations to enhance the relevance, authenticity, level, and type of instrumental support were needed. Implications for science and practice are discussed.

  8. EFFECTS OF MUSIC TEACHER CANDIDATES’ ATTITUDES RELATED TO BOOK READING ON PERFORMANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Hasan OKAY

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Music education depends on processing complex applications by considering educational aims because of its nature. Deep and multi dimensional form of music performance requires a detailed teoritical substructure in every disciplines related to music making. Knowing well that teoritical substructure by musicians or music making learners/teachers effects directly deepness of musical cause and quality and so on achievement. These elements requires to be powered on that substructure for who are related to music making subject. Reading books whiches are about mentioned music making theoritical substructure is a affective way standing on the front of the elements that help everybody linked musicianship. This research aims to evaluate relationships of music candidates’ book reading attitudes with academic achievement of instrument or vocal performance lessons. “Öğretmen Adaylarının Kitap Okuma Alışkanlığına Yönelik Tutum Ölçeği” (The Attitudes Scale of of Teacher Candidates’ Reading Book Trends is used to gather data by taking permission Mrs. Kırmızı who developed this scale.

  9. Scaling-up an efficacious school-based physical activity intervention: Study protocol for the ‘Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers support Activity in Youth’ (iPLAY cluster randomized controlled trial and scale-up implementation evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Lonsdale

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite the health benefits of regular physical activity, most children are insufficiently active. Schools are ideally placed to promote physical activity; however, many do not provide children with sufficient in-school activity or ensure they have the skills and motivation to be active beyond the school setting. The aim of this project is to modify, scale up and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention previously shown to be efficacious in improving children’s physical activity, fundamental movement skills and cardiorespiratory fitness. The ‘Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers support Activity in Youth’ (iPLAY study will focus largely on online delivery to enhance translational capacity. Methods/Design The intervention will be implemented at school and teacher levels, and will include six components: (i quality physical education and school sport, (ii classroom movement breaks, (iii physically active homework, (iv active playgrounds, (v community physical activity links and (vi parent/caregiver engagement. Experienced physical education teachers will deliver professional learning workshops and follow-up, individualized mentoring to primary teachers (i.e., Kindergarten – Year 6. These activities will be supported by online learning and resources. Teachers will then deliver the iPLAY intervention components in their schools. We will evaluate iPLAY in two complementary studies in primary schools across New South Wales (NSW, Australia. A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT, involving a representative sample of 20 schools within NSW (1:1 allocation at the school level to intervention and attention control conditions, will assess effectiveness and cost-effectiveness at 12 and 24 months. Students’ cardiorespiratory fitness will be the primary outcome in this trial. Key secondary outcomes will include students’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (via accelerometers, fundamental movement

  10. Mental health first aid training for high school teachers: a cluster randomized trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorm Anthony F

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mental disorders often have their first onset during adolescence. For this reason, high school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students who are developing mental health problems. To improve the skills of teachers in this area, a Mental Health First Aid training course was modified to be suitable for high school teachers and evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. Methods The trial was carried out with teachers in South Australian high schools. Teachers at 7 schools received training and those at another 7 were wait-listed for future training. The effects of the training on teachers were evaluated using questionnaires pre- and post-training and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaires assessed mental health knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence in providing help to others, help actually provided, school policy and procedures, and teacher mental health. The indirect effects on students were evaluated using questionnaires at pre-training and at follow-up which assessed any mental health help and information received from school staff, and also the mental health of the student. Results The training increased teachers' knowledge, changed beliefs about treatment to be more like those of mental health professionals, reduced some aspects of stigma, and increased confidence in providing help to students and colleagues. There was an indirect effect on students, who reported receiving more mental health information from school staff. Most of the changes found were sustained 6 months after training. However, no effects were found on teachers' individual support towards students with mental health problems or on student mental health. Conclusions Mental Health First Aid training has positive effects on teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence and some aspects of their behaviour. Trial registration ACTRN12608000561381

  11. Teachers and ICT: a necessary meeting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio Berzosa Ramos

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available ICT (Information and Communication are a key element in today’s society and they will, little by little, sitting in the school. In this integration process teachers take a leading role research is needed. In this article the way the integration of ICT in a particular school affects the attitudes of teachers towards the same is reviewed, while the evolution that teachers experience in the uses made of ICT is observed and how they become an innovative tool that helps in the search for new educational practices.

  12. Teacher-child relationships and pedagogical practices: considering the teacher’s perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thijs, J.T.; Koomen, H.M.Y.; van der Leij, A.

    2008-01-01

    This study explored the link between teachers' reports of their relationships with individual kindergartners and their self-reported pedagogical practices toward these children. Two samples of kindergarten teachers were examined. They were questioned about, respectively, 117 and 167 children

  13. Musical competence of preschool teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Grdešič, Irena

    2012-01-01

    My diploma deals with musical competencies of preschool teachers. Music education includes many different activities: singing various songs, playing different instruments, listening to music, being creative while listening to music and creating the music itself. It is of utmost importance that kindergarten teachers are capable of mediating music to the children and are able to incorporate it into the every day of their kindergarten activities. Music helps calm children down, it relaxes them, ...

  14. How Pensions Contribute to the Premium Paid to Experienced Public School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGee, Joshua B.; Winters, Marcus A.

    2017-01-01

    Many argue that public school systems should stop linking teachers' salaries so closely to their years of experience. However, the effect of deferred retirement compensation on the premium paid to experienced teachers has, to date, been underappreciated. To shed more light on this issue, we calculate the total compensation earned by teachers in…

  15. The Industrial Vocational High School Teacher Training Program Cooperating with the Enterprises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chi, Cheng-Feng

    Training of vocational education teachers should be closely linked to the industries in which the teachers are preparing to instruct students. A teacher training program in Taiwan has been designed with the cooperation of the metals manufacturing industry. In this four-year program, students are assigned to the industry to learn the product…

  16. Institutional traditions in teachers' manners of teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundqvist, Eva; Almqvist, Jonas; Östman, Leif

    2012-03-01

    The aim of this article is to make a close case study of one teacher's teaching in relation to established traditions within science education in Sweden. The teacher's manner of teaching is analysed with the help of an epistemological move analysis. The moves made by the teacher are then compared in a context of educational philosophy and selective tradition. In the analyses the focus is to study the process of teaching and learning in action in institutionalised and socially shared practices. The empirical material consists of video recordings of four lessons with the same group of students and the same teacher. The students are all in Year 7 in a Swedish 9-year compulsory school. During these lessons the students work with a subject area called "Properties of materials". The results show that the teacher makes a number of different moves with regard to how to proceed and come to a conclusion about what the substances are. Many of these moves are special in that they indicate that the students need to be able to handle the procedural level of school science. These moves do not deal directly with the knowledge production process, but with methodological aspects. The function of the moves turns the students' attention from one source of knowledge to another. The moves are aimed at helping the students to help themselves, since it is through their own activity and their own thinking that learning takes place. This is characteristic in the teacher's manner of teaching. When compared in a context of educational philosophy, this manner of teaching has similarities with progressentialism; a mixture of essentialism and progressivism. This educational philosophy is a central aspect of what is called the academic tradition—a selective tradition common in science education in Sweden between 1960 and 1990.

  17. An Economic Course for Elementary School Teachers. Second Revised Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovell, Hugh; Harter, Charlotte

    This handbook is intended to help economic educators develop teacher training courses for demonstrating to classroom teachers how to teach economics to children, grades 1-9. Teachers enrolled in the course carry out their own pupil activities which teach economic ideas. These activities include problem solving, case studies, skits, making posters,…

  18. How Learning Conditions and Program Structure Predict Burnout and Satisfaction in Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Friederike; Rösler, Lena; Möller, Jens; Köller, Olaf

    2018-01-01

    To support prospective teachers' professional development, teacher education should be characterised by conditions that help to prevent burnout and facilitate satisfaction. This study investigates predictors of burnout and satisfaction in teacher education by drawing on universities with different teacher education programme structures and assumed…

  19. A Structural Equation Modelling Approach for Massive Blended Synchronous Teacher Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannan, Kalpana; Narayanan, Krishnan

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach for blended synchronous teacher training workshop. It examines the relationship among various factors that influence the Satisfaction (SAT) of participating teachers. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from about 500 engineering college teachers. These teachers…

  20. Tourette--and Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teitelbaum, Blanche R.

    1979-01-01

    Describes the Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome, a little-known disorder of the central nervous system whose symptoms include involuntary movements, such as facial tics, and the production of involuntary sounds, such as grunts and obscenities. Suggests ways teachers can help a child afflicted with this disorder. (SJL)

  1. Teacher Perceptions of Their Curricular and Pedagogical Shifts: Outcomes of a Project-Based Model of Teacher Professional Development in the Next Generation Science Standards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David J. Shernoff

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we conducted a model of teacher professional development (PD on the alignment of middle and high school curricula and instruction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSSs, and evaluated the impact of the PD on teacher participants’ development. The PD model included a 4-day summer academy emphasizing project-based learning (PBL in the designing of NGSS-aligned curricula and instruction, as well as monthly follow-up Professional Learning Community meetings throughout the year providing numerous opportunities for teachers to develop and implement lesson plans, share results of lesson writing and implementation (successes and challenges, provide mutual feedback, and refine curricula and assessments. Following the summer academy, six female teachers were interviewed about their current conceptualizations of NGSS, the extent of curricular shifts made that are required by NGSS, their self-perceptions regarding their level of accomplishment in curriculum writing, and the benefits of the PD in reaching their goals related to NGSS. Interviews were supplemented with an analysis of lesson plans written while participating in the PD program. The interviewed teachers suggested that they had made important conceptual and pedagogical shifts required by NGSS as they participated in the PD, and also noted a variety of challenges as they made this shift. While all teachers were relative novices at NGSS curriculum writing before the PD, most of the teachers interviewed felt that they had achieved the status of an “accomplished novice” following the summer academy. An analysis of their written lessons suggested a great range in the extent to which teachers effectively applied their understanding of NGSS to write lessons aligned to NGSS. Interviewed teachers believed that the PD model was helpful to their development as science teachers, and all reported that there were no aspects of the PD that were not helpful. Even though most teachers

  2. Choosing Great Books for Babies: Helping Children Develop a Life-Long Love of Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honig, Alice Sterling

    2007-01-01

    This article describes how a great choice of books could help children develop a life-long love of reading. Every teacher wants to boost a baby's chances in later success. The single most powerful tool a teacher has for awakening a deep love of books and learning is to read to children daily. Reading should become a loved, intimate activity filled…

  3. Helping Italian science teachers to make earth and climate active lessons. Results of 3 years support with the ICLEEN project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cattadori, M.

    2013-12-01

    collaboration with the University of Trento dealing with the effectiveness of the service as well as the usability of the graphic user interface (GUI). The present work aims to illustrate the essential features of the service I-cleen and the results achieved during the last three years of operation. It will be display and interpret for the first time data with web traffic, and other data from downloading and publishing documents of the teaching resources and the main outcomes of the above mentioned tests. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight strengths and weaknesses of this experience and potentially able to provide valuable information on the role of today's web based services and online communities to help support teachers in earth and climate sciences subjects.

  4. SUPPORTING TEACHERS IN IMPLEMENTING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES IN EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, C. J.; Penuel, W. R.; Haydel Debarger, A.; Blank, J. G.

    2009-12-01

    An important purpose of formative assessment is to elicit student thinking to use in instruction to help all students learn and inform next steps in teaching. However, formative assessment practices are difficult to implement and thus present a formidable challenge for many science teachers. A critical need in geoscience education is a framework for providing teachers with real-time assessment tools as well as professional development to learn how to use formative assessment to improve instruction. Here, we describe a comprehensive support system, developed for our NSF-funded Contingent Pedagogies project, for addressing the challenge of helping teachers to use formative assessment to enhance student learning in middle school Earth Systems science. Our support system is designed to improve student understanding about the geosphere by integrating classroom network technology, interactive formative assessments, and contingent curricular activities to guide teachers from formative assessment to instructional decision-making and improved student learning. To accomplish this, we are using a new classroom network technology, Group Scribbles, in the context of an innovative middle-grades Earth Science curriculum called Investigating Earth Systems (IES). Group Scribbles, developed at SRI International, is a collaborative software tool that allows individual students to compose “scribbles” (i.e., drawings and notes), on “post-it” notes in a private workspace (a notebook computer) in response to a public task. They can post these notes anonymously to a shared, public workspace (a teacher-controlled large screen monitor) that becomes the centerpiece of group and class discussion. To help teachers implement formative assessment practices, we have introduced a key resource, called a teaching routine, to help teachers take advantage of Group Scribbles for more interactive assessments. Routine refers to a sequence of repeatable interactions that, over time, become

  5. Misconceptions Regarding the Brain: The Neuromyths of Preservice Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dündar, Sefa; Gündüz, Nazan

    2016-01-01

    Understanding preservice teachers' misconceptions regarding the brain and neuroscience (neuromyths) can provide information that helps teachers to apply neuroscience knowledge in an educational context. The objective of this study was to investigate these misconceptions. Following preliminary research, a questionnaire comprising 59 challenging…

  6. Using a motivation-based instructional model for teacher development and students' learning of science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Min-Jung

    2009-10-01

    Science teachers often have difficulty helping students participate in scientific practices and understand scientific ideas. In addition, they do not frequently help students value their science learning. As one way to address these problems, I designed and examined the effects of professional development using a motivation-based instructional model with teachers and students. This motivation-based inquiry and application instructional model (MIAIM) consists of four steps of activities and identifies instructional and motivational functions that teachers can use to engage their students in scientific inquiry and application and to help them value their science learning. In order to conduct this study, I worked with three teachers (4 th, 8th, and 8th) in both suburban and urban environments. This study consisted of three parts-an initial observation of teachers' classrooms, professional development with MIAIM, and an observation of teachers' classrooms after the professional development. Data analysis of class observations, interviews, and class artifacts shows that there was a moderate change in teachers' teaching approach after the intervention. The three teachers designed and enacted some inquiry and application lessons that fit the intent of MIAIM. They also used some instructional and motivational practices more frequently after the intervention than they did before the intervention. In particular, they more frequently established central questions for investigations, helped students find patterns in data by themselves, provided opportunities for application, related science to students' everyday lives, and created students' interests in scientific investigation by using interesting stories. However, there was no substantial change in teachers' use of some practices such as providing explanations, supporting students' autonomy, and using knowledge about students in designing and enacting science lessons. In addition, data analysis of students' surveys, class

  7. Teachers' Experiences With and Perceptions of Students With Attention Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Kay; Estrada, Robin Dawson; McCormick, Jessica

    The purpose of this research was to examine teacher experiences with and perceptions of students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teachers are integral in helping these children learn effectively and foster healthy relationships, yet little is known about their interactions with these children. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of fourteen currently practicing or retired elementary and middle schools teachers in North Carolina and South Carolina. All interviews were audio-recorded then analyzed for common themes. Participants obtained ADHD information from in-services or peer interaction, rather than formal education. Culture and gender influenced teacher perceptions, and ADHD classroom strategies were based on anecdotal experience. Teachers experienced guilt and worry while negotiating student needs, school system constraints, and family issues. While teachers have developed effective coping mechanisms through informal means, formal education and support will help teachers better serve students with ADHD. Pediatric nurses in many settings can benefit from better understanding how teachers perceive and interact with students who have attentional issues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. The Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC): Linking Climate Literacy, Resilience Thinking and Service Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branco, B. F.; Fano, E.; Adams, J.; Shon, L.; Zimmermann, A.; Sioux, H.; Gillis, A.

    2017-12-01

    Public schools and youth voices are largely absent from climate resilience planning and projects in New York City. Additionally, research shows that U.S. science teachers' understanding of climate science is lacking, hence there is not only an urgent need to train and support teachers on both the science and pedagogy of climate change, but to link climate literacy, resilience thinking and service learning in K-12 education. However, research on participation of students and teachers in authentic, civic-oriented experiences points to increased engagement and learning outcomes in science. The Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC) Project will address all these needs through an afterschool program in six coastal Brooklyn schools that engages teachers and urban youth (grades 6-12), in school and community climate resilience assessment and project design. The RiSC climate curriculum, co-designed by New York City school teachers with Brooklyn College, the National Wildlife Federation, New York Sea Grant and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, will begin by helping students to understand the difference between climate and weather. The curriculum makes extensive use of existing resources such as NOAA's Digital Coast and the Coastal Resilience Mapping Portal. Through a series of four modules over two school years, the six RiSC teams will; 1. explore and understand the human-induced drivers of climate change and, particularly, the significant climate and extreme weather related risks to their schools and surrounding communities; 2. complete a climate vulnerability assessment within the school and the community that is aligned to OneNYC - the city's resilience planning document; 3. design and execute a school-based resilience project; and 4. propose resilience guidelines for NYC Department of Education schools. At the end of each school year, the six RiSC teams will convene a RiSC summit with city officials and resilience practitioners to share ideas and

  9. World History and Teacher Education: Challenges and Possibilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marino, Michael

    2011-01-01

    This article discusses the role that teacher educators can play in helping their students develop a fuller understanding of world history. Trends such as globalization have led to calls for increased teaching about the diverse cultures and peoples of the world. However, prospective teachers' educational backgrounds have in most cases not…

  10. Teacher-student relationships in multicultural classes: Reviewing the past, preparing the future

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    den Brok, P.; Levy, J.

    2006-01-01

    This contribution reviews research that links students’ and teachers’ ethnic background to students’ perceptions of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher treatment of individual students, and student achievement and subject-related attitudes. The review mainly includes studies from the United

  11. Teacher-student relationships in multicultural classes: reviewing the past, preparing the future

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brok, den P.J.; Levy, J.

    2005-01-01

    This contribution reviews research that links students’ and teachers’ ethnic background to students’ perceptions of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher treatment of individual students, and student achievement and subject-related attitudes. The review mainly includes studies from the United

  12. A Personal Journey to Merge Literacy Education and Multicultural Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doepker, Gina M.

    2015-01-01

    There has been considerable attention to multicultural education and how to effectively integrate it into teacher education programs so that it helps teachers to be attentive to and effective for the economically, culturally, and racially diverse student populace. This article will focus on my personal journey with multicultural teacher education…

  13. Organizational Conflict among Teachers and the Principal's Strategies of Dealing with It from the Teachers' Perspective in Schools of Jordan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jubran, Ali Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    This research aimed to evaluate the degree of organizational conflict among teachers in Jordanian schools, along with the principal strategies to deal with them effectively. The research population was based on a sample of 123 teachers from Irbid, Jordan for the academic year 2013/2014. A descriptive research approach was adopted with the help of…

  14. A psychotherapeutic approach with elementary school teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Multari, G

    1975-01-01

    The tradional "lectures delivering" approach to classroom teachers used by mental health practitioners is investigated in the present study. An attempt is made to demonstrate the validity of preventative work in helping elementary school teachers as important agents in the promotion of more positive mental hygiene in the classroom and by adding to the lectures the variable of group therapy--"ego-sparing" techniques type. The latter approach seems to promote a teacher's own sense of security in dealing the pupils, an easier acceptance of differences in others, and, finally, it tends to stimulate the development of a teacher's own ability to deal sensibly, more conscientiously, and more realistically with daily problems.

  15. Saudi Parents' Perceptions of the Kind of Help They Offer to Their Primary School Kids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoud, Salameh S.

    2018-01-01

    Parents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia usually help their kids in early school years especially in English language. This help varies according to the parents' level of education, the degree of difficulty of the curriculum and the type of school their kids join. Sometimes they give the right kind of help that matches the teachers' strategies and…

  16. A Bourdieuian Analysis: Teachers' Beliefs about English Language Learners' Academic Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shim, Jenna Min

    2014-01-01

    Using Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus," this work analyzes five teachers' beliefs about English language learners' academic challenges. In reference to reproductive and inventive qualities of "habitus," this article argues that teachers' beliefs that are linked to their socio-cultural backgrounds can delimit or enhance…

  17. Teachers staying ahead of the game

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    Even though the school holidays are in full swing, some 40 high-school teachers have come to CERN to take part in the High School Teachers (HST) programme organised by the CERN Education Group (see box). Far from considering this as a piece of holiday fun, the teachers are getting their hands dirty and putting in some serious hours’ learning. The High School Teachers 2009 at CERN.The 3-week HST programme hosts dozens of teachers from around the world, offering a deeper insight into particle physics through a variety of lectures, visits and workshops. The programme’s ambitious overall aim is to help these teachers to inspire their students to follow careers in science. In the second week, they split up into working groups to evaluate CERN’s existing educational tools or create new ones. "This year, one of the groups is reviewing some of the CERN visits service itineraries," says HST programme manager Mick Storr. "From their pers...

  18. Teachers Who Grow As Collaborative Leaders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard D. Sawyer

    2001-10-01

    Full Text Available The following narratives examine three teachers over a course of ten years as they first entered teaching and began to collaborate with other teachers on curriculum. Specifically, the study examines how the teachers 1 developed as collaborators and 2 perceived elements of support from both within and outside the classroom for their collaborative efforts. The article argues that the successful collaborative efforts helped deepen their sense of agency and initiative within their teaching and, to a lesser degree, stimulated reform and change within their schools. In turn and to varying degrees, the process of collaboration supported their personal renewal in their work. The article suggests that structural support for these teachers that connected to their emerging personal practical knowledge was crucial for their development as teacher collaborators. The article concludes by suggesting how schools may be restructured to start to become sites of authentic leadership that build on the talents, meaning, voice, and knowledge of teachers.

  19. Comparing teacher roles in Denmark and England

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kelly, Peter; Dorf, Hans; Pratt, Nick

    2014-01-01

    This article reports the findings of a comparative study of teaching in Denmark and England. Its broader aim is to help develop an approach for comparing pedagogy. Lesson observations and interviews identified the range of goals towards which teachers in each country worked and the actions...... these prompted. These were clustered using the lens of Bernstein’s pedagogic discourse to construct teacher roles, which provided a view of pedagogy. Through this approach we have begun to identify variations in pedagogy across two countries. All teachers in this study adopted a variety of roles. Of significance...... was the ease with which competent English teachers moved between roles. The English teachers observed adopted roles consistent with a wider techno-rationalist discourse. There was a greater subject emphasis by Danish teachers, whose work was set predominantly within a democratic humanist discourse, whilst...

  20. Factors Related to Professional Development of English Language University Teachers in Thailand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wichadee, Saovapa

    2012-01-01

    Professional development is deemed necessary for university teachers at all levels, as it helps to enhance teaching quality. However, the extent of English language university teachers' professional development might depend on a number of factors. This paper reports on a study investigating English language university teachers' professional…

  1. Determining the Critical Skills Beginning Agriculture Teachers Need to Successfully Teach Welding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pate, Michael L.; Warnick, Brian K.; Meyers, Tiffany

    2012-01-01

    Using the Delphi technique, agriculture teachers with significant experience teaching welding were asked to help determine the critical skills beginning agriculture teachers need to successfully teach welding. The study's objectives sought to (1) identify the knowledge and technical skill competencies that beginning agriculture teachers need to…

  2. Get These Questions Right and Your Teachers Make the Grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Nancy H.

    1989-01-01

    A properly structured job-enrichment program can help motivate classroom teachers and encourage them to remain in the classroom. Offers examples of programs for enhancing the professional lives of teachers and cites pitfalls to avoid in designing a program. (MLF)

  3. Teacher Self-Efficacy for Teaching Students to Lead IEP Meetings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, LaRon

    2010-01-01

    The level of self-efficacy exhibited by an individual has been closely linked to how that individual will perform a given task. Previous studies on teacher self-efficacy focused on general activities and were less specific regarding special education teachers' perceived ability to perform a given task. Based on the theoretical framework of…

  4. Information Communication Technology (Ict) In The Nigerian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    helping to build important communication links. ... seeks to assess the present status of ICT in our teacher education programmes and the extent to which Nigerian teacher educators use technology in preparing the preservice teacher for the ...

  5. Teacher knowing or not knowing about students

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hennie

    2015-08-02

    held wisdom that links teacher knowing to successful ... processes and approaches of schooling and education from the ..... provided by some students as the experiences of all .... pose limits on agency, family life, and academic.

  6. Teachers Should Not Only Inform but Also Entertain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubli, Fritz

    2007-01-01

    Teaching is, in many respects, an art. Teachers must strike the right balance between sometimes opposite demands. On the one hand, they should lead students to scientific insights; and on the other hand, their teaching should be attractive. Teachers should not only inform, but also entertain. Experiments and stories can help them to combine these…

  7. Earth2Class Overview: An Innovative Program Linking Classroom Educators and Research Scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passow, M.; Iturrino, G. J.; Baggio, F. D.; Assumpcao, C. M.

    2005-12-01

    The Earth2Class (E2C) workshops, held at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), provide an effective model for improving knowledge, teaching, and technology skills of middle and high school science educators through ongoing interactions with research scientists and educational technology. With support from an NSF GeoEd grant, E2C has developed monthly workshops, web-based resources, and summer institutes in which classroom teachers and research scientists have produced exemplar curriculum materials about a wide variety of cutting-edge geoscience investigations suitable for dissemination to teachers and students. Some of the goals of this program are focused to address questions such as: (1) What aspects of the E2C format and educational technology most effectively connect research discoveries with classroom teachers and their students? (2) What benefits result through interactions among teachers from highly diverse districts and backgrounds with research scientists, and what benefits do the scientists gain from participation? (3) How can the E2C format serve as a model for other research institution-school district partnerships as a mechanism for broader dissemination of scientific discoveries? E2C workshops have linked LDEO scientists from diverse research specialties-seismology, marine geology, paleoclimatology, ocean drilling, dendrochronology, remote sensing, impact craters, and others-with teachers from schools in the New York metropolitan area. Through the workshops, we have trained teachers to enhance content knowledge in the Earth Sciences and develop skills to incorporate new technologies. We have made a special effort to increase the teaching competency of K-12 Earth Sciences educators serving in schools with high numbers of students from underrepresented groups, thereby providing greater role models to attract students into science and math careers. E2C sponsored Earth Science Teachers Conferences, bringing together educators from New York and New

  8. The E.N.A.C.T. Model: Enhancing Teacher Candidates' Ability to Manage Student Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yost, Deborah S.; Mosca, Frank J.

    2003-01-01

    This program description presents a model of critical reflection that has helped teacher candidates appropriately apply behavior management theory to resolve behavioral problems. The authors developed the ENACT (Examine, Name, Analyze, Critically evaluate, and Treat) model to help teacher candidates analyze the cause of inappropriate behaviors to…

  9. Fight the Dragons: Using Online Discussion to Promote Critical Literacy in Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodcock, Christine

    2009-01-01

    Today's children are bombarded by a range of media, and it is the responsibility of teachers to equip students to engage critically. Just as teachers are responsible to teach critical literacy, teacher educators must help empower teachers to become more critically literate. This paper explores the role of online discussion in the ways it fosters…

  10. Black and White Parents' Willingness to Seek Help for Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurston, Idia B; Hardin, Robin; Decker, Kristina; Arnold, Trisha; Howell, Kathryn H; Phares, Vicky

    2018-01-01

    Understanding social and environmental factors that contribute to parental help-seeking intentions is an important step in addressing service underutilization for children in need of treatment. This study examined factors that contribute to parents' intentions to seek formal and informal help for child psychopathology (anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]). A total of 251 parents (N = 128 mothers, N = 123 fathers; 49% Black, 51% White) read 3 vignettes describing children with anxiety, ADHD, and no diagnosis. Measures of problem recognition, perceived barriers, and formal (pediatricians, psychologists, teachers) and informal (religious leaders, family/friends, self-help) help seeking were completed. Four separate hierarchical logistic regression models were used to examine parental help-seeking likelihood from formal and informal sources for internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Predictors were socioeconomic status, parent race, age, and sex, parent problem recognition (via study vignettes), and perceived barriers to mental health service utilization. Mothers were more likely than fathers to seek help from pediatricians, psychologists, teachers, and religious leaders for child anxiety and pediatricians, religious leaders, and self-help resources for child ADHD. Black parents were more likely to seek help from religious leaders and White parents were more likely to use self-help resources. Problem recognition was associated with greater intentions to seek help from almost all formal and informal sources (except from friends/family). Understanding factors that contribute to parental help seeking for child psychopathology is critical for increasing service utilization and reducing the negative effects of mental health problems. This study highlights the importance of decreasing help-seeking barriers and increasing problem recognition to improve health equity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Reflective Methodology: The Beginning Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templeton, Ronald K.; Siefert, Thomas E.

    1970-01-01

    Offers a variety of specific techniques which will help the beginning teacher to implement reflective methodology and create an inquiry-centered classroom atmosphere, at the same time meeting the many more pressing demands of first-year teaching. (JES)

  12. Our Prospective Mathematic Teachers Are Not Critical Thinkers Yet

    Science.gov (United States)

    As'ari, Abdur Rahman; Mahmudi, Ali; Nuerlaelah, Elah

    2017-01-01

    In order to help students develop their critical thinking skills, teachers need to model the critical thinking skills and dispositions in front of their students. Unfortunately, very rare studies investigating prospective teachers' readiness in critical thinking dispositions are available in the field of mathematics education. This study was…

  13. How Can We Help Hesitant Kindergarten Writers Become Risk Takers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterling, Lora T.; Martin, Suzanne; Lyons, Sandra

    This paper examines the ways kindergarten teachers can help improve the writing skills of their students who are hesitant to write. The paper describes a project that modified the physical classroom environment, nurtured the emotional climate, and used other strategies, such as allowing more time to write, modeling functional writing, and valuing…

  14. Infrared Astronomy and Education: Linking Infrared Whole Sky Mapping with Teacher and Student Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borders, Kareen; Mendez, Bryan; Thaller, Michelle; Gorjian, Varoujan; Borders, Kyla; Pitman, Peter; Pereira, Vincent; Sepulveda, Babs; Stark, Ron; Knisely, Cindy; Dandrea, Amy; Winglee, Robert; Plecki, Marge; Goebel, Jeri; Condit, Matt; Kelly, Susan

    The Spitzer Space Telescope and the recently launched WISE (Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer) observe the sky in infrared light. Among the objects WISE will study are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies. Secondary students can do authentic research using infrared data. For example, students will use WISE data to mea-sure physical properties of asteroids. In order to prepare students and teachers at this level with a high level of rigor and scientific understanding, the WISE and the Spitzer Space Tele-scope Education programs provided an immersive teacher professional development workshop in infrared astronomy.The lessons learned from the Spitzer and WISE teacher and student pro-grams can be applied to other programs engaging them in authentic research experiences using data from space-borne observatories such as Herschel and Planck. Recently, WISE Educator Ambassadors and NASA Explorer School teachers developed and led an infrared astronomy workshop at Arecibo Observatory in PuertoRico. As many common misconceptions involve scale and distance, teachers worked with Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance and age of objects in the Universe. Teachers built and used basic telescopes, learned about the history of telescopes, explored ground and satellite based telescopes, and explored and worked on models of WISE Telescope. An in-depth explanation of WISE and the Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. We taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. We will outline specific steps for sec-ondary astronomy professional development, detail student involvement in infrared telescope data analysis, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional secondary professional development and student involvement in infrared astronomy. Funding was

  15. How Teachers Learn and Change in Reciprocal Learning Space

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xuefeng HUANG

    2017-01-01

    This paper reports the impact of a new Canada and China school network on its participating teachers in the context of the Canada-China Partnership Grant Project.Eight schools formed four pairs of sister schools,and teachers in these schools created collaborations embedded in their practices.The data include interviews of teachers and principals in both countries and records of teachers' cross-cultural collaborations.Informed by the literature on teacher learning and professional learning communities,this paper shows benefits of international teacher communities.Also,it explores a new approach to research that features spatiality considerations reflecting a new trend in the comparative education literature.Focusing on teacher knowledge and practice,it shows reciprocal effects of collaboration in the international school network.Finally,this paper links the research results to the literature in a way that highlights the potential of international teacher professional learning communities and contributions of this kind of practice and research.

  16. From Pre-Service to Teacher Leader: The Early Development of Teacher Leaders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ado, Kathryn

    2016-01-01

    Public schools in the U.S. face ever increasing accountability measures as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB 2001) and the adoption of the Common Core State Standards in the majority of states (Guskey, 2011). Linking teacher evaluation to student outcomes is yet another example of the pressure educators feel in the current U.S.…

  17. [A nurse's experience using the super-link system theory to help a T6 spinal cord injury patient return to school].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Pei-Yeh; Wu, Tzu-Jung; Sung, Shi-Hui; Chen, Hsiao-Yu

    2010-04-01

    The subject of this article is a 20 year-old female with thoracic spinal cord injury with paraplegia suffered during a car accident. The article reports on the nursing experience in helping the patient manage her autonomic dysreflexia (AD), training the patient in self-catheterization, and using relevant social resources in order to achieve a successful return to her studies at school. The authors collected data using interviews, observations, and physical assessments between November 20 and December 30, 2008. The two nursing diagnoses of AD and inadequate preparation for a successful return to school during rehabilitation hospitalization were made during caring procedures. Holistic nursing assessment was employed and the Super-Link System Theory was applied to establish a link between the hospital and school. Individual nursing interventions used included understanding the inducement and treatment of AD, performing self-catheterization, and enhancing the support system by introducing successful clients and relevant social resources in order to transition the patient successfully to her new post-injury life. The patient consequently transitioned smoothly from rehabilitation hospital to school. The authors hope this case report will provide a useful reference for nurses charged with caring for patients with spinal cord injuries while still enrolled at school.

  18. Teacher burnout : a flickering flame : an empirical study among teachers from a social exchange perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Horn, J.E. van

    2002-01-01

    In this thesis, burnout has been studied among Dutch teachers using the theoretical frame of equity theory. Burnout is a metaphor that describes a particular syndrome which is typically found in human service professions, such as teaching, and is assumed to be linked to the emotional strain of

  19. Perceived teacher support and language anxiety in Polish secondary school EFL learners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ewa Piechurska-Kuciel

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The teacher’s role is vital, both in respect to achieving academic goals, and with regard to the regulation of emotional and social processes. Positive perceptions of teacher support can endorse psychological wellness, and help maintain students’ academic interests, higher academic achievement and more positive peer relationships. The teacher who shows understanding, empathy and consistency in their behavior helps students start forming an identity, which will assist them in coping with stress and anxiety directly connected with the foreign language learning process (language anxiety. The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between teacher support and language anxiety levels. It is speculated that teacher support functions as a buffer from the effects of negative emotions, such as language anxiety experienced in the foreign language learning process. The participants of the study were 621 secondary grammar school students whose responses to a questionnaire were the main data source. The results of the study demonstrate that students with higher levels of teacher support experience lower language anxiety levels in comparison to their peers with lower levels of teacher support. Students who have a feeling that they can count on the instructor’s help, advice, assistance, or backing manage the learning process more successfully. They evaluate their language abilities highly and receive better final grades. Nevertheless, gender and residential location do not moderate teacher support and language anxiety due to the specificity of the sample consisting of novice secondary grammar school students.

  20. New challenges to rethink the training of ecuadorian teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Sol Villagómez

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Training ecuadorian teachers has traditionally been linked to public policy and national curricula that have defined the task of teaching, classroom work, and what basic teacher training institutions should prioritize on when it comes to training teachers. Recent years have seen major changes in the educational sector, as well as a revaluation of the teaching trade. New training challenges arise, not only from the teacher's perspective as executor of the curricula, but as a key player in the educational process. We need to rethink the training of teachers to and from a critical reflection and research point-of-view, in order to reflect on the curricula, their own experience, and their relevance in relation to the framework in wich they develop.

  1. Linking Teacher Competences to Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: The Role of Empowerment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasekende, Francis; Munene, John C.; Otengei, Samson Omuudu; Ntayi, Joseph Mpeera

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine relationship between teacher competences and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) with empowerment as a mediating factor. Design/methodology/approach: The study took a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical design. Using cluster and random sampling procedures, data were obtained from 383…

  2. How Is My Child Doing?: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Engage Parents through Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehlig, Lisa M.; Shumow, Lee

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to help pre-service teachers develop basic knowledge and skill for partnering with families on assessment-related issues. An assessment class for teacher educators (experimental group) participated in role-playing activities designed to expand their understanding and skill in a way that would help them learn how to…

  3. Content-Focused Teacher Meetings as Effective Teacher Learning Opportunities: Do They Really Help Improve Overall Reading Achievement and Reduce the Achievement Gap in First Grade Classrooms?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Ho Soo

    2013-01-01

    Teacher professional development has long been of interest since it may affect teachers' learning, the practice of teaching, and student learning. Although empirical research has mainly explored the effect of specific professional development interventions on student achievement, these inventions have been initiated outside the school, and little…

  4. Authentic Role-Playing as Situated Learning: Reframing Teacher Education Methodology for Higher-Order Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leaman, Lori Hostetler; Flanagan, Toni Michele

    2013-01-01

    This article draws from situated learning theory, teacher education research, and the authors' collaborative self-study to propose a teacher education pedagogy that may help to bridge the theory-into-practice gap for preservice teachers. First, we review the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium standards to confirm the call for…

  5. Teachers and Science Curriculum Materials: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Elizabeth A.; Janssen, Fred J. J. M.; Van Driel, Jan H.

    2016-01-01

    Curriculum materials serve as a key conceptual tool for science teachers, and better understanding how science teachers use these tools could help to improve both curriculum design and theory related to teacher learning and decision-making. The authors review the literature on teachers and science curriculum materials. The review is organised…

  6. GLOBE and the Earth SySTEM Model in Teacher Preparation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabot, M.; Moore, J.; Dorofy, P.

    2017-12-01

    This presentation will share the growing body of work linking ArcMap and GLOBE and the Earth SySTEM approach in the development of preservice teachers. Our work is linking the power of ArcMap with the vast database of GLOBE in a unique way that links the power of geospatial technologies in shaping the planning for and delivery of science instruction in the P-5 classroom.

  7. How to be a brilliant English teacher

    CERN Document Server

    Wright, Trevor

    2012-01-01

    Now in its second edition, Trevor Wright's hugely popular How to be a Brilliant English Teacher is packed with practical advice drawn from his extensive and successful experience as an English teacher, examiner and teacher trainer. This accessible and readable guide offers sound theoretical principles with exciting practical suggestions for the classroom. Fully updated to include a new expanded section on differentiation and inclusion, as well as covering new material on behaviour management and teaching poetry for enjoyment and personal response, this book tackles other tricky areas such as: Starting with Shakespeare Effective planning and assessment Learning to love objectives Working small texts and big texts Drama. Trainee teachers will find support and inspiration in this book and practising English teachers can use it as an empowering self-help guide for improving their skills. Trevor Wright addresses many of the anxieties that English teachers face, offering focused and realistic solutions.

  8. A Case Study Examining Change in Teacher Beliefs Through Collaborative Action Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaino, Katrin; Holbrook, Jack; Rannikmäe, Miia

    2013-01-01

    The main goal of this study was to explore the role of collaborative action research in eliciting change in teacher beliefs. The beliefs were those of five chemistry teachers in implementing a new teaching approach, geared to enhancing students' scientific and technological literacy (STL). The teacher beliefs were analysed based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (2005) by looking at the teacher's (a) attitude towards implementing STL modules, (b) perceived subjective norms, and (c) behavioural control regarding the new teaching approach. After an introductory year, when teachers familiarised themselves with the new approach, a collaborative action research project was initiated in the second year of the study, helping teachers to minimise or overcome initially perceived constraints when implementing STL modules in their classroom. The processes of teacher change and the course of the project were investigated by teacher interviews, teacher informal commentaries, and meeting records. The formation of positive beliefs towards a STL approach increased continuously, although its extent and character varied depending on the teacher. The close cooperation, in the format of collaborative action research and especially through teacher group reflections and perceived collegial support, did support teacher professional development including change in their beliefs towards the new teaching approach. Additionally, positive feedback gained from other teachers through running a two-day in-service course in year three helped to strengthen all five teachers' existing beliefs towards the new approach. The current research demonstrated that perceived constraints, where identified, can be meaningfully addressed by teachers, through undertaking collaborative action research.

  9. Affect and Acceptability: Exploring Teachers' Technology-Related Risk Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Sarah K.

    2011-01-01

    Educational change, such as technology integration, involves risk. Teachers are encouraged to "take risks", but what risks they are asked to take and how do they perceive these risks? Developing an understanding of teachers' technology-related risk perceptions can help explain their choices and behaviours. This paper presents a way to…

  10. Using Analysis in Children's Literature to Challenge Future Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

    Teacher educators need to take the responsibility for providing future teachers with long-term evaluative skills necessary to select good literature. Educators must also take responsibility for modeling the powerful notion that books or literature aid in everyone's personal search for meaning. The process of analyzing literature is helpful in…

  11. Zmienne komunikacyjne nauczyciela w percepcji studentow [Teachers' communication variables in higher education students' perceptions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sztejnberg, A.; Brok, den P.J.; Hurek, J.; Karczmarek, Z.; Jankowski, K.; Sitarska, B.; Tkaczuk, C.

    2004-01-01

    This study investigated students¿ perceptions of their best teachers in higher education. Teacher behaviour was conceptualised in terms of the teacher-student interpersonal relationship and described in terms of eight behavioural sectors ¿ leadership, helpful/friendly, understanding, student

  12. Ways to prepare future teachers to teach science in multicultural classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Billingsley, Berry

    2016-06-01

    Roussel De Carvalho uses the notion of superdiversity to draw attention to some of the pedagogical implications of teaching science in multicultural schools in cosmopolitan cities such as London. De Carvalho makes the case that if superdiverse classrooms exist then Science Initial Teacher Education has a role to play in helping future science teachers to become more knowledgeable and reflective about how to teach school students with a range of worldviews and religious beliefs. The aim of this paper is to take that proposition a step further by considering what the aims and content of a session in teacher education might be. The focus is on helping future teachers develop strategies to teach school students to think critically about the nature of science and what it means to have a scientific worldview. The paper draws on data gathered during an interview study with 28 students at five secondary schools in England. The data was analysed to discover students' perceptions of science and their perceptions of the way that science responds to big questions about being human. The findings are used to inform a set of three strategies that teachers could use to help young people progress in their understanding of the nature of science. These strategies together with the conceptual framework that underpins them are used to develop a perspective on what kinds of pedagogical content knowledge teacher education might usefully provide.

  13. Performance-Based Compensation: Linking Performance to Teacher Salaries. Ask the Team

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrstock-Sherratt, Ellen; Potemski, Amy

    2013-01-01

    To achieve the goal of attracting and retaining talented professionals in education, performance-based compensation systems (PBCS) must offer salaries that are both fair and sufficiently competitive at each point across an educator's career continuum. Although many states, especially with the support of the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants,…

  14. Effects of Humor on Teacher Stress, Affect, and Job Satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shirley, Jacqueline Dena

    2013-01-01

    Teachers are at high risk for stress, negative emotion, and job dissatisfaction, which has been linked with health problems and early attrition. Humor has been found to relieve various forms of stress. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding humor effects on teacher stress and its related consequences. The purpose of this quantitative,…

  15. Linking Teacher Evaluation to Professional Development: Focusing on Improving Teaching and Learning. Research & Policy Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goe, Laura; Biggers, Kietha; Croft, Andrew

    2012-01-01

    Recently, teacher evaluation has become a major focus in educational policy debates and research efforts. This increased attention to teacher evaluation has raised questions about the relationship between evaluation and student outcomes. Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2005) and others have demonstrated with value-added research that there are…

  16. Teachers as Secondary Players: Involvement in Field Trips to Natural Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alon, Nirit Lavie; Tal, Tali

    2017-08-01

    This study focused on field trips to natural environments where the teacher plays a secondary role alongside a professional guide. We investigated teachers' and field trip guides' views of the teacher's role, the teacher's actual function on the field trip, and the relationship between them. We observed field trips, interviewed teachers and guides, and administered questionnaires. We found different levels of teacher involvement, ranging from mainly supervising and giving technical help, to high involvement especially in the cognitive domain and sometimes in the social domain. Analysis of students' self-reported outcomes showed that the more students believe their teachers are involved, the higher the self-reported learning outcomes.

  17. A Study on the Link between Moral Judgment Competences and Critical Thinking Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samanci, Nilay Keskin

    2015-01-01

    Although many studies have established a direct link between moral judgment competences and critical thinking skills, none has been found to reveal the nature of the link between these two skills in the national and international literature. The present study looked at biology and primary education teacher candidates' moral judgment and critical…

  18. Careers in Industrial Sewing for the Apparel Manufacturing Industry: Teacher-Student Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    American Apparel Manufacturers Association, Arlington, VA. Education Committee.

    The teacher-student guide has been developed as a service to schools in an effort to help them organize and operate meaningful courses in apparel manufacturing. For the school it furnishes practical information in implementing the course, such as facility design, equipment requirements, and teacher selection. For the teacher it provides a…

  19. How Can I Help My Students with Learning Disabilities in Mathematics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia

    2016-01-01

    Learning Disabilities in Mathematics (LDM) or dyscalculia are a frequent and disruptive problem within schools. Nevertheless, this problem has received little attention from researchers and practitioners, if compared with the number of studies published on disabilities in reading. Therefore, teachers do not have enough guidance to help children…

  20. Estimating Rain Attenuation In Satellite Communication Links

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, R. M.

    1991-01-01

    Attenuation computed with help of statistical model and meteorological data. NASA Lewis Research Center Satellite Link Attenuation Model (SLAM) program QuickBASIC computer program evaluating static and dynamic statistical assessment of impact of rain attenuation on communication link established between Earth terminal and geosynchronous satellite. Application in specification, design, and assessment of satellite communication links for any terminal location in continental United States. Written in Microsoft QuickBASIC.

  1. [Linking learning theory with practice].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ávalos-Carranza, María Teresa; Amador-Olvera, Eric; Zerón-Gutiérrez, Lydia

    2016-01-01

    It is often said that it is easier to learn what is observed and practiced on a daily basis; to the need to effectively link theory with practice considered in the process of teaching and learning, many strategies have been developed to allow this process to be carried out in a more efficiently maner. It is, therefore, very important to recognize that an appropriate teacher/student relationship is essential for students to acquire the skills and abilities required.

  2. Professional Learning Communities: Teachers Working Collaboratively for Continuous Improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffith, Louise Ann

    2009-01-01

    Current research indicates that a professional learning community (PLC) is an effective means for helping teachers to bridge the gap between research and practice. A PLC is a team of educators systematically working together to improve teaching practice and student learning. This study evaluated the PLC formed by teachers at a public elementary…

  3. Teaching Is Still an Art, Mexican Teachers Remind Us.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Margaret

    1997-01-01

    Describes working with 14 Mexican English teachers for 2.5 years at an elementary school in Guadalajara to help them implement an effective whole language program. Describes how these teachers used models of rich language, familiar movies, drama creations, family stories, and their own artistic talents to enhance learning in their classrooms.…

  4. Understanding Emotions through Games: Helping Trainee Teachers to Make Decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavega, Pere; Filella, Gemma; Agullo, Maria Jesus; Soldevila, Anna; March, Jaume

    2011-01-01

    Introduction: The aim of this study was to provide guidelines to help professionals make decisions regarding the types of emotions produced by different sporting games classified into four domains of motor action (psychomotor, co-operation, opposition and cooperation/opposition). Method: The sample comprised 284 first-year university students of…

  5. The supportive spouse at work: Does being work-linked help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Merideth; Carlson, Dawn; Kacmar, K Michele; Halbesleben, Jonathon R B

    2016-01-01

    Using a sample of 639 dual-career couples, we examined the role of work-related spousal support on work-family balance and subsequent outcomes for both the job incumbent as well as his or her spouse. We further investigated whether the resource of work-related spousal support contributed to greater balance for those couples who were work-linked (work in same organization, same occupation, or both) and those who were not. We found work-related spousal support contributed to work-family balance and subsequent improved family satisfaction and job satisfaction of the job incumbent. Furthermore, support crossed over to the spouse through increased work-family balance to decrease stress transmission to enhance family satisfaction and reduce relationship tension of the spouse. Implications for researchers and organizational leaders are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Help!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Caralee

    2006-01-01

    This article presents ten time-saving ideas for teachers. One great time-saving tip is to come in an hour early once or twice a week for grading papers. It is also a great idea if teachers will not give tests on Friday in order to reduce their weekend work.

  7. Diseases and conditions falsely linked with “nylon teeth” myth: a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The health care workers less likely linked nylon teeth with ... some instances, they invent methods to cure and/or prevent the children's .... (dentist + medical doctor + nurse + pharmacist) and non-medics (teacher + peasant + traditional healer).

  8. Bringing Experience from the Field into the Classroom with the NOAA Teacher at Sea and PolarTREC Teacher Research Experience Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eubanks, E. D.; Kohin, S.; Oberbauer, S.

    2008-12-01

    As a participant of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Teacher at Sea (2007) and the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., PolarTREC (2008) programs, I have had the opportunity to participate in hands-on research with leading scientific researchers from the tropics to the Arctic. These Teacher Researcher Experiences (TRE's) and the resulting relationships that have developed with the scientific community have been an asset to my professional development and have greatly enhanced my students' learning. The opportunity to participate in data collection and hands-on research with a NOAA researcher, Dr. Kohin, helped me bring shark, ocean, and ship science from my expedition onboard the NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan in the Channel Island region into my classroom. The new knowledge, experiences, and resources that I brought back allowed me to create lesson plans and host Shark Month--an activity that involved all 300 students in my school. My students were able to link real data regarding the location of sharks to practical application and still meet state standards. Likewise, the scientist from my PolarTREC expedition, Dr. Oberbauer, is assisting me in a long-term plan to incorporate his data into my classroom curricula. Already, my experiences from Barrow, Alaska, have been shared through webinars with my community and as a keynote speaker to over 600 Palm Beach County science teachers. We are also working together to develop a yearlong curriculum, in which my entire school of 300 students will discover interdisciplinary polar science. Participation in TRE's has been beneficial for my students and my community, but what is the return on the investment for the scientists who invited me to participate in their research? Both scientists have transferred their knowledge out of the laboratory and made a link between their research and a different generation--our future scientists. They become instrumental science leaders in a community of young

  9. A self-determination theory approach to understanding the antecedents of teachers' motivational strategies in physical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Ian M; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Standage, Martyn

    2008-02-01

    Physical education teachers can influence students' self-determination through the motivational strategies that they use. The current study examined how teachers' reported use of three motivational strategies (providing a meaningful rationale, providing instrumental help and support, and gaining an understanding of the students) were predicted by perceived job pressure, perceptions of student self-determination, the teachers' autonomous orientation, psychological need satisfaction, and self-determination to teach. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which perceived job pressure, perceptions of student self-determination, and teacher autonomous orientation predicted teacher psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn positively influenced teacher self-determination. The last positively predicted the use of all three strategies. Direct positive effects of teachers' psychological need satisfaction on the strategies of gaining an understanding of students and instrumental help and support were also found. In summary, factors that influence teacher motivation may also indirectly affect their motivational strategies toward students.

  10. Educating English Learners: What Every Classroom Teacher Needs to Know

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nutta, Joyce W.; Strebel, Carine; Mokhtari, Kouider; Mihai, Florin M.; Crevecoeur-Bryant, Edwidge

    2014-01-01

    In "Educating English Learners," Joyce W. Nutta and her colleagues offer practical tools for helping schools and teachers successfully integrate English learners into mainstream classrooms. Drawing on the One Plus model presented in their award-winning book, "Preparing Every Teacher to Reach English Learners," the authors now…

  11. Professional Development for Rural and Remote Teachers Using Video Conferencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maher, Damian; Prescott, Anne

    2017-01-01

    Teachers in rural and remote schools face many challenges including those relating to distance, isolation and lack of professional development opportunities. This article examines a project where mathematics and science teachers were provided with professional development opportunities via video conferencing to help them use syllabus documents to…

  12. Mentoring and Coaching Tips: How Educators Can Help Each Other

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waterman, Sheryn Spencer

    2013-01-01

    This book is for educators at all levels and is packed with creative, use-now tips and activities to support new and struggling teachers. Combining real-life scenarios with current research, the author demonstrates how educators can get the most out of available resources, promote a school culture devoted to helping and caring, and meet common…

  13. Helping the Child with a Cleft Palate in Your Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Michael J.; Pentz, Arthur L.

    1995-01-01

    Guidelines for teachers of a student with a cleft palate include understand the physical problem; know what kind of speech problem to expect; be alert to the possibility of language-based learning difficulties; watch for signs of hearing loss; be alert to socialization problems; help the student make up work; and avoid self-fulfilling prophecies.…

  14. Global Connections: Web Conferencing Tools Help Educators Collaborate Anytime, Anywhere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrester, Dave

    2009-01-01

    Web conferencing tools help educators from around the world collaborate in real time. Teachers, school counselors, and administrators need only to put on their headsets, check the time zone, and log on to meet and learn from educators across the globe. In this article, the author discusses how educators can use Web conferencing at their schools.…

  15. Using Research-Based Video-Cases to Help Pre-Service Primary Teachers Conceptualize a Contemporary View of Mathematics Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Pi-Jen

    2005-01-01

    The study inquired into the effect of research-based video-cases on pre-service teachers conceptualizing their understanding of contemporary mathematics teaching. The 43 participants enrolled in a Mathematics Method Course viewed and discussed 5 video-cases of primary teachers teaching. Journal entries, lesson plans, and microteaching observations…

  16. Research and Rhetoric on Teacher Certification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Darling-Hammond

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available In October, 2001, the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation issued a report purporting to prove that there is "no credible research that supports the use of teacher certification as a regulatory barrier to teaching" and urging the discontinuation of certification in Maryland. The report argued that large inequities in access to certified teachers for poor and minority students are not a problem because research linking teacher education to student achievement is flawed. In July, 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Education cited the Abell Foundation paper in his Annual Report on Teacher Quality as the sole source for concluding that teacher education does not contribute to teacher effectiveness. The Secretary's report then recommended that requirements for education coursework be eliminated from certification standards, and attendance at schools of education and student teaching be made optional. This article documents the many inaccuracies in the Abell Foundation paper and describes the actual findings of many of the studies it purports to review, as well as the findings of other studies it ignores. It details misrepresentations of a number of studies, including inaccurate statements about their methods and findings, false claims about their authors' views, and distortions of their data and conclusions. The article addresses methodological issues regarding the validity and interpretation of research. Finally, the article presents data challenging the Abell Foundation's unfounded claims that uncertified teachers are as effective as certified teachers, that teacher education makes no difference to teacher effectiveness, that verbal ability is the most important determinant of teaching effectiveness, that private schools staffed by uncertified teachers are more effective than public schools, and that untrained teachers are more qualified than prepared teachers. It concludes with a discussion of the policy issues that need to be addressed if all students are

  17. Pay, working conditions, and teacher quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanushek, Eric A; Rivkin, Steven G

    2007-01-01

    Eric Hanushek and Steven Rivkin examine how salary and working conditions affect the quality of instruction in the classroom. The wages of teachers relative to those of other college graduates have fallen steadily since 1940. Today, average wages differ little, however, between urban and suburban districts. In some metropolitan areas urban districts pay more, while in others, suburban districts pay more. But working conditions in urban and suburban districts differ substantially, with urban teachers reporting far less administrator and parental support, worse materials, and greater student problems. Difficult working conditions may drive much of the difference in turnover of teachers and the transfer of teachers across schools. Using rich data from Texas public schools, the authors describe in detail what happens when teachers move from school to school. They examine how salaries and student characteristics change when teachers move and also whether turnover affects teacher quality and student achievement. They note that both wages and student characteristics affect teachers' choices and result in a sorting of teachers across schools, but they find little evidence that teacher transitions are detrimental to student learning. The extent to which variations in salaries and working conditions translate into differences in the quality of instruction depends importantly on the effectiveness of school personnel policies in hiring and retaining the most effective teachers and on constraints on both entry into the profession and the firing of low performers. The authors conclude that overall salary increases for teachers would be both expensive and ineffective. The best way to improve the quality of instruction would be to lower barriers to becoming a teacher, such as certification, and to link compensation and career advancement more closely with teachers' ability to raise student performance.

  18. We'll Make You a Better Teacher: Learning from Guitar Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenbowe, Thomas J.

    2008-02-01

    It is worth noting that there are more resources and more uses of technology available world-wide to help individuals become better guitar players than there are resources available to help individuals become better science teachers. Providing resources and services to help individuals become effective chemistry teachers and improve their chemistry teaching and expand their range of techniques is a worthwhile endeavor. This commentary proposes that a new magazine should be developed and designed to complement and augment the Journal of Chemical Education , the Examinations Institute, the BCCEs, and programming at regional, national, and international meetings. We need to be making use of the expertise of chemical educators from around the world to convey the best practices of teaching chemistry. This magazine would feature topics directly relating to teaching chemistry in the classroom and it would include master teachers explaining and discussing chemistry education techniques. A Web site and perhaps a DVD would have digital movies of master chemistry teachers illustrating how they implement a specific technique with students. The Web site would serve as a repository for resources. It would serve as an alternative site for professional development.

  19. Teacher change and professional development: A case study of teachers engaged in an innovative constructivist science curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akura, Okong'o. Gabriel

    This study examined both the changes that elementary school teachers experienced when they implemented a reform-based science curriculum and the impact of professional development on this transformation. The research involved a case study of three purposefully selected teachers implementing the Linking Food and the Environment (LIFE) program during the 2002--2003 school year. The LIFE program is a curriculum designed to enhance science literacy among learners from high poverty urban environments. While the study was grounded in the tradition of critical theory (Carspecken, 1996), the theoretical perspective of hermeneutic phenomenology (van Manen, 1990) guided data collection and analysis. Extensive observations of the teachers were made in order to capture and record the teacher change phenomenon. Data were recorded by means of field notes, audio and videotapes, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and video Stimulated Recall (SR) interviews. Emerging themes relating to teacher change, knowledge interests, constructivist pedagogy, and professional development illustrated how teachers grapple with various aspects of implementing a reform-based science curriculum. The teachers in this study were similar to those in earlier investigations, which found that sustained professional development programs involving mentoring and constant reflection enable elementary science teachers to change their instructional strategies from the technical-realist orientation towards the practical-hermeneutic and emancipatory-liberatory orientations. The study has implications for science curriculum developers and designers of professional development programs.

  20. Approaches to Inquiry Teaching: Elementary teacher's perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ireland, Joseph; Watters, James J.; Lunn Brownlee, J.; Lupton, Mandy

    2014-07-01

    Learning science through the process of inquiry is advocated in curriculum documents across many jurisdictions. However, a number of studies suggest that teachers struggle to help students engage in inquiry practices. This is not surprising as many teachers of science have not engaged in scientific inquiry and possibly hold naïve ideas about what constitutes scientific inquiry. This study investigates teachers' self-reported approaches to teaching science through inquiry. Phenomenographic interviews undertaken with 20 elementary teachers revealed teachers identified six approaches to teaching for inquiry, clustered within three categories. These approaches were categorized as Free and Illustrated Inquiries as part of an Experience-centered category, Solution and Method Inquiries as part of a Problem-centered category, and Topic and Chaperoned Inquiries as part of a Question-centered category. This study contributes to our theoretical understanding of how teachers approach Inquiry Teaching and suggests fertile areas of future research into this valued and influential phenomenon broadly known as 'Inquiry Teaching'.

  1. Conferencias de padres-educadores: Sugerencias para los padres (Parent-Teacher Conferences: Suggestions for Parents). ERIC Digest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Ann-Marie

    Parent-teacher conferences sometimes become a cause for concern for everyone involved. This Spanish-language ERIC Digest outlines ways to improve communication during parent-teacher conferences. Suggestions are offered to help parents participate more effectively in conferences, including identifying what is being done to help a child overcome a…

  2. Mathematics Teachers' Readiness to Integrate ICT in the Classroom: The Case of Elementary and Middle School Arab Teachers in Israel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nimer F. Baya'a

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available ICT integration in mathematics education provides mathematics teachers with integrative teaching methods that motivate students learning, support their independent learning and active participation in the discovery of mathematics concepts and topics, and, as a result, helps them have deeper understanding of the mathematical ideas. So, the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of mathematics, as a result of ICT educational affordances, helps students have better achievement in mathematics. These potentialities of the ICT make its integration in the mathematics classroom a promising practice, but the success of this practice is dependent on various factors, among which are the following: teachers' perceptions of their ability in ICT, teachers' attitudes towards ICT contribution to the mathematics teaching, teachers' attitudes towards ICT contribution to students' mathematics learning, teachers' emotions towards the use of ICT in the mathematics classroom, teachers' feelings of self-esteem and control in the presence of ICT in the mathematics classroom, and teachers' intentions to actually integrate ICT in their teaching. The current research came to verify the readiness of Arab teachers in elementary and middle schools in Israel regarding the integration of ICT in the classroom, and hence its interest in the six above constructs. The research used a questionnaire that included statements related to each one of the above constructs. This questionnaire was administered to 475 Arab teachers in elementary and middle schools in the North, Center and Haifa regions in Israel. The research findings show that more than seventy percent of the participating teachers have positive perceptions of their competence in technology and technology integration in their teaching. Further, they have positive attitudes towards the integration of ICT in teaching and learning and of their self-esteem in the presence of technology, in addition to positive

  3. Fabulous First Graders: Confessions of a First-Year Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smoll, Tracy L.

    2004-01-01

    A step-by-step self-portrait lesson helped students with their listening skills, following directions, expanding their art vocabulary, and using a variety of art media and techniques. This article describes a simple lesson that enabled a teacher to have an excellent relationship with her first grade students. The teacher who wrote this article…

  4. From Classroom to Coach: One Teacher's Journey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cataldo, Penny

    2013-01-01

    In this article Penny Cataldo, a veteran early childhood mathematics teacher, describes her experience as a first time early childhood math coach. In contrast to her role as a teacher, as a math coach she was expected to lend her "expertise" to her fellow early childhood colleagues and help them develop their math practice. After…

  5. Assessing the Relationship of Principals' Leadership Styles on Teacher Satisfaction and Teacher Turnover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Ericka

    2016-01-01

    Effective and efficient leadership helps schools to achieve established targets and ensures that they are operating according to federal and state guidelines. This quantitative comparative analysis study sought to address a gap in literature in terms of examining the impact of leadership styles of principals on teacher satisfaction and teacher…

  6. Reflective Journals as a Research Tool: The Case of Student Teachers' Development of Teamwork

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bashan, Bilha; Holsblat, Rachel

    2017-01-01

    The study explores the development of teamwork among a group of Israeli student teachers enrolled in a practicum, in order to help teacher educators to understand better the processes student teachers experience in becoming a collaborative team. The student teachers' reflective journals provide qualitative evidence of the stages in the development…

  7. Describing Pre-Service Teachers' Developing Understanding of Elementary Number Theory Topics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, Ziv

    2012-01-01

    Although elementary number theory topics are closely linked to foundational topics in number and operations and are prevalent in elementary and middle grades mathematics curricula, little is currently known about how students and teachers make sense of them. This study investigated pre-service elementary teachers' developing understanding of…

  8. Nova Scotia Teachers' ADHD Knowledge, Beliefs, and Classroom Management Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blotnicky-Gallant, Pamela; Martin, Cheron; McGonnell, Melissa; Corkum, Penny

    2015-01-01

    Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a significant impact on children's social, emotional, and academic performance in school, and as such, teachers are in a good position to provide evidence-based interventions to help ensure optimal adjustment of their students. The current study examined teachers' knowledge and beliefs about…

  9. Attitudes of Preschool Teachers toward the Integration of Handicapped Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyson, Lily L.; Kubo, H. Richard

    Forty-six supervisors and teachers were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward integration of handicapped children in a regular preschool program, the helpfulness of supportive services, and the necessary conditions for the integration of their programs. Findings showed that the majority of teachers were in favor of integration and supportive…

  10. DEPTH2: Developing Professional Knowledge in D&T Secondary Initial Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owen-Jackson, Gwyneth

    2008-01-01

    There are various aspects to teachers' professional knowledge, some such as subject knowledge are more easy to articulate than others, for example knowing how to construct a scheme of work. Student teachers need to be able to understand the various aspects of teachers' professional knowledge in order to be able to help themselves reflect on and…

  11. Authority in the classroom: Perception secondary school teachers in Córdoba (Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Daniela Giacobbe

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In educational institutions midlevel city of Córdoba is manifested as a recurring problem the apparent impossibility of building common meanings of the teaching authority, which seems evident in the malaise that often denounces educators. In this paper we present the product of research conducted during school cycles 2013 and 2014 in two public high schools of state management of the city of Córdoba. The objective was to know the opinions, beliefs and values (representations of teachers on the authority they hold and exercise in the classroom. We will present here the results of classroom observations and interviews with teachers. Our exploration allows us to see that the authority is a historical link which is linked to the existence of a hierarchical structure related to institutionalized systems that are constantly changing in the process of construction of social reality. In this sense, we dare to venture that the authority link teacher-students is not dying: representations around him could be in the process of transformation.

  12. A qualitative analysis of teacher design teams: In-depth insights into their process and links with their outcomes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Binkhorst, F.; Poortman, C. L.; van Joolingen, W.R.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Teacher Design Teams (TDTs) are professional learning communities in which teachers collaborate to (re)design innovative educational materials. TDTs can contribute to teachers’ professional growth. Furthermore, engaging teachers in the design process could create ownership, increasing the

  13. A qualitative analysis of teacher design teams : In-depth insights into their process and links with their outcomes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Binkhorst, Floor; Poortman, Cindy L.; van Joolingen, Wouter

    2017-01-01

    Teacher Design Teams (TDTs) are professional learning communities in which teachers collaborate to (re)design innovative educational materials. TDTs can contribute to teachers’ professional growth. Furthermore, engaging teachers in the design process could create ownership, increasing the likelihood

  14. The role of educational technology in humanities teacher training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio De Prisco

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Teacher training, so much as that initial ongoing, and 'a very complex issue and is attributed to piu'argomenti distinct, but at the same time linked to each other: the basic training deifuturi teachers, updating subject content and to-date ', training in new teaching methods and continuous assessment dellaloro effectiveness, and the necessary openness to reality' social and typicality 'territorial where education and training facilities operate.

  15. DRUG ABUSE, A SOURCE BOOK AND GUIDE FOR TEACHERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    HILL, PATRICIA J.; KITZINGER, ANGELA

    THIS SOURCEBOOK CONTAINS INFORMATION TO HELP TEACHERS INSTRUCT ABOUT DRUGS AND DISCOURAGE DRUG ABUSE. THE INFORMATION IS APPLICABLE TO ANY GROUP OR GRADE LEVEL BUT IT IS PRIMARILY DIRECTED AT A K-12 PROGRAM. THE CONTENT HAS BEEN SELECTED, ORGANIZED, AND PRESENTED IN TERMS OF PRESUMED TEACHER NEED AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DIRECT PUPIL USE.…

  16. Computer Processing 10-20-30. Teacher's Manual. Senior High School Teacher Resource Manual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Mel; Lautt, Ray

    Designed to help teachers meet the program objectives for the computer processing curriculum for senior high schools in the province of Alberta, Canada, this resource manual includes the following sections: (1) program objectives; (2) a flowchart of curriculum modules; (3) suggestions for short- and long-range planning; (4) sample lesson plans;…

  17. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... educational institutions, magazines, newspapers, companies, events, and radio stations for helping to raise awareness of the link ... Poets Sistahs Getting Real About HIV Conference Radio Stations: WTOP Radio WPFW Radio WOL Radio News & Events ...

  18. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... of many drugs, which can alter judgment and inhibition and lead people to engage in impulsive and ... easily copy and paste to help show your support for Learn the Link . Be sure to check ...

  19. The High School Dropout Problem: Perspectives of Teachers and Principals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridgeland, John M.; Dilulio, John J., Jr.; Balfanz, Robert

    2009-01-01

    To better understand the views of teachers and administrators on the high school dropout problem, focus groups and nationally representative surveys were conducted of high school teachers and principals. A focus group of superintendents and school board members was also included. To help interpret the results, the authors convened a colloquium…

  20. Exploring Teacher Beliefs in Teaching EAP at Low Proficiency Levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Olwyn

    2012-01-01

    Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) requires teachers experienced in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to acquire additional skills, abilities and approaches. Beliefs about CLT teaching may not be appropriate for teaching EAP, especially to low level learners. Making teachers aware of their beliefs is the first step in helping them to…

  1. Teacher and student supports for implementation of the NGSS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Severance, Samuel

    Through three articles, this dissertation examines the use of supports for implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) within a large urban school district. Article one, titled Organizing for Teacher Agency in Curricular Co-design, examines the need for coherent curriculum materials that teachers' had a meaningful role in shaping and how the use of a co-design approach and specific tools and routines can help to address this need. Article two, titled Relevant Learning and Student Agency within a Citizen Science Design Challenge, examines the need for curriculum materials that provide students with learning experiences they find relevant and that expands their sense of agency and how a curriculum centered around a community-based citizen science design challenge can help achieve such an aim. Article three, titled Implementation of a Novel Professional Development Program to Support Teachers' Understanding of Modeling, examines the need for professional development that builds teachers' understanding of and skill in engaging their students in the practice of developing and using models and how a novel professional development program, the Next Generation Science Exemplar, can aid teachers in this regard by providing them with carefully sequenced professional development activities and specific modeling tools for use in the classroom.

  2. TXESS Revolution: Utilizing TERC's EarthLabs Cryosphere Module to Support Professional Development of Texas Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odell, M.; Ellins, K. K.; Polito, E. J.; Castillo Comer, C. A.; Stocks, E.; Manganella, K.; Ledley, T. S.

    2010-12-01

    TERC’s EarthLabs project provides rigorous and engaging Earth and environmental science labs. Four existing modules illustrate sequences for learning science concepts through data analysis activities and hands-on experiments. A fifth module, developed with NSF, comprises a series of linked inquiry based activities focused on the cryosphere to help students understand concepts around change over time on multiple and embedded time scales. Teachers recruited from the NSF-OEDG-sponsored Texas Earth and Space Science (TXESS) Revolution teacher professional development program conducted a pedagogical review of the Cryosphere EarthLabs module and provided feedback on how well the materials matched high school needs in Texas and were aligned with state and national standards. Five TXESS Revolution teachers field tested the materials in their classrooms and then trained other TXESS Revolution teachers on their implementation during spring and summer 2010. Here we report on the results of PD delivery during the summer 2010 TXESS Revolution summer institute as determined by (1) a set of evaluation instruments that included a pre-post concept map activity to assess changes in workshop teachers’ understanding of the concepts presented, a pre-post test content knowledge test, and a pre-post survey of teachers’ comfort in teaching the Texas Earth and Space Science standards addressed by the module; (2) teacher reflections; and (3) focus group responses. The findings reveal that the teachers liked the module activities and felt they could use them to teach Environmental and Earth Science. They appreciated that the sequence of activities contributed to a deeper understanding and observed that the variety of methods used to present the information accommodates different learning styles. Information about the cryosphere was new to all the teachers. The content knowledge tests reveal that although teachers made appreciable gains, their understanding of cryosphere, how it changes

  3. Satish Dhawan-A Creative Teacher

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 8; Issue 10. Satish Dhawan – A Creative Teacher. A P J Abdul Kalam. General Article Volume 8 Issue 10 October 2003 pp 56-62. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/008/10/0056-0062 ...

  4. School Influence and Classroom Control: A Comparison of Career and Technical Education, Science, and Mathematics Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowen, Bradley; Marx, Adam; Williams, Thomas; Napoleon, Larry, Jr.

    2017-01-01

    Teacher retention in the STEM fields is of national interest. Several factors, such as job satisfaction, classroom control, and school influence have been linked to teachers leaving the profession. By statistically analyzing various questions from the Schools and Staffing Survey Teacher Questionnaire, this study evaluated the current state of how…

  5. Teacher Self-Efficacy with Teaching Students to Lead IEP Meetings: A Correlation Study on Administrator Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Laron A.

    2012-01-01

    Self-efficacy has been closely linked to teacher performance of instructional tasks. Previous studies on teacher self-efficacy focused on general activities and were less specific regarding special education teachers' perceived ability to perform a given task. The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to evaluate high school special…

  6. Handwriting Manual for Primary Teachers in Somalia. African Studies in Curriculum Development & Evaluation No. 61.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dirie, Mohamed Farah

    Concern over the poor and illegible handwriting of the students in Somalia led to the development of this handwriting manual for primary school teachers to: (1) give teachers guidance in teaching handwriting; (2) help teachers in the methodology of teaching handwriting; (3) let teachers know the easier ways of making cheap and obtainable materials…

  7. Stephen Hawking's Universe. Teacher's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Malcolm H.; Rameau, Jonathan D.

    This program guide is meant to help teachers assist their students in viewing the six-part public television series, "Stephen Hawking's Universe." The guide features program summaries that give background information and brief synopses of the programs; previewing activities that familiarize students with the subject; vocabulary that…

  8. Science teacher's discourse about reading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Martins

    2006-08-01

    Full Text Available In this research we start from the assumption that teachers act as mediators of reading practices in school and problematise their practices, meanings and representations of reading. We have investigated meanings constructed by a group of teachers of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, working at a federal technical school. Having French discourse analysis as our theoretical-methodological framework, we considered that meanings, concepts and conceptions of reading are built historically through discourses, which produce meanings that determine ideological practices. Our results show that, for that group of teachers, there were no opportunities during either initial training or on-going education for reflecting upon the role of reading in science teaching and learning. Moreover, there seems to be an association between the type of discourse and modes of reading, so that unique meanings are attributed to scientific texts and their reading are linked to search and assimilation of information.

  9. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... NIDA’s "Learn the Link" campaign continues to raise awareness among this generation of the real risks of ... Collaborators Thanks to Those Who Have Helped Raise Awareness of Our Campaign! NIDA acknowledges the following television ...

  10. The Influence of Principal Actions That Develop Social Capital as Perceived by Elementary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, Stephen J.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify principal actions and strategies that support teachers in the development of social capital as perceived by teachers in high performing Dallas County elementary schools. This study addressed the following research questions: 1. What principal actions or strategies help teachers develop…

  11. The Conflation of Adult ESL and Literacy: The Views of Experienced Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Douglas; René, Carène Pierre; Bangou, Francis; Sarwar, Gul Shahzad

    2015-01-01

    This article explores the links between English as a second language (ESL) instruction and literacy instruction through an examination of viewpoints from eight teachers in two Canadian provinces. Four of these teachers worked in government--funded adult ESL and literacy education programs for a large urban school district in the province of…

  12. Full Inclusion: Understanding the Role of Gay and Lesbian Texts and Films in Teacher Education Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermann-Wilmarth, Jill M.

    2007-01-01

    This paper identifies some of the resources the author has found and used to help future teachers become fully inclusive teachers, particularly of early elementary students. Through sharing these resources--children's literature, a children's literature textbook, edited books for teacher educators and pre- and inservice teachers, and a video--the…

  13. Decision support system in Predicting the Best teacher with Multi Atribute Decesion Making Weighted Product (MADMWP Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solikhun Solikhun

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Predicting of the best teacher in Indonesia aims to spur the development of the growth and improve the quality of the education. In this paper, the predicting  of the best teacher is implemented based on predefined criteria. To help the predicting process, a decision support system is needed. This paper employs Multi Atribute Decesion Making Weighted Product (MADMWP method. The result of this method is tested some teachers in  junior high school islamic boarding Al-Barokah school, Simalungun, North Sumatera, Indonesia. This system can be used to help in solving problems of the best teacher prediction.

  14. What All Reading Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedora, Pledger

    2014-01-01

    When students experience reading difficulties--or even before they do--teachers can use specialized knowledge to help them achieve success. This overview of the International Dyslexia Association's "Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading" describes those reading and literacy standards and provides resources for teacher…

  15. New Teachers Search for Place in New Orleans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zubrzycki, Jaclyn

    2013-01-01

    Derek Roguski and Hannah Sadtler came to New Orleans in 2008 through Teach For America. The competitive program provided five weeks' training and helped place them in schools, and both young teachers were eager to learn to teach and help the city's students. But they quickly found that they had more questions than answers about the schools they…

  16. Teacher knowledge, instructional expertise, and the development of reading proficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid Lyon, G; Weiser, Beverly

    2009-01-01

    Teacher knowledge and instructional expertise have been found in correlational and pre- and posttest studies to be related to student reading achievement. This article summarizes data presented in this special issue and additional research to address four questions: (a) What do expert reading teachers know? (b) Why do teachers need to acquire this knowledge? (c) Do teachers believe they have this knowledge? and (d) Are teachers being adequately prepared to teach reading? Well-designed studies relevant to this topic have been sparse with a noticeable lack of attention given to identifying specific causal links between teacher knowledge, teaching expertise, and student reading achievement. Until the appropriate research designs and methodologies are applied to address the question of causal effects, conclusions about the specific content that teachers must know and the instructional practices that are most beneficial in presenting this content are preliminary at best. Future studies of the effect of essential reading content knowledge must be extended beyond word-level skills to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

  17. Concerns for the language skills of South African learners and their teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Rhelda Krugel; Elsa Fourie

    2014-01-01

    The language of instruction and learner achievement is directly linked. In South Africa many English teachers lack the necessary English language skills to teach English effectively. The results of this research reveal that the average grade profile of English teachers at the ex-model C schools (schools previously attended only by white learners), regarding English literacy is that of Grade 12+ (Grade 12 is the last year of formal schooling), while the average grade profile of the teachers at...

  18. Teachers' Views on Integrating Faith into Their Professional Lives: A Cross-Cultural Glimpse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahn, Joonkil; Hinson, Danny W.; Teets, Sharon T.

    2016-01-01

    AILACTE institutions are often linked to faith-based traditions, and teacher education candidates may attend these institutions as a result of their sense of calling to the profession. However, most graduates of teacher education programs teach in religiously neutral environments. With the high expectations of professional standards for the…

  19. DefenseLink Special: U.S. Forces Help Afghan Soldiers Train for Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Us Afghanistan, U.S. Forces Help Afghan Soldiers Train for Future 'Forces of Freedom, Decency Will people, defend our freedom, and send a clear message to the extremists: The forces of freedom and decency will prevail," he said in a speech at Latvia University. Story U.S. Soldiers Work With Afghan Army

  20. LinkedIn Marketing An Hour a Day

    CERN Document Server

    von Rosen, Viveka

    2012-01-01

    A step-by-step guide for succeeding on the for ''business'' social media network LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day helps you create, customize, and optimize a presence on LinkedIn, the world's largest social network for professionals. In this detailed, step-by-step book, LinkedIn expert Viveka von Rosen reveals how to use this powerful platform to ensure that you or your company get noticed by the right audience. Discover previously undocumented tips and tricks for community growth and management, including how to best use Groups, events, and other LinkedIn features and applications. Offers a

  1. Emotional competence relating to perceived stress and burnout in Spanish teachers: a mediator model

    OpenAIRE

    Lourdes Rey; Natalio Extremera; Mario Pena

    2016-01-01

    This study examined direct associations between emotional competence, perceived stress and burnout in 489 Spanish teachers. In addition, a model in which perceived stress mediated pathways linking emotional competence to teacher burnout symptoms was also examined. Results showed that emotional competence and stress were significantly correlated with teacher burnout symptoms in the expected direction. Moreover, mediational analysis indicated that perceived stress partly mediated the relationsh...

  2. Research on Job Satisfaction of Elementary and High School Teachers and Strategies to Increase Job Satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuming, Xu; Jiliang, Shen

    2007-01-01

    Job satisfaction is an important topic in teacher education research. Exploring the issue of teacher job satisfaction helps us gain a deeper understanding of teachers' mental state, such as their occupational attitudes, zeal for teaching, and work enthusiasm, which affects the quality of teaching and education. From an examination of teachers' job…

  3. Starting Point: Linking Methods and Materials for Introductory Geoscience Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manduca, C. A.; MacDonald, R. H.; Merritts, D.; Savina, M.

    2004-12-01

    Introductory courses are one of the most challenging teaching environments for geoscience faculty. Courses are often large, students have a wide variety of background and skills, and student motivation can include completing a geoscience major, preparing for a career as teacher, fulfilling a distribution requirement, and general interest. The Starting Point site (http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/index.html) provides help for faculty teaching introductory courses by linking together examples of different teaching methods that have been used in entry-level courses with information about how to use the methods and relevant references from the geoscience and education literature. Examples span the content of geoscience courses including the atmosphere, biosphere, climate, Earth surface, energy/material cycles, human dimensions/resources, hydrosphere/cryosphere, ocean, solar system, solid earth and geologic time/earth history. Methods include interactive lecture (e.g think-pair-share, concepTests, and in-class activities and problems), investigative cases, peer review, role playing, Socratic questioning, games, and field labs. A special section of the site devoted to using an Earth System approach provides resources with content information about the various aspects of the Earth system linked to examples of teaching this content. Examples of courses incorporating Earth systems content, and strategies for designing an Earth system course are also included. A similar section on Teaching with an Earth History approach explores geologic history as a vehicle for teaching geoscience concepts and as a framework for course design. The Starting Point site has been authored and reviewed by faculty around the country. Evaluation indicates that faculty find the examples particularly helpful both for direct implementation in their classes and for sparking ideas. The help provided for using different teaching methods makes the examples particularly useful. Examples are chosen from

  4. Can Turnitin come to the rescue: From teachers' reflections? | Bheki ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article concluded that although Turnitin did not help teachers to prevent all learner acts of plagiarism, it did scare the learners away from any obvious act of plagiarism. Teachers and learners became aware of technology as the 'servant', not the 'master'. Grounded analysis was used to generate two themes for this study ...

  5. The Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project: A Purposeful Professional Development Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jao, Limin; McDougall, Douglas

    2015-01-01

    The transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 is particularly difficult for students who were not very successful in mathematics in Grade 8. Research into ways to improve this transition as well as improve the teaching practices at the Applied level will be helpful for teachers, administrators, and policy makers. The Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project…

  6. Using ClassDojo to Help with Classroom Management during Guided Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiarelli, MaryAnne; Szabo, Susan; Williams, Susan

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the use of a free behavioral management software program to see if it was successful to help first grade students recognize and self-monitor their behaviors while working in centers during teacher directed guided reading time. The study found that ClassDojo had a positive impact on these first grade students' behaviors and…

  7. Problem Solution Project: Transforming Curriculum and Empowering Urban Students and Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarrett, Olga S.; Stenhouse, Vera

    2011-01-01

    This article presents findings of 6 years of implementing a Problem Solution Project, an assignment influenced by service learning, problem-based learning, critical theory, and critical pedagogy whereby teachers help children tackle real problems. Projects of 135 teachers in an urban certification/master's program were summarized by cohort year…

  8. Changes in Teacher Stress through Participation in Pre-Referral Intervention Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lhospital, Ann Shargo; Gregory, Anne

    2009-01-01

    Teachers today face high stress that can compromise their well-being, longevity in the profession, and the quality of their interactions with students. Pre-referral interventions, which address individual student difficulties before consideration for special education, may help buffer teacher stress through student interventions and team support.…

  9. Teacher as Learning Facilitator in ELT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Badea Elena Codruta

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The classroom is the magic active scenery where many educational things take place simultaneously.Intellectual, emotional, socio-cultural, motivational and curricular factors corroborate their influence onclassroom environments, whether we deal with traditional models of teaching or with the constructivistapproaches. The growing demand for language teachers, English in particular, has determined a new vision oflanguage teaching strategies. The cutting-edge technology has created a fertile ground which successfullyfosters the teacher –student communication, emphasizing the teacher’s role to guide students and to generate achange in their learning approach and in eliciting useable knowledge. This way, the teacher has a larger abilityto convert knowledge into practical information that is of real help and value to students. Students are involvedin a continuous educational scheme and are tested on what they have learned. This ensures they can alwaysenjoy the benefits of active learning from expert teachers. The present paper deals with a brief analysis of therole of teacher as learning facilitator and its importance for student acquisition process, eliciting some strategiesin support of collaborative and student-centered learning.

  10. ECO TECH LINK: PT3 Grant Builds Technology Circles in the K-18 Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klinger, Katie; Duckett, Jane; Medrano, Maria; Crow, Nedra; Stowers, Gwen

    Through the vehicle of the PT3 grant program, ECO TECH LINK has built a strong consortium to support technology circles of government, education and business in order to raise student achievement scores, shorten the time it takes to earn a teaching credential, and enhance the quality of teacher credential courses. The ECO TECH LINK grant enables…

  11. Binational Teacher Development: Teacher Ambassador Exchange Program, New Mexico, USA and Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habermann, Mary Jean

    The report describes the rationale for and history of an exchange program for Nuevo Leon (Mexico) and New Mexico bilingual education teachers. The program evolved from the need to help Spanish-speaking students maintain their own language and culture while in the United States. New Mexico's state policy concerning language-minority children and…

  12. Work stress, poor recovery and burnout in teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gluschkoff, K; Elovainio, M; Kinnunen, U; Mullola, S; Hintsanen, M; Keltikangas-Järvinen, L; Hintsa, T

    2016-10-01

    Both work stress and poor recovery have been shown to contribute to the development of burnout. However, the role of recovery as a mediating mechanism that links work stress to burnout has not been sufficiently addressed in research. To examine recovery as a mediator in the relationship between work stress and burnout among teachers. A cross-sectional study of Finnish primary school teachers, in whom burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and work stress was conceptualized using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model. Recovery was measured with the Recovery Experience Questionnaire and the Jenkins Sleep Problems Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses and bootstrap mediation analyses adjusted for age, gender and total working hours were performed. Among the 76 study subjects, high ERI was associated with burnout and its dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy. Poor recovery experiences, in terms of low relaxation during leisure time, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and reduced professional efficacy. Sleep problems, in the form of non-restorative sleep, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and both burnout and exhaustion. Supporting a balance between effort and reward at work may enhance leisure time recovery and improve sleep quality, as well as help to reduce burnout rates. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Teacher-student interpersonal relationships and academic motivation within one school year : developmental changes and linkage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Opdenakker, Marie-Christine; Maulana, Ridwan; den Brok, Perry

    The present study explored the developmental changes of teacher-student interpersonal relationships as well as that of academic motivation among first-grade secondary school students. In addition, the link between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and academic motivation across the school year

  14. Linking University and Teacher Communities: A "Think Tank" Model of Professional Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Sarah K.; Scott, Judith A.; Wells, Jan; Skobel, Bonnie; Jones, Alan; Cross, Susie; Butler, Cynthia; Blackstone, Teresa

    1999-01-01

    Rather than informing the teaching community about good research, five experienced teachers and three university researchers developed a discourse community around vocabulary learning to reflect on practice, engage in shared critiques, and support professional choices. In doing so, they were able to inform the research community about good…

  15. The OceanLink Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narock, T.; Arko, R. A.; Carbotte, S. M.; Chandler, C. L.; Cheatham, M.; Finin, T.; Hitzler, P.; Krisnadhi, A.; Raymond, L. M.; Shepherd, A.; Wiebe, P. H.

    2014-12-01

    A wide spectrum of maturing methods and tools, collectively characterized as the Semantic Web, is helping to vastly improve the dissemination of scientific research. Creating semantic integration requires input from both domain and cyberinfrastructure scientists. OceanLink, an NSF EarthCube Building Block, is demonstrating semantic technologies through the integration of geoscience data repositories, library holdings, conference abstracts, and funded research awards. Meeting project objectives involves applying semantic technologies to support data representation, discovery, sharing and integration. Our semantic cyberinfrastructure components include ontology design patterns, Linked Data collections, semantic provenance, and associated services to enhance data and knowledge discovery, interoperation, and integration. We discuss how these components are integrated, the continued automated and semi-automated creation of semantic metadata, and techniques we have developed to integrate ontologies, link resources, and preserve provenance and attribution.

  16. What Frameworks Are Helpful to Science Teachers and Their Pupils When Thinking about the Relationship between Science and Religion?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borgeaud, Jane

    2018-01-01

    Secondary school science teachers report that their approaches to some topics are affected by the recognition that some pupils hold religious beliefs, while primary school teacher trainees express concern about teaching evolution to children with a religious faith. Pupils in British schools and internationally often assume a conflict between…

  17. Physical Education Teachers' Continuing Professional Development in Health-Related Exercise: A Figurational Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfrey, Laura; Webb, Louisa; Cale, Lorraine

    2012-01-01

    This paper uses figurational sociology to explain why Secondary Physical Education teachers' engagement with Health Related Exercise (HRE) is often limited. Historically-rooted concerns surround the teaching of HRE, and these have recently been linked to teachers' limited continuing professional development (CPD) in HRE (HRE-CPD). A two-phase,…

  18. Counseling in teacher education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mølgaard, Dorthe Busk

    Counseling is about supporting and challenging students in making decisions, being adaptive, seeing opportunities and acquiring self-knowledge. Literaturesearch of articles about counseling research in nordic teacher education 2008-2013 shows no results. We started a participant-orientated pilotp......Counseling is about supporting and challenging students in making decisions, being adaptive, seeing opportunities and acquiring self-knowledge. Literaturesearch of articles about counseling research in nordic teacher education 2008-2013 shows no results. We started a participant......-orientated pilotproject about counseling in teacher education. The aim was to acquire knowledge about how students perceive counseling. This knowledge could help uncover potential areas of development for counselingpractice. In the pilotproject it is tested if the chosen method is suitable for bigger qualitative study....... The study is a qualitative questionnaire survey. The “lifeworld” is central, therefore a phenomenological and hermeneutical approach was chosen, where the student’s perception of the counseling is studied. Central themes: Setting of the counseling and progress of the counselingcourse, content and shape...

  19. Developing and evaluating health education learning package (HELP) to control soil-transmitted helminth infections among Orang Asli children in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Delaimy, Ahmed K; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M; Lim, Yvonne A L; Nasr, Nabil A; Sady, Hany; Atroosh, Wahib M; Mahmud, Rohela

    2014-09-02

    This study was carried out to develop a health education learning package (HELP) about soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, and to evaluate what impact such a package could have in terms of reducing the incidence and intensity of STH infections among Orang Asli schoolchildren in Pahang, Malaysia. To identify the key risk factors of STH in Orang Asli communities, we applied an extensive mixed methods approach which involved an intensive literature review, as well as community-based discussions with children, their parents, teachers and health personnel, whilst also placing the children under direct observation. To evaluate the package, 317 children from two schools in Lipis, Pahang were screened for STH infections, treated by a 3-day course of albendazole and then followed up over the next 6 months. The knowledge of teachers, parents and children towards STH infections were assessed at baseline and after 3 months. The developed package consists of a half day workshop for teachers, a teacher's guide book to STH infections, posters, a comic book, a music video, a puppet show, drawing activities and an aid kit. The package was well-received with effective contributions being made by teachers, children and their parents. The incidence rates of hookworm infection at different assessment points were significantly lower among children in the intervention school compared to those in the control school. Similarly, the intensity of trichuriasis, ascariasis and hookworm infections were found to be significantly lower among children in the HELP group compared to those in the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the package significantly improved the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of Orang Asli people and the knowledge of teachers towards STH infections. A school-based health education learning package (HELP) was developed which displayed a significant impact in terms of reducing the intensity of all three main STH infections, as well as in reducing the

  20. Teachers' professional development: Awareness of literacy practices

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hennie

    professional development and deepen teachers' understanding of literacy practices and teaching. Interviews and ... these disadvantages, linked to both material and human resources, have continued, and in fact become .... given access to literacy usage and variation, but ... English as their LoLT, though it may be their.

  1. Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... projects/learn-link-drugs-hiv . 120x90 460x80 486x60 Social Media Send the message to young people and ... following television networks, organizations, educational institutions, magazines, newspapers, companies, events, and radio stations for helping to raise ...

  2. Teachers' Perceptions of Full- and Part-Time Nurses at School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biag, Manuelito; Srivastava, Ashini; Landau, Melinda; Rodriguez, Eunice

    2015-01-01

    Teachers and school nurses partner together to help ensure students stay healthy and engaged in school. The purpose of this study is to generate a deeper understanding of teachers' perceptions on the benefits and challenges of working with full- or part-time school nurses. We conducted a qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses from 129…

  3. Fighting Baddies and Collecting Bananas: Teachers' Perceptions of Games-Based Literacy Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerber, Hannah R.; Price, Debra P.

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses how practicing teachers conceptualize commercial off the shelf (COTS) videogames within classroom-based English language arts instruction. Understanding how today's teachers perceive virtual worlds and videogames as an instructional tool for schema building within literacy development will help researchers better understand…

  4. The perception of science teachers on the role of student relationships in the classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattison, Cheryl Ann

    With the increased accountability of educators comes the responsibility of the entire educational community to find ways in which we can help our students succeed in the classroom. In addition, it is important to discover what it takes to keep those students in school Many science teachers enter the profession unprepared to handle the regular classroom routine. Classroom management, grading, lesson planning, setting up labs, and the myriad of other obligations, can leave teachers overwhelmed and sometimes can get in the way of actually helping students be successful. This study investigated how science teachers viewed the importance of developing strong teacher/student relationships to the increase of student success in a science classroom. I attempted to answer 4 major questions: · How do science teachers in a select high school community view the role of interactive relationships in their classrooms and how that might impact their students? · How do science teachers in a select high school community believe they establish successful interactive relationships with their students? · What do science teachers in a select high school community believe are some of the outcomes of those relationships? · What do science teachers suggest to increase the teacher's ability to form good relationships with their students? A qualitative research method was used including observations, interviews and group discussions of 5 high school science teachers in a small urban school.

  5. Social Justice: The Missing Link in School Administrators' Perspectives on Teacher Induction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, Laura Elizabeth; Portelli, John P.; Rottmann, Cindy; Pashby, Karen; Barrett, Sarah Elizabeth; Mujuwamariya, Donatille

    2012-01-01

    Critical scholars view schooling as one piece of a larger struggle for democracy and social justice. We investigated 41 school administrators' perceptions about the role and importance of equity, diversity and social justice in new teacher induction in the province of Ontario. Interviews reveal that principals were interested in shaping teacher…

  6. Sentenced to Die: Capital Punishment and the Eighth Amendment. Teacher's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Mary

    This teacher's guide is designed to accompany the three-part videotape "Sentenced to Die." The videotape and teacher's guide should help students to: (1) understand the history of the Eighth Amendment; (2) examine the controversy surrounding the death penalty; (3) compare and contrast differing viewpoints on capital punishment; and (4)…

  7. Math Autobiographies: A Window into Teachers' Identities as Mathematics Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCulloch, Allison W.; Marshall, Patricia L.; DeCuir-Gunby, Jessica T.; Caldwell, Ticola S.

    2013-01-01

    Mathematics autobiographies have the potential to help teachers reflect on their identities as mathematics learners and to understand their role in the development of their students' mathematics identities. This paper reports on a professional development project for K-2 teachers (n = 41), in which participants were asked to write mathematics…

  8. Teachers' Practices in High School Chemistry Just Prior to the Adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boesdorfer, Sarah B.; Staude, Kristin D.

    2016-01-01

    Effective professional development that influences teachers' classroom practices starts with what teachers know, understand, and do in their classroom. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) challenge teachers to make changes to their classroom; to help teachers make these changes, it is necessary to know what they are doing in their…

  9. Teacher Evaluation: Organizational Maintenance Versus Stimulation of Improved Teaching Performance. The New Mexico Principalship Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Carolyn J.; Pohland, Paul A.

    Teacher evaluation procedures appear to focus on organizational maintenance aspects more heavily than on helping teachers improve their teaching performance. This conclusion was reached after a content analysis of teacher evaluation instruments used in New Mexico schools. Items focusing on the instructional role constituted only 28% of the items…

  10. In Their Own Voices: Helping Artistically Gifted and Talented Students Succeed Academically

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Karen Lee

    2008-01-01

    Art education is an interdisciplinary field in the sense that it requires a mix of studio practice with theory and academic-style learning. Teachers teach philosophy and theory drawn from psychology, social sciences, history, and the humanities. Helping students be successful readers, writers, speakers, and test-takers are goals shared with those…

  11. The Influence of Experience on Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions of Good and Bad Aspects of a Lesson

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Murray; Doolittle, Sarah; Schwager, Susan

    2005-01-01

    Experiences in sport and physical activity prior to formal teacher preparation are thought to be influential on perceptions of aspiring teachers. Various types of sport and teaching experiences of future teachers have not, however, been linked to specific beliefs and perceptions of teaching effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine…

  12. Helping students make meaning of authentic investigations: findings from a student–teacher–scientist partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolan, Erin

    2013-01-01

    As student–teacher–scientist partnerships become more widespread, there is a need for research to understand the roles assumed by scientists and teachers as they interact with students in general and in inquiry learning environments in particular. Although teacher roles during inquiry learning have been studied, there is a paucity of research about the roles that scientists assume in their interactions with students. Socio-cultural perspectives on learning emphasize social interaction as a means for students to make meaning of scientific ideas. Thus, this naturalistic study of classroom discourse aims to explore the ways scientists and teachers help high school students make meaning during authentic inquiry investigations. Conversational analysis is conducted of video recordings of discussions between students and teachers and students and scientists from two instances of a student–teacher–scientist partnership program. A social semiotic analytic framework is used to interpret the actions of scientists and teachers. The results indicate a range of common and distinct roles for scientists and teachers with respect to the conceptual, social, pedagogical, and epistemological aspects of meaning making. While scientists provided conceptual and epistemological support related to their scientific expertise, such as explaining scientific phenomena or aspects of the nature of science, teachers played a critical role in ensuring students' access to this knowledge. The results have implications for managing the division of labor between scientists and teachers in partnership programs. PMID:23828722

  13. Why should we publish Linked Data?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blower, Jon; Riechert, Maik; Koubarakis, Manolis; Pace, Nino

    2016-04-01

    We use the Web every day to access information from all kinds of different sources. But the complexity and diversity of scientific data mean that discovering accessing and interpreting data remains a large challenge to researchers, decision-makers and other users. Different sources of useful information on data, algorithms, instruments and publications are scattered around the Web. How can we link all these things together to help users to better understand and exploit earth science data? How can we combine scientific data with other relevant data sources, when standards for describing and sharing data vary so widely between communities? "Linked Data" is a term that describes a set of standards and "best practices" for sharing data on the Web (http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/data). These principles can be summarised as follows: 1. Create unique and persistent identifiers for the important "things" in a community (e.g. datasets, publications, algorithms, instruments). 2. Allow users to "look up" these identifiers on the web to find out more information about them. 3. Make this information machine-readable in a community-neutral format (such as RDF, Resource Description Framework). 4. Within this information, embed links to other things and concepts and say how these are related. 5. Optionally, provide web service interfaces to allow the user to perform sophisticated queries over this information (using a language such as SPARQL). The promise of Linked Data is that, through these techniques, data will be more discoverable, more comprehensible and more usable by different communities, not just the community that produced the data. As a result, many data providers (particularly public-sector institutions) are now publishing data in this way. However, this area is still in its infancy in terms of real-world applications. Data users need guidance and tools to help them use Linked Data. Data providers need reassurance that the investments they are making in

  14. Twelve Steps toward Revitalization for Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newbrough, Art

    1983-01-01

    A dozen common sense ways to respond to and counter the teacher burnout syndrome are briefly discussed. Strategies include physical exercise, stress controls, recultivating special relationships, self-expressions, celebrations, enthusiasm maintenance, and professional support. The aticle is designed to help educators maintain a perspective on…

  15. Occupational Stress and Professional Development of Primary School Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mateja Modrej

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The occupation of primary school teachers is considered one of the most stressful professions. The survey was used to determine the incidence of stress in 110 primary school teachers in urban and rural schools in Slovenia, depending on seniority. Its aim was to learn about stress symptoms, stressful situations and strategies to manage stress among teachers. The results show that teachers evaluate their work as a very responsible one and in majority do not think about changing their job. Teachers most often perceive physical and emotional symptoms of stress. They are faced with stressful situations when working with pupils, at their professional work, and in relations with colleagues, school management, and parents. When difficulties arise in their work, teachers most often turn for help to a colleague or the school management; and they manage their stress by going for a walk and talking to their friends.

  16. Chronic Teacher Turnover in Urban Elementary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kacey Guin

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the characteristics of elementary schools that experience chronic teacher turnover and the impacts of turnover on a school’s working climate and ability to effectively function. Based on evidence from staff climate surveys and case studies, it is clear that high turnover schools face significant organizational challenges. Schools with high teacher turnover rates have difficulty planning and implementing a coherent curriculum and sustaining positive working relationships among teachers. The reality of these organizational challenges is particularly alarming, given that high turnover schools are more likely to serve low-income and minority students. The negative relationship between teacher turnover and school functioning, and the fact that turbulent schools are disproportionately likely to serve lowincome and minority students have important implications for both district and school-level policies. Specifically: Teacher turnover rates are one indicator of school health, which school districts should consider when focusing on school improvements. Districts need to begin by developing the means to identify individual schools that experience high levels of teacher turnover. Current district policies in implementing professional development for teachers in low-performing schools are inefficient when teachers do not remain in the schools in which they are trained. In order for low-performing schools to improve, districts need to consider providing incentive programs so that high quality teachers apply for, and remain in, these schools. Future research is needed to address the causal link between turnover, organizational functioning and student outcomes. Additionally, there is a need for research examining district policies that may facilitate teacher turnover within a district, including how districts place and transfer teachers, as well as how teachers’ salaries are budgeted.

  17. Teacher Education: Interface Between Practices and Policies: The Malaysian Experience 1979-1997.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratnavadivel, Nagendralingan

    1999-01-01

    Describes preservice teacher education in Malaysia, focusing on the interface between policies and practices as orchestrated by the Teacher Education Division of the Ministry of Education. Looks at changes in the political, economic, and sociocultural spheres, both locally and internationally, that have helped ensure qualitative and quantitative…

  18. Professionalizing the Self-Reflection of Student Teachers by Using a Wiki

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegner, Claas; Remmert, Kathrin; Strehlke, Friederike

    2014-01-01

    Critics encourage the process of "reflection" as a prerequisite for professionalizing how teachers behave in the classroom. Reflection helps in recognizing areas in need of improvement. Self-reflection is hence one of the teacher's most important skills in order to work constantly on one's teaching and how to improve it. However, the…

  19. The Teacher as Instructional Designer: A Search Through the Curriculum Maze.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacko, Carol M.; Garman, Noreen M.

    The vast amount of literature on curriculum and instructional design does not establish a clear frame of reference to help teachers utilize and operationalize concepts and information. Four specific problem areas are of special concern in the literature: (1) the terminology and definitions are confusing; (2) the place of the classroom teacher is…

  20. Beneath the Golden Arches: The McDonald's Corporation [and] Teacher's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brufke, Edward F.

    This teacher developed case study which surveys the meteoric rise of the McDonald's Corporation and that of its chief promoter, Ray Kroc, is intended to help secondary students develop an understanding of economics and of the decision-making process. A teacher's guide containing questions for discussion and suggestions for class activities is…

  1. Cognitive Coaching: An Examination of the Reflective Journaling of Teacher Candidates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Aiyana Genae

    2012-01-01

    Cognitive Coaching is a method of instruction that recognizes the strength in thinking about thinking and fosters independent learning. Cognitive Coaching is one method of instruction that can help to better prepare teachers for the classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact that Cognitive Coaching had on teacher candidates…

  2. Accomplishing PETE Learning Standards and Program Accreditation through Teacher Candidates' Technology-Based Service Learning Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbone, Anne; Mercier, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    Teacher candidates' use of technology is a component of physical education teacher education (PETE) program learning goals and accreditation standards. The methods presented in this article can help teacher candidates to learn about and apply technology as an instructional tool prior to and during field or clinical experiences. The goal in…

  3. Design and implementation of two two-week Teacher Enhancement Institutes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, Lynn

    1994-01-01

    -on workshops to learn about these programs, but were also given time during the two-week session to explore on their own and to find resources on the Net that specifically met their needs. In order to ensure that Internet access continues after their return to the classroom, aIl teachers who did not have them also applied for Learning Link accounts (from WHRO, the local public television station) and Virginia Pen accounts (from the Department of Education of Virginia), both of which allow textbased access to Internet. In addition to getting exposure to and practice with Internet tools, teachers were aIso given a hands-on seminar (and also given practice time) on ClarisWorks, an integrated word processing, spreadsheet, database, and paint package. The technology sessions (and TEI as a whole) were enthusiastically received by both new and more experienced teachers as extremely helpful in improving their ability to use technology in developing lesson pIans.

  4. Education as a Value: Students, Teachers and Parents Point of View

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valdas Pruskus

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available In this article based upon empiric empirical experimental research, we disclose point of view from students, teachers and parents side. Highlighting school and parents influence to students attitude to education importance. Disclosing different views on education between 10th and 12th grade students. Students view on modern youths values shows that they don’t really care about education (10th grade – 7%, 12th grade – 9%. The most valuable thing is money (10th gr. – 23%, 12th gr. – 32%, and independence (10th gr. – 23%, 12th gr. – 33%. This shows us that material fulfillment, as they think, leads to successful future. So in this case “fast” money and independence becomes a successful life standard. However answer to question what is most important to them personally education is most reachable value (10th gr. – 58%, 12th gr. – 49%. This shows us that youth is not ready (psychologically prepared to open up their true values. In the other hand that shows us lack of openness in our relationship. Personally highest rates goes to education (10th gr. – 58%, 12th gr. – 49%; communication and collaboration (10th gr. – 52%, 12th gr. – 45%, self esteem (10th gr. – 48%, 12th gr. – 49%, honesty (10th gr. – 41%, 12th gr. – 37%. In conclusion we can say that social relationship and collaboration helps to achieve goals, in this case – education. Most of students are looking forward to achieve higher education (10th gr. – 43%, 12th gr. – 46%. Planning to study in Lithuania (10th gr. – 44%, 12th gr. – 50%. Students planning to go for postgraduate studies (10th gr. – 18%, 12th gr. – 25%. This shows us that not only 12th grade students, but also 10th grade students understand higher education importance. It is not a surprise that amount of postgraduate students is growing each year. Achievement of higher education students are linking with opportunity to make more money (10th gr. – 26%, 12th gr. – 32%; getting

  5. Analyzing the Online Environment: How Are More Effective Teachers Spending Their Time?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrentine, Scott Davis

    Teaching at an online school is so different from classroom teaching that traditional training includes few of the skills necessary to be a successful online teacher. New teachers to an online environment face a steep learning curve in how they'll use the instructional technology, prioritize their time, and establish relationships with their students. The literature has advice for these teachers about effective online practices, but there has been little research to establish which strategies are most effective in motivating students. This pre-experimental study, conducted at an online 6th-12th grade hybrid school, investigated the practices used more often by the most effective teachers. Teacher effectiveness was measured by the number of assignments their students had not completed on time. Recognizing that the effectiveness of different practices will vary from student to student, the research analysis included two covariates, measured by surveys: the academic identity and motivational resilience of the students, and the students' self-reported preferences for motivational strategies. More effective teachers were found to make videos more frequently, both of the teacher for motivational purposes and recorded by the teacher to help students move through the curriculum. Quick grading turnaround and updating a blog were also more common with all effective teachers. Distinct differences between middle and high school students came out during data analysis, which then became a major point of study: according to the data, more effective middle school teachers emphasized individual contact with students, but the less effective high school teachers spent more time on individualized contact. The surveys used in this study could be modified and implemented at any online school to help teachers discover and then prioritize the most effective strategies for keeping students engaged.

  6. On the unacknowledged Significance of Teachers´ Habitus and Dispositions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steensen, Jette Johanne

    2009-01-01

    effort to show that socio-economic and sociocultural factors matter and might provide a missing link in research on teachers’ lives and trajectories. Although this study focuses on teacher education students only, the results indicate that the basic orientations will influence career decisions and thus......In recent years, a growing number of studies have focused on teachers’ career trajectories. At the same time there has been a special focus on attrition and retention, with worries about a sufficient supply of qualified teachers seemingly an almost worldwide phenomenon. In a comprehensive meta......). Their synthesis of research evidence points to five important constellations of variables affecting attrition and retention (i.e. teacher demographic characteristics, teacher qualifications, school organizational characteristics, school resources and school student body characteristics). They also indicate...

  7. Urban Pre-Service K-6 Teachers' Conceptions of Citizenship and Civic Education: Weighing the Risks and Rewards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marri, Anand R.; Michael-Luna, Sara; Cormier, Maria Scott; Keegan, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    To effectively help urban pre-service teachers to provide civic education opportunities in their future classrooms, teacher educators should know how urban pre-service teachers themselves conceptualize citizenship and civic engagement. Through the research question--how do urban K-6 pre-service teachers currently enrolled in an urban education…

  8. Effects of Early Literacy Environments on the Reading Attitudes, Behaviours and Values of Veteran Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levitt, Roberta; Red Owl, R. H.

    2013-01-01

    Research has linked early literacy environments to the attitudes, behaviours and instructional values of reading teachers, but most prior research has addressed preservice or early inservice teachers. This mixed-methods, hypothesis-generating, "Q" methodology-based study explored the relationship between early literacy environments and…

  9. Task Persistence Mediates the Effect of Children's Literacy Skills on Mothers' Academic Help

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikas, Eve; Silinskas, Gintautas

    2016-01-01

    This longitudinal study aimed at examining the relationship between children's task persistence, mothers' academic help, and the development of children's literacy skills (reading and spelling) at the beginning of primary school. The participants were 870 children, 682 mothers, and 53 class teachers. Data were collected three times--at the…

  10. Using Facet Clusters to Guide Teacher Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Lane; DeWater, L. S.; Vokos, S.; Kraus, P.

    2006-12-01

    The Department of Physics and the School of Education at Seattle Pacific University, together with FACET Innovations, LLC, are beginning the second year of a five-year NSF TPC project, Improving the Effectiveness of Teacher Diagnostic Skills and Tools. We are working in partnership with school districts in Washington State to help teachers make their classrooms into better diagnostic learning environments. In this talk, we describe initial efforts to construct content-rich professional development courses for teachers, which are infused with diagnostic assessment that target the fine structure of student ideas in specific topical areas. * Supported in part by NSF grant #ESI-0455796, The Boeing Corporation, and the SPU Science Initiative.

  11. I-LLINI Partnerships for 21st Century Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Read, K.; Wong, K.; Charlevoix, D. J.; Tomkin, J.; Hug, B.; Williams, M.; Pianfetti, E.

    2008-12-01

    Quest data loggers. The participants also took pictures with the digital cameras provided through the partnership. During the afternoon session, water and air data was analyzed using TinkerPlots. The science teachers helped the math teachers understand the process of data collection, the physical environment where data was collected and the limitations of the instruments. The math teachers helped the science teachers to use the TinkerPlots software and find statistical representations of the data. A group discussion ensued with regard to the meaning of various statistical measures such as average and median and what they really mean when using real data. Feedback from the teachers was overwhelmingly positive, in particular the modeling of using science data to understand mathematical concepts. Several teachers planned to borrow the instruments and conduct similar activities in their science and math classrooms. Future work include conduct workshops for the participating teachers throughout the academic year to solicit from in-service teachers how university level science classes can be better tailored to pre-service teacher needs.

  12. Learning with Teachers; A Scientist's Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czajkowski, K. P.

    2004-12-01

    Over the past six years, as an Assistant Professor and now as an Associate Professor, I have engaged in educational outreach activities with K-12 teachers and their students. In this presentation I will talk about the successes and failures that I have had as a scientist engaged in K-12 educational outreach, including teaching the Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) distance learning course, teaching inquiry-based science to pre-service teachers through the NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA) program, GLOBE, school visits, and research projects with teachers and students. I will reflect on the potential impact this has had on my career, negative and positive. I will present ways that I have been able to engage in educational outreach while remaining a productive scientist, publishing research papers, etc. Obtaining grant funding to support a team of educational experts to assist me perform outreach has been critical to my groups success. However, reporting for small educational grants from state agencies can often be overwhelming. The bottom line is that I find working with teachers and students rewarding and believe that it is a critical part of me being a scientist. Through the process of working with teachers I have learned pedagogy that has helped me be a better teacher in the university classroom.

  13. Student Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching Biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramaniam, Karthigeyan

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate prospective biology teachers' conceptions of teaching biology and identify how these conceptions revealed their strategies for helping their future students' learning of biology. The study utilized drawings, narratives and interviews to investigate the nature of the prospective biology…

  14. Prototype and Evaluation of AutoHelp: A Case-based, Web-accessible Help Desk System for EOSDIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Christine M.; Thurman, David A.

    1999-01-01

    AutoHelp is a case-based, Web-accessible help desk for users of the EOSDIS. Its uses a combination of advanced computer and Web technologies, knowledge-based systems tools, and cognitive engineering to offload the current, person-intensive, help desk facilities at the DAACs. As a case-based system, AutoHelp starts with an organized database of previous help requests (questions and answers) indexed by a hierarchical category structure that facilitates recognition by persons seeking assistance. As an initial proof-of-concept demonstration, a month of email help requests to the Goddard DAAC were analyzed and partially organized into help request cases. These cases were then categorized to create a preliminary case indexing system, or category structure. This category structure allows potential users to identify or recognize categories of questions, responses, and sample cases similar to their needs. Year one of this research project focused on the development of a technology demonstration. User assistance 'cases' are stored in an Oracle database in a combination of tables linking prototypical questions with responses and detailed examples from the email help requests analyzed to date. When a potential user accesses the AutoHelp system, a Web server provides a Java applet that displays the category structure of the help case base organized by the needs of previous users. When the user identifies or requests a particular type of assistance, the applet uses Java database connectivity (JDBC) software to access the database and extract the relevant cases. The demonstration will include an on-line presentation of how AutoHelp is currently structured. We will show how a user might request assistance via the Web interface and how the AutoHelp case base provides assistance. The presentation will describe the DAAC data collection, case definition, and organization to date, as well as the AutoHelp architecture. It will conclude with the year 2 proposal to more fully develop the

  15. A storied-identity analysis approach to teacher candidates learning to teach in an urban setting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibourk, Amal

    While many studies have investigated the relationship between teachers' identity work and their developing practices, few of these identity focused studies have honed in on teacher candidates' learning to teach in an urban setting. Drawing upon narrative inquiry methodology and a "storied identity" analytic framework, I examined how the storied identities of science learning and becoming a science teacher shape teacher candidates' developing practice. In particular, I examined the stories of three interns, Becky, David, and Ashley, and I tell about their own experiences as science learners, their transitions to science teachers, and the implications this has for the identity work they did as they navigated the challenges of learning to teach in high-needs schools. Initially, each of the interns highlighted a feeling of being an outsider, and having a difficult time becoming a fully valued member of their classroom community in their storied identities of becoming a science teacher in the beginning of their internship year. While the interns named specific challenges, such as limited lab materials and different math abilities, I present how they adapted their lesson plans to address these challenges while drawing from their storied identities of science learning. My study reveals that the storied identities of becoming a science teacher informed how they framed their initial experiences teaching in an urban context. In addition, my findings reveal that the more their storied identities of science learning and becoming a science teacher overlapped, the more they leveraged their storied identity of science learning in order to implement teaching strategies that helped them make sense of the challenges that surfaced in their classroom contexts. Both Becky and Ashley leveraged their storied identities of science learning more than David did in their lesson planning and learning to teach. David's initial storied identity of becoming a science teacher revealed how he

  16. Shadow Puppet Plays in Elementary Science Methods Class Help Preservice Teachers Learn about Minority Scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Phyllis; Rule, Audrey C.; Gentzsch, Anneliese; Tallakson, Denise A.

    2016-01-01

    This practical article describes an arts-integrated project with engineering design and science concepts from the Next Generation Science Standards, art principles from the National Arts Standards, as well as ideas under the theme of "Culture" from the National Council for the Social Studies Standards. Preservice teachers in an…

  17. Making Invisible Intersectionality Visible through Theater of the Oppressed in Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Beth; Duffy, Peter B.

    2016-01-01

    The arts generally and theater specifically offer effective strategies to help educators recognize and make visible the multiple student and teacher identities within classrooms. Without student and teacher agency in schools, there cannot be equitable and liberatory learning environments. Noted Brazilian theater artist and activist Augusto Boal's…

  18. Minority Preservice Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching Science: Sources of Science Teaching Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramaniam, Karthigeyan

    2013-01-01

    This study explores five minority preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching science and identifies the sources of their strategies for helping students learn science. Perspectives from the literature on conceptions of teaching science and on the role constructs used to describe and distinguish minority preservice teachers from their mainstream…

  19. Promoting Evidence-Based Practices: New Teaching Module for Early Childhood Teacher Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young Children, 2009

    2009-01-01

    Linda Halgunseth, head of NAEYC's Office of Applied Research (OAR), tells readers about Child Care and Early Education Research Connections, a Web site (www.researchconnections.org/teaching_modules) to help teacher educators integrate knowledge about evidence-based practices into teacher education programs. In addition, the article touts the…

  20. What Coping Strategies and Support Mechanisms Have Elementary Teachers Found Most Effective?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrd, Kristie M.

    2017-01-01

    This basic qualitative research study explored the lives of 14 elementary teachers in their classroom environment to answer two central research questions which are: what coping strategies do teachers find most effective and what coping mechanisms provided by administration helps them cope with classroom stress? Data were collected through…

  1. Science Teachers' Beliefs about the Influence of Their Summer Research Experiences on Their Pedagogical Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Rommel J.; Damico, Julie B.

    2013-01-01

    This study sought to determine the beliefs that tenured, in-service high school science teachers hold about how their participation in a large mid-Atlantic university's 6-week summer research experiences for teachers (RET) program might influence their pedagogical practices. The findings show a number of factors that teachers believed helped them…

  2. Challenges and Induction Needs of Novice English as a Foreign Language Teachers in Saudi Arabia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhamad, Rufaida

    2018-01-01

    The first year of teaching poses massive challenges that lead to attrition among novice teachers. School communities often fail to provide adequate support to novice teachers to help them adapt to their new professional environments. In Saudi Arabia, attrition among novice teachers is a significant problem that hinders the development of the…

  3. Linking Formal and Informal Science Education: A Successful Model using Libraries, Volunteers and NASA Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Race, M. S.; Lafayette Library; Learning Center Foundation (Lllcf)

    2011-12-01

    In these times of budget cuts, tight school schedules, and limited opportunities for student field trips and teacher professional development, it is especially difficult to expose elementary and middle school students to the latest STEM information-particularly in the space sciences. Using our library as a facilitator and catalyst, we built a volunteer-based, multi-faceted, curriculum-linked program for students and teachers in local middle schools (Grade 8) and showcased new astronomical and planetary science information using mainly NASA resources and volunteer effort. The project began with the idea of bringing free NASA photo exhibits (FETTU) to the Lafayette and Antioch Libraries for public display. Subsequently, the effort expanded by adding layers of activities that brought space and science information to teachers, students and the pubic at 5 libraries and schools in the 2 cities, one of which serves a diverse, underserved community. Overall, the effort (supported by a pilot grant from the Bechtel Foundation) included school and library based teacher workshops with resource materials; travelling space museum visits with hands-on activities (Chabot-to-Go); separate powerpoint presentations for students and adults at the library; and concurrent ancillary space-related themes for young children's programs at the library. This pilot project, based largely on the use of free government resources and online materials, demonstrated that volunteer-based, standards-linked STEM efforts can enhance curriculum at the middle school, with libraries serving a special role. Using this model, we subsequently also obtained a small NASA-Space Grant award to bring star parties and hand-on science activities to three libraries this Fall, linking with numerous Grade 5 teachers and students in two additional underserved areas of our county. It's not necessary to reinvent the wheel, you just collect the pieces and build on what you already have.

  4. Geophysics and Texas History: Teachers Utilize GPS and GPR Technology to Help Restore an Abandoned Cemetery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henning, A. T.; Sawyer, D. S.; Wallace, D.; Kahera, A.

    2009-12-01

    In July 2009, a group of twenty-six K-12 teachers investigated an abandoned cemetery in Prairie View, Texas, utilizing ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to image the subsurface and handheld global positioning system (GPS) units and a total station to record surface positions. The teachers were participants in a summer course at Rice University, ESCI 515: Geophysical Field Work for Educators. The course met for 8 full days over a two week period. During this time, the group acquired and interpreted 53 GPR profiles and over 700 GPS positions. The results of the study were presented to the Prairie View community at the end of the two weeks, and our data will be used in their effort to obtain a historical site designation for the cemetery. Wyatt Chapel Cemetery is located adjacent to the campus of Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, TX, and is thought to have originated as a slave burial ground in the 1850’s. There are very few markers remaining, but a previous ESCI 515 course (in summer 2007) discovered multiple unmarked burials using GPR, which were confirmed by subsequent excavations. This past summer, ESCI 515 participants acquired GPR profiles in previously unexplored areas, used a total station to accurately record the positions of surface features such as headstones, and used handheld GPS units to map the location of a nearby stream bed. Participants were in-service K-12 teachers from urban Houston school districts where the majority of students are members of historically underrepresented minority groups. Recruitment efforts targeted educators who are currently teaching science without a science degree. Participants included elementary, middle and high school teachers. This summer experience is followed by a content-intensive academic year course in Physical Geology. Participants experienced the process of science first-hand and used science for community service (i.e. restoring an abandoned cemetery). Through background research, they derived a rich

  5. Teacher Actions to Facilitate Early Algebraic Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Jodie

    2015-01-01

    In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on integrating the teaching of arithmetic and algebra in primary school classrooms. This requires teachers to develop links between arithmetic and algebra and use pedagogical actions that facilitate algebraic reasoning. Drawing on findings from a classroom-based study, this paper provides an…

  6. Teachers' Integration of Scientific and Engineering Practices in Primary Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merritt, Eileen G.; Chiu, Jennie; Peters-Burton, Erin; Bell, Randy

    2017-06-01

    The Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) challenge primary teachers and students to work and think like scientists and engineers as they strive to understand complex concepts. Teachers and teacher educators can leverage what is already known about inquiry teaching as they plan instruction to help students meet the new standards. This cross-case analysis of a multiple case study examined teacher practices in the context of a semester-long professional development course for elementary teachers. We reviewed lessons and teacher reflections, examining how kindergarten and first grade teachers incorporated NGSS scientific and engineering practices during inquiry-based instruction. We found that most of the teachers worked with their students on asking questions; planning and carrying out investigations; analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking; and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. Teachers faced challenges in supporting students in developing their own questions that could be investigated and using data collection strategies that aligned with students' development of number sense concepts. Also, some teachers overemphasized the scientific method and lacked clarity in how they elicited and responded to student predictions. Discussion focuses on teacher supports that will be needed as states transition to NGSS.

  7. Educative Mentoring: How a Mentor Supported a Preservice Biology Teacher's Pedagogical Content Knowledge Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnett, Ellen; Friedrichsen, Patricia J.

    2015-11-01

    Research suggests discipline-specific, educative mentoring can help preservice teachers develop more sophisticated pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). However, there are few studies examining the nature of mentors' practice and how mentors influence preservice teacher's (PST) PCK. The purpose of this case study was to describe the strategies used by a secondary biology mentor teacher to support the development of a PST's PCK. The primary data sources were the transcripts of audio-recorded, daily meetings between the mentor and the PST during two curriculum units: DNA/Protein Synthesis and Evolution. The mentor influenced the PST's teaching orientation by repeatedly comparing teacher- and student-centered approaches, asking him to consider how students learn, and asking him to self-assess whether his instruction aligned with his teaching beliefs. The mentor helped the PST develop topic-specific knowledge of instructional strategies by sharing strategies she used previously, modeling critical reflection, and inviting him to critically reflect on his own instructional strategies. Topic-specific knowledge of students' understanding of science was developed by discussing common student misconceptions revealed in students' conversations and by sharing the results of test-item analysis from previous unit tests. The mentor helped develop the PST's topic-specific knowledge of assessment by helping him critically analyze and revise previous examinations to better align with the current curriculum units. Topic-specific knowledge of curricula was developed by jointly grappling with decisions about concept sequencing within units. The study includes implications for research, science teacher education, and professional development for mentors.

  8. Teacher enthusiasm: a potential cure of academic cheating

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gábor eOrosz

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In this research we claim that teachers’ enthusiasm matters regarding student engagement in terms of academic cheating. Previous studies found that perceived enthusiasm of teachers is positively related to the intrinsic motivation of the students. However, it was less investigated how perceived enthusiasm is related to cheating. In the first exploratory questionnaire study (N = 244 we found that during the exams of those teachers who are perceived to be enthusiastic students tend to cheat less. In the second questionnaire study (N = 266 we took academic motivations into consideration and we found that the more teachers seem enthusiastic the cheating rate will be lower among university students. Aggregated teacher enthusiasm was positively related to intrinsic motivation, negatively related to amotivation, and not related to extrinsic motivation. Aggregated teacher enthusiasm was directly and negatively linked to cheating and it explained more variance in cheating than academic motivations together. These results suggest that teachers’ perceived enthusiasm can be a yet unexplored interpersonal factor which could effectively prevent academic cheating.

  9. Teacher enthusiasm: a potential cure of academic cheating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orosz, Gábor; Tóth-Király, István; Bőthe, Beáta; Kusztor, Anikó; Kovács, Zsuzsanna Üllei; Jánvári, Miriam

    2015-01-01

    In this research we claim that teachers’ enthusiasm matters regarding student engagement in terms of academic cheating. Previous studies found that perceived enthusiasm of teachers is positively related to the intrinsic motivation of the students. However, it was less investigated how perceived enthusiasm is related to cheating. In the first exploratory questionnaire study (N = 244) we found that during the exams of those teachers who are perceived to be enthusiastic students tend to cheat less. In the second questionnaire study (N = 266) we took academic motivations into consideration and we found that the more teachers seem enthusiastic the cheating rate will be lower among university students. Aggregated teacher enthusiasm was positively related to intrinsic motivation, negatively related to amotivation, and not related to extrinsic motivation. Aggregated teacher enthusiasm was directly and negatively linked to cheating and it explained more variance in cheating than academic motivations together. These results suggest that teachers’ perceived enthusiasm can be a yet unexplored interpersonal factor which could effectively prevent academic cheating. PMID:25873903

  10. Effective teaching: Linking teaching to learning functions | Grösser ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this regard, it is important that teachers are able to link teaching to learning functions in order to facilitate the optimal realization of learning outcomes. In this study the extent to which teaching assists the development of learning functions was examined by means of a quantitative research project. The findings indicated ...

  11. Students Losing Interest? How to Help them Adapt to Changes in the Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fawcett, Gay

    1999-01-01

    Discusses how reform affects students and how teachers can help them adapt to change. After explaining the principles of change and how they affect students, the paper examines the stages of change (comfortable dependence, anxiety, and comfortable independence); discusses students and the process of change; explains the supports that students need…

  12. Situating teacher learning in the practice of mathematics and science teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartman, Monica Louise

    Education reforms propose new content and pedagogy for students. Making such reforms possible in schools depends on creating new content and pedagogy for teachers' learning. This study investigated an approach to support teachers' learning which has been rapidly growing in popularity. Specifically, the study was designed to learn how a collaborative professional development experience, situated in teachers' own practice, might help elementary teachers develop knowledge for teaching. Eleven fourth and fifth grade teachers from two public schools participated in this professional development which was modeled after Japanese Lesson Study. A qualitative research methodology of critical inquiry was used to analyze the data. The researcher was both designer and participant. This intervention gave these teachers opportunities to learn content, pedagogy, and skills for collaborative inquiry, but not all the teachers continued their involvement. Challenges of time, talk and individualism were problems for all and were among the main reasons teachers in one group gave for leaving the program. Three characteristics of the teachers who completed the project included: (a) dissatisfaction with the learning outcomes of their students; (b) participation with colleagues in social activities throughout the school year; (c) an existing trusting relationship with the program facilitator. The features of this new pedagogy of professional development require teachers to break from typical orientations to practice. This produces a paradox. On one hand, many American teachers do not have the skills needed to be expert at this, for the professional culture does not support such work. On the other hand, if teachers are not given opportunities to collaborate in meaningful ways, the skills they need cannot develop. Although, these teachers were not yet experts in this collaborative inquiry process, the skills required began to develop in the course of engaging in this professional development

  13. Primary school teachers' resilience and their readiness for enhancing children's resilience

    OpenAIRE

    Bon, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    Resilience is an important trait, which enables people to successfully recover from difficulties and stress. For teachers, resilience is of vital importance, as it offers different ways and solutions to successfully cope with difficult and stressful situations they face on a daily basis. The way teachers experience and react to stress often affects their pupils, who are under a lot of stress as well. Teachers could help and teach them how to cope with stressful situations by spending some sch...

  14. To what extent is feedback in teacher education ‘for learning’?

    OpenAIRE

    Carver, Mark

    2016-01-01

    Feedback for student teachers during their work-based learning in schools offers significant advantages over feedback in the university-based element of their degree programme. Students receive frequent, often immediate, feedback from an experienced teacher who sees their gradual development and has only a few students to manage. This includes formal feedback linked to assessment criteria but also opportunities for informal, verbal feedback and dialogue that supports socialisation as a collea...

  15. Conflicts and Contradictions: Conceptions of Empathy and the Work of Good-Intentioned Early Career White Female Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Chezare A.

    2015-01-01

    Empathy is theorized to help teachers build strategic student--teacher relationships, develop productive parent partnerships, and acquire professionally informed social and cultural perspectives of students and families. However, this literature offers little empirical evidence regarding how practicing teachers conceive of and enact empathy in…

  16. Pre-service science teachers' teaching self-efficacy in relation to personality traits and academic self-regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senler, Burcu; Sungur-Vural, Semra

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine the relationship among pre-service science teachers' personality traits, academic self-regulation and teaching self-efficacy by proposing and testing a conceptual model. For the specified purpose, 1794 pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered to assess pre-service science teachers' teaching self-efficacy, personality, and academic self-regulation respectively. Results showed that agreeableness, neuroticism, performance approach goals, and use of metacognitive strategies are positively linked to different dimensions of teaching self-efficacy, namely self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. In general, while agreeableness and neuroticism were found to be positively associated with different facets of self-regulation and teaching self-efficacy, openness was found to be negatively linked to these adaptive outcomes.

  17. Shifting Perspectives and Practices: Teacher Candidates’ Experiences of a First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Infusion in Mainstream Teacher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melissa Marilyn Fern Blimkie

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This exploratory case study shares teacher candidates’ perspectives and experiences of the First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Infusion at ABC University’s Faculty of Education field site in XYZ, Ontario. For this initiative, Aboriginal content and pedagogies were infused throughout placements and courses of the mainstream teacher education program. Teacher candidates shared that the Infusion prepared them to teach Aboriginal content in culturally respectful and meaningful ways by providing them with a foundation to build on and helping them to develop teaching practices inclusive of diverse ways of knowing and being in the world. These findings may be useful to other educators developing and implementing their own infusion initiatives.

  18. Child Abuse: What Teachers in the '90s Know, Think, and Do.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinson, Janice; Fossey, Richard

    2000-01-01

    Investigated elementary teachers' ability to recognize signs of abuse, perceptions of the reporting process, and understanding of liability. Teachers often could not recognize signs of abuse and were confused about reporting procedures. Some chose not to report because they believed child welfare agencies would not help; some were ignorant of laws…

  19. Teachers' Role Breadth and Perceived Efficacy in Supporting Student Mental Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzer, Kelly R.; Rickwood, Debra J.

    2015-01-01

    Teachers are considered well placed to identify issues concerning students' mental health and well-being and can play a critical role in the helping process for their concerns. However, little is known about the views of teachers regarding their role in supporting student mental health and how well-equipped they feel to fulfil it. The aim of this…

  20. Meeting Unique Student Needs: Dual-Identified Students and Teacher Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornayi, Hassan Mohsen

    2017-01-01

    This study explored the connection between how confident teachers feel about their skills in teaching dual-identified students and the types and amounts of training they have received. Additionally, this study attempted to find out what the needs of teachers were in order to help them feel more confident in their abilities to teach these students.…

  1. Enlist micros: Training science teachers to use microcomputers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baird, William E.; Ellis, James D.; Kuerbis, Paul J.

    A National Science Foundation grant to the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) at The Colorado College supported the design and production of training materials to encourage literacy of science teachers in the use of microcomputers. ENLIST Micros is based on results of a national needs assessment that identified 22 compentencies needed by K-12 science teachers to use microcomputers for instruction. A writing team developed the 16-hour training program in the summer of 1985, and field-test coordinators tested it with 18 preservice or in-service groups during the 1985-86 academic year at 15 sites within the United States. The training materials consist of video programs, interactive computer disks for the Apple II series microcomputer, a training manual for participants, and a guide for the group leader. The experimental materials address major areas of educational computing: awareness, applications, implementation, evaluation, and resources. Each chapter contains activities developed for this program, such as viewing video segments of science teachers who are using computers effectively and running commercial science and training courseware. Role playing and small-group interaction help the teachers overcome their reluctance to use computers and plan for effective implementation of microcomputers in the school. This study examines the implementation of educational computing among 47 science teachers who completed the ENLIST Micros training at a southern university. We present results of formative evaluation for that site. Results indicate that both elementary and secondary teachers benefit from the training program and demonstrate gains in attitudes toward computer use. Participating teachers said that the program met its stated objectives and helped them obtain needed skills. Only 33 percent of these teachers, however, reported using computers one year after the training. In June 1986, the BSCS initiated a follow up to the ENLIST Micros curriculum to

  2. Utilising a construct of teacher capacity to examine national curriculum reform in mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qinqiong; Stephens, Max

    2013-12-01

    This study involving 120 Australian and Chinese teachers introduces a construct of teacher capacity to analyse how teachers help students connect arithmetic learning and emerging algebraic thinking. Four criteria formed the basis of our construct of teacher capacity: knowledge of mathematics, interpretation of the intentions of official curriculum documents, understanding of students' thinking, and design of teaching. While these key elements connect to what other researchers refer to as mathematical knowledge for teaching, several differences are made clear. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that our construct was robust and effective in distinguishing between different levels of teacher capacity.

  3. Foreign Language Usage by Secondary Education EFL Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sophia Kakavoula

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available In the last few decades there is growing interest in pre- and in- service teacher education which aims to help teachers keep up to date with new trends and developments in the field of education. Although this movement has resulted in upgraded approaches to the design and implementation of teacher training courses, most of them focus mainly on theoretical and methodological issues neglecting the systematic improvement and development of English teachers’ language proficiency and competence. However, it is a reality that several teachers sometimes feel uncomfortable with using the foreign language inside and outside the classroom. The present research investigates how comfortable teachers feel with their foreign language proficiency, whether their confidence in using it influences in any way their teaching practices and whether there is a need for in-service teacher training courses targeting teachers’ language development and improvement. From the analysis of the research data we are able to assume that teachers of English feel that there are deficiencies in their foreign language proficiency and competence and admit that their participation in training courses targeting their language development would improve not only their language proficiency but their actual teaching practices as well.

  4. Effects of the learning assistant experience on in-service teachers' practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Kara E.; Webb, David C.; Otero, Valerie K.

    2012-02-01

    The Colorado Learning Assistant (LA) Program serves as a content-specific supplement to standard teacher preparation programs. In addition to transforming undergraduate STEM courses, it recruits and prepares math and science majors for teaching careers by involving university STEM faculty. The research reported here compares the teaching practices of in-service teachers who participated in the LA experience as undergraduates to a comparison group of teachers who did not participate in the LA program as undergraduates but were certified to teach through the same program. We report on teachers' views of assessments and differences in their teaching practices. This analysis is based on interviews with approximately 30 teachers and observations of their classrooms throughout their induction years of teaching. This work considers how the LA program may help improve current teacher preparation models.

  5. Using Student Work to Develop Teachers' Knowledge of Algebra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth A.; Phillips, Elizabeth Difanis

    2005-01-01

    This article describes a set of learning activities that use algebraic problems and written student work to help preservice and in-service teachers understand students' algebraic thinking. (Contains 4 figures.)

  6. The teacher's role in promoting collaborative dialogue in the classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Noreen M

    2009-03-01

    Research on student-led small-group learning in schools going back nearly four decades has documented many types of student participation that promote learning. Less is known about how the teacher can foster effective groupwork behaviours. This paper reviews research that explores the role of the teacher in promoting learning in small groups. The focus is on how students can learn from their peers during small-group work, how teachers can prepare students for collaborative group work, and the role of teacher discourse and classroom norms in small-group dialogue. Studies selected for review focused on student-led small-group contexts for learning in which students were expected to collaborate, reported data from systematic observations of group work, and linked observational data to teacher practices and student learning outcomes. This review uncovered multiple dimensions of the teacher's role in fostering beneficial group dialogue, including preparing students for collaborative work, forming groups, structuring the group-work task, and influencing student interaction through teachers' discourse with small groups and with the class. Common threads through the research are the importance of students explaining their thinking, and teacher strategies and practices that may promote student elaboration of ideas.

  7. Exploring paraprofessional and classroom factors affecting teacher supervision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irvin, Dwight W; Ingram, Paul; Huffman, Jonathan; Mason, Rose; Wills, Howard

    2018-02-01

    Paraprofessionals serve a primary role in supporting students with disabilities in the classroom, which necessitates teachers' supervision as a means to improve their practice. Yet, little is known regarding what factors affect teacher supervision. We sought to identify how paraprofessional competence and classroom type affected the levels of teacher direction. We administered an adapted version of the Paraprofessional Needs, Knowledge & Tasks Survey and the Survey for Teachers Supervising Paraprofessionals to teachers supervising paraprofessionals in elementary schools. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the link between paraprofessional competence and classroom factors affecting the level of teacher supervision. Our results indicated that when teachers perceived paraprofessionals as being more skilled, they provided more supervision, and when more supervision was provided the less they thought paraprofessionals should be doing their assigned tasks. Additionally, paraprofessionals working in classrooms with more students with mild disabilities received less supervision than paraprofessionals working in classrooms with more students with moderate-to-severe disabilities. Those paraprofessionals in classrooms serving mostly children with mild disabilities were also perceived as having lower levels of skill competence than those serving in classrooms with students with more moderate-to-severe disabilities. By understanding the factors that affect teacher supervision, policy and professional development opportunities can be refined/developed to better support both supervising teachers and paraprofessionals and, in turn, improve the outcomes of children with disabilities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Microwave Oven Repair. Teacher Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smreker, Eugene

    This competency-based curriculum guide for teachers addresses the skills a technician will need to service microwave ovens and to provide customer relations to help retain the customer's confidence in the product and trust in the service company that performs the repair. The guide begins with a task analysis, listing 20 cognitive tasks and 5…

  9. Plasma cortisol and oxytocin levels predict help-seeking intentions for depressive symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Susan; Larkin, Theresa

    2018-01-01

    Depressed individuals often refuse or withdraw from help, a phenomenon termed help-negation, which is a risk factor for poor outcomes. Most previous research has investigated psychosocial factors including stigma as causes of low help-seeking intentions for depression, however these do not adequately explain the problem. We hypothesised that because help-negation worsens with symptom severity, it might be linked to important biological changes associated with depression itself. We investigated the relative contributions of cortisol, a stress hormone linked to depression, and oxytocin, a hormone which mediates social behaviours, alongside psychosocial factors, to help-seeking intentions among depressed and non-depressed individuals. Morning plasma cortisol and oxytocin levels, psychopathology, suicidal ideation, help-seeking intentions from informal sources including family and friends, and formal sources including health professionals, and perceived social support were quantified in 63 adults meeting DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) who were not receiving any treatment, and 60 healthy controls. Between-group analyses of variance, correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions were employed. Help-seeking intentions were lower in depressed than healthy participants, negatively correlated to cortisol and positively correlated to oxytocin. Cortisol negatively, and oxytocin positively, predicted help-seeking intentions from informal but not formal sources, after controlling for psychopathology and psychosocial factors. Neuroendocrine changes associated with depression may contribute to low help-seeking from friends and family, which may have implications for interpersonal support and outcomes. Research and clinical approaches which incorporate biological as well as psychosocial factors may allow for more targeted and effective early interventions to address lack of help-seeking and depression progression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  10. The curricular training and the didactics in training of teachers: challenges and possibilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cyntia Graziella Guizelim Simões Girotto

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we addressed aspects of the disciplines “Curricular Training” and “Didactics” in the Pedagogy Course in training of teachers. The main objective is to emphasize upon submission of the work that we do in our teaching practice in the mentioned disciplines, the importance of linking the theory and the practice in training of teachers so that the teaching in the university it is not decontextualized but enriched with the issues of everyday school life. In this sense, we address, initially, the aspects of the Curricular training as a mediator link of the learning, of the articulation of the curriculum and of the practices and, in this view, as a productive conduit between the university and the basic education, stressing the need for the reception of the contribution that each institutions within its specificity, must provide in the training courses. In sequence, we present aspects of the structure of the work we do with our students in Early Childhood Education Curricular Training. Finally, are detailed the aspects of a Didactics for the teachers of early childhood education and for the early years of Fundamental Education, focusing on narratives of in-service teachers on their experiences teaching in search of new systematization of pedagogical practice and on by own teachers.

  11. Elementary Teachers' Selection and Use of Visual Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Tammy D.; Gail Jones, M.

    2018-02-01

    As science grows in complexity, science teachers face an increasing challenge of helping students interpret models that represent complex science systems. Little is known about how teachers select and use models when planning lessons. This mixed methods study investigated the pedagogical approaches and visual models used by elementary in-service and preservice teachers in the development of a science lesson about a complex system (e.g., water cycle). Sixty-seven elementary in-service and 69 elementary preservice teachers completed a card sort task designed to document the types of visual models (e.g., images) that teachers choose when planning science instruction. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to analyze the card sort task. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a subsample of teachers to elicit the rationale for image selection. Results from this study showed that both experienced in-service teachers and novice preservice teachers tended to select similar models and use similar rationales for images to be used in lessons. Teachers tended to select models that were aesthetically pleasing and simple in design and illustrated specific elements of the water cycle. The results also showed that teachers were not likely to select images that represented the less obvious dimensions of the water cycle. Furthermore, teachers selected visual models more as a pedagogical tool to illustrate specific elements of the water cycle and less often as a tool to promote student learning related to complex systems.

  12. Ghanaian Junior High School Science Teachers' attitude towards ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Contextualising science instruction has been found to improve pupils' understanding of science content since it links science content to the context of the pupil. Science teachers play vital roles in this effort to make science teaching relevant to the Ghanaian child through contextualisation of science instruction.

  13. Developing teachers' subject didactic competence through problem posing

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Tichá, Marie; Hošpesová, A.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 83, č. 1 (2013), s. 133-143 ISSN 0013-1954 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : professional development * primary school teachers * problem posing Subject RIV: AM - Education Impact factor: 0.639, year: 2013 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10649-012-9455-1

  14. Teacher-Student Interpersonal Relationships and Academic Motivation within One School Year: Developmental Changes and Linkage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opdenakker, Marie-Christine; Maulana, Ridwan; den Brok, Perry

    2012-01-01

    The present study explored the developmental changes of teacher-student interpersonal relationships as well as that of academic motivation among first-grade secondary school students. In addition, the link between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and academic motivation across the school year was investigated. The data were collected 5…

  15. Assessing the role of the teacher in introducing entrepreneurial education in engineering and science courses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Teerijoki, Heidi Emilia; Murdock, Karen

    2014-01-01

    on the experience of the teachers of one participant university. It focuses on the role of teachers and emphasizes their perceptions and intention formation through the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior. The results suggest that the program can positively impact the teacher’s perception although the link...

  16. Value-Added Models for Teacher Preparation Programs: Validity and Reliability Threats, and a Manageable Alternative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brady, Michael P.; Heiser, Lawrence A.; McCormick, Jazarae K.; Forgan, James

    2016-01-01

    High-stakes standardized student assessments are increasingly used in value-added evaluation models to connect teacher performance to P-12 student learning. These assessments are also being used to evaluate teacher preparation programs, despite validity and reliability threats. A more rational model linking student performance to candidates who…

  17. "Boys Press All the Buttons and Hope It Will Help": Upper Secondary School Teachers' Gendered Conceptions about Students' Mathematical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumpter, Lovisa

    2016-01-01

    Previous results show that Swedish upper secondary school teachers attribute gender to cases describing different types of mathematical reasoning. The purpose of this study was to investigate how these teachers gender stereotype aspects of students' mathematical reasoning by studying the symbols that were attributed to boys and girls,…

  18. The Relationship between Teachers' Self-Efficacy with Behavior Management and School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Micek, Kristin

    2014-01-01

    Classroom management is a common concern for educators. Teachers with high self-efficacy are strongly linked with having successful characteristics regarding their classroom management styles and strategies. With this in mind, the current study examined classroom teachers' perceived self-efficacy, specifically regarding their behavior…

  19. Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Qualities in Teacher Education: Looking at Features of Teacher Education from an International Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirsti Klette

    2016-04-01

    stages. In this article, we report on a growing conversation about ways of linking theory and practice in teacher education, and efforts on the part of researchers to identify key features of powerful teacher education, analyzing teacher education programs in Finland, Norway, Chile, Cuba and the US. We propose that quality teacher education is designed around a clear and shared vision of good teaching; it is coherent in that it links theory with practice and offers opportunities to learn that are aligned with the vision of good teaching; and it offers opportunities to enact teaching. While these features are supported for the most part by growing consensus in the literature, there is also an emerging empirical base that provides support for the value of them, as suggested from these analyses.Keywords: teacher education, teacher preparation, quality indicators, comparative research

  20. Teacher-student relationships in multicultural classes: Reviewing the past, preparing the future

    OpenAIRE

    den Brok, P.; Levy, J.

    2006-01-01

    This contribution reviews research that links students’ and teachers’ ethnic background to students’ perceptions of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher treatment of individual students, and student achievement and subject-related attitudes. The review mainly includes studies from the United States, Australia and the Netherlands and a few Asian countries (Singapore, Brunei and Taiwan). The literature revealed that ethnicity is consistently associated with students’ perceptions of their tea...