Ethical and Moral Matters in Teaching and Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bullough, Robert V., Jr.

2011-01-01

The author reviews a set of articles on ethical and moral matters in teaching and teacher education previously published by Teaching and Teacher Education. Comparisons are made and a summary of findings offered.

The Effect of 7E Learning Model on Conceptual Understandings of Prospective Science Teachers on "de Broglie Matter Waves" Subject

Science.gov (United States)

Gorecek Baybars, Meryem; Kucukozer, Huseyin

2018-01-01

The object of this study is to determine the conceptual understanding that prospective Science teachers have relating "de Broglie: Matter waves" and to investigate the effect of the instruction performed, on the conceptual understanding. This study was performed at a state university located in the western part of Turkey, with the…

Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity ...

Science.gov (United States)

Report In recognition of the growing need to better address cyber risk and cyber management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) held a Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity Research Gaps and Needs of the Nation’s Water and Wastewater Systems Sector on March 30th and 31st, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The workshop was designed to create a forum for subject matter experts (SMEs) to exchange ideas and address important cybersecurity challenges facing the water sector.

Consolidating Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge Using Didactical Reconstructions

Science.gov (United States)

Mäntylä, T.; Nousiainen, M.

2014-01-01

In the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, there are advanced physics courses designed for the needs of pre-service physics teachers. The starting point is that after introductory and intermediate physics courses, pre-service physics teachers know laws and definitions but the knowledge is quite fragmented and does not form coherent…

Swedish Technology Teachers' Attitudes to Their Subject and Its Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Nordlöf, Charlotta; Höst, Gunnar E.; Hallström, Jonas

2017-01-01

Background: From previous research among science teachers it is known that teachers' attitudes to their subjects affect important aspects of their teaching, including their confidence and the amount of time they spend teaching the subject. In contrast, less is known about technology teachers' attitudes. Purpose: Therefore, the aim of this study is…

Conditioning audience patronage using subject matters in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Conditioning audience patronage using subject matters in Nollywood films: the example of 30 days in Atlanta. ... Abstract. Films are subject-based and when producers set out to communicate their viewpoints, some do it flamboyantly while others take the subtle path. Unlike live theatre before it, the possibility of a virile spiral ...

Conceptualizations of Representation Forms and Knowledge Organization of High School Teachers in Finland: "Magnetostatics"

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Majidi, Sharareh; Emden, Markus

2013-01-01

One of the main components of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge refers to their use of representation forms. In a similar vein, organizing concepts logically and meaningfully is an essential element of teachers' subject matter knowledge. Since subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge of teachers are tightly connected as categories…

Subject Teachers as Educators for Sustainability: A Survey Study

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Anna Uitto

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainability education (SE is included in school curricula to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development (SD into all education. This study investigates lower secondary school subject teachers as educators for sustainability. A survey was used to study the perceptions of 442 subject teachers from 49 schools in Finland. There were significant differences between the subject teachers’ perceptions of their SE competence, and the frequency with which they used different dimensions of SE (ecological, economic, social, well-being, cultural in their teaching varied. Teachers’ age had a small effect, but gender, school, and its residential location were nonsignificant factors. Teachers could be roughly classified into three different subgroups according to their perceptions of the role of SE in their teaching; those who considered three SE dimensions rather often and used holistic sustainability approaches in their teaching (biology, geography, history; those who considered two or three dimensions often but were not active in holistic teaching (mother tongue, religion, visual arts, crafts, music, physical and health education, and home economics and those who used one SE dimension or consider only one holistic approach in their teaching (mathematics, physics, chemistry and language. Subject teachers’ awareness of their SE competence is important to encourage them to plan and implement discipline-based and interdisciplinary SE in their teaching. The specific SE expertise of subject teachers should be taken into account in teacher training and education.

Teacher Contract Non-Renewal: What Matters to Principals?

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Nixon, Andy; Packard, Abbot; Dam, Margaret

2016-01-01

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of teachers' contracts. Nearly 2,000 school principals in 13 states completed an emailed survey. In deciding whether to non-renew a teacher contract,…

Sustainable Architecture in the Context of Education: Reponses of Primary School Teachers on the Topical Subject

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Cencič Majda

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The concept of sustainability and a sustainable and ecological development are common debate topics in today’s society. This paper discusses the concept of sustainability in green building with regard to schools. The research was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers, focusing on some of their opinions on green building. We asked them which aspect of building they favoured and how often they asked themselves certain questions about the school they taught in. Furthermore, we were interested to see whether we would find age-related differences. To this end, teachers were divided into two groups, namely, teachers of up to 35 years of age and teachers over 35. We were surprised to find that teachers over 35 had a more positive attitude towards green building in schools compared to their younger colleagues. Based on the results, we came to a conclusion that the topics pertaining to ecology and sustainable development are neglected in today’s education. However, making them part of school curriculum is not enough, as the opinions and attitudes of teachers on sustainable and ecological issues also have an important impact on the subject-matter itself.

Teacher Negotiations of Sexual Subjectivities

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Ferfolja, Tania

2007-01-01

Discrimination often silences and marginalizes those who do not conform to the dominant gender and (hetero)sexual discourses that operate in broader society. This discussion addresses the ways that seventeen self-identified lesbian teachers working in New South Wales (NSW) Australia negotiate their sexual subjectivities at work in order to pass or…

Assessment of Teacher of Nursing Subjects by Pupils and Students

OpenAIRE

Bednářová, Markéta

2006-01-01

The dissertation Assessment of a teacher of nursing subjects by pupils and students focuses on finding the opinion of pupils of secondary nursing schools and students of higher nursing schools and universities on teachers of nursing. The subject of the interest was particularly qualities and skills of the nursing teachers which pupils and students consider important and desirable. The theoretical part of the work summarizes conclusions from thematically similar studies. The empirical part of ...

Conceptualising GP teachers' knowledge: a pedagogical content knowledge perspective.

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Cantillon, Peter; de Grave, Willem

2012-05-01

Most teacher development initiatives focus on enhancing knowledge of teaching (pedagogy), whilst largely ignoring other important features of teacher knowledge such as subject matter knowledge and awareness of the learning context. Furthermore, teachers' ability to learn from faculty development interventions is limited by their existing (often implicit) pedagogical knowledge and beliefs. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) represents a model of teacher knowledge incorporating what they know about subject matter, pedagogy and context. PCK can be used to explore teachers' prior knowledge and to structure faculty development programmes so that they take account of a broader range of teachers' knowledge. We set out to examine the application of a PCK model in a general practice education setting. This study is part of a larger study that employed a mixed method approach (concept mapping, phenomenological interviews and video-stimulated recall) to explore features of GP teachers' subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of the learning environment in the context of a general practice tutorial. This paper presents data on GP teachers' pedagogical and context knowledge. There was considerable overlap between different GP teachers' knowledge and beliefs about learners and the clinical learning environment (i.e. knowledge of context). The teachers' beliefs about learners were largely based on assumptions derived from their own student experiences. There were stark differences, however, between teachers in terms of pedagogical knowledge, particularly in terms of their teaching orientations (i.e. transmission or facilitation orientation) and this was manifest in their teaching behaviours. PCK represents a useful model for conceptualising clinical teacher prior knowledge in three domains, namely subject matter, learning context and pedagogy. It can and should be used as a simple guiding framework by faculty developers to inform the design and delivery of

Measuring the Subjective Well-being of Teachers

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Rosa Isela Gluyas Fitch

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an instrument, designed using scientific methods, to measure the subjective well-being of teachers in relation to their work and to variables from life experience. Participant teachers work at the basic educational level in private institutions created by the civil society that attend to the needs of the socio-economically vulnerable populations outside the state’s system. The Cronbach Alfa index and exploratory factor analysis were used to establish the reliability and validity of the instrument applied to 183 Mexican teachers in the pilot test. Conclusions pint out to possible uses of this validated instrument for the design of strategies that favor the integral well-being of the future generations of teachers and a substantial improvement in the quality of education.

A Theory-Driven Approach to Subject Design in Teacher Education

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Zundans-Fraser, Lucia; Auhl, Greg

2016-01-01

The intent of this study was to examine how a theoretically-designed subject in an undergraduate teacher education course impacted on the learning and confidence of pre-service teachers in catering for the needs of students with diverse needs. The subject design utilised theoretical principles of self-organisation that were incorporated with the…

Cortex Parcellation Associated Whole White Matter Parcellation in Individual Subjects

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Patrick Schiffler

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The investigation of specific white matter areas is a growing field in neurological research and is typically achieved through the use of atlases. However, the definition of anatomically based regions remains challenging for the white matter and thus hinders region-specific analysis in individual subjects. In this article, we focus on creating a whole white matter parcellation method for individual subjects where these areas can be associated to cortex regions. This is done by combining cortex parcellation and fiber tracking data. By tracking fibers out of each cortex region and labeling the fibers according to their origin, we populate a candidate image. We then derive the white matter parcellation by classifying each white matter voxel according to the distribution of labels in the corresponding voxel from the candidate image. The parcellation of the white matter with the presented method is highly reliable and is not as dependent on registration as with white matter atlases. This method allows for the parcellation of the whole white matter into individual cortex region associated areas and, therefore, associates white matter alterations to cortex regions. In addition, we compare the results from the presented method to existing atlases. The areas generated by the presented method are not as sharply defined as the areas in most existing atlases; however, they are computed directly in the DWI space of the subject and, therefore, do not suffer from distortion caused by registration. The presented approach might be a promising tool for clinical and basic research to investigate modalities or system specific micro structural alterations of white matter areas in a quantitative manner.

Rhetorical meta-language to promote the development of students' writing skills and subject matter understanding

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Pelger, Susanne; Sigrell, Anders

2016-01-01

students' understanding of their subject matter.

Digital Inclusion of Secondary Schools' Subject Teachers in Bolivia

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Popova, Iskra; Fabre, Gabriela

2017-01-01

The government of Bolivia planned to introduce information technology in secondary education through establishing computer labs in schools and through granting each subject teacher a laptop. This initiative was tested for the first time in 2012 with three public schools in La Paz. Most of the subject teachers have never used a computer before. The…

Changes in Dictionary Subject Matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sandro

2003-01-01

The general content of the three editions of the Duden dictionary has undergone few changes. The most substantial changes are the addition of syllabification and the deletion of antonomy in respect of lemmata in the second and third editions. The concept of dictionary subject matter is questioned......, and it is argued that it is more appropriate to consider how the relationships between the classes of items interact with the function of the dictionary....

Measuring the Subjective Well-being of Teachers

OpenAIRE

Rosa Isela Gluyas Fitch; Yutzil Tania Cadena Pedraza; María del Carmen Romero Sánchez; Monica Georgina Cinco Basurto

2017-01-01

This paper presents an instrument, designed using scientific methods, to measure the subjective well-being of teachers in relation to their work and to variables from life experience. Participant teachers work at the basic educational level in private institutions created by the civil society that attend to the needs of the socio-economically vulnerable populations outside the state’s system. The Cronbach Alfa index and exploratory factor analysis were used to establish the reliability and va...

Are Ontario Teachers Paid More Equitably? Do Local Variables Matter?

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Xiaobin Li

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigated whether Ontario’s education funding reform of 1998 made teacher salaries more equitable. It also examined whether selected local variables had the same influence on teacher salaries in 2001-02 as they did in 1995-96 before the reform. Average teacher salaries before the reform in 1995-96 and after the reform in 2001-02 among school boards and among census divisions were compared to see whether the variation in teacher salaries increased or decreased. A partial correlation analysis was conducted to examine the influence on teacher salaries from local variables, which were derived from a literature review. This study finds that (a teachers are paid more equitably today than before the reform, and (b local variables no longer really matter, as a result of the changed provincial funding formula.

Use of Code-Switching in Multilingual Content Subject and Language Classrooms

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Gwee, Susan; Saravanan, Vanithamani

2018-01-01

Research literature has shown that teachers code-switched to a language which is not the medium of instruction to help students understand subject matter and establish interpersonal relations with them. However, little is known about the extent to which teachers code-switch in content subject classrooms compared to language classrooms. Using…

Transforming the Subject Matter: Examining the Intellectual Roots of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

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Deng, Zongyi

2007-01-01

This article questions the basic assumptions of pedagogical content knowledge by analyzing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab, and John Dewey concerning transforming the subject matter. It argues that transforming the subject matter is not only a pedagogical but also a complex curricular task in terms of developing a school subject or a…

Assessing teachers' positive psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire.

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Renshaw, Tyler L; Long, Anna C J; Cook, Clayton R

2015-06-01

This study reports on the initial development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (TSWQ) with 2 samples of educators-a general sample of 185 elementary and middle school teachers, and a target sample of 21 elementary school teachers experiencing classroom management challenges. The TSWQ is an 8-item self-report instrument for assessing teachers' subjective wellbeing, which is operationalized via subscales measuring school connectedness and teaching efficacy. The conceptualization and development processes underlying the TSWQ are described, and results from a series of preliminary psychometric and exploratory analyses are reported to establish initial construct validity. Findings indicated that the TSWQ was characterized by 2 conceptually sound latent factors, that both subscales and the composite scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, and that all scales demonstrated convergent validity with self-reported school supports and divergent validity with self-reported stress and emotional burnout. Furthermore, results indicated that TSWQ scores did not differ according to teachers' school level (i.e., elementary vs. middle), but that they did differ according to unique school environment (e.g., 1 middle school vs. another middle school) and teacher stressors (i.e., general teachers vs. teachers experiencing classroom management challenges). Results also indicated that, for teachers experiencing classroom challenges, the TSWQ had strong short-term predictive validity for psychological distress, accounting for approximately half of the variance in teacher stress and emotional burnout. Implications for theory, research, and the practice of school psychology are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The relationship between teacher-related factors and students' attitudes towards secondary school chemistry subject in Bureti district, Kenya

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Salome Chepkorir

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between teacher-related factors and student’s attitudes towards Chemistry subject in secondary schools in Kenya. The paper is based on a study conducted in Bureti District in Kericho County, Kenya. This paper highlights issues on the teaching methods used by chemistry teachers, the teachers’ availability to attend to various needs of students on the subject, their use of teaching and learning resources in teaching, teachers’ personal levels of skills and knowledge of the subject matter in Chemistry and the impact of students’ negative attitudes towards Chemistry on teachers’ effectiveness. The research design used in the study was descriptive survey. The target population comprised Form Four students in ten selected secondary schools in Bureti District of Rift Valley Province Kenya. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the study sample. Schools were selected from the following categories: Girls’ schools, Boys’ schools and Co-educational schools. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents from Form Four classes as well as a teacher in each school. In all, one hundred and eighty-nine students and ten teachers filled the questionnaires. The data collection instruments were questionnaires based on the Likert scale and document analysis. Data was analyzed descriptively using frequency tables, means and percentages while hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance. From the study findings, a number of indicators revealed that there are some factors influencing students’ attitudes towards Chemistry, including lack of successful experiences in Chemistry, poor teaching. It was recommended that science teachers’ should encourage development of positive self-concept of ability among students. Among other recommendations, the study suggests that guidance and counselling of students in schools should be encouraged, to ensure positive attitudes towards and full

Do Admission Criteria for Teacher Education Institutions Matter? A Comparative Study on Beliefs of Student Teachers from Serbia and Slovenia about Inclusive Practices

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Pecek, Mojca; Macura-Milovanovic, Suncica

2015-01-01

The relationship between admissions criteria, the preparation provided by teacher education programmes and student teachers' (STs) beliefs about inclusive education (IE) are rarely made explicit. The paucity of data regarding this relationship leads us to question whether teacher candidates' prior beliefs matter relative to admissions criteria or…

A Subject Matter Expert View of Curriculum Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Milazzo, M. P.; Anderson, R. B.; Edgar, L. A.; Gaither, T. A.; Vaughan, R. G.

2017-12-01

In 2015, NASA selected for funding the PLANETS project: Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science. The PLANETS partnership develops planetary science and engineering curricula for out of classroom time (OST) education settings. This partnership is between planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) at the US Geological Survey (USGS), curriculum developers at the Boston Museum of Science (MOS) Engineering is Everywhere (EiE), science and engineering teacher professional development experts at Northern Arizona University (NAU) Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL), and OST teacher networks across the world. For the 2016 and 2017 Fiscal Years, our focus was on creating science material for two OST modules designed for middle school students. We have begun development of a third module for elementary school students. The first model teaches about the science and engineering of the availability of water in the Solar System, finding accessible water, evaluating it for quality, treating it for impurities, initial use, a cycle of greywater treatment and re-use, and final treatment of blackwater. This module is described in more detail in the abstract by L. Edgar et al., Water in the Solar System: The Development of Science Education Curriculum Focused on Planetary Exploration (233008) The second module involves the science and engineering of remote sensing in planetary exploration. This includes discussion and activities related to the electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopy and various remote sensing systems and techniques. In these activities and discussions, we include observation and measurement techniques and tools as well as collection and use of specific data of interest to scientists. This module is described in more detail in the abstract by R. Anderson et al., Remote Sensing Mars Landing Sites: An Out-of-School Time Planetary Science Education Activity for Middle School Students (232683) The third module

Distinguishing medication-free subjects with unipolar disorder from subjects with bipolar disorder: state matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Rive, Maria M; Redlich, Ronny; Schmaal, Lianne; Marquand, André F; Dannlowski, Udo; Grotegerd, Dominik; Veltman, Dick J; Schene, Aart H; Ruhé, Henricus G

2016-11-01

Recent studies have indicated that pattern recognition techniques of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data for individual classification may be valuable for distinguishing between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Importantly, medication may have affected previous classification results as subjects with MDD and BD use different classes of medication. Furthermore, almost all studies have investigated only depressed subjects. Therefore, we focused on medication-free subjects. We additionally investigated whether classification would be mood state independent by including depressed and remitted subjects alike. We applied Gaussian process classifiers to investigate the discriminatory power of structural MRI (gray matter volumes of emotion regulation areas) and resting-state fMRI (resting-state networks implicated in mood disorders: default mode network [DMN], salience network [SN], and lateralized frontoparietal networks [FPNs]) in depressed (n=42) and remitted (n=49) medication-free subjects with MDD and BD. Depressed subjects with MDD and BD could be classified based on the gray matter volumes of emotion regulation areas as well as DMN functional connectivity with 69.1% prediction accuracy. Prediction accuracy using the FPNs and SN did not exceed chance level. It was not possible to discriminate between remitted subjects with MDD and BD. For the first time, we showed that medication-free subjects with MDD and BD can be differentiated based on structural MRI as well as resting-state functional connectivity. Importantly, the results indicated that research concerning diagnostic neuroimaging tools distinguishing between MDD and BD should consider mood state as only depressed subjects with MDD and BD could be correctly classified. Future studies, in larger samples are needed to investigate whether the results can be generalized to medication-naïve or first-episode subjects. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley

Does content knowledge matter for new teachers?

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Todd D.

reduce the plausibility of selection threats to internal validity. The study found no evidence for relationships between teacher content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge and student mathematics and science achievement in fourth and eighth grade. Furthermore, the results indicated no interactive relationships between forms of teacher knowledge and teaching experience, and student achievement in these grades/subjects. The limitations of cross-sectional, observational studies using large-scale data and directions for further research are discussed.

Elementary student teachers' science content representations

Science.gov (United States)

Zembal-Saul, Carla; Krajcik, Joseph; Blumenfeld, Phyllis

2002-08-01

This purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which three prospective teachers who had early opportunities to teach science would approach representing science content within the context of their student teaching experiences. The study is framed in the literature on pedagogical content knowledge and learning to teach. A situated perspective on cognition is applied to better understand the influence of context and the role of the cooperating teacher. The three participants were enrolled in an experimental teacher preparation program designed to enhance the teaching of science at the elementary level. Qualitative case study design guided the collection, organization, and analysis of data. Multiple forms of data associated with student teachers' content representations were collected, including audiotaped planning and reflection interviews, written lesson plans and reflections, and videotaped teaching experiences. Broad analysis categories were developed and refined around the subconstructs of content representation (i.e., knowledge of instructional strategies that promote learning and knowledge of students and their requirements for meaningful science learning). Findings suggest that when prospective teachers are provided with opportunities to apply and reflect substantively on their developing considerations for supporting children's science learning, they are able to maintain a subject matter emphasis. However, in the absence of such opportunities, student teachers abandon their subject matter emphasis, even when they have had extensive background and experiences addressing subject-specific considerations for teaching and learning.

Influence of subject choice, work overload and work stress on expatriate higher education teachers.

OpenAIRE

Naithani, Pranav

2013-01-01

Subject choice, work overload and work stress influence personal and professional lives of higher education teachers. Though the majority of higher education teachers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are expatriates, yet research on expatriate higher education teachers working in the GCC countries is limited. This paper presents one part of the work life balance survey and focuses on the influence of subject choice, work overload and work stress on higher education teachers in ...

FORMATION OF INFORMATIONAL-COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE OF SUBJECT TEACHERS

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Svitlana G. Lytvynova

2010-08-01

Full Text Available New ways of the development of the informational competence have been determined in the work. Core general standards for the teachers of subjects have been defined. The definition of informational – communicative competence and its components have been discovered.

Age-related changes of diffusional anisotropy in the cerebral white matter in normal subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanyu, Haruo; Asano, Tetsuichi; Ogawa, Kimikazu; Takasaki, Masaru; Shindo, Hiroaki; Kakizaki, Dai; Abe, Kimihiko

1997-01-01

To investigate age-related changes of diffusional anisotropy in the cerebral white matter, we performed diffusion-weighted MRI studies in 21 normal subjects aged 25 to 96 years. The anisotropic rations (ARs), defined as the apparent diffusion coefficients perpendicular to the nerve fibers to those parallel to the nerve fibers, were significantly higher in elderly than in young subjects in the anterior and posterior white matter surrounding the lateral ventricle. Moreover, significant correlation between age and AR was found in the anterior white matter. The ventricular index (VI) measured on MRI, as a quantitative indicator of brain atrophy, was significantly higher in elderly than younger subjects, and significantly correlated with AR in the anterior white matter. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the VI showed the highest correlation for AR. On the other hand, there was no significant correlations between ARs in the corpus callosum and age. These results suggest that morphological changes in the myelin and axon in the white matter occur in elderly normal subjects, probably due to neuronal loss with aging. (author)

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

Subjective-personal readiness of correctional teachers to education of ASD children

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Kateryna Ostrovska

2017-07-01

Full Text Available ASD teachers require skills that go beyond the realm of most educators including professional competences and high moral qualities. In the work theoretical approaches and experimental research on the problem of subjective personality readiness of correctional teachers in the education of ASD children are carried out. The psychological investigation has been conducted including measurement of psychological indices of 40 teachers of ASD children from the boarding school "Trust" and 40 teachers from mainstream schools of Lviv city aged from 28 to 59 years. The following methods are used: "Questionnaire for the measurement of tolerance" (Magun, Zhamkochyan, Magura, 2000; "Shein’s Career Anchors" method aimed at studying the career orientations of the teachers (Shein, 2010; “Diagnostics of empathy level” (Viktor Boiko, 2001; method of study “Motivation professional activities” by Catelin Zamfir in a modification of Artur Rean (Bordovskaya, & Rean, 2001. Based on the provided studies a program for development of subject-personality readiness of the correctional teacher to work with ASD children is proposed. The program consists of the following components: motivational component (professional competence, self-development, self-determination, self-control; cognitive component (intellectual personality autonomy, self-identification, stability, challenge, integration of lifestyles; emotionally-volitional component (empathy, positive attitude toward a child, intellectual analysis of emotions, self-regulation.

Pre-service Teachers' Subject Knowledge of and Attitudes about Radioactivity and Ionising Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Denys Colclough, Nicholas; Lock, Roger; Soares, Allan

2011-02-01

This study focussed on secondary school (11-18 years) pre-service teachers' (n = 73) knowledge of and attitudes towards risks associated with alpha, beta, and gamma radiations. A multi-method approach was used with physics, chemistry, biology, and history graduates undertaking the one-year initial teacher training, Post Graduate Certificate in Education course at a university in central England. A novel research tool, involving interviews about real concrete contexts and first-hand data collection with radioactive sources, was employed to gain insights into a sub-set of the sample (n = 12) of pre-service teachers' subject knowledge of and attitudes towards risk. The subject knowledge of all the pre-service teachers was also measured using a Certainty of Response Index instrument; multiple-choice questions with associated confidence indicators. Although the physicists displayed the higher levels of knowledge, they also demonstrated limitations in their knowledge and held misconceptions such as irradiation being confused with contamination. Physics graduates hold more rational attitudes and a greater willingness to accept risk while the attitudes of graduates in the other subject disciplines are more disparate. These findings raise questions about the extent to which pre-service science and history teachers have the knowledge necessary to teach this topic. The article concludes with discussion of the implications these findings have for initial teacher training, continuing professional development needs for teachers already in the profession, and curriculum developers.

Initial Science Teacher Education in Portugal: The Thoughts of Teacher Educators about the Effects of the Bologna Process

Science.gov (United States)

Leite, Laurinda; Dourado, Luís; Morgado, Sofia

2016-01-01

Between the 1980s and 2007, Portugal used to have one-stage (5-year period) initial teacher education (ITE) programs. In 2007 and consistent with the Bologna process guidelines, Portuguese teacher education moved toward a two-stage model, which includes a 3-year undergraduate program of subject matter that leads to a "licenciatura" (or…

Beyond "Either-Or" Thinking: John Dewey and Confucius on Subject Matter and the Learner

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Charlene

2016-01-01

This article compares the educational thought of John Dewey and Confucius on the nature of and relationship between subject matter and the learner. There is a common perception in the existing literature and discourse that Dewey advocates child- or learner-centred education whereas Confucius privileges subject matter via textual transmission.…

The effect of teacher interpersonal behaviour on students' subject-specific motivation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

den Brok, P.; Levy, J.; Brekelmans, M.; Wubbels, Th.

2006-01-01

This study brings together insights from research on teaching and learning in specific subjects, learning environments research and effectiveness research by linking teacher interpersonal behaviour to students’ subject-related attitudes. Teaching was studied in terms of a model originating from

22 CFR 61.6 - Consultation with subject matter specialists.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... FREE FLOW OF AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS § 61.6 Consultation with subject matter specialists. (a) The... assisting the Department in its determination of whether materials for which export certification or import authentication is sought contain widespread and gross misstatements of fact. (b) As necessary, the Department may...

12 CFR 791.6 - Subject matter of a meeting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

....6 Banks and Banking NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS AFFECTING THE OPERATIONS OF THE... REGULATIONS; PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF NCUA BOARD MEETINGS Rules of NCUA Board Procedure § 791.6 Subject matter of... all Office Directors and President of the Central Liquidity Facility), and Regional Directors. [61 FR...

Experiential Learning of Electronics Subject Matter in Middle School Robotics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Rihtaršic, David; Avsec, Stanislav; Kocijancic, Slavko

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the experiential learning of electronics subject matter is effective in the middle school open learning of robotics. Electronics is often ignored in robotics courses. Since robotics courses are typically comprised of computer-related subjects, and mechanical and electrical engineering, these…

Framing a program designed to train new chemistry/physics teachers for California outlying regions

Science.gov (United States)

Bodily, Gerald P., Jr.

The purpose of this study was to develop guidelines for a new high school chemistry and physics teacher training program. Eleven participants were interviewed who attended daylong workshops, every other Saturday, for 10 months. The instructors used Modeling Instruction pedagogy and curriculum. All the instructors had high school teaching experience, but only one possessed a doctorate degree. The interview questions focused on four themes: motivation, epistemology, meta-cognition, and self-regulation; and the resulting transcripts were analyzed using a methodology called Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The cases expressed a strong preference for the program's instruction program over learning subject matter knowledge in university classrooms. The data indicated that the cases, as a group, were disciplined scholars seeking a deep understanding of the subject matter knowledge needed to teach high school chemistry and physics. Based on these results a new approach to training teachers was proposed, an approach that offers novel answers to the questions of how and who to train as science teachers. The how part of the training involves using a program called Modeling Instruction. Modeling instruction is currently used to upgrade experienced science teachers and, in the new approach, replaces the training traditionally administered by professional scientists in university science departments. The who aspect proposes that the participants be college graduates, selected not for university science training, but for their high school math and science background. It is further proposed that only 10 months of daily, face-to-face instruction is required to move the learner to a deep understanding of subject matter knowledge required to teach high school chemistry and physics. Two outcomes are sought by employing this new training paradigm, outcomes that have been unachievable by current educational practices. First, it is hoped that new chemistry and physics teachers can

Does tutor subject-matter expertise influence student achievement in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective. To establish whether or not tutor subject-matter expertise influences student achievement in content-based examinations in the problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at the University of Transkei (UNITRA) Medical School. Design. A retrospective study of MB ChB III student achievement in end-of-block ...

Subject- and Experience-Bound Differences in Teachers' Conceptual Understanding of Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Borg, C.; Gericke, N.; Höglund, H.-O.; Bergman, E.

2014-01-01

This article describes the results of a nationwide questionnaire study of 3229 Swedish upper secondary school teachers' conceptual understanding of sustainable development in relation to their subject discipline and teaching experience. Previous research has shown that teachers have difficulties understanding the complex concept of sustainable…

New Goals and Changed Roles: Re-Visioning Teacher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawley, Willis D.

1993-01-01

It is argued that the current agenda for improving teacher education only seeks to improve the present system. A new, radically restructured approach would train teachers to learn from their experiences, communicate clearly, know their subject matter, integrate ideas into practice, apply learning theory and child development principles, and…

Teachers' Education in Socratic Dialogue: Some Effects on Teacher-Learner Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Knezic, Dubravka; Elbers, Ed; Wubbels, Theo; Hajer, Maaike

2013-01-01

This article presents a quasi-experimental study into the effects of a course offered to subject matter student teachers that focused on Socratic Dialogue as a way to enhance their interactional scaffolding of advanced second language learning. Within the framework of the sociocultural theory of learning and second language acquisition, the study…

Comparison of Coping Strategies of Student Teachers Based on Their Subject of Specialisation

Science.gov (United States)

P. M., Majitha; Sajan, K. S.

2015-01-01

The purpose of the study was to find out the difference in the mean scores of coping strategies of student teachers based on their subject of specialisation. A total of 558 student teachers were selected for the study. Results indicate that there exists a significant difference in the mean scores of Coping Strategies of student teachers of Arts…

Beginning Secondary Teachers in PNG: Family Background, Choice of Subject and the Curriculum Needs of Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, W. P.

1985-01-01

Some results from the 1982 New Teachers survey will be related to the teacher training programme at Goroka Teachers college. These will be put in the context of the subject courses run at G.T.C. and the subjects taught in secondary schools. Indications of who chooses to teach and why will be found by examining the sociological background of the…

Conflicts at Schools and Their Impact on Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Göksoy, Süleyman; Argon, Türkan

2016-01-01

Based on teacher views, the study was set out to identify school conflicts, reasons behind them, their impact and responses to conflicts. The study undertaken via survey model utilized a qualitative research method. Study group of the study was composed of 57 classroom and subject matter teachers employed in Bolu central district during 2014-2015…

Subject-Oriented Approach in the Professional Formation of the Future Music Teacher

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana V. Karkina

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the possibilities of introducing a subject-oriented approach into the practice of professional education of the future music teacher. Particular attention is paid to the forms and methods used in this field, as well as to the conditions of the modern cultural environment, which allows for the free self-realization of the individual in accordance with his subject needs. Subject-oriented approach is the practice-oriented research. The study identified a number of the most significant components in the preparation of a music teacher, such as individual forms of studies and a number of special methods, which include the method of artistic associations, verbal "allegories", metaphors, the method of heuristic tasks for mastering creative activities. The openness of the musical and pedagogical system has great importance in its ability to respond to changes in the music and educational environment, which includes educational institutions and various cultural institutions: theaters, concert halls, orchestral and choir groups. All that conditions are necessary to ensure the possibility of creative self-realization and self-actualization of future music teachers.

Pedagogical content knowledge: Knowledge of pedagogy novice teachers in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function

Science.gov (United States)

Ma'rufi, Budayasa, I. Ketut; Juniati, Dwi

2017-02-01

Teacher is one of the key aspects of student's achievement. Teachers should master content material taught, how to teach it, and can interpret the students' thinking so that students easily understand the subject matter. This research was a qualitative research that aimed at describing profile of PCK's teachers in mathematics on limit algebraic functions in terms of the differences of teaching experience. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and understanding of teachers is defined as involving the relationship between knowledge of teaching materials, how to transfer the subject matter, and the knowledge of students in mathematics on limit algebraic functions that the subject matter may be understood by students. The PCK components in this research were knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of students. Knowledge of pedagogy defines as knowledge and understanding of teachers about the planning and organization of the learning and teaching strategy of limit algebraic function. The subjects were two mathematics high school teachers who teach in class XI IPS. Data were collected through observation of learning during five meetings and interviews before and after the lesson continued with qualitative data analysis. Focus of this article was to describe novice teacher's knowledge of student in mathematics learning on limit algebraic function. Based on the results of the analysis of qualitative data the data concluded that novice teacher's knowledge of pedagogy in mathematics on limit algebraic function showed: 1) in teaching the definitions tend to identify prior knowledge of the student experience with the material to be studied, but not in the form of a problem, 2) in posing the questions tend to be monotonous non lead and dig, 3) in response to student questions preservice teachers do not take advantage of the characteristics or the potential of other students, 4) in addressing the problem of students, tend to use the drill approach and did

Active Solidarity: Centering the Demands and Vision of the Black Lives Matter Movement in Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Mayorga, Edwin; Picower, Bree

2018-01-01

In the era of Black Lives Matter (#BLM), urban teacher education does not exist in isolation. The White supremacist, neoliberal context that impacts all aspects of Black lives also serves to support antiblackness within the structures of teacher education. In this article, the authors, who are grounded in a race radical analytical and political…

One Health in food safety and security education: Subject matter outline for a curricular framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelos, John A; Arens, Amanda L; Johnson, Heather A; Cadriel, Jessica L; Osburn, Bennie I

2017-06-01

Educating students in the range of subjects encompassing food safety and security as approached from a One Health perspective requires consideration of a variety of different disciplines and the interrelationships among disciplines. The Western Institute for Food Safety and Security developed a subject matter outline to accompany a previously published One Health in food safety and security curricular framework. The subject matter covered in this outline encompasses a variety of topics and disciplines related to food safety and security including effects of food production on the environment. This subject matter outline should help guide curriculum development and education in One Health in food safety and security and provides useful information for educators, researchers, students, and public policy-makers facing the inherent challenges of maintaining and/or developing safe and secure food supplies without destroying Earth's natural resources.

One Health in food safety and security education: Subject matter outline for a curricular framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A. Angelos

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Educating students in the range of subjects encompassing food safety and security as approached from a One Health perspective requires consideration of a variety of different disciplines and the interrelationships among disciplines. The Western Institute for Food Safety and Security developed a subject matter outline to accompany a previously published One Health in food safety and security curricular framework. The subject matter covered in this outline encompasses a variety of topics and disciplines related to food safety and security including effects of food production on the environment. This subject matter outline should help guide curriculum development and education in One Health in food safety and security and provides useful information for educators, researchers, students, and public policy-makers facing the inherent challenges of maintaining and/or developing safe and secure food supplies without destroying Earth's natural resources.

THE CRITERIA, INDEXES AND LEVELS OF TEACHER'S OF NATURAL AND MATHEMATICS SUBJECTS INFORMATION COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT

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Petro Grabovskiy

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Submitted research depends on an actual problem – how is necessary to identify means of teacher's of general education information competence evaluation. In particular, there developed on an evaluation criteria of teacher's of Natural and Mathematics subjects information competence – motivational, cognitive-operating, reflexive; and decomposition to appropriated performance criterion made in this research too. With the help of empirical research methods, in particular the method of expert evaluations, using methods of relative frequency selection, determing by an expert's performance and relevant criteria, proved significance when evaluation of teacher's of Natural and Mathematics subjects information competence development is appropriated. Based on the grounded and developed criteria and relevant indicators where four levels of studing teacher's information competence development were describing – low, middle, sufficient and high levels. According to an author opinion, the further research may be concern with the help of mathematical tools development to determine the level of teacher's of Natural and Mathematics subjects information competence development based on the selected criteria and relevant indicators

Teacher leadership in mathematics and science: Subject content knowledge and the improvement of instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Manno, Christopher M.

This study explores the role of teacher leader subject content knowledge in the promotion of professional development and instructional reform. Consistent with a distributed leadership perspective, many have asserted that the promotion of school effectiveness can be enhanced through the application of teacher leadership (Frost & Durrant, 2003; Harris, 2002a; Sherrill, 1999; Silva, Gimbert, & Nolan, 2000; York-Barr & Duke, 2004). There has been much discussion in the research about the significance of teachers' subject content knowledge in teaching and learning which has generally asserted a positive relationship with instructional practice and student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Newton & Newton, 2001; Parker & Heywood, 2000). The role of content knowledge in teacher leader work has been less researched. This study focused on deepening understanding of perceptions regarding teacher leaders' roles in improving instructional practice. Based on a framework of common teacher leader tasks, qualitative methods were used to investigate the relationship between teacher leader subject content knowledge and perceptions of effectiveness in promoting professional development and instructional reform. The study indicates that content experts behave differently than their non-expert counterparts. Content experts recognize deficiencies in colleagues' content knowledge as a primary problem in the implementation of math or science reform. Content experts view their work as advocacy for improved curriculum and instruction for all children, and work within a small set of task categories to promote discussions about teaching, learning, and content. Content experts develop trust and rapport with colleagues by demonstrating expertise, and are respected for their deep knowledge and efforts to help teachers learn the content. They also differ from non-content experts in the professional growth experiences in which they engage. The consideration of content expertise as an influence

"Free Yourself, Sister!": Teacher Identity, Subjection, and the Psyche

Science.gov (United States)

Janzen, Melanie D.

2015-01-01

Teachers are caught in a tug of war between what they are supposed to be and who they are trying to become. The teaching subject, striving to be recognisable, is socially constructed and discursively constituted through ongoing relations with power--an identity essentially determined in advance. What is it to live--to become, as…

Knowing and Teaching Fractions: A Cross-Cultural Study of American and Chinese Mathematics Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zheng; Peverly, Stephen T.; Xin, Tao

2006-01-01

Guided by Shulman, 1986 and Shulman, 1987 tripartate model of teacher expertise [subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK)], the present study examined 162 U.S. and Chinese 3rd grade mathematics teachers' expertise in teaching fractions. Results show that U.S. teachers lag…

Internal and External Factors Shaping Educational Beliefs of High School Teachers of "Sacred" Subjects to Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Iluz, Shira; Rich, Yisrael

2009-01-01

This research investigated pedagogical beliefs of teachers of "sacred" school subjects, curricular topics that the school community deems culturally valued, unassailable and inviolate. Two hundred and fifty-five teachers of girls only who taught sacred or secular subjects in Jewish modern religious high schools responded to questionnaires focusing…

The Impact of Teacher Qualification and Subject Major in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The findings therefore suggest that the policies adopted by the Ministry of Education concerning qualifications and subject majors of teachers that are employed make important difference in the students academic achievement in mathematics in Lesotho. African Journal of Cross-Cultural psychology and sport facilitation ...

Man Teacher--Woman Teacher: Does It Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Charles M.; Smith, Sue W.

1976-01-01

Implications for teacher hiring practices are drawn from a study comparing male and female elementary school teachers on two dimensions: tendency to establish control in a classroom and need for personal power. (CW)

A comparison of science and mathematics teachers’ interpersonal behaviour with teachers of other subjects.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brok, den P.J.; Taconis, R.; Fisher, D.; Gilmer, P.J.; Czerniak, C.M.; Osborne, J.; Kyle, W.C.

2008-01-01

The differences in teacher interpersonal behavior between science classes and other subject classes in secondary education are investigated using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Multilevel analysis of variance was used on an existing Dutch data set containing 44,353 students and 605

The Examination of Teacher Burnout in Turkey: A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Yorulmaz, Yilmaz Ilker; Altinkurt, Yahya

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of gender, marital status, subject matter, school type, educational status and seniority variables on teacher burnout. In this regard, a meta-analysis was conducted for the studies on teacher burnout in Turkey. The effect size analyses were performed with 100 studies for gender, 73 for marital…

Prospective Teachers Proportional Reasoning and Presumption of Student Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mujiyem Sapti

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to describe the proportional reasoning of prospective teachers and their predictions about students' answers. Subjects were 4 prospective teacher  7th semester Department of Mathematics Education, Muhammadiyah University of Purworejo. Proportional reasoning task used to obtain research data. Subjects were asked to explain their reasoning and write predictions of student completion. Data was taken on October 15th, 2014. Interviews were conducted after the subjects completed the task and recorded with audio media. The research data were subject written work and interview transcripts. Data were analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques. In solving the proportional reasoning task, subjects using the cross product. However, they understand the meaning of the cross product. Subject also could predict students' reasoning on the matter.

The effect of teacher interpersonal behaviour on students' subject-specific motivation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brok, den P.J.; Levy, J.; Brekelmans, J.M.G.; Wubbels, Th.

2005-01-01

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. This study brings together insights from research on teaching and learning in specific subjects, learning environments research, and effectiveness research, by linking teacher interpersonal behaviour to students'

Study of the meta-subject competencies cluster of teachers working ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. The relevance of the studied problem is based on the insufficient information on the professional development of teachers working with gifted children and youth. It also comes from the low level of their meta-subject competencies formedness, which reduces the efficiency of their work. The purpose of this article is to ...

Teaching Place Value Concepts to First Grade Romanian Students: Teacher Knowledge and its Influence on Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Tanase, Madalina

2011-01-01

Researchers (Ball, 2003; Ma, 1999; Schulman, 1986) have long investigated how a teacher's subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge impact on students' learning of mathematics. In an attempt to account for the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning, this study examined four Romanian first grade teachers' knowledge about…

The Relationship between Teacher Attitude and Self-Efficacy for Inclusive Practices in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Özokcu, Osman

2018-01-01

This study aims to investigate the relationship between Turkish teachers' attitudes and their self-efficacy for inclusive practices using a relational survey design. Study participants included a total of 1163 preschool, classroom, subject-matter, and special-education teachers from four different geographical regions in Turkey. The data was…

What Do Subject Matter Experts Have to Say about Participating in Education and Outreach?

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Colleen; NASA's Universe of Learning Team

2018-01-01

NASA’s Universe of Learning partners wish to actively engage with Subject Matter Experts (scientists and engineers) throughout the design, development, and delivery of products, programs, and professional development. In order to ensure these engagement efforts aligned with the needs of Subject Matter Experts, the external evaluators conducted an online survey. The subject pool included the scientists and engineers employed at the partner organizations as well as other scientists and engineers affiliated with NASA’s Astrophysics missions and research programs. This presentation will describe scientists’/engineers’ interest in various types of education/outreach, their availability to participate in education/outreach, factors that would encourage their participation in education/outreach, and the preparation and support they have for participation in education/outreach.

Language Teacher Subjectivities in Japan's Diaspora Strategies: Teaching My Language as Someone's Heritage Language

Science.gov (United States)

Motobayashi, Kyoko

2016-01-01

This study demonstrates the ways in which discourses in a state-sponsored volunteer program incited transformations of individual subjectivities, focusing on a group of Japanese language teacher volunteers training in Japan to become teachers of Japanese as a heritage language for the country's diaspora (Nikkei) population in South America. As…

The Correlation between Prospective Teachers' Knowledge of Algebraic Inverse Operations and Teaching Competency--Using the Square Root as an Example

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Issic Kui Chiu; Ding, Lin; Leung, Allen Yuk Lun; Wong, Ngai Ying

2016-01-01

This study is part of a larger study investigating the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of Hong Kong prospective mathematics teachers, the relationship between the knowledge of algebraic operation and its inverse, and their teaching competency. In this paper, we address the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content…

The Integration of Synchronous Communication Technology into Service Learning for Pre-Service Teachers' Online Tutoring of Middle School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chao-Hsiu; Liao, Chen-Hung; Chen, Yi-Chieh; Lee, Chen-Feng

2011-01-01

To well prepare pre-service teachers for their future teaching, researchers and teacher-educators have been employing information and communication technology to improve pre-service teachers' learning of subject-matter knowledge, pedagogies, classroom-management skills, and so on. This study illustrates a service-learning project we conducted to…

Motivation for choosing teaching as a career - the perspective of pre-service teachers, novices and experienced subject teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simić Nataša

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Since motivation for choosing the teaching profession figures as one of the most important determinants of the successfulness of teachers and even their students, this paper is aimed at investigating the factors of choosing teaching as a career. For that purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students of “teacher training” faculties, novices and subject teachers with more than five years of work experience (N=76. Thematic analysis was used to identify nine categories of motivational factors: Working with young people (the desire to have a dynamic and creative job in the surroundings of young people, Influence on students (the motivation to exert influence on students’ socio-emotional development, values and education, Dealing with the subject (the motivation for dealing with the science that the person studied, Class teacher/Teacher/Parents as a role model (the motivation stemming from the influence of significant others, Lecturing (the desire to “transfer knowledge”, Lifelong learning (the desire for permanent learning in different fields, Working hours and holidays (the motivation due to working hours and holidays, Fit with the abilities (the desire to realise the “naturally given” abilities and Reputation (the desire to be appreciated in the society. In keeping with the results of other studies, it has been found that altruistic motivation for the choice of teaching as a career is dominant, while extrinsic motivation is least present. The findings are interpreted in the light of the current models of motivation for choosing teaching as a career and the characteristics of teachers’ education and status in Serbia. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018: Identifikacija, merenje i razvoj kognitivnih i emocionalnih kompetencija važnih društvu orijentisanom na evropske integracije

Diffusion tensor imaging identifies deficits in white matter microstructure in subjects with type 1 diabetes that correlate with reduced neurocognitive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Kodl, Christopher T; Franc, Daniel T; Rao, Jyothi P; Anderson, Fiona S; Thomas, William; Mueller, Bryon A; Lim, Kelvin O; Seaquist, Elizabeth R

2008-11-01

Long-standing type 1 diabetes is associated with deficits on neurocognitive testing that suggest central white matter dysfunction. This study investigated whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a type of magnetic resonance imaging that measures white matter integrity quantitatively, could identify white matter microstructural deficits in patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes and whether these differences would be associated with deficits found by neurocognitive tests. Twenty-five subjects with type 1 diabetes for at least 15 years and 25 age- and sex-matched control subjects completed DTI on a 3.0 Tesla scanner and a battery of neurocognitive tests. Fractional anisotropy was calculated for the major white matter tracts of the brain. Diabetic subjects had significantly lower mean fractional anisotropy than control subjects in the posterior corona radiata and the optic radiation (P < 0.002). In type 1 diabetic subjects, reduced fractional anisotropy correlated with poorer performance on the copy portion of the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure Drawing Test and the Grooved Peg Board Test, both of which are believed to assess white matter function. Reduced fractional anisotropy also correlated with duration of diabetes and increased A1C. A history of severe hypoglycemia did not correlate with fractional anisotropy. DTI can detect white matter microstructural deficits in subjects with long-standing type 1 diabetes. These deficits correlate with poorer performance on selected neurocognitive tests of white matter function.

Teacher expertise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jens

Teacher Expertise: How to improve the relationship between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Jens Rasmussen, Department of Education, Aarhus University In several studies and reports it has been nailed over and over that teachers’ matter. So this is not the question in this study. The ques......Teacher Expertise: How to improve the relationship between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Jens Rasmussen, Department of Education, Aarhus University In several studies and reports it has been nailed over and over that teachers’ matter. So this is not the question in this study....... The question is how teacher preparation leads to effective teachers. The study Expert in Teaching paid special attention to the intention of connecting coursework more directly to practice in pre-service teacher education. The overall objective of the study was to strengthen the relationship between theory...... that the three parties (college teachers, practice teachers and teacher students) found it difficult to perform and maintain their different roles....

Measuring subjective resilience despite adversity due to family, peers and teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso-Tapia, Jesús; Nieto, Carmen; Ruíz, Miguel A

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to develop and validate a scale of subjective resilience for students 12-17 years old. Items covered adverse situations due to parents', peers' and teachers' actions. The validation process included the analysis on the generalizability of the factor structure and of relationships of resilience scores with different kinds of protective and vulnerability factors -goal orientations and learning-oriented classroom motivational climate (CMC)-. A total of 471 students answered four questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analysis and correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Results showed: (a) that factor structure was well defined; (b) that resilience scale had good reliability; (c) that scores correlated as expected with protective-vulnerability factors such as goal orientations and CMC defined by teachers' teaching-patterns, and (d) that students' attribution of perceived change in resilience to teachers' work depended on the degree in which CMC was learning oriented. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Becoming a Health and Physical Education (HPE) Teacher: Student Teacher "Performances" in the Physical Education Subject Department Office

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Tony; Sirna, Karen; Tinning, Richard

2008-01-01

This study considered how physical education teacher education students "perform" their "selves" within subject department offices during the practicum or "teaching practice". The research was framed by a conceptual framework informed by the work of Goffman on "performance" and "front". The findings revealed three common performances across the…

Concept Maps as Expressions of Teachers' Meaning-Making While Beginning to Teach Semiconductors

Science.gov (United States)

Rollnick, Marissa; Mundalamo, Fhatuwani; Booth, Shirley

2013-01-01

The challenge of teaching new subject matter is a familiar one for most teachers. This paper investigates the content knowledge gains made by seven teachers as they learn to teach the topic of semiconductors through a process of self-study. "Semiconductors" is a new topic in the curriculum which looks at the sub-microscopic properties of…

Mathematics Efficacy and Professional Development Needs of Wyoming Agricultural Education Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, J. Chris; Stripling, Christopher T.

2014-01-01

School-based agricultural education programs provide contextualized learning environments for the teaching of core academic subject matter. This study sought to examine the mathematics efficacy and professional development needs of Wyoming agricultural education teachers related to teaching contextualized mathematics. Wyoming agricultural…

The Effects of an Undergraduate Algebra Course on Prospective Middle School Teachers' Understanding of Functions, Especially Quadratic Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Duarte, Jonathan T.

2010-01-01

Although current reform movements have stressed the importance of developing prospective middle school mathematics teachers' subject matter knowledge and understandings, there is a dearth of research studies with regard to prospective middle school teachers' confidence and knowledge with respect to quadratic functions. This study was intended to…

The Relationship between Teacher-Related Factors and Students' Attitudes towards Secondary School Chemistry Subject in Bureti District, Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Chepkorir, Salome; Cheptonui, Edna Marusoi; Chemutai, Agnes

2014-01-01

This paper examines the relationship between teacher-related factors and student's attitudes towards Chemistry subject in secondary schools in Kenya. The paper is based on a study conducted in Bureti District in Kericho County, Kenya. This paper highlights issues on the teaching methods used by chemistry teachers, the teachers' availability to…

Implementing a Disciplinary-Literacy Curriculum for US History: Learning from Expert Middle School Teachers in Diverse Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Monte-Sano, Chauncey; De La Paz, Susan; Felton, Mark

2014-01-01

In recent years, educators in the USA have emphasized disciplinary literacy as an essential path forward in cultivating adolescents' understanding of subject matter in tandem with literacy practices. Yet, this agenda poses challenges to teachers who have been tasked with its implementation. Here, we examine two expert US history teachers' efforts…

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.

Effects of Storylines Embedded within the Context-Based Approach on Pre-Service Primary School Teachers' Conceptions of Matter and Its States

Science.gov (United States)

Demircioglu, Hülya; Ayas, Alipasa; Demircioglu, Gökhan; Özmen, Haluk

2015-01-01

In this study, the effect of the context-based approach on pre-service primary school teachers' understanding of matter and its states and their attitude towards chemistry was investigated. Using a simple experimental design, the study was conducted with 35 pre-service primary school teachers who were exposed to context-based material with…

Teacher professionalisation in relation to retention strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mariager-Anderson, Kristina; Wahlgren, Bjarne

pedagogical strategies have any impact on retention? The project started in 2010 and includes annual interventions and measurements of the output of these inventions. The intervention includes various teacher training programs e.g. about training in cooperative learning, classroom management, conflict......Teacher professionalization in relation to retention strategies Bjarne Wahlgren, professor, director National Centre of Competence Development, University of Aarhus, Denmark The research project ‘New roles for the teacher’ was initiated due to a concern about the increasing number of dropouts...... within Danish VET. The main research questions are: Is it possible to train teachers to be able to focus on the students’ completion of the program and not only on the subject matter? Do teachers change their attitudes and actual performance in the classroom after training programs? And do new...

An Exploration of Sources of Foreign Language Teacher Motivation in Iran

OpenAIRE

Seyyed Mohammad Alavi; Zohreh Mehmandoust

2011-01-01

This study aimed to investigate sources of motivation of English language teachers in Iranian public and private language schools. To this end, a Language Teacher Motivation Source (LTMS) questionnaire was developed on the basis of the related literature. The LTMS examined four sources of motivation, i. e., extrinsic (economic, social, emotional, educational), intrinsic, altruistic, and subject matter motivation. Having been piloted and validated, the LTMS was administered to 200 male and fem...

Urban Extension: Aligning with the Needs of Urban Audiences Through Subject-Matter Centers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brad Gaolach

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The educational program model is the principle approach Extension uses to deliver on its mission of “taking knowledge to the people.” However, with county-based faculty fully engaged in long-term program delivery, they may have little or no capacity to address emerging issues faced by urban communities. Urban governments often seek the research capacity of a university in addition to, or instead of, the traditional Extension programming model but sometimes turn first to other urban-serving universities. Washington State University Extension has addressed these challenges by establishing subject-matter centers. This article examines how subject-matter centers can add capacity to traditional Extension offices in order to be responsive to emerging local needs, suggesting models that other university Extension programs may use or adapt to their local communities. These models also foster more community engagement and articulate greater public value for the institution as a whole.

Examining Secondary School Physics Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching and Classroom Practices in Lesotho as a Foundation for Professional Development

Science.gov (United States)

Qhobela, Makomosela; Kolitsoe Moru, Eunice

2014-01-01

The classroom practices of science teachers are indicative of their beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PCK is an amalgam of knowledge about subject matter, pedagogy, and contextual issues. This article identifies areas where physics teachers in Lesotho may need professional development support by addressing the research question: How…

In Peer Matters, Teachers Matter: Peer Group Influences on Students' Engagement Depend on Teacher Involvement

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Vollet, Justin W.; Kindermann, Thomas A.; Skinner, Ellen A.

2017-01-01

This study focused on the joint effects of teachers and peer groups as predictors of change in students' engagement during the first year of middle school, when the importance of peer relationships normatively increases and the quality of teacher-student relationships typically declines. To explore cumulative and contextualized joint effects, the…

TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM ON TEACHER PEDAGOGIC KNOWLEDGE IN MERAUKE – PAPUA

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Rias Ning Astuti

2015-12-01

Full Text Available English becomes an international language that has to be mastered by the students in Indonesia and many countries in the world. Teaching English is not easy as we thought. As an English teachers, we should master some criteria to be  good teachers. Because English today in Indonesia is considered as a foreign language, then it difficult for the students to learn it. Teacher is also  important in teaching learning process in the classroom, the foundation of English teacher education, teacher knowledge, and professionalism of the teacher is primary goal that should be mastered In this case, the writer tries to explore the phenomena that happened in Indonesia especially in East Indonesia, that is,  Merauke - Papua. The educational system in Merauke- Papua is good enough, but there are several terms that should be changed by the government and the teachers themselves. There are some problems faced by the teacher when they teach in the class, such as: what they teach does not match with the skills the  subject requires and they only focus on finishing the curriculum. In this context, the roles of the government is very important in order to improve the teacher professionalism in Indonesia, one of which is certification for the teacher and the government will increase their salary per month. But, it is not only the matter of salary, but the government should find another ways to improve the teacher’s professionalism such as: conference, seminars, or another activities.

Developing a Democratic View of Academic Subject Matters: John Dewey, William Chandler Bagley, and Boyd Henry Bode

Science.gov (United States)

Watras, Joseph

2012-01-01

In the first half of the twentieth century, the ideal of democracy influenced the conceptions people had of the academic subject matters. A common criticism was that abstract academic subjects served aristocratic societies. Although most theorists considered the academic subjects to be important, they had differing views on the conception of…

Analysis of Praxis physics subject assessment examinees and performance: Who are our prospective physics teachers?

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Lisa; Hao, Jie; Rodriguez, Christian A.; Fallin, Rebekah; Linenberger-Cortes, Kimberly; Ray, Herman E.; Rushton, Gregory T.

2018-06-01

A generally agreed upon tenant of the physics teaching community is the centrality of subject-specific expertise in effective teaching. However, studies which assess the content knowledge of incoming K-12 physics teachers in the U.S. have not yet been reported. Similarly lacking are studies on if or how the demographic makeup of aspiring physics educators is different from previously reported analyses of the actual high school physics teaching workforce. Here we present findings about the demographics and subject knowledge of prospective high school physics teachers using data from Praxis physics subject assessments administered between 2006 and 2016. Our analysis reveals significant variations in exam participation and performance between men and women, as well as those with different undergraduate majors and academic performance over the past decade. Findings from this work inform understandings and decisions about the quality, recruitment, and preparation of the high school physics teaching workforce.

Being in a romantic relationship is associated with reduced gray matter density in striatum and increased subjective happiness

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Hiroaki Kawamichi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Romantic relationship, a widespread feature of human society, is one of the most influential factors in daily life. Although stimuli related to romantic love or being in a romantic relationship commonly result in enhancement of activation or functional connectivity of the reward system, including the striatum, the structure underlying romantic relationship-related regions remain unclear. Because individual experiences can alter gray matter within the adult human brain, we hypothesized that romantic relationship is associated with structural differences in the striatum related to the positive subjective experience of being in a romantic relationship. Because intimate romantic relationships contribute to perceived subjective happiness, this subjective enhancement of happiness might be accompanied by the experience of positive events related to being in a romantic relationship. To test this hypothesis and elucidate the structure involved, we compared subjective happiness, an indirect measure of the existence of positive experiences caused by being in a romantic relationship, of participants with or without romantic partners (N = 68. Furthermore, we also conducted a voxel-based morphometry (VBM study of the effects of being in a romantic relationship (N = 113. Being in a romantic relationship was associated with greater subjective happiness and reduced gray matter density within the right dorsal striatum. These results suggest that being in a romantic relationship enhances perceived subjective happiness via positive experiences. Furthermore, the observed reduction in gray matter density in the right dorsal striatum may reflect an increase in saliency of social reward within a romantic relationship. Thus, being in a romantic relationship is associated with positive experiences and a reduction of gray matter density in the right dorsal striatum, representing a modulation of social reward.

A cohort of novice Danish science teachers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2011-01-01

A survey on science background and argumentation about science teaching was conducted on a local cohort of newly qualified Danish science teachers. The survey was administered before the novice teachers began their first jobs in primary and lower secondary schools and focused on their reflections...... on specific scenarios of science teaching and themselves as teachers in various science fields. Three areas of concern were identified:There was evidence of reflection upon and argumentation for the practice of science teaching being student centered, but many respondents showed a tendency to focus...... on students' activities as a goal in themselves, few considered what the students learned through the activities. Results furthermore suggest that the teachers' own assessment of their subject matter knowledge in the physics field may, for a large subgroup in the cohort, affect their approach to teaching...

Planetary Exploration Education: As Seen From the Point of View of Subject Matter Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Milazzo, M. P.; Anderson, R. B.; Gaither, T. A.; Vaughan, R. G.

2016-12-01

Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science (PLANETS) was selected as one of 27 new projects to support the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Science Education Cooperative Agreement Notice. Our goal is to develop and disseminate out-of-school time (OST) curricular and related educator professional development modules that integrate planetary science, technology, and engineering. We are a partnership between planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), curriculum developers, science and engineering teacher professional development experts and OST teacher networks. The PLANETS team includes the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL) at Northern Arizona University (NAU); the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center (Astrogeology), and the Boston Museum of Science (MOS). Here, we present the work and approach by the SMEs at Astrogeology. As part of this overarching project, we will create a model for improved integration of SMEs, curriculum developers, professional development experts, and educators. For the 2016 and 2017 Fiscal Years, our focus is on creating science material for two OST modules designed for middle school students. We will begin development of a third module for elementary school students in the latter part of FY2017. The first module focuses on water conservation and treatment as applied on Earth, the International Space Station, and at a fictional Mars base. This unit involves the science and engineering of finding accessible water, evaluating it for quality, treating it for impurities (i.e., dissolved and suspended), initial use, a cycle of greywater treatment and re-use, and final treatment of blackwater. The second module involves the science and engineering of remote sensing as it is related to Earth and planetary exploration. This includes discussion and activities related to the electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopy and various remote sensing systems and techniques. In

Concepts of matter in science education

CERN Document Server

Sevian, Hannah

2013-01-01

Bringing together a wide collection of ideas, reviews, analyses and new research on particulate and structural concepts of matter, Concepts of Matter in Science Education informs practice from pre-school through graduate school learning and teaching and aims to inspire progress in science education. The expert contributors offer a range of reviews and critical analyses of related literature and in-depth analysis of specific issues, as well as new research. Among the themes covered are learning progressions for teaching a particle model of matter, the mental models of both students and teachers of the particulate nature of matter, educational technology, chemical reactions and chemical phenomena, chemical structure and bonding, quantum chemistry and the history and philosophy of science relating to the particulate nature of matter. The book will benefit a wide audience including classroom practitioners and student teachers at every educational level, teacher educators and researchers in science education.

Mentors matter! What makes a mentor teacher a successful mentor teacher?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Linden, H.; Koet, T.

2012-01-01

In the Netherlands, as in other European countries, school based teacher training is more and more common and successful in teacher education, it strengthens the connection between teacher training institutes and schools. The Dutch secretary of Education van Bijsterveld (2010) called it 'a great

Context Matters: Principals' Sensemaking of Teacher Hiring and On-the-Job Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Ingle, Kyle; Rutledge, Stacey; Bishop, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Purpose: School principals make sense of multiple messages, policies, and contexts within their school environments. The purpose of this paper is to examine specifically how school leaders make sense of hiring and subjective evaluation of on-the-job teacher performance. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study drew from 42 interviews…

A Comparison of Two Approaches to Developing In-Service Teachers' Knowledge and Strategies for Teaching Nature of Science

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Vhurumuku, Elaosi; Chikochi, Andrew

2017-01-01

This paper reports the results of a study that compared two approaches to developing in-service teachers' subject matter knowledge and strategies for teaching nature of science. A treatment post-test only quasi-experimental research design was used. One group of in-service teachers (n = 15) was taught using what is called a capsular approach. In…

A Teacher's Perspective of Geography: A School Subject for Today, Tomorrow, and for All Time

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Douglas G.

2014-01-01

In this article, a retired long-time geography teacher offers his perspective on what a geography teacher needs to keep in mind when teaching geography. The author notes that geography is a useful school subject because it helps young people make their way in the world by giving them some tools to become lifelong learners. The author encourages…

A study of student perceptions of physics teacher behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Brekelmans, Mieke; Wubbels, Theo; Créton, Hans

This study investigates student perceptions of the behavior of physics teachers in relation to some other variables in the classroom situation. The research was carried out as a Dutch option of the Second International Science Study. Data were gathered in 65 classrooms of physics teachers with pupils 15 years old. Some of the teachers (21) used the new PLON curriculum and the others a traditional one. Student perceptions of teacher behavior were measured with a questionnaire based on the interpersonal theory of Leary (1957). The aspect of behavior measured is called interactional teacher behavior. We found remarkably high correlations between student perceptions of teacher behavior and affective outcomes such as appreciation of the lessons and motivation for the subject matter. Also, the correlations with cognitive outcomes measured with a standardized international test were significant. It appears that some differences exist between teacher behaviors that are favorable for high cognitive outcomes and behaviors favorable for high affective outcomes in physics lessons. Hardly any differences were found in teacher behavior between teachers using the traditional and the new physics curriculum.

The effects of job crafting on subjective well-being amongst South African high school teachers

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Sergio Peral

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Job crafting can result in a number of positive outcomes for teachers, such as increased meaningfulness and engagement at work. Increased work engagement and psychological meaningfulness may yield positive benefits for the practice of teaching, thus highlighting the pivotal role of job crafting. Research purpose: The study’s aim was to investigate the relationship between job crafting and subjective well-being amongst South African high school teachers. Subjective well-being comprises psychological meaningfulness and work engagement. The potential mediating effect that psychological meaningfulness had on this relationship was further explored. Motivation for the study: Being in a highly stressful occupation, teachers need to continuously find ways to craft their working practices in order to deal effectively with their job demands and to capitalise on their available job resources. Furthermore, South Africa’s current education system calls for serious proactive measures to be taken to improve and rectify the current status, such as job crafting. Research approach, design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used and administered to a sample of South African high school teachers situated in Gauteng, South Africa (N = 251. Main findings: A positive relationship was found between job crafting (increasing structural resources and challenging job demands and work engagement. Furthermore, psychological meaningfulness mediated the relationship between job crafting and work engagement amongst the sampled high school teachers. Practical/managerial implications: Teachers who craft their work to better suit their preferences and needs will obtain greater meaning in their work and experience increased levels of work engagement. Training programmes and/or group-based interventions targeted around job crafting techniques may be particularly useful in the South African teaching context. Contribution/value-add: This

Designing Tasks to Examine Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Statistics for Primary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Siswono, T. Y. E.; Kohar, A. W.; Hartono, S.

2018-01-01

Mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) is viewed as fuel resources for conducting an orchestra in a teaching and learning process. By understanding MKT, especially for primary teachers, it can predict the success of a goal of an instruction and analyze the weaknesses and improvements of it. To explore what teachers think about subject matters, pedagogical terms, and appropriate curriculum, it needs a task which can be identified the teachers’ MKT including the subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study aims to design an appropriate task for exploring primary teachers’ MKT for statistics in primary school. We designed six tasks to examine 40 primary teachers’ MKT, of which each respectively represents the categories of SMK (common content knowledge (CCK) and specialised content knowledge (SCK)) and PCK (knowledge of content and students (KCS), knowledge of content and teaching (KCT), and knowledge of content and curriculum (KCC)). While MKT has much attention of numbers of scholars, we consider knowledge of content and culture (KCCl) to be hypothesized in the domains of MKT. Thus, we added one more task examining how the primary teachers used their knowledge of content (KC) regarding to MKT in statistics. Some examples of the teachers’ responses on the tasks are discussed and some refinements of MKT task in statistics for primary teachers are suggested.

Secondary school physics teachers' conceptions of scientific evidence: A collective case study

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Joseph A.

Engaging secondary school students in inquiry-oriented tasks that more closely simulate the scholarly activities of scientists has been recommended as a way to improve scientific literacy. Two tasks that are frequently recommended include students' design of original experiments, and students' evaluation of scientific evidence and conclusions. Yet, little is known about teachers' conceptions of experimentation. The principal aim of this study, therefore, was to describe the nature of prospective and practicing physics teachers' conceptions of scientific evidence. More specifically, the following research questions guided this study: (1) What types of issues related to the measurement reliability and experimental validity of scientific evidence do practicing and prospective physics teachers think about when designing experiments? (2) When presented with hypothetical scenarios that describe unsound experimental procedures or poorly supported conclusions (or both), what concerns will prospective and practicing physics teachers raise? And (3) When the participants' responses to parallel research prompts are compared across protocols, what similarities and differences exist? The nature of the teacher-participants' conceptions was described from an analysis of data collected from research prompts such as interviews and hand written artifacts. In these research prompts, the teachers "thought aloud" while designing experiments and critically evaluated student-collected evidence presented in hypothetical classroom scenarios. The data from this study suggested that the three teachers, while contemplating the reliability and validity of scientific evidence, frequently used their conceptions of evidence in conjunction with specific subject matter conceptions. The data also indicated that the relationship between subject matter knowledge and conceptions of evidence was more pronounced for some conceptions of evidence than for others. Suggestions for future research included

The Bologna reform of subject teacher education in the newly founded states in the territory of the former Yugoslavia

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Protner Edvard

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article provides an overview of carrying out the principles of the Bologna reform in the education of subject teachers in the newly founded states in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Drawing upon official documents, particularly laws and by-laws, study programmes and constituent documents of individual universities, the comparative analysis of the reform processes between 2004 and 2013 is made within a relatively homogeneous area in teacher education that existed before the break-up of the former joint state. Positive effects and weak points of the reform activities are observed and detected. The analysis has shown that by implementing the Bologna process the differences in the training of subject teachers among the states and universities, and even among individual universities, increased significantly compared to the previous state of education. This is evident not only in the simultaneous implementation of different models (i.e., the duration of studies (3+2, 4+1, 5+0, but also in concurrent application of simultaneous and successive forms of acquiring teacher competences, different academic titles, and particularly in the greatest issue - different levels of education at which teachers acquire teaching competences for the same teacher profile.

Competency test result of vocational school teacher's majoring light vehicles subject in East Jakarta

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Dudung, Agus

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study of Teacher Competency Test (UKG) is to know about (a) the description of the vocational school teachers' competency test result majoring light vehicle subject in eastern Jakarta, (b) the effect between those certified teachers, non-certified teachers, civil servant teachers and non-civil servant teachers to Teacher Competency Test (UKG) result. The UKG result indicates that (1) certified teachers hold the highest score, however non-certified teachers obtain at the average of 55, in terms of UKG technicality preparation; (2) there are 43 teachers (48.9%) mention that the room facility for conducting UKG is good, while 45 teachers (51.1%) mention the opposite opinion. This shows that the average UKG room is relatively good enough. Meanwhile, in terms of youth facilities availability, (3) there are 86 teachers (97.7%) agree that the facilities are good while 2 teachers (2.3%) say the opposite opinion. This shows that the average UKG preparation is relatively very good. About the implementation of UKG, (4) there are 65 teachers (73,9%) give good impression, while 23 teachers (26,1%) give poor quality impression. This shows that the average UKG implementation is relatively good. About the way UKG is managed, (5) there are 87 teachers (98,9%) identify satisfactory comments, while there is only 1 teacher (1,1%) gives unsatisfactory comment. This shows that the average UKG management is relatively very good. ANNOVA analysis is used in this study to estimate the effect of UKG on certified and non-certified teachers. The ANNOVA test result shows that (6) H_0 is accepted because α = 0,05 facilities such as (a) test Room, (b) UKG readiness, (c) UKG implementation (d) UKG management including UKG materials. (2) The grid in the given test should (a) represent the content of the syllabus/curriculum or materials that teachers teach appropriately and proportionately (b) represent the components which are clearly and easily understood by the teachers as

An Analysis of Prospective Chemistry Teachers' Cognitive Structures through Flow Map Method: The Subject of Oxidation and Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Temel, Senar

2016-01-01

This study aims to analyse prospective chemistry teachers' cognitive structures related to the subject of oxidation and reduction through a flow map method. Purposeful sampling method was employed in this study, and 8 prospective chemistry teachers from a group of students who had taken general chemistry and analytical chemistry courses were…

Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Argumentation in a Model Rocketry Physics Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Gürel, Cem; Süzük, Erol

2017-01-01

This study investigates the quality of argumentation developed by a group of pre-service physics teachers' (PSPT) as an indicator of subject matter knowledge on model rocketry physics. The structure of arguments and scientific credibility model was used as a design framework in the study. The inquiry of model rocketry physics was employed in…

Influence of tutors' subject-matter expertise on student effort and achievement in problem-based learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.G. Schmidt (Henk); A. van der Arend (Arie); J.H.C. Moust (Jos); I. Kokx (Irma); L. Boon (Louis)

1993-01-01

textabstractPurpose. To investigate the effects of tutors' subject-matter expertise on students' levels of academic achievement and study effort in a problem-based health sciences curriculum. Also, to study differences in turors' behaviors and the influences of these differences on students'

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 ...

{sup 1}H and {sup 31}P magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of white matter signal hyperintensity areas in elderly subjects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Constans, J M [Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California Magnetic Resonance Unit, San Francisco, CA (United States); [California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Radiology; Meyerhoff, D J [Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California Magnetic Resonance Unit, San Francisco, CA (United States); [California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Radiology; Norman, D [California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Radiology; Fein, G [Department of Veterans Affairs Psychiatry Service, University of California, San Francisco, California (United States); [University of California, San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Psychiatry; Weiner, M W [Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California Magnetic Resonance Unit, San Francisco, CA (United States); [California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Radiology; [California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States). Dept. of Medicine; [DVA Medical Center, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Unit, San Francisco, CA (United States)

1995-11-01

White matter signal hyperintensities (WMSH) are commonly seen on MRI of elderly subjects. The purpose of this study was to characterize metabolic changes in the white matter of elderly subjects with extensive WMSH. We used water-suppressed proton ({sup 1}H) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to compare six subjects with extensive WMSH with eight age-matched elderly subjects with minimal or absent WMSH, and phosphorus ({sup 31}P) MRSI to compare nine subjects with extensive WMSH and seven age-matched elderly subjects without extensive WMSH. Relative to region-matched tissue in elderly controls, extensive WMSH were associated with increased signal from choline-containing metabolites, no significant change of signal from N-acetylaspartate, and a trend to a decreased phosphomonoester (PME) resonance. These findings suggest that WMSH may be associated with an alteration of brain myelin phospholipids in the absence of axonal damage. There were no differences in energy phosphates, consistent with lack of ongoing brain ischemia. Within the group with extensive WMSH, PME resonance measures were significantly lower in WMSH than in contralateral normal-appearing white matter. These results provide information on pathophysiology of WMSH and a basis for comparison with WMSH in Alzheimer`s disease, vascular dementia, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases. (orig.). With 4 figs., 4 tabs.

Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge and Teaching Comfort Levels for Agricultural Science and Technology Objectives

Science.gov (United States)

Wingenbach, Gary J.; White, Judith McIntosh; Degenhart, Shannon; Pannkuk, Tim; Kujawski, Jenna

2007-01-01

Self-efficacy beliefs are defined as context-specific assessments of one's competence to perform specific tasks, influence one's efforts, persistence, and resilience to succeed in a given task. Such beliefs are important determinants when considering agricultural science teachers' subject matter knowledge, teaching comfort levels, and their…

The Work of the Prince's Teaching Institute--Insisting that Established Subjects Matter to All Pupils

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Martin

2012-01-01

The Prince's Teaching Institute (PTI), which has evolved out of the Summer Schools for English Literature and History which The Prince of Wales inaugurated in 2002, now provides a variety of courses in the major subjects of the secondary curriculum. In partnership with Cambridge University it enables teachers to update and extend their subject…

HOW TEACHERS EVALUATE THEIR WORK STYLE DEPENDING ON THE SUBJECT THEY TEACH AND YEARS OF WORK EXPERIENCE

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Ranka Perućica

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In previous works we presented the studies that discussed how students evaluate their teachers and their style of teaching. To what extent their styles affect the students’ attitudes to teaching, learning, success, motivation and the like. In this work we have tried to point out how teachers assess their style of work, depending on the subject they teach and years of work experience. In addition, the aim of this study was to examine whether there are differences in teachers’ estimation of the teaching styles depending on the subject they teach and years of work experience. The study sample consisted of 120 teachers in the final grades of primary schools in the Sarajevo – Romania region. Teachers responded to questions assessing which of the statements given are related to them. The questionnaire was designed for research purposes with the three styles that are commonly used in the classroom to a democratic, autocratic and laissez - fair style. Reliability of the instrument was tested using Cronbach - alpha coefficient, and amounted to 0.73 democratic style, the autocratic 0.73, and 0.63 for the indifferent style. In the study, we used two methods: survey method and the method of theoretical analysis. The obtained results show that there is a statistically significant difference in teachers’ assessments of democratic and laissez - fair style usage, depending on the subject they teach, while there was no statistically significant difference when it comes to the autocratic style. The second part of our results shows that there is no difference in teachers’ assessments of work styles, depending on years of work experience. We hope that these results will contribute to the already existing research dealing with this subject.

A Comparitive Study of Subject Knowledge of B.Ed Graduates of Formal and Non-Formal Teacher Education Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Saif, Perveen; Reba, Amjad; ud Din, Jalal

2017-01-01

This study was designed to compare the subject knowledge of B.Ed graduates of formal and non-formal teacher education systems. The population of the study included all teachers from Girls High and Higher Secondary Schools both from private and public sectors from the district of Peshawar. Out of the total population, twenty schools were randomly…

A museum-based urban teacher residency program's approach to strengthening the STEM pipeline: Channeling highly qualified Earth Science teachers into high needs schools

Science.gov (United States)

Ustunisik, G. K.; Zirakparvar, N. A.

2015-12-01

Channeling better prepared Earth Science teachers into secondary schools with low achievement rates in STEM subjects is essential to ensuring that the students attending these schools are ultimately afforded the opportunity to take advantage of projected growth in the global geoscience workforce. Here, a museum-based urban teacher residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates is described. In the museum-based program, graduate-level science courses and research experiences are designed and implemented specifically for the UTR by active Earth and Space research scientists that account for almost half of the program's faculty. Because these courses and research experiences are designed specifically for the teacher candidates, they are different than many science courses and research experiences available to pre-service teachers in a university setting. At the same time, the museum-based program is the only UTR to incorporate such a rigorous science curriculum, and some possible advantages and disadvantages of the program's approach are also considered here. While the impact of the program's approach on student achievement rates has yet to be evaluated, there is promise in the well documented links between a teacher's own experience with the practice of science and that teacher's ability to leverage effective pedagogical content knowledge in the teaching of science. Because the museum-based program's science curriculum is balanced against the educational coursework and teaching residencies that necessarily form the program's backbone, the museum's approach to strengthening the teacher candidate's science background may also inform the faculty and administration of other UTRs in cases where one of their program goals is to further expand their teacher candidate's content knowledge and practical subject matter experience.

Influence of subject matter discipline and science content knowledge on National Board Certified science teachers' conceptions, enactment, and goals for inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Breslyn, Wayne Gene

The present study investigated differences in the continuing development of National Board Certified Science Teachers' (NBCSTs) conceptions of inquiry across the disciplines of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The central research question of the study was, "How does a NBCST's science discipline (biology, chemistry, earth science, or physics) influence their conceptions, enactment, and goals for inquiry-based teaching and learning?" A mixed methods approach was used that included an analysis of the National Board portfolio entry, Active Scientific Inquiry, for participants (n=48) achieving certification in the 2007 cohort. The portfolio entry provided detailed documentation of teachers' goals and enactment of an inquiry lesson taught in their classroom. Based on the results from portfolio analysis, participant interviews were conducted with science teachers (n=12) from the 2008 NBCST cohort who represented the science disciplines of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The interviews provided a broader range of contexts to explore teachers' conceptions, enactment, and goals of inquiry. Other factors studied were disciplinary differences in NBCSTs' views of the nature of science, the relation between their science content knowledge and use of inquiry, and changes in their conceptions of inquiry as result of the NB certification process. Findings, based on a situated cognitive framework, suggested that differences exist between biology, chemistry, and earth science teachers' conceptions, enactment, and goals for inquiry. Further, individuals teaching in more than one discipline often held different conceptions of inquiry depending on the discipline in which they were teaching. Implications for the research community include being aware of disciplinary differences in studies on inquiry and exercising caution in generalizing findings across disciplines. In addition, teachers who teach in more than one discipline can highlight the contextual

Development Of Phisyics Learning Documents Based Student's Learning Style In The Matter Of Temperature And Heat Subjects Of Class X High School

OpenAIRE

Resty Noriwita, Indah Resty Noriwita Indah; Nasir, Muhammad Nasir Muhammad; Ma’aruf, Zuhdi Ma’aruf Zuhdi

2015-01-01

This study aims to produce a learning documents physicsbased learning styles of students in the matter of temperature and heat of class subjectS X SMA valid. The subjects were learning documents that consists of a lesson plan (RPP), worksheets (LKS), medium of learning and achievement test of cognitive, affective, process, and psychomotor. Data collection instrument in this study is an instrument validity device physics-based learning students' learning styles in the matter of temperature and...

Incidental white-matter foci on MRI in ''healthy'' subjects: evidence of subtle cognitive dysfunction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baum, K.A.; Schulte, C.; Girke, W.; Reischies, F.M.; Felix, R.

1996-01-01

The clinical significance of incidental white-matter foci seen on MRI is controversial. Mainly using a computer-assisted neuropsychological test battery, we tested the hypothesis that there is a clinical correlate of these foci. We studied 41 individuals aged 45-65 years with no history of neurological or psychiatric disorder, in whom no indication of central nervous system abnormalities was found on standardised neurological examination. A computer-assisted neuropsychological test battery, with the advantage of precise measuring of both time and deviation (e. g. in position memory tests), and rating scales for emotional dysfunction were administered; selected soft neurological signs were assessed. In 16 subjects (39 %) MRI showed high-signal foci in the white matter on spin-echo sequences. White-matter foci not adjacent to the lateral ventricles were found to be related to performance on immediate visual memory/visuoperceptual skills, visuomotor tracking/psychomotor speed and, to a lesser degree, learning capacity and abstract and conceptual reasoning skills. Subtle cognitive dysfunction would appear to be a clinical correlate of punctate white-matter foci on MRI of otherwise ''healty'' individuals. (orig.). With 1 fig., 2 tabs

KNOWLEDGE BASE AND EFL TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A COLOMBIAN PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yamith Fandiño

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In the 21st century, Colombian pre-service EFL Teacher Education Programs (TEPs should study what constitutes the core knowledge base for language teachers to be effective in their profession. These programs must refrain from simply conceptualizing knowledge base as the acquisition of the basic skills required for teaching, the competency of educators in their subject matter area, and the use of pedagogical skills. Instead, they should strive to reflect on what Colombian language teachers need to know about teaching and learning, and study how their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes inform their practices. A starting point to do so is to interpret the variety of proposals that have been generated through the years in the field. This paperoffers a review of what teacher knowledge base is, presents an overview of how Colombian EFL TEPs are working on teacher knowledge,and suggests some strategies to envision a more complete framework of reference for teacher formation in Colombia.

Examining elementary teachers' knowledge and instruction of scientific explanations for fostering children's explanations in science

Science.gov (United States)

Wiebke, Heidi Lynn

This study employed an embedded mixed methods multi-case study design (Creswell, 2014) with six early childhood (grades K-2) teachers to examine a) what changes occurred to their subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching scientific explanations while participating in a professional development program, b) how they planned for and implemented scientific explanation instruction within a teacher developed unit on properties of matter, and c) what affordances their instruction of scientific explanations had on fostering their students' abilities to generate explanations in science. Several quantitative and qualitative measures were collected and analyzed in accordance to this studies conceptual framework, which consisted of ten instructional practices teachers should consider assimilating or accommodating into their knowledge base (i.e., SMK & PCK) for teaching scientific explanations. Results of this study indicate there was little to no positive change in the teachers' substantive and syntactic SMK. However, all six teachers did make significant changes to all five components of their PCK for teaching explanations in science. While planning for scientific explanation instruction, all six teachers' contributed some ideas for how to incorporate seven of the ten instructional practices for scientific explanations within the properties of matter unit they co-developed. When enacting the unit, the six teachers' employed seven to nine of the instructional practices to varying levels of effectiveness, as measured by researcher developed rubrics. Given the six teachers' scientific explanation instruction, many students did show improvement in their ability to formulate a scientific explanation, particularly their ability to provide multiple pieces of evidence. Implications for professional developers, teacher educators, researchers, policy makers, and elementary teachers regarding how to prepare teachers for and support students

Gratitude, Gratitude Intervention and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese School Teachers in Hong Kong

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Chan, David W.

2010-01-01

This study assessed the dispositional gratitude and its relationships with orientations to happiness and burnout in a sample of 96 Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong and investigated the effectiveness of an eight-week gratitude intervention programme using a pre-test/post-test design with outcome measures of subjective well-being in the same…

“TEACHING WHAT I DO NOT NEED TO TEACH”: AN OVERVIEW ON TEACHERS’ TEACHING DOCUMENTS OF ENGLISH AS A SUPPLEMENTARY SUBJECT AT VARIOUS DISCIPLINES

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Yakob Metboki

2017-04-01

Full Text Available English Language Teaching (ELT in the Indonesian education curriculum falls in two subject areas, compulsory subject and supplementary subject. Significantly, the developing programs are highly prioritized in terms of familiarizing teachers with new teaching documents in English as a compulsory subject. Despite its success, there are still teachers who have a number of problems in delivering it as one of the supplementary subjects at various disciplines. This paper reviews the data gained from a group of students at one university in Indonesia, whose observational reports showed that teachers have very little opportunity to project their academic competencies in developing a comprehensive teaching document. This leads into question on how to derive the essence of teaching English at the center of teaching and learning practices. One of the most significant current discussions reveals that teaching practices is simply a matter of figuring the necessary conditions to achieve the goal formally. Taken together, the result of the study is expected to bring about influential implication for education practitioners to provide compatible answers to the controversies among teachers before implementing English as one of the supplementary subjects for various disciplines.

Development of Web Based Learning Material in Physics Subject for Kalor and Temperature Material

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Fatwa Aji Kurniawan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available It has been done, the research which aims to develop a web-based teaching materials on the subjects of physics subject with subject mater of temperature and heat. This study using a modified model of the 4D development by eliminating the deployment phase. The validation of product development conducted by validator media experts and experts matter of physics, whereas small-scale trials conducted by physics teacher and 10 students. Validator review results stating that the quality of the product development were included in the category very well with the average percentage rating of 83.93%. The percentage value assigned by media expert by 75% in the good category and the percentage of the value provided by a matter expert 92.85% were in the very good category. Experiments by physics teacher to obtain result of equal to 94.44% were in the very good category and the average percentage of the test results by the students of 90.5% were in the very good category. The characteristics of the products developed include material composition using the curriculum in 2013, there was a recording facility and the results of evaluation of students' activities, there were feedback evaluation results were immediately known by the students and there were some links related to the material either youtube or other learning website.

Insight on AV-45 binding in white and grey matter from histogram analysis: a study on early Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy subjects

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Nemmi, Federico; Saint-Aubert, Laure; Adel, Djilali; Salabert, Anne-Sophie; Pariente, Jérémie; Barbeau, Emmanuel; Payoux, Pierre; Péran, Patrice

2014-01-01

Purpose AV-45 amyloid biomarker is known to show uptake in white matter in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but also in healthy population. This binding; thought to be of a non-specific lipophilic nature has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the differential pattern of AV-45 binding in healthy and pathological populations in white matter. Methods We recruited 24 patients presenting with AD at early stage and 17 matched, healthy subjects. We used an optimized PET-MRI registration method and an approach based on intensity histogram using several indexes. We compared the results of the intensity histogram analyses with a more canonical approach based on target-to-cerebellum Standard Uptake Value (SUVr) in white and grey matters using MANOVA and discriminant analyses. A cluster analysis on white and grey matter histograms was also performed. Results White matter histogram analysis revealed significant differences between AD and healthy subjects, which were not revealed by SUVr analysis. However, white matter histograms was not decisive to discriminate groups, and indexes based on grey matter only showed better discriminative power than SUVr. The cluster analysis divided our sample in two clusters, showing different uptakes in grey but also in white matter. Conclusion These results demonstrate that AV-45 binding in white matter conveys subtle information not detectable using SUVr approach. Although it is not better than standard SUVr to discriminate AD patients from healthy subjects, this information could reveal white matter modifications. PMID:24573658

Insight on AV-45 binding in white and grey matter from histogram analysis: a study on early Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nemmi, Federico; Saint-Aubert, Laure; Peran, Patrice; Adel, Djilali; Salabert, Anne-Sophie; Payoux, Pierre; Pariente, Jeremie; Barbeau, Emmanuel J.

2014-01-01

AV-45 amyloid biomarker is known to show uptake in white matter in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but also in the healthy population. This binding, thought to be of a non-specific lipophilic nature, has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the differential pattern of AV-45 binding in white matter in healthy and pathological populations. We recruited 24 patients presenting with AD at an early stage and 17 matched, healthy subjects. We used an optimized positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) registration method and an approach based on an intensity histogram using several indices. We compared the results of the intensity histogram analyses with a more canonical approach based on target-to-cerebellum Standard Uptake Value (SUVr) in white and grey matter using MANOVA and discriminant analyses. A cluster analysis on white and grey matter histograms was also performed. White matter histogram analysis revealed significant differences between AD and healthy subjects, which were not revealed by SUVr analysis. However, white matter histograms were not decisive to discriminate groups, and indices based on grey matter only showed better discriminative power than SUVr. The cluster analysis divided our sample into two clusters, showing different uptakes in grey, but also in white matter. These results demonstrate that AV-45 binding in white matter conveys subtle information not detectable using the SUVr approach. Although it is not more efficient than standard SUVr in discriminating AD patients from healthy subjects, this information could reveal white matter modifications. (orig.)

The Relationship between Happiness, Subjective Well-Being, Creativity and Job Performance of Primary School Teachers in Ramhormoz City

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Jalali, Zohreh; Heidari, Alireza

2016-01-01

The research aimed to investigate the relationship between happiness, subjective well-being, creativity and job performance of primary school teachers in Ramhormoz City. Hence, a sample of 330 individuals was selected through random stratified sampling. The research tools included Oxford Happiness Inventory, Subjective Well-being Scale by Keyes…

An Exploration of Sources of Foreign Language Teacher Motivation in Iran

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Seyyed Mohammad Alavi

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate sources of motivation of English language teachers in Iranian public and private language schools. To this end, a Language Teacher Motivation Source (LTMS questionnaire was developed on the basis of the related literature. The LTMS examined four sources of motivation, i. e., extrinsic (economic, social, emotional, educational, intrinsic, altruistic, and subject matter motivation. Having been piloted and validated, the LTMS was administered to 200 male and female EFL teachers who had been classified in terms of their gender, age, marital status, academic degrees, job status, and their years of language teaching experiences. The results of parametric statistical analyses showed a hierarchy of language teacher sources of motivation that were not similar among different groups of language teachers in terms of their teaching experiences and level of education. This study suggests that authorities pay close attention to the sources of language teacher motivation to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning.

Self regulated learning trough project base learning on the prospective math teacher

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Laelasari

2018-03-01

Development of planning, strategy, and learning activities is strongly influenced by metacognition ability, knowledge of learning strategy, and understanding of context is the most important thing to be mastered by a prospective teacher. Self-regulation owned by the individual can control behavior, and manipulate a behavior by using the ability of his mind so that individuals can react to their environment. Self-regulation is the basis of the socialization process as it relates to the entire domain of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. This research is a qualitative research with research subject of the fourth-semester student of class A, at one of a university in Cirebon City, West Java. In this research, the lecture material discussed is The Development of Teaching Materials, which is the subject matter that must be mastered by prospective teachers, especially teachers of mathematics education. The instrument used is the questionnaire. The results showed that through project based learning, can grow student’s self-regulated learning especially the prospective math teacher, and can be used as an alternative to the delivery of lecture materials.

Empowering Teachers to Raise Career Awareness in Computing: Lessons Learned

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Giti Javidi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Students' attitudes towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM has been a topic of enduring interest in the field of STEM education over the past decade – but why? After all, there is no sense in which people are concerned about students' attitudes towards the learning of English or history. So what drives the interest in these topics? Previous research has suggested a relationship between teachers' and students' attitudes towards a subject area. In order to increase student representation in STEM, we need teachers who have positive attitudes and can serve as role models to encourage their students to pursue STEM careers. In this paper we argue that in order to engage students' interest in the technical career paths, we must start with inspiring and training teachers to instill such interest in their students at early age. We present our experiences and outcomes from a teacher training program. Through the training, we were able to help teachers explore ways to incorporate programming into their curriculum, gain STEM career awareness and develop an understanding of importance of soft skills in STEM. The results show that teachers were able to gain confidence in incorporating their subject matter into Scratch-based classroom activities and teaching this material in a classroom setting and gain a better understanding of careers in STEM.

Teacher's Ability to Develop Learning Materials Potentially Mathematical Discourse

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Hamdani Hamdani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In the process of learning in the field, the teacher still dominates the conversation while the students as a passive listener. As a result, not only the communication skills of students who are less developed, the understanding of student material is also lacking. Therefore it is necessary to research the ability of teachers in developing learning tools potentially mathematical discourse to improve students' mathematical communication skills. The research method used is descriptive. Research activities include: identification of problems through questionnaires, observation, and interviews; teacher training; teachers develop learning tools; validation; and enhancement of the device by the teacher. The subject of this research is the junior high school mathematics teacher from several districts in the border area of Sambas-Sarawak Regency. The results show that in every learning mathematics there is always a conversation between teachers and students, but rarely use the question "why" and "how". Most teacher-made lesson plans contain scenarios of conversations between teachers and students, but just plain questioning, have not led to a debate between each other so that understanding becomes deeper. Student worksheet made by the teacher in the form of a matter of the ordinary story, rarely load non-routine problem let alone open-ended.

Glucose metabolism, gray matter structure, and memory decline in subjective memory impairment.

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Scheef, Lukas; Spottke, Annika; Daerr, Moritz; Joe, Alexius; Striepens, Nadine; Kölsch, Heike; Popp, Julius; Daamen, Marcel; Gorris, Dominik; Heneka, Michael T; Boecker, Henning; Biersack, Hans J; Maier, Wolfgang; Schild, Hans H; Wagner, Michael; Jessen, Frank

2012-09-25

To identify biological evidence for Alzheimer disease (AD) in individuals with subjective memory impairment (SMI) and unimpaired cognitive performance and to investigate the longitudinal cognitive course in these subjects. [¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose PET (FDG-PET) and structural MRI were acquired in 31 subjects with SMI and 56 controls. Cognitive follow-up testing was performed (average follow-up time: 35 months). Differences in baseline brain imaging data and in memory decline were assessed between both groups. Associations of memory decline with brain imaging data were tested. The SMI group showed hypometabolism in the right precuneus and hypermetabolism in the right medial temporal lobe. Gray matter volume was reduced in the right hippocampus in the SMI group. At follow-up, subjects with SMI showed a poorer performance than controls on measures of episodic memory. Longitudinal memory decline in the SMI group was associated with reduced glucose metabolism in the right precuneus at baseline. The cross-sectional difference in 2 independent neuroimaging modalities indicates early AD pathology in SMI. The poorer memory performance at follow-up and the association of reduced longitudinal memory performance with hypometabolism in the precuneus at baseline support the concept of SMI as the earliest manifestation of AD.

Establishing Scientific Discourse in Classroom Interaction Teacher Students' Orientation to Mundane versus Technical Talk in the School Subject Norwegian

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Skovholt, Karianne

2018-01-01

This article reports a case study on classroom interaction in teacher education in Norway. It addresses how teacher students in the school subject Norwegian constitute scientific talk in a student-led discussion. First, the analysis reveals tension in the classroom conversation between "mundane talk"--that is, where students make claims…

DOES MODERN SCHOOL NEED A TEACHER-RESEARCHER?

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T. A. Strokova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the publication is to draw attention of educatorsof all levels to the need of improving quality of teacher training in research field.Methods. Based on the results of observations, interviews and surveys of teachers aged between 23 and 30 years with teaching experience of 1 to 5–6 years, and analysis of teacher practice, the assessment of the current state of innovation processes in public school and quality of university training of pre-service teachers in research field is given.Results. Insufficient training of young teachers for independent research has been revealed. It was established that the research experience acquired by them while writing the final qualifying work is non-demanded in modern educational work, where innovation is pushed out due to mismatch of educational policy and the actual educational practice. The reasons of reluctance of young professionals to combine educational activities and research are the following: lack of innovation environment, academic overload, household and personal problems, and, most importantly, unwillingness and inability to carry out independent scientific and pedagogical search. Also, the problems of final qualifying works supervision and management of pedagogical practice of students have been found out.Scientific novelty. Self-assessment of young teachers, concerning their research activities, has been conducted; it included a cluster of research activities that constitute its subject matter. The point for the need to abandon the narrow,  focused specialization in high school training of pre-service teachers and enhance their methodological preparation has been developed. Practical significance. Different ways of organizing work with in-service teachers concerning combination of subject specific and research specific aspects of their professional activities have been presented.

Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses for Creating New Chemistry and Physics Teachers: The Students' Perceptions

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Tynan, Richard; Jones, Robert Bryn; Mallaburn, Andrea; Clays, Ken

2016-01-01

Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are one option open in England to graduates with a science background whose first degree content is judged to be insufficient to train to become chemistry or physics teachers. Previous articles in "School Science Review" have discussed the structure of one type of extended SKE course offered at…

Differences in the classroom: learning about practices of two science teachers

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Elaine Soares França

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In this research, a case study, we adopted ethnography as logic of inquiry to learn about teaching for diverse groups in middle school science classrooms. Multiple data sources were used: participant observation, video and audio records, field notes and semi-structured interviews. We analyzed interviews with two teachers, as well as classroom episodes to construct, through contrast, a characterization of two types of practice involving diversity in the classroom. The first teacher show concerns with introducing students in school culture. She tried to “translate” terms that students do not understand, explaining their meanings. In this process, teaching subject matter knowledge (SMK is a secondary goal. The other teacher emphasized SMK, trying to establish connections between science content and students’ everyday life experiences. Both teachers do not acknowledge significant influences in science learning related to gender, social class, and ethnicity.

Perceived Personality Traits and Types of Teachers and Their Relationship to the Subjective Well-Being and Academic Achievements of Adolescents

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Eryilmaz, Ali

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of the perceived types of teachers (liked, disliked and neutral) with the subjective well-being and academic success of their students, and to determine how students come to categorize their liked, disliked and neutral teachers considering the Big-Five Personality Model. The quantitative…

Exploring nutrition education resources and barriers, and nutrition knowledge in teachers in California.

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Jones, Anna Marie; Zidenberg-Cherr, Sheri

2015-01-01

To determine barriers to nutrition education, nutrition education resources used, and the relationship between nutrition knowledge and whether public school teachers in California teach nutrition in the classroom. A total of 102 teachers in California participated in a Web-based survey about nutrition education barriers, resources used to plan nutrition lessons, and factors that would encourage inclusion of nutrition. A validated questionnaire was used to assess nutrition knowledge. Analyses included ordinary least-squares regression. Common barriers were lack of instructional time and unrelated subject. Teachers were unaware of many nutrition education resources. Nutrition knowledge was not associated with nutrition lessons but was positively associated with teaching high school (β = 5.13; P Barriers of time and lack of unrelated subject matter are difficult to address but lack of awareness of resources indicates that promotion of existing resources may encourage teachers to provide nutrition education. Larger studies are needed to determine whether this holds true in a broader sample. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial Reasoning and Understanding the Particulate Nature of Matter: A Middle School Perspective

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Cole, Merryn L.

This dissertation employed a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between spatial reasoning ability and understanding of chemistry content for both middle school students and their science teachers. Spatial reasoning has been linked to success in learning STEM subjects (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Previous studies have shown a correlation between understanding of chemistry content and spatial reasoning ability (e.g., Pribyl & Bodner, 1987; Wu & Shah, 2003: Stieff, 2013), raising the importance of developing the spatial reasoning ability of both teachers and students. Few studies examine middle school students' or in-service middle school teachers' understanding of chemistry concepts or its relation to spatial reasoning ability. The first paper in this dissertation addresses the quantitative relationship between mental rotation, a type of spatial reasoning ability, and understanding a fundamental concept in chemistry, the particulate nature of matter. The data showed a significant, positive correlation between scores on the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test of Rotations (PSVT; Bodner & Guay, 1997) and the Particulate Nature of Matter Assessment (ParNoMA; Yezierski, 2003) for middle school students prior to and after chemistry instruction. A significant difference in spatial ability among students choosing different answer choices on ParNoMA questions was also found. The second paper examined the ways in which students of different spatial abilities talked about matter and chemicals differently. Students with higher spatial ability tended to provide more of an explanation, though not necessarily in an articulate matter. In contrast, lower spatial ability students tended to use any keywords that seemed relevant, but provided little or no explanation. The third paper examined the relationship between mental reasoning and understanding chemistry for middle school science teachers. Similar to their students, a significant, positive correlation between

Tracing Discourses of Health and the Body: Exploring Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Constructions of "Healthy" Bodies

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Welch, Rosie; Wright, Jan

2011-01-01

Contemporary notions of childhood overweight and obesity have become increasingly influential in curriculum and pedagogy in school-based Health and Physical Education (HPE). Teachers' delivery of HPE subject matter and related school practices are likely to have a considerable impact on the attitudes and beliefs of the children they teach,…

Comparing Primary Student Teachers' Attitudes, Subject Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Needs in a Physics Activity

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Johnston, Jane; Ahtee, Maija

2006-01-01

This research explores and compares primary student teachers' attitudes, subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physics in two institutions in England and Finland, using a practical physics activity and questionnaire. Teaching of physics activities was rated unpopular both in Finland and England, although English students…

TEACHERS PERSPECTIVE OF USING ENGLISH AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE SUBJECTS

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Norudin Mansor

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The policy of changing the medium of instruction in the teaching of mathematics and science from Bahasa Melayu to English is an important innovation affecting teachers of mathematics and science. It poses special challenges not only for teachers who have been trained in the Malay medium but also for those trained in English. This investigation seeks to find out the achievement of students in mathematic and science subjects after considering the impact of prominent independent variables such as, the school, class and home environment, the teaching methodology and the teachers’ attitude. Analysis of the development in the state of Terengganu has been carried out by the distribution of questionnaires to teachers involved. Result of the correlation and multiple regressions indicated that all the three factors are significantly associated towards students’ achievement. However, the teaching methodology indicated a low level of moderate correlation which is believed to be the immediate issue that needed to be addressed in the new system.

Cross-sectional variations of white and grey matter in older hypertensive patients with subjective memory complaints

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Ahmed Chetouani

2018-01-01

Altogether, our findings show that cross-sectional variations in overall white brain matter are linked to the metabolism of Alzheimer-like cortical areas and to cognitive performance in older hypertensive patients with only subjective memory complaints. Additional relationships with central BP strengthen the hypothesis of a contributing pathogenic role of hypertension.

Choose Health Action Teens: A Review of a Teens as Teachers Nutritional Education Training Curriculum

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Jeffrey M. Flesch

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This review draws from published research related to the best practices for the utilization of teens as teachers to examine Choose Health Action Teens (CHAT, a teen’s as teachers (TAT training curriculum.  Research shows that there are various components necessary to build a high quality TAT program.  Most of these components fall under four areas in which training is necessary for teens and adults: Teaching strategies, youth/child development, subject matter to be taught, and youth-adult partnerships.  These four areas provide a framework to review the Choose Health Action Teens (CHAT (Crosiar & Wolfe, 2013 teens as teachers training program curriculum.

Analysis of Praxis Physics Subject Assessment Examinees and Performance: Who Are Our Prospective Physics Teachers?

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Shah, Lisa; Hao, Jie; Rodriguez, Christian A.; Fallin, Rebekah; Linenberger-Cortes, Kimberly; Ray, Herman E.; Rushton, Gregory T.

2018-01-01

A generally agreed-upon tenant of the physics teaching community is the centrality of subject-specific expertise in effective teaching. However, studies which assess the content knowledge of incoming K-12 physics teachers in the U.S. have not yet been reported. Similarly lacking are studies on if or how the demographic makeup of aspiring physics…

The benefits of being a near-peer teacher.

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Hall, Samuel; Harrison, Charlotte H; Stephens, Jonny; Andrade, Matheus Gesteria; Seaby, Eleanor G; Parton, William; McElligott, Simon; Myers, Matthew A; Elmansouri, Ahmed; Ahn, Michael; Parrott, Rachel; Smith, Claire F; Border, Scott

2018-03-23

Near-peer teaching is used in anatomy education because of its benefits to the learner, teacher and faculty members. Despite the range of reports focusing on the learner, the advantages for the teacher, which are thought to include communication skills, subject knowledge and employability, are only beginning to be explored. A questionnaire was distributed to the teachers involved in anatomy near-peer teaching at the University of Southampton and Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). This questionnaire was designed using a rating scale of 0-10 to assess teacher perspectives on their level of knowledge, teaching skills and enjoyment of teaching. Free-text responses determined the teachers' motivation and perceived benefits from the teaching. Twenty-eight questionnaires were gathered (54.9% response rate), including 20 from Southampton and eight from BSMS. Long-term knowledge retention and better understanding of the material were rated 8.1 and 7.9 out of 10, respectively. Eight responses were from currently practising doctors, who rated how much they now use their teaching skills as doctors as 8.9 out of 10. Of the eight doctors, seven gained points for their foundation programme applications as a direct result of near-peer teaching. The most common motivator for engaging in teaching was to improve subject matter knowledge and the most common benefit was improved communication skills. There are numerous advantages to being a near-peer teacher in medical school DISCUSSION: There are numerous advantages to being a near-peer teacher in medical school, which include knowledge improvement, transferrable professional skills and employability. These initial results support the hypothesised benefits to the teachers and provide a foundation for further longitudinal studies. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Mathematics teachers' knowledge of the subject content and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses the need of the mathematics teacher to be equipped adequately in the content areas in mathematics, vis-a-vis the recent concerns about the poor performance of students in the pre-tertiary schools, and the competence of mathematics teachers in the field. The low performance in mathematics at the ...

Insight on AV-45 binding in white and grey matter from histogram analysis: a study on early Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy subjects

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Nemmi, Federico; Saint-Aubert, Laure; Peran, Patrice [Inserm, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse (France); Universite de Toulouse, UPS, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse (France); Adel, Djilali; Salabert, Anne-Sophie; Payoux, Pierre [Inserm, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse (France); Universite de Toulouse, UPS, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse (France); Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service de Medecine Nucleaire, Pole Imagerie, Toulouse (France); Pariente, Jeremie [Inserm, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse (France); Universite de Toulouse, UPS, Imagerie Cerebrale et Handicaps Neurologiques UMR 825, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse (France); Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service de Neurologie, Pole Neurosciences, Toulouse (France); Barbeau, Emmanuel J. [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Service de Neurologie, Pole Neurosciences, Toulouse (France); Universite de Toulouse, UPS, Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, CNRS, CerCo, Toulouse (France)

2014-07-15

AV-45 amyloid biomarker is known to show uptake in white matter in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but also in the healthy population. This binding, thought to be of a non-specific lipophilic nature, has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the differential pattern of AV-45 binding in white matter in healthy and pathological populations. We recruited 24 patients presenting with AD at an early stage and 17 matched, healthy subjects. We used an optimized positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI) registration method and an approach based on an intensity histogram using several indices. We compared the results of the intensity histogram analyses with a more canonical approach based on target-to-cerebellum Standard Uptake Value (SUVr) in white and grey matter using MANOVA and discriminant analyses. A cluster analysis on white and grey matter histograms was also performed. White matter histogram analysis revealed significant differences between AD and healthy subjects, which were not revealed by SUVr analysis. However, white matter histograms were not decisive to discriminate groups, and indices based on grey matter only showed better discriminative power than SUVr. The cluster analysis divided our sample into two clusters, showing different uptakes in grey, but also in white matter. These results demonstrate that AV-45 binding in white matter conveys subtle information not detectable using the SUVr approach. Although it is not more efficient than standard SUVr in discriminating AD patients from healthy subjects, this information could reveal white matter modifications. (orig.)

Gray matter changes in subjects at high risk for developing psychosis and first-episode schizophrenia: a voxel-based structural MRI study

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Kazue eNakamura

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of the present study was to use a voxel-based MRI method to investigate the neuroanatomical characteristics in subjects at high risk of developing psychosis compared with those of healthy controls and first-episode schizophrenia patients. Methods: This study included 14 subjects with at-risk mental state (ARMS, 34 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, and 51 healthy controls. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM with the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra (DARTEL tools to investigate the whole-brain difference in gray matter volume among the three groups. Results: Compared with the healthy controls, the schizophrenia patients showed significant gray matter reduction in the left anterior cingulate gyrus. There was no significant difference in the gray matter volume between the ARMS and other groups. Conclusion: The present study suggests that alteration of the anterior cingulate gyrus may be associated with development of frank psychosis. Further studies with a larger ARMS subjects would be required to examine the potential role of neuroimaging methods in the prediction of future transition into psychosis.

An Investigation of Mathematical Knowledge Related to Mathematics Teachers' Basic Concepts in Sets Unit

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Nurullah YAZICI

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This research was conducted in order to examine the subject matter of Mathematics teachers in the context of "Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching" (MKT model of "Basic Concepts in Sets" which is the first topic of the 9th class "Sets". The study group, which is one of the qualitative research methods, used the case study design, constitutes 5 mathematics teachers who work in different education levels (primary and secondary education in the academic year of 2015-2016. Open-ended questions and semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher were used for data collection. A descriptive analysis technique was used to analyze the data obtained through interviews. While analyzing the data, teacher and student textbooks, which were prepared by the Ministry of National Education for the purpose of teaching in 2015-2016 academic year, were taken as a reference. According to the research findings, it was determined that the teachers had deficiencies in the subject field of "Basic Concepts in the Sets" and had superficial knowledge rather than in depth knowledge.

White matter organization in cervical spinal cord relates differently to age and control of grip force in healthy subjects.

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Lindberg, Påvel G; Feydy, Antoine; Maier, Marc A

2010-03-17

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be used to elucidate relations between CNS structure and function. We hypothesized that the degree of spinal white matter organization relates to the accuracy of control of grip force. Healthy subjects of different age were studied using DTI and visuomotor tracking of precision grip force. The latter is a prime component of manual dexterity. A regional analysis of spinal white matter [fractional anisotropy (FA)] across multiple cervical levels (C2-C3, C4-C5, and C6-C7) and in different regions of interest (left and right lateral or medial spinal cord) was performed. FA was highest at the C2-C3 level, higher on the right than the left side, and higher in the lateral than in the medial spinal cord (p level in the lateral spinal cord, in which the corticospinal tract innervates spinal circuitry controlling hand and digit muscles. FA of the medial spinal cord correlated consistently with age across all cervical levels, whereas FA of the lateral spinal cord did not. The results suggest (1) a functionally relevant specialization of lateral spinal cord white matter and (2) an increased sensitivity to age-related decline in medial spinal cord white matter in healthy subjects.

THE PROBLEM OF PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS OF HUMANITARIAN CYCLE SUBJECTS TO THE USE OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMATIC FACILITIES

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Olena S. Tselykh

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The actual questions related to the development of methods and receptions of improvement of preparation of future teachers of humanitarian cycle subjects to application the educational programmatic facilities (EPF in their professional activity are examined in the article. On the basis of the conducted research the level of readiness of students of humanitarian faculties of the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University by K. D. Ushinskogo is analyzed the noted activity. It is set that application of educational programmatic facilities considerably intensifies professional preparation of future teachers of humanitarian cycle subjects. It is well-proven that teaching technologies which oriented on application of EPF in professional activity can considerably facilitate and improve teacher’s work to high-quality level, increase the level of knowledge and abilities of students.

The Co-Creation of Caring Student-Teacher Relationships: Does Teacher Understanding Matter?

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Cooper, Kristy S.; Miness, Andrew

2014-01-01

This study explores the role of high school students' perceptions of teacher understanding in the development of caring student-teacher relationships. Whereas past research has embedded understanding as a facet of care, this research distinguishes between care and understanding to examine whether and how understanding is necessary for care.…

Exploring the development of novice unqualified graduate teachers' topic-specific PCK in teaching the particulate nature of matter in South Africa's classrooms

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Pitjeng-Mosabala, Phihlo; Rollnick, Marissa

2018-05-01

This study investigates the development of Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) of 14 novice uncertified graduate science teachers during a Professional Development Intervention (PDI) on teaching particulate nature of matter. TSPCK was defined in terms of five knowledge components: learner prior knowledge, curricular saliency, representations, what is difficult to teach and conceptual teaching strategies. Data sources consisted of validated pre- and post-TSPCK and content knowledge (CK) tests, teacher-constructed Content Representations (CoRes) before and after teaching and, for four teachers, video-recorded lessons, and field notes together with teacher interviews. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the teachers develop TSPCK through the process. The results provide an insight into how initial construction of CoRes enabled the entire group to start thinking about how to teach the topic. For the four case-study teachers, evidence of TSPCK development was observed in their teaching. These teachers showed greater improvement in TSPCK and CK than those who taught only the prerequisite concepts of the topic. The findings show that it is possible for uncertified teachers to develop PCK in the practice context with appropriate PDI. Some improvement in PCK was also observed for the larger group who taught only prerequisite concepts.

Efforts in Improving Teachers’ Competencies Through Collaboration between Teacher Forum on Subject Matter (MGMP and Pre-Service Teacher Training Institution (LPTK

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A. A. Purwoko

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study is to improve high school chemistry teacher’s competency in terms of classroom instruction. This goal is achieved through the workshop and continuous assistance activities that enable teachers to improve their knowledge and skills in developing learning scenarios that reflect scientific methods (brain-based learning in the classroom instruction. The effect of teachers’ competence improvement was measured by a survey of student’s perception on the classroom teaching-learning process, using Likert-scale questionnaire. The first poll was conducted before the program was started, and the second one was after the program completion. The first observation shows that only 18% of students perceive that the chemistry learning process in the classroom are “good,” while the rest (82% say that it is “fair”. However, the second poll shows that there are 45% of students who perceive that the learning process is “good”; interestingly, there are 35%, and 20% of respondents say “excellent” and “fair,” respectively. Furthermore, data analyses using chi-square test conclude that the continuous teacher assistance activity significantly improves teachers’ competencies. This article describes detailed of collaboration program and the results of improvement of chemistry teachers’ competence in north Lombok regency. Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New

Reaching teachers: The first step in teaching students

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berry, G.

1991-12-31

A 1984 American Association of the Academy of Sciences study of more than 150 successful science in-service programs developed a list of their characteristics, which included: Strong academic component in mathematics, science, and communications, focused on enrichment rather than remediation; academic subjects taught by teachers who are highly competent in the subject matter and believe that students can learn the materials; heavy emphasis on the applications of science and mathematics and careers in these fields; integrative approach to teaching that incorporates all subject areas, hands-on opportunities, and computers; multiyear involvement with students; recruitment of participants from all relevant target populations; opportunities for in-school and out-of-school learning experiences; parental involvement and development of base of community support; specific attention to removing educational inequalities related to race and gender; involvement of professionals and staff who look like the target population; development of peer support systems (involvement of a critical mass of any kind of student); evaluation, long-term follow-up, and careful data collection; and, ``mainstreaming`` -- integration of program elements supportive of women and minorities into the institutional support programs. I shall illustrate these points with ongoing teacher-support programs in progress in the Chicago area.

Teacher Education Graduates' Choice (Not) to Enter the Teaching Profession: Does Teacher Education Matter?

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Rots, Isabel; Aelterman, Antonia; Devos, Geert

2014-01-01

In an era of recurring teacher shortages, Flanders struggles with a considerable proportion of teacher education graduates who do not enter the teaching profession. This study identifies the predictors of teacher education graduates' choice on job entry (teaching profession or not). A prospective research design with two data collection phases is…

An Investigation of University Student and K-12 Teacher Reasoning about Key Ideas in the Development of the Particulate Nature of Matter

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Robertson, Amy D.

2011-01-01

This dissertation describes a systematic investigation of university student and K-12 teacher reasoning about key ideas relevant to the development of a particulate model for matter. Written assessments and individual demonstration interviews have been used to study the reasoning of introductory and sophomore-level physics students, introductory…

The perceptions of teachers and principals toward providing additional compensation to teachers in high-need subject areas

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Longing, Jeffrey Lucian

The purpose of this study was to determine possible differences in the perceptions of teachers teaching in high-need areas (i.e., math, science, special education, etc.) and teachers not teaching in high-need areas, (i.e., business education, physical education, etc.) as defined by the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, regarding higher compensation for high-need teachers. In addition, possible perception differences among principals and teachers were determined. The independent variables consisted of gender, position held, years of certified experience, and certification areas. The dependent variable was the perceptions of the participants on providing higher compensation for high-need teachers in order to attract and retain them. The data for all variables were collected using the Teacher Compensation Survey. The sample for this study was limited to teachers, grades 9 through 12, and principals of public high schools in south Arkansas and north Louisiana. Forty-four school districts in south Arkansas (Arkansas Department of Education, 2008a) and north Louisiana (Louisiana Department of Education, 2008a) met the criteria for this study. Twenty-two superintendents gave permission for their districts to participate in the research. A sample of 849 teachers and 38 principals were identified in these districts. Surveys were returned from 350 teachers, creating a 41% response rate. When the 31 principals that returned surveys were added to the total population, the response rate increased to 43% with 381 of the 887 surveyed responding. However, 42 of the teachers and two of the principals skipped some of the questions on the survey and were not included in the study. The researcher used a One-Way ANOVA and independent t-tests to determine the presence of statistical differences at the .05 level. The data showed that most math and science teachers agreed that high-need teachers should be compensated at a higher rate than teachers not teaching in high-need areas. The data

Generalists to Specialists: Transformative Evidences and Impediments to Student-Centered Practices of Primary Music and Art Teachers in Singapore

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Costes-Onishi, Pamela; Caleon, Imelda

2016-01-01

This article fills in the knowledge gap in the student-centered practices of generalist music and art teachers to prepare 21st century learners. The study shows that generalists, after completing a specialist professional development program, struggle the most in connecting subject matter knowledge to pedagogical knowledge, specifically…

Introduction: Teaching Black Lives Matter

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Paula Austin; Erica Cardwell; Christopher Kennedy; Robyn Spencer

2016-01-01

An introduction to Radical Teacher, Issue 106: Teaching Black Lives Matter. This issue brings together a diverse collection of articles exploring educator’s responses, strategies, and stories on how #BlackLivesMatter has informed their teaching practice, the content of their courses, and their personal relationship to colleagues, family, friends, and self.

DISTANCE LEARNING AS A PERSPECTIVE FORM IN DEVELOPMENT OF SUBJECT-REFERENCE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF TEACHERS

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Kateryna R. Kovalska

2010-08-01

Full Text Available In the article the state and the level of studying of methodological and theoretical bases of distance learning were analyzed and researched; the methodological bases were formed, a list of characteristics was revealed, relevant only to distance learning; a list of advantages and disadvantages of distance learning using for the development of subject-reference competence of information technology teachers was revealed.

Mind over Matter. Teacher's Guide.

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National Inst. on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD.

This teacher's guide aims to develop an understanding among students in grades 5-9 about the biological effects of drug use. The guide provides background information on the anatomy of the brain, nerve cells and neurotransmission, and the effects of drugs on the brain. Drugs described in this guide include marijuana, opiates, inhalants,…

Need for Danish science teachers' continual professional development after pre-service training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2010-01-01

about their own subject matter knowledge may, for a large subgroup in the cohort, affect how the teachers‘ approach the physics content when teaching primary Science & Technology (grade 1-6 in the Danish schools). Beside this the cohort can be divided into subgroups with great variation in strengths......Results from a survey of a local cohort of newly qualified Danish science teachers before they began their first jobs in primary and lower secondary schools (n=110) show a need for continual Professional Development (PD). The results highlight two main areas of concern based on the newly qualified...... teachers´ reflections on scenarios of science teaching, their considerations about themselves as future science teachers etc. These include a tendency for the teachers to limit Inquiry Based Science Teaching to activity driven science, which suggests there is a need both in in-service PD and pre...

Pre-Service Teachers Methods of Teaching Science

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Dr. Raquel C. Pambid

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The study described the teaching methods used by pre-service teachers in Science. It focused on the strategies, techniques, materials, innovative methods and pattern of teaching science used by the pre-service teachers as described in their lesson plans. The qualitative and quantitative design was used in the study. The books, teacher hand-outs from classroom lectures were the sources of methods, strategies and techniques. The chalkboard and self-made drawings and charts were the materials often used. Conventional methods like lecture, open class discussion and demonstration were commonly employed. The strategies included group discussion, use of motivating questions and stories to arouse the interest of students. The direct eye contact, body expressions, jokes and news/trivia were frequent techniques. Integration of values in the lesson became less as the year level increases. The pattern of teaching drawn followed the formal style: I Objectives, II Subject matter, III Learning Tasks, IV Synthesis of the lesson, V Assessment and VI Enrichment. The conventional method and pattern of teaching by the pre-service teachers of PSU suggest that students in the College of Teacher Education should be trained to be more innovative and open in trying out more advanced teaching methods. Furthermore, PSU science pre-service teachers should use methods which can develop higher order thinking skills among high school students.

Subject Matter Specialists and Organizational Effectiveness of Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Tamil Nadu and Kerala

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Bimal Puthuparambil Bashir

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The study was undertaken with the objective of determining the socio-personal characteristics of Subject Matter Specialists (SMS of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK and their relationship with organizational effectiveness. Altogether 65 SMS’ from 12 KVKs across Tamil Nadu and Kerala were selected. The study has concluded that most of respondents were middle aged with more than half of them being female. Majority of them was married, had work experience of below five years and had attended three to five trainings. Most of the respondents had high level of job satisfaction team-work and one-fourth felt a medium to high job stress. More than half of the respondents felt medium level of work load. There was a positive and significant correlation at one per cent level between job satisfaction / team work and organizational effectiveness of KVKs whereas job stress had a negative and significant correlation at five per cent level. Hence it may be concluded that team work, job satisfaction and job stress play a significant role in improving the organizational effectiveness of KVK. More emphasis must be given for team building enhance the job satisfaction level and reduce the job stress among Subject Matter Specialists of KVKs.

The Implementation of APIQ Creative Mathematics Game Method in the Subject Matter of Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple in Elementary School

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Rahman, Abdul; Saleh Ahmar, Ansari; Arifin, A. Nurani M.; Upu, Hamzah; Mulbar, Usman; Alimuddin; Arsyad, Nurdin; Ruslan; Rusli; Djadir; Sutamrin; Hamda; Minggi, Ilham; Awi; Zaki, Ahmad; Ahmad, Asdar; Ihsan, Hisyam

2018-01-01

One of causal factors for uninterested feeling of the students in learning mathematics is a monotonous learning method, like in traditional learning method. One of the ways for motivating students to learn mathematics is by implementing APIQ (Aritmetika Plus Intelegensi Quantum) creative mathematics game method. The purposes of this research are (1) to describe students’ responses toward the implementation of APIQ creative mathematics game method on the subject matter of Greatest Common Factor (GCF) and Least Common Multiple (LCM) and (2) to find out whether by implementing this method, the student’s learning completeness will improve or not. Based on the results of this research, it is shown that the responses of the students toward the implementation of APIQ creative mathematics game method in the subject matters of GCF and LCM were good. It is seen in the percentage of the responses were between 76-100%. (2) The implementation of APIQ creative mathematics game method on the subject matters of GCF and LCM improved the students’ learning.

On indexes and subject matter of “global competitiveness”

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A. V. Korotkov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research is to analyze the subject matter of a country’s competitiveness and to characterize statistical indexes of competitiveness known in the international practice from the perspective of a more elaborated theory of market competition. This aim follows from the identified problems. First, there are no generally accepted interpretation and joint understanding of competition and competitiveness at country level. Even the international organizations giving estimations of global competitiveness disagree on definitions of competitiveness. Secondly, there is no relation to the theory of market competition in the available source materials on competitiveness of the country without original methodology. Thirdly, well-known statistical indexes of global competitiveness do not have enough theoretical justification and differ in sets of factors. All this highlights the incompleteness of the methodology and methodological support of studying competitiveness at country level.Materials and methods. The research is based on the methodology of statistics, economic theory and marketing. The authors followed the basic principle of statistical methodology – requirement of continuous combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, when the research begins and ends with qualitative analysis. A most important section of statistical methodology is widely used – construction of statistical indexes. In the course of the analysis, a method of statistical classifications is applied. A significant role in the present research is given to the method of generalizing and analogue method, realizing that related terms should mean similar and almost similar contents. Modeling of competition and competitiveness is widely used in the present research, which made it possible to develop a logical model of competition following from the competition theory.Results. Based on the definitions’ survey the analysis of the subject matter of global

Factors influencing pre-service physics teachers' skills of writing teaching materials

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Sinaga, Parlindungan

2016-02-01

Writing teaching materials is one of the generic pedagogical skills. Teachers and pre-service teachers should be trained to have the skills of writing teaching materials. This study examines the factors that influence the skills of writing in the disciplines among pre-service physics teachers. This study in particular aims to contribute to the development of science writing in the disciplines and to the organization of workshops on writing teaching materials for pre-service teachers. The problems of this research are formulated in the question of what are the factors that influence the skills of pre-service physics teachers in writing teaching materials. The research adopted mixed methods with embedded experimental design. The research subjects were 18 students enrolled in the school physics course. The instruments used consisted of conceptual understanding tests, learning strategy questionnaire, tests of the multiple representation skills, and one-on-one semi- structured interview. Results of data analysis show that the ability and skills of writing physics teaching materials of the pre- service physics teachers are determined by the factors of conceptual understanding of the subject matter with a contribution of 20%, the skills of making multiple representations of concepts with a contribution of 9.8% and students' self-regulation and learning strategy with a contribution of 33.5%. There are other factors that have not been investigated in this study; therefore, it is recommended that future research conduct further investigation on other factors that influence pre-service teachers' skills in writing physics teaching materials.

The Nature and Influence of Teacher Beliefs and Knowledge on the Science Teaching Practice of Three Generalist New Zealand Primary Teachers

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Anderson, Dayle

2015-06-01

Students' negative experiences of science in the primary sector have commonly been blamed on poor teacher content knowledge. Yet, teacher beliefs have long been identified as strong influences on classroom practice. Understanding the nature of teacher beliefs and their influence on primary science teaching practice could usefully inform teacher development initiatives. In science education, teacher beliefs about teaching and learning have been proposed as key influences in the development of pedagogical content knowledge for science teaching. This paper uses a multiple qualitative case study design to examine the nature and influence of beliefs on the practice and knowledge development of three generalist primary teachers during the implementation of a unit of work in science. Data for each case study included observations and transcripts of recordings of the lessons forming each science unit, together with multiple interviews with the teacher throughout its implementation. Findings support those of other researchers suggesting that beliefs about purposes of science education, the nature of science, and science teaching and learning strongly influence teacher practice and knowledge. Beliefs about the purposes of science education were found to be a particularly strong influence on practice in the observed cases. However, beliefs about students and the teachers' aims for education generally, as well as teachers' notions concerning vertical science curriculum, were also crucially influential on the type of science learning opportunities that were promoted. Beliefs were found to additionally influence the nature of both subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for science developed by the teachers.

Beginning Teachers' Conceptual Understandings of Effective History Teaching: Examining the Change from "Subject Knowers" to "Subject Teachers"

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Reitano, Paul; Green, Nicole C.

2013-01-01

This article reports the investigation of change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program. Using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections, data were obtained that indicate personal constructs of effective history…

Introduction: Teaching Black Lives Matter

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Paula Austin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available An introduction to Radical Teacher, Issue 106: Teaching Black Lives Matter. This issue brings together a diverse collection of articles exploring educator’s responses, strategies, and stories on how #BlackLivesMatter has informed their teaching practice, the content of their courses, and their personal relationship to colleagues, family, friends, and self.

Habitual sleep durations and subjective sleep quality predict white matter differences in the human brain

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Sakh Khalsa

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Self-imposed short sleep durations are increasingly commonplace in society, and have considerable health and performance implications for individuals. Reduced sleep duration over multiple nights has similar behavioural effects to those observed following acute total sleep deprivation, suggesting that lack of sleep affects brain function cumulatively. A link between habitual sleep patterns and functional connectivity has previously been observed, and the effect of sleep duration on the brain's intrinsic functional architecture may provide a link between sleep status and cognition. However, it is currently not known whether differences in habitual sleep patterns across individuals are related to changes in the brain's white matter, which underlies structural connectivity. In the present study we use diffusion–weighted imaging and a group comparison application of tract based spatial statistics (TBSS to investigate changes to fractional anisotropy (FA and mean diffusivity (MD in relation to sleep duration and quality, hypothesising that white matter metrics would be positively associated with sleep duration and quality. Diffusion weighted imaging data was acquired from a final cohort of 33 (23–29 years, 10 female, mean 25.4 years participants. Sleep patterns were assessed for a 14 day period using wrist actigraphs and sleep diaries, and subjective sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI. Median splits based on total sleep time and PSQI were used to create groups of shorter/longer and poorer/better sleepers, whose imaging data was compared using TBSS followed by post-hoc correlation analysis in regions identified as significantly different between the groups. There were significant positive correlations between sleep duration and FA in the left orbito-frontal region and the right superior corona radiata, and significant negative correlations between sleep duration and MD in right orbito-frontal white matter and the right

Using Facebook to Support Novice Teachers

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Staudt, Denise; St. Clair, Norman; Martinez, Elda E.

2013-01-01

Providing quality support for novice teachers as they enter the profession has been an ongoing concern of educator preparation programs. This article describes the efforts of one teacher preparation program in addressing this matter by utilizing Facebook[R] to provide sustained support and professional development for its beginning teachers. We…

Science That Matters: Exploring Science Learning and Teaching in Primary Schools

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Fitzgerald, Angela; Smith, Kathy

2016-01-01

To help support primary school students to better understand why science matters, teachers must first be supported to teach science in ways that matter. In moving to this point, this paper identifies the dilemmas and tensions primary school teachers face in the teaching of science. The balance is then readdressed through a research-based…

Metabolic syndrome and occupation: Any association? Prevalence among auto technicians and school teachers in South West Nigeria.

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Akintunde, Adeseye A; Oloyede, Taiwo W

2017-11-01

To determine occupational association with metabolic syndrome among auto technicians and school teachers. One hundred and sixty six subjects were selected for this study. Clinical data was obtained while laboratory investigations including plasma glucose and lipid profile were performed. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS 20.0. Pauto technicians. Mean serum triglycerides was significantly higher among auto-technicians compared to school teachers in this study. The prevalence of some conventional cardiovascular risk factors was significantly higher among auto-technicians compared to school teachers: Impaired blood glucose (9.6% vs. 1.2%, pauto-technicians. Based on the WHO and the Harmonized criteria, metabolic syndrome was more frequent among auto-technicians compared to school teachers. (8.4% vs. 1.2% and 19.3% vs. 7.2% respectively, pauto technicians despite their high level of physical activity, exertion and education compared to teachers. This may be related to the increased occupational exposure to organic and inorganic materials from dust particles, oil and oil related matter and particulate matter among auto technicians. Prompt definitive evaluation of this concept and appropriate health education to encourage safety mechanism can reduce this burden of metabolic syndrome among auto technicians in Nigeria. Copyright © 2016 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotions Matter: Teachers' Feelings about Their Interactions with Teacher Trainers during Curriculum Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Hong-biao; Lee, John Chi-Kin

2011-01-01

Compared with the rich exploration of teachers' emotional geographies in the West, there have been only a small number of studies conducted in Chinese societies that have adopted Hargreaves's emotional geographies to analyze human interactions in education. This study explores the nature of emotions felt by teachers during their interactions with…

Perceptions on the importance of gerontological education by teachers and students of undergraduate health sciences

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Correa-Muñoz Elsa

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The main challenge of higher education institutions throughout the world is to develop professionals capable of understanding and responding to the current social priorities of our countries. Given the utmost importance of addressing the complex needs of an increasingly elderly population in Mexico, the National Autonomous University of Mexico has systematically incorporated modules dealing with primary gerontological health care into several of its undergraduate programs in health sciences. The objective of this study was to analyze teacher's and student's perceptions about the current educational practices on gerontology. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 26 teachers and 122 undergraduate students. Subjects were administered interviews and responded survey instrument. Results A vast proportion of the teachers (42% reported students' attitudes towards their academic training as the most important factor affecting learning in the field of gerontology, whereas students reported that the main problems of education in gerontology were theoretical (32% and methodological (28%. In addition, 41% of students considered education on ageing matters as an essential element for their professional development, as compared to 19% of teachers (p Conclusion Our findings suggest that the teachers' perceptions about the low importance of education on ageing matters for the professional practice of health sciences could be a negative factor for gerontology teaching.

Identification misconception of primary school teacher education students in changes of matters using a five-tier diagnostic test

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Bayuni, T. C.; Sopandi, W.; Sujana, A.

2018-05-01

This research was conducted on third grade students (III) semester six, with sample number 84 respondents. The method used in this research is descriptive method. This article identifies the misconceptions of Primary School Teacher Education students by using a five tier diagnostic test research instrument, a question adapted to three chemical representations accompanied by an open reason and a level of confidence in the choice of answers. The categorization of the five tier diagnostic test scoring is divided into four namely, understand the concept, lack of concept, misconception and not understand the concept. Questionnaire in the form of a closed questionnaire is used to determine the factors that cause misconception. The data obtained is misconception has the highest percentage on the concept of substance properties and changes in its form. The highest incidence of misconceptions is due to self-factors. The conclusion is that five tier diagnostic tests can be used to uncover misconceptions of elementary school teachers and assist teachers in presenting lesson material tailored to the chemical representation so that students can understand the concept of the nature of matter and change its form well.

Fostering Self-Reflection and Meaningful Learning: Earth Science Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Monet, Julie A.; Etkina, Eugenia

2008-10-01

This paper describes the analysis of teachers’ journal reflections during an inquiry-based professional development program. As a part of their learning experience, participants reflected on what they learned and how they learned. Progress of subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge was assessed though surveys and pre- and posttests. We found that teachers have difficulties reflecting on their learning and posing meaningful questions. The teachers who could describe how they reasoned from evidence to understand a concept had the highest learning gains. In contrast those teachers who seldom or never described learning a concept by reasoning from evidence showed the smallest learning gains. This analysis suggests that learning to reflect on one’s learning should be an integral part of teachers’ professional development experiences.

Learning by doing? Prospective elementary teachers' developing understandings of scientific inquiry and science teaching and learning

Science.gov (United States)

Haefner, Leigh Ann; Zembal-Saul, Carla

This study examined prospective elementary teachers' learning about scientific inquiry in the context of an innovative life science course. Research questions included: (1) What do prospective elementary teachers learn about scientific inquiry within the context of the course? and (2) In what ways do their experiences engaging in science investigations and teaching inquiry-oriented science influence prospective elementary teachers' understanding of science and science learning and teaching? Eleven prospective elementary teachers participated in this qualitative, multi-participant case study. Constant comparative analysis strategies attempted to build abstractions and explanations across participants around the constructs of the study. Findings suggest that engaging in scientific inquiry supported the development more appropriate understandings of science and scientific inquiry, and that prospective teachers became more accepting of approaches to teaching science that encourage children's questions about science phenomena. Implications include careful consideration of learning experiences crafted for prospective elementary teachers to support the development of robust subject matter knowledge.

Reaching teachers: The first step in teaching students

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berry, G.

1991-01-01

A 1984 American Association of the Academy of Sciences study of more than 150 successful science in-service programs developed a list of their characteristics, which included: Strong academic component in mathematics, science, and communications, focused on enrichment rather than remediation; academic subjects taught by teachers who are highly competent in the subject matter and believe that students can learn the materials; heavy emphasis on the applications of science and mathematics and careers in these fields; integrative approach to teaching that incorporates all subject areas, hands-on opportunities, and computers; multiyear involvement with students; recruitment of participants from all relevant target populations; opportunities for in-school and out-of-school learning experiences; parental involvement and development of base of community support; specific attention to removing educational inequalities related to race and gender; involvement of professionals and staff who look like the target population; development of peer support systems (involvement of a critical mass of any kind of student); evaluation, long-term follow-up, and careful data collection; and, mainstreaming'' -- integration of program elements supportive of women and minorities into the institutional support programs. I shall illustrate these points with ongoing teacher-support programs in progress in the Chicago area.

Addressing the Inequitable Distribution of Teachers: What It Will Take to Get Qualified, Effective Teachers in All Communities. Research Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Adamson, Frank; Darling-Hammond, Linda

2011-01-01

Students of color in low-income schools are 3 to 10 times more likely to have unqualified teachers than students in predominantly White schools. These disparities in teacher distribution matter greatly: Research consistently shows that teacher quality is one of the most important variables for student success and that teachers with stronger…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Teacher’s Knowledge of Students in Learning Mathematics on Limit of Function Subject

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Ma'rufi; Ketut Budayasa, I.; Juniati, Dwi

2018-01-01

This research aims at describing the profile of high school teacher’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge in learning mathematics from the perspective of teaching experience. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) covers teacher’s knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of pedagogy, and knowledge of students. The subject of this research was two high school mathematics teachers who have different teaching experience. The data were obtained through interview and observation then analyzed qualitatively. The focus of this research is the novice teacher’s PCK deals with knowledge of students. Knowledge of Student is defined as teacher’s knowledge about the students’ conception and misconception on limit of function material and teacher’s ability to cope with students’ difficulty, mistake, and misconception. The result of this research shows that novice teacher’s ability in analyzing the cause of students’ difficulty, mistake, and misconception was limited. Novice teacher tended to overcome the students’ difficulty, mistake, and misconception by re-explaining the procedure of question completion which is not understood by the students.

Subjective Well-Being of Hong Kong Chinese Teachers: The Contribution of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and the Orientations to Happiness

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, David W.

2013-01-01

This study investigated whether gratitude and forgiveness contribute to subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) above the contribution of the three orientations to happiness in a sample of 143 Hong Kong Chinese teachers. Gratitude and forgiveness correlated substantially and significantly with each other,…

Are Ontario Teachers Paid More Equitably? Do Local Variables Matter?

OpenAIRE

Xiaobin Li

2010-01-01

This study investigated whether Ontario’s education funding reform of 1998 made teacher salaries more equitable. It also examined whether selected local variables had the same influence on teacher salaries in 2001-02 as they did in 1995-96 before the reform. Average teacher salaries before the reform in 1995-96 and after the reform in 2001-02 among school boards and among census divisions were compared to see whether the variation in teacher salaries increased or decreased. A partial co...

Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weng, Chuan-Bo, E-mail: send007@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); School of Neurosurgery, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishang Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032 (China); Qian, Ruo-Bing, E-mail: rehomail@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Fu, Xian-Ming, E-mail: 506537677@qq.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Lin, Bin, E-mail: 274722758@qq.com [School of Neurosurgery, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishang Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032 (China); Han, Xiao-Peng, E-mail: hanxiaopeng@163.com [Department of Psychology, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Niu, Chao-Shi, E-mail: niuchaoshi@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Wang, Ye-Han, E-mail: wangyehan@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China)

2013-08-15

Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA.

Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weng, Chuan-Bo; Qian, Ruo-Bing; Fu, Xian-Ming; Lin, Bin; Han, Xiao-Peng; Niu, Chao-Shi; Wang, Ye-Han

2013-01-01

Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA

Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Chuan-Bo; Qian, Ruo-Bing; Fu, Xian-Ming; Lin, Bin; Han, Xiao-Peng; Niu, Chao-Shi; Wang, Ye-Han

2013-08-01

Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Students' and teachers' cognitions about good teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Beishuizen, J J; Hof, E; van Putten, C M; Bouwmeester, S; Asscher, J J

2001-06-01

Good teachers have been studied ever since Plato described how Socrates taught by asking questions of his audience. Recent findings shed light on two characteristics of good teachers: their personality and their ability. However, more attention has been paid to teachers' practices and opinions than to students' views. The study reported here attempted to deepen our understanding of what students think about good teachers. Students of four age groups (7, 10, 13, and 16 years of age) and teachers from primary and secondary schools were asked to write an essay on the good teacher. The correspondence between conceptual items in the essays was investigated by determining the extent to which they were used in the same essays to describe good teachers. Correspondence analysis revealed two dimensions. The first dimension reflected the preference of students and teachers for describing the good teacher in terms of either personality or ability characteristics. The second dimension was interpreted as an orientation in the essays towards either attachment to, detachment from or commitment to school and teachers. Students and teachers were compared to establish the amount of (dis)agreement about what makes a good teacher. Primary school students described good teachers primarily as competent instructors, focusing on transfer of knowledge and skills, whereas secondary school students emphasised relational aspects of good teachers. Teachers, however, considered good teachers in the first place a matter of establishing personal relationships with their students. Consequently, primary school students and teachers disagreed about the characteristics of good teachers. In secondary education, disagreements between teachers and students were relatively small. The research method of collecting free essays and utilising correspondence analysis to represent conceptual items and groups of participants seems promising as long as a theoretical framework is available to interpret the

Learning from Experience? Evidence on the Impact and Distribution of Teacher Experience and the Implications for Teacher Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Jennifer King

2013-01-01

Teacher experience has long been a central pillar of teacher workforce policies in U.S. school systems. The underlying assumption behind many of these policies is that experience promotes effectiveness, but is this really the case? What does existing evidence tell us about how, why, and for whom teacher experience matters? This policy brief…

White and Black Teachers' Job Satisfaction: Does Relational Demography Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Fairchild, Susan; Tobias, Robert; Corcoran, Sean; Djukic, Maja; Kovner, Christine; Noguera, Pedro

2012-01-01

Data on the impact of student, teacher, and principal racial and gender composition in urban schools on teacher work outcomes are limited. This study, a secondary data analysis of White and Black urban public school teachers using data taken from the restricted use 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), examines the effects of relational…

Human Resource Subjects Allocation and Students' Academic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated human resource subjects' allocation and students' academic performance in Secondary Schools in Obudu, Nigeria. The relevant variables of teachers subject was used as independent variable while the dependent variables were students' academic performance. Six hundred teachers from 20 ...

From Gender-segregated Subjects to Multi-material Craft: Craft Student Teachers’Views on the Future of the Craft Subject

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaana Lepistö

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the views of student teachers of craft about the future of craft as a school subject. The study was conducted at the University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education, in Rauma in 2014. The literature review revealed that the subject of craft in Finnish basic education is understood as a dialog between the maker and the materials. However, teaching and learning craft in schools and in teacher education has a strong gender-based tradition. The aim of this study is to investigate student teachers’ understanding of craft as a school subject in the future and their solutions to teaching craft in basic education. The data were collected from essays (N = 20 written by student teachers of craft. The essays were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The results showed that the student teachers of craft viewed holistic craft, reflective action readiness, entrepreneurial behaviour, multiple skills, the use of versatile materials, and craft as sources of pleasure and the main solutions for the future of craft as a subject.

Characteristics of High School Students' and Science Teachers' Cognitive Frame about Effective Teaching Method for High School Science Subject

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Duk Ho; Park, Kyeong-Jin; Cho, Kyu Seong

2016-04-01

We investigated the cognitive frame of high school students and inservice high school science teachers about effective teaching method, and we also explored how they understood about the teaching methods suggested by the 2009 revised Science Curriculum. Data were collected from 275 high school science teachers and 275 high school students. We analyzed data in terms of the words and the cognitive frame using the Semantic Network Analysis. The results were as follows. First, the teachers perceived that an activity oriented class was the effective science class that helped improve students'' problem-solving abilities and their inquiry skills. The students had the cognitive frame that their teacher had to present relevant and enough teaching materials to students, and that they should also receive assistance from teachers in science class to better prepare for college entrance exam. Second, both students and teachers retained the cognitive frame about the efficient science class that was not reflected 2009 revised Science Curriculum exactly. Especially, neither groups connected the elements of ''convergence'' as well as ''integration'' embedded across science subject areas to their cognitive frame nor cognized the fact that many science learning contents were closed related to one another. Therefore, various professional development opportunities should be offered so that teachers succinctly comprehend the essential features and the intents of the 2009 revised Science Curriculum and thereby implement it in their science lessons effectively. Keywords : semantic network analysis, cognitive frame, teaching method, science lesson

Getting Personal: How Early Childhood Teacher Education Troubles Students' and Teacher Educators' Identities Regarding Subjectivity and Feminism

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Taguchi, Hillevi Lenz

2005-01-01

This article constitutes an attempt to investigate how student teachers and teacher educators in the context of Swedish early childhood teacher education are invented and reinvented by practices that are inspired by feminist and post-structural thinking. I give examples of practice that explicitly make use of different aspects of the personal,…

Teacher learning about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faaiz Gierdien

2008-02-01

Full Text Available I report on what teachers in an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE in-service programme learned about probabilistic reasoning in relation to teaching it. I worked 'on the inside' using my practice as a site for studying teaching and learning. The teachers were from three different towns in the Northern Cape province and had limited teaching contact time, as is the nature of ACE programmes. Findings revealed a complicated picture, where some teachers were prepared to consider influences of their intuitive probabilistic reasoning on formal probabilistic reasoning when it came to teaching. It was, however, the 'genuineness' of teacher learning which was the issue that the findings have to address. Therefore a speculative, hopeful strategy for affecting teacher learning in mathematics teacher education practice is to sustain disequilibrium between dichotomies such as formal and intuitive probabilistic reasoning, which has analogies in content and pedagogy, and subject matter and method.

Technology Acceptance among Pre-Service Teachers: Does Gender Matter?

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Teo, Timothy; Fan, Xitao; Du, Jianxia

2015-01-01

This study examined possible gender differences in pre-service teachers' perceived acceptance of technology in their professional work under the framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on a sample of pre-service teachers, a series of progressively more stringent measurement invariance tests (configural, metric, and scalar…

Subjective or objective? What matters?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Sunega, Petr

2014-01-01

Roč. 1, č. 1 (2014), s. 35-43 ISSN 2336-2839 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP404/12/1446 Institutional support: RVO:68378025 Keywords : comparative housing policy * globalisation Subject RIV: AO - Sociology, Demography

Developing Statistical Knowledge for Teaching during Design-Based Research

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Groth, Randall E.

2017-01-01

Statistical knowledge for teaching is not precisely equivalent to statistics subject matter knowledge. Teachers must know how to make statistics understandable to others as well as understand the subject matter themselves. This dual demand on teachers calls for the development of viable teacher education models. This paper offers one such model,…

Bridging the language gap: Exploring science teachers' dual role as teachers of content and English literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Suzanne C.

Responsibility for educating English language learners is increasingly falling on the shoulders of content specialists at the secondary level, as students are mainstreamed into classes. Therefore, providing these students an opportunity to achieve academic success depends largely on the quality of mainstream instruction (Cornell, 1995). Most teachers receive little or no preparation in how to work with English language learners. In my study, I address the instructional issues confronting three white, monolingual English-speaking middle school science teachers who must meet the demands of an increasing English language learner population. Specifically, this study explores teacher beliefs and enactment of reform-oriented science and sheltered instructional approaches to develop English language learners scientific and English literacy skills. I also explore the relationships that exist between these two dynamics in an effort to determine the extent to which teachers take on a dual role as teachers promoting English language and science proficiency. Using a participant observation case study method and my adaptation of Schwab's commonplaces heuristic, I analyzed the relationship between teacher beliefs, milieu, subject matter, and enactment in bridging the language gap in the science classroom for English language learners. The most noteworthy finding of this study was the significant role of milieu in enacting lessons that bridge the language gap and foster the development of English language learners science and English literacy skills. The findings suggest that greater attention be given to helping teachers establish a relationship-driven classroom milieu. You can provide all kinds of courses or professional learning experiences to improve teachers' instructional practices, but they must also recognize the importance of establishing relationships with their students; the coursework they take will not supplant the need to foster a warm and safe environment for all

Factors affecting student achievement in science: A study of teacher beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Jonathan

This study employed a mixed methods and mixed model research design to explore secondary science teachers' beliefs. Specifically, this study focused on factors that secondary science teachers believe affect student achievement in science, and the extent to which teacher beliefs transfer to teacher practice. This study is significant because the outcomes may inform professional development and policy decisions at the school, district, and provincial level. Results from self-reporting data of 82 secondary science teachers indicate that teacher beliefs in each of the fourteen topics surveyed (Classroom Management, Learning Styles, Inclusion, Equity, Science-Technology-Society (STS), Formative Assessment, Summative Assessment, Constructivism, Thematic Approach, Hands-On/Minds-On Activities, The Nature of Science, Science Subject Matter, Electronic Learning and Cooperative Learning) are positive for most Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) secondary science teachers. Furthermore, secondary science teachers reported having strong beliefs in their ability to affect student learning (self-efficacy beliefs). However, it is apparent from the survey and interview data that teachers believe there are other influential factors that are preventing some students from learning despite the teachers' best efforts and ability. Regarding implementation, this study indicates that beliefs and the enactment of beliefs in classroom practice are positively correlated. The data also shows that at least seventy percent of teachers reported that they implement practices consistent with all but two topics -- The Nature of Science and Electronic Learning -- at least once a week. The findings of this study are discussed in the context of the P.E.I. secondary science setting. Limitations and implications of this study are also addressed.

Strategies for Estimating Teacher Supply and Demand Using Student and Teacher Data. REL 2017-197

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, Jim; Wan, Yinmei; Berg-Jacobson, Alexander; Walston, Jill; Redford, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Every year the U.S. Department of Education reports for each state in the country the grade levels, subject areas, and geographic areas that have experienced teacher shortages (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 2015). A teacher shortage occurs when the number of teachers available in a specific grade, subject matter…

A more randomly organized grey matter network is associated with deteriorating language and global cognition in individuals with subjective cognitive decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Verfaillie, Sander C J; Slot, Rosalinde E R; Dicks, Ellen; Prins, Niels D; Overbeek, Jozefien M; Teunissen, Charlotte E; Scheltens, Philip; Barkhof, Frederik; van der Flier, Wiesje M; Tijms, Betty M

2018-03-30

Grey matter network disruptions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with worse cognitive impairment cross-sectionally. Our aim was to investigate whether indications of a more random network organization are associated with longitudinal decline in specific cognitive functions in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). We included 231 individuals with SCD who had annually repeated neuropsychological assessment (3 ± 1 years; n = 646 neuropsychological investigations) available from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (54% male, age: 63 ± 9, MMSE: 28 ± 2). Single-subject grey matter networks were extracted from baseline 3D-T1 MRI scans and we computed basic network (size, degree, connectivity density) and higher-order (path length, clustering, betweenness centrality, normalized path length [lambda] and normalized clustering [gamma]) parameters at whole brain and/or regional levels. We tested associations of network parameters with baseline and annual cognition (memory, attention, executive functioning, language composite scores, and global cognition [all domains with MMSE]) using linear mixed models, adjusted for age, sex, education, scanner and total gray matter volume. Lower network size was associated with steeper decline in language (β ± SE = 0.12 ± 0.05, p organized grey matter network was associated with a steeper decline of cognitive functioning, possibly indicating the start of cognitive impairment. © 2018 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Knot numbers used as labels for identifying subject matter of a khipu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Saez-Rodriguez

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This investigation presents a new way to look at the numerical khipu, a knotted-string recording device from Pachacamac (Peru, and the types of information it contains. In addition to celestial coordinates, khipu knots apparently pertain to an early form of double-entry accounting. This study hypothesizes that the khipu sample has the recording capacity needed to register double-entry-like accounts. After the identification of its subject matter, the khipu sample was studied in an attempt to ascertain whether the knot values could represent instructions from the Inca state administration to a local accounting center. The results indicate that the numerical information in the pairing quadrants (determined by the distribution of S- and Z-knots should be read from top to bottom along the full length of the string and can then provide certain complementary details regarding the projected corn stocks of the Inca stat

Constructing Videocases to Help Novices Learn to Facilitate Discussions in Science and English: How Does Subject Matter Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Rosaen, Cheryl L.; Lundeberg, Mary; Terpstra, Marjorie; Cooper, Marjorie; Niu, Rui; Fu, Jing

2010-01-01

Learning to conduct interactive classroom discussions is a high priority for becoming an effective teacher, and most teachers view conducting productive classroom discussions as a complex undertaking. Because the dynamics of facilitating classroom discussions are multifaceted and hard to analyze in real time, there is a growing interest in how…

Assessing Teacher and Student Effects of the Research Goes to School Project

Science.gov (United States)

Kararo, Alex T.

There have been calls by the Federal government and policymakers for improvements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education through the development of excellent teachers with the content knowledge and skills to teach and motivate students. A shared goal among teacher professional development (PD) programs is to improve students' learning outcomes through changes in teachers' classroom practices. One way to address classroom practice is by studying pedagogical content knowledge and skill (PCK&S), which is the way teachers incorporate both subject matter and teaching strategies to transform the way they teach content to support student learning. PCK&S includes the knowledge and planning as well as the act of teaching. The NSF-funded Research Goes to School (RGS) project sought to impact teachers' PCK&S through the introduction of a current scientific research topic simultaneously with an evidence-based teaching strategy. As part of the RGS project, high-school STEM teachers from Indiana applied to attend summer PD workshops. At these workshops, aspects of nanoscience taken from the Big Ideas of Nanoscale Science and Engineering book and project-based learning (PjBL) were taught. Nanoscience was chosen due to the rapid growth of this field and the call by scientists and policymakers for the development of standards and curricula focused on nanoscience within K-12 education. Introduction of fundamental nanoscience concepts can expose students to current research within what is considered the next industrial revolution. PjBL was chosen since within this teaching strategy, scientific processes are used to address unstructured authentic problems. As part of PjBL, the students are required to synthesize ideas, collect and analyze data, and work with peers to develop an answer to the authentic question. Teachers who attended the workshops developed a nanoscience-based PjBL unit that aligned with Indiana state standards and implemented these units

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.

Qualities of Early Childhood Teachers: Reflections from Teachers and Administrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Weitman, Catheryn J.; Humphries, Janie H.

Data were collected from elementary school principals and kindergarten teachers in Texas and Louisiana in an effort to identify qualities that are thought to be important for kindergarten teachers. A questionnaire listing 462 qualities of early childhood teachers was compiled from literature reviews. Subjects were asked to check a maximum of 50…

Student-Teachers' Verbal Communication Patterns during Their Teaching Practice in "Studies for the Environment" Subject in Early Greek Primary Classes

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Malandrakis, George; Karagianni, Aggeliki; Pani, Dimitra

2016-01-01

This study explores the quality of student-teachers' (STs') verbal communication during their teaching practice on the "Studies for the Environment" subject, and identifies potential factors affecting it. Forty-one teaching sessions were analysed revealing that STs dominate classroom talking by having almost an equal number of utterances…

Preservice Teachers Connecting Mathematics and Drumming

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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…

From Gender-segregated Subjects to Multi-material Craft: Craft Student Teachers’Views on the Future of the Craft Subject

OpenAIRE

Jaana Lepistö; Eila Lindfors

2015-01-01

This paper describes the views of student teachers of craft about the future of craft as a school subject. The study was conducted at the University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education, in Rauma in 2014. The literature review revealed that the subject of craft in Finnish basic education is understood as a dialog between the maker and the materials. However, teaching and learning craft in schools and in teacher education has a strong gender-based tradition. The aim of this study is to in...

Simple webs of natural environment theme as a result of sharing in science teacher training

Science.gov (United States)

Tapilouw, M. C.; Firman, H.; Redjeki, S.; Chandra, D. T.

2018-03-01

Thematic learning is one type of integrated science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Science) in Science Education. This study is concerning about simple webs of natural environment theme in science learning, as one of training material in science teacher training program. Making simple web is a goal of first step in teacher training program. Every group explain their web illustration to other group. Twenty Junior High School science teacher above one education foundation participate in science teacher training program. In order to gather simple webs, sharing method was used in this first step of science teacher training. The result of this study is five different simple web of natural environment themes. These webs represent science learning in class VII/Semester I, class VII/Semester II, Class VIII, Class IX/Semester I, Class IX/Semester II based on basic competency in National Curriculum 2013. Each group discussed web of natural environment theme based on their learning experience in real class which basic competency and subject matters are linked with natural environment theme. As a conclusion, simple webs are potential to develop in the next step of science teacher training program and to be implemented in real class.

Teacher Effectiveness through Self-Efficacy, Collaboration and Principal Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Sehgal, Prachee; Nambudiri, Ranjeet; Mishra, Sushanta Kumar

2017-01-01

Purpose: Teacher effectiveness has been a matter of concern not only for the parents and students but also for the policy makers, researchers, and educationists. Drawing from the "self-efficacy" theory (Bandura, 1977), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teacher effectiveness. In…

Early-Years Teachers' Professional Upgrading in Science: a Long-Term Programme

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Kallery, Maria

2017-04-01

In this paper, we present a professional development/upgrading programme in science for early-years teachers and investigate its impact on the teachers' competencies in relation to their knowledge and teaching of science. The basic idea of the programme was to motivate the teachers by making them members of an action research group aimed at developing and implementing curriculum activities to which they would contribute and thus meaningfully engaging them in their own learning. The programme used a `collaborative partnership' model for the development of the activities. In this model, the collaborative notion is defined as an act of `shared creation': partners share a goal and members bring their expertise to the partnership. Within this context, the partners were a researcher in science education with a background in physics, who also served as a facilitator, and six in-service early-years teachers with a background in early-years pedagogy and developmental sciences, who had many years of experience (classroom experts). These teachers participated in the programme as co-designers, but were involved to a significantly lesser degree than the researcher. The programme procedures comprised group work and individual teachers' class work. Data sources included teachers' essays, field-notes, lesson recordings and group-work records. Data were qualitatively analysed. The main results indicate improvement of teachers' `transformed' knowledge of the subject matter, development/improvement of knowledge of instructional strategies, including factors related to quality of implementation of the activities, knowledge of the pupils and improvement of the teachers' efficacy.

Defining Primary Geography from Teachers' Expertise: What Chilean Teachers Mean by Geography

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Salinas-Silva, Victor; Perez-Gallardo, Patricio; Arenas-Martija, Andoni

2015-01-01

This article examines teachers' subject expertise in a context where geography could be considered a neglected school subject. Using an empirical approach to the problem, the article aims to provide a view on the dynamics of teaching primary geography in Chile, through considering teachers' narratives on curriculum making and their associated…

In Schools, Teacher Quality Matters Most

Science.gov (United States)

Goldhaber, Dan

2016-01-01

Fifty years after the release of "Equality of Educational Opportunity"--widely known as the Coleman Report--much of what James Coleman and his colleagues reported holds up well to scrutiny. It is, in fact, remarkable to read through the 700-plus pages and see how little has changed about what the empirical evidence says matters. The…

Transformative practices in secondary school science classrooms: Life histories of Black South African teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Jita, Loyiso Currell

1999-11-01

This study investigated the construction of teaching practices that are aimed at including all students in learning the key ideas of science and helping them to develop a voice for participating in the discourses in and outside of the science classroom. Such practices define what in this study is referred to as transformative practice. The study tells the stories of three Black secondary school teachers in South Africa who have worked to construct a transformative practice in their biology and physical science classrooms. Using a life history perspective, the study explored the relationships between teachers' identities and the changes in their classroom practices. Data were collected mainly through periodic interviews with the teachers and observations of their teaching practices over a period of 18 months. An important finding of the study was that the classroom practices of all three teachers were defined by three similar themes of: (1) "covering the content" and preparing their students to succeed in the national examinations, (2) developing deep conceptual understandings of the subject matter, and (3) including all students in their teaching by constructing what other researchers have called a "culturally-relevant" pedagogy. This finding was consistent despite the observed variations of context and personal histories. A major finding of this study on the question of the relationship between identity and teaching practice was that despite the importance of context, subject matter, material and social resources, another category of resources---the "resources of biography"---proved to be crucial for each of the teachers in crafting a transformative pedagogy. These "resources of biography" included such things as the teachers' own experiences of marginalization, the experiences of growing up or living in a particular culture, and the experiences of participating in certain kinds of social, political, religious or professional activities. The study suggests that it

Atrophy of gray and white matters in the brain during aging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Shumpei; Matsuzawa, Taiju; Ito, Hisao.

1984-01-01

We studied atrophy of gray and white matter during aging in 57 males and 44 females with no neurological disturbances using x-ray computed tomography. The ages ranged from 12 to 80 years. Brain atrophy was expressed as brain volume index: 100% x [(brain volume/cranial cavity volume) in individual subjects]/[(brain volume/cranial cavity volume) in normal subjects of 20-39 years]. Atrophy of gray and white matter volume was expressed as gray and white matter volume indices: 100% x (apparent gray or white matter volume index in individual subjects)/(apparent gray or white matter volume index in normal subjects whose brain volume index was greater than 98%), where apparent gray and white matter volume indices were expressed as 100% x [(gray or white matter volume/cranial cavity volume) in individual subjects]/[(gray or white matter volume/cranial cavity volume) in normal subjects of 20-39 years]. Both the gray and white matter volume indices changed proportionally to the brain volume index (p<0.001). As the brain atrophy advanced, the gray matter volume index decreased more than the white matter volume index (P<0.001). Decrease in the gray and white matter volume indices was statistically significant only in seventies (P<0.002 for gray matter, P<0.05 for white matter). (author)

Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Mining Matters: A Model of Effective Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Hymers, L.; Heenan, S.

2009-05-01

Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Mining Matters is a charitable organization whose mandate is to bring the wonders of Canada's geology and mineral resources to students, educators and industry. The organization provides current information about rocks, minerals, metals, and mining and offers exceptional educational resources, developed by teachers and for teachers that meet Junior, Intermediate and Senior Provincial Earth Science and Geography curriculum expectations. Since 1994, Mining Matters has reached more than 400,000 educators, students, industry representatives, and Aboriginal Youth through Earth Science resources. At the time of the program's inception, members of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) realized that their mining and mineral industry expertise could be of help to teachers and students. Consulting experts in education, government, and business, and the PDAC worked together to develop the first Mining Matters Earth Science curriculum kit for Grades 6 and 7 teachers in Ontario. PDAC Mining Matters became the official educational arm of the Association and a charitable organization in 1997. Since then, the organization has partnered with government, industry, and educators to develop bilingual Earth science teaching units for Grades 4 and 7, and senior High School. The teaching units consist of kits that contain curriculum correlated lesson plans, inform bulletins, genuine data sets, rock and mineral samples, equipment and additional instructional resources. Mining Matters offers instructional development workshops for the purposes of training pre-service and in- service educators to use our teaching units in the classroom. The workshops are meant to provide teachers with the knowledge and confidence they need to successfully employ the units in the classroom. Formal mechanisms for resource and workshop evaluations are in place. Overwhelmingly teacher feedback is positive, describing the excellence

DESIGNING AI TEACHER ASSISTANT ON ONLINE-COURSE BASED ON WORD2VEC TECHNOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Aleksandrovich Rozhkin

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this work is to develop an AI teacher assistant, who can find answers to online course participants questions among answers previously published at the training forum. Currently, there are already successful experiments on the use of artificial intelligence systems (IBM WATSON in online training. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of constructing such a system using word2vec technology. A two-stage method for finding an answer to a question is constructed. Method use word2vec technology for vector representation of questions and answers. At the first stage, the subject matter of the issue is determined and, if it corresponds to the theme of the forum, then the articles most relevant to the question are searched. A real situation was simulated with 16 themes and 80 answers to possible questions within the section of the online course “Linear Algebra and Geometry”. The question-answer system was designed and its performance was evaluated. The parameters have been chosen to achieve the best result. In 83% of the cases, the relevant answer to the formulated question was contained among the top 3 responses that the system offered. The issues of further development of applied approaches and increasing utility of the constructed question-answer system are considered. Purpose: developing an AI teacher assistant, who can find answers to online course participants questions among answers previously published at the training forum. Methodology: vectorization of questions and answers, neural network classification of the subject matter, construction of the answers rating. Results: acceptable accuracy in finding a relevant answer to a question are received. Practical implications: The results of the research can be used as a basis for designing an AI teacher assistant in online courses.

Perfectly Reasonable in a Practical World: Understanding Chemistry Teacher Responses to a Change Proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Westbroek, Hanna; Janssen, Fred; Doyle, Walter

2017-12-01

Curriculum ideals often get compromised as a curriculum moves through its various levels of representation. Across the different science reforms, this process of slippage is clearly present. Research shows that teacher subject matter knowledge, PCK, beliefs and context factors all influence implementation. Professional development arrangements focus on fixing deficiencies in teachers' knowledge, beliefs or work context. This approach has not solved the problem of slippage, as we still do not understand what mechanisms operate when teachers make decisions about change proposals. In this study, we unpacked the decision mechanisms of three highly qualified chemistry teachers who subsequently adapted an innovative context-based chemistry unit. In spite of a state of the art professional development arrangement and the teachers being highly qualified, slippage occurred. The teachers' goal systems were used to interpret their reasoning. A goal system is a context-dependent, within-person mental construct that consists of a hierarchy of a person's goals and means in pursuit of a task. We showed that all three teachers adopted or redesigned elements of the change proposals to meet their core goals, i.e., goals that had multiple connections with other goals. This indicated that the adaptations teachers made were perfectly reasonable ways to serve their professional goals. For change to happen, we contend that one should begin with ways to connect teachers' core goals with the lesson or unit goal demands of a proposed innovation. Change emerges from the adaptions teachers make in the service of their core goals.

An Investigation of Primary School Teachers’ PCK towards Science Subjects Using an Inquiry-Based Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Menşure ALKIŞ KÜÇÜKAYDIN

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK of four experienced primary school teachers was investigated within the “Let’s Solve the Riddle of Our Body Unit”. The PCK investigation adopted a learning approach based on inquiry, content representation and pedagogical and professional-experience repertoires (PaP-eRs, and interview forms were used as data collection tools. During the course of the research, the findings obtained from observations made during a total of 18 course hours formed the basic data source of the study. According to the results of the study, in which descriptive and content analysis were used concurrently, primary school teachers lack subject matter knowledge, do not interrogate the pre-knowledge of students and some misconceptions exist regarding about blood moves and exercise with pulse. Additionally, some deficiencies were detected in the curriculum, i.e., it offers non-inquisitional knowledge. Furthermore, teachers employee assessment methods with traditional teaching methods and techniques. In the context of an inquiry-based learning approach, teachers appeared to believe that classroom activities were adversely affected by the physical conditions (class size, lack of laboratory etc., students’ cognitive levels and parent profiles. The result of this study revealed that PCK components affect one another. The PCK findings pertaining to primary school teachers as it concerns the unit are briefly discussed and some suggestions about the development of PCK are submitted.

NASA’s Universe of Learning: Engaging Subject Matter Experts to Support Museum Alliance Science Briefings

Science.gov (United States)

Marcucci, Emma; Slivinski, Carolyn; Lawton, Brandon L.; Smith, Denise A.; Squires, Gordon K.; Biferno, Anya A.; Lestition, Kathleen; Cominsky, Lynn R.; Lee, Janice C.; Rivera, Thalia; Walker, Allyson; Spisak, Marilyn

2018-06-01

NASA's Universe of Learning creates and delivers science-driven, audience-driven resources and experiences designed to engage and immerse learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. The project is a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University and is part of the NASA SMD Science Activation Collective. The NASA’s Universe of Learning projects pull on the expertise of subject matter experts (scientist and engineers) from across the broad range of NASA Astrophysics themes and missions. One such project, which draws strongly on the expertise of the community, is the NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, which is done in collaboration with the NASA Museum Alliance. This collaboration presents a monthly hour-long discussion on relevant NASA astrophysics topics or events to an audience composed largely of informal educators from informal learning environments. These professional learning opportunities use experts and resources within the astronomical community to support increased interest and engagement of the informal learning community in NASA Astrophysics-related concepts and events. Briefings are designed to create a foundation for this audience using (1) broad science themes, (2) special events, or (3) breaking science news. The NASA’s Universe of Learning team engages subject matter experts to be speakers and present their science at these briefings to provide a direct connection to NASA Astrophysics science and provide the audience an opportunity to interact directly with scientists and engineers involved in NASA missions. To maximize the usefulness of the Museum Alliance Science Briefings, each briefing highlights resources related to the science theme to support informal educators in incorporating science content into their venues and/or interactions with the public. During this

Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) in Redox and Electrochemistry of Experienced Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Stephanie

Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) is the basis by which knowledge of subject matter of a particular topic is conveyed to students. This includes students' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what makes a topic easy or difficult to teach, representations, and teaching strategies. The goal of this study is to assess the pedagogical content knowledge of chemistry teachers in a professional learning community in the areas of redox and electrochemistry, as this has been regarded in previous literature as conceptually challenging for students to learn. By acquiring information regarding the PCK development of experienced chemistry teachers, the education and practice of all science teachers can be advanced. This study builds upon previous research that developed validated instruments to evaluate TSPCK. The research questions sought to determine which components of TSPCK were evidenced by the instructional design decisions teachers made, what shared patterns and trends were evident, and how TSPCK related to student learning outcomes. To answer the research questions subjects completed a background questionnaire, a TSPCK assessment, and interview tasks to elicit information about pedagogical decision making and processes that influenced student learning in their classrooms. The TSPCK exam and interview responses were coded to align with thematic constructs. To determine the effect of TSPCK on student learning gains, pre/post-assessment data on redox and electrochemistry were compared to teachers' TSPCK. The chemistry teachers displayed varying levels of TSPCK in redox and electrochemistry, as evidenced by their knowledge of student learning obstacles, curricular saliency, and teaching methodologies. There was evidence of experienced teachers lacking in certain areas of TSPCK, such as the ability to identify student misconceptions, suggesting the need for programmatic improvements in pre-service and in-service training to address the needs of current

Contrast between white and grey matter: MRI appearance with ageing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magnaldi, S.; Ukmar, M.; Vasciaveo, A.; Longo, R.; Pozzi-Mucelli, R.S.

1993-01-01

MRI contrast between white and grey matter appears to be higher in young normal subjects than in older patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible relationships between these changes in contrast and ageing. It consisted of two parts. In the first part we retrospectively evaluated 140 MRI brain examinations of healthy subjects, 20 per decade (age range 20-90 years), in whom the contrast was subjectively scored. In the second part we prospectively measured the actual T1, spin density (SD) and T2 values of white and grey matter in another 22 healthy subjects (age range 20-80 years). In the first group of subjects a progressive decrease in white/grey matter contrast was observed with ageing. In the second group of subjects the T1, SD and T2 values of white matter were always shorter than those of grey matter. There is a close relation among T1, SD and T2 values of white and grey matter with ageing. We suggest that there is a progressive loss of white/grey matter contrast with ageing. Such a phenomenon is possibly due to an increased water content in the white matter and the progressive neuronal loss in the grey matter that occurs with age. (orig.)

Technology pedagogy: Six teacher candidates' developing pedagogical models for the use of computers in science instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Myhre, Oddmund Reidar

1997-12-01

This study investigated how teacher candidates' developing pedagogical beliefs and knowledge of technology influenced their perception of such tools in the teaching of subject matter as they complete the initial course work of their professional program. The purpose of the study was to conceptualize more clearly the relationship between prospective teachers' thinking about computer technology and the content of their professional education. A case study methodology was used to investigate changes in six pre-service secondary science teachers' thinking about technology as a pedagogical tool. Two of the teachers had extensive experience with technology upon entering the teacher preparation course-work, whereas the other four were novice computer users. Data included three semi structured interviews and non-participant observations during the technology course-work. Additional data were collected in the form of interviews with university faculty and cooperating teachers. Analysis of these data indicated that prospective candidates entered teacher education viewing technology as a tool that supports a teacher centered classroom. As the candidates explored more student centered approaches to teaching, they found less room for technology in their images of their future practice. The data also indicated that the technology course-work was isolated from the rest of the teacher education program and many of the misconceptions about technology that the candidates brought to their professional preparation were left unchallenged.

READINESS Of ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN IMPLEMENTING CHARACTERS INTEGRATED LEARNING IN THE SCIENCE SUBJECT

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N. Hindarto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Many problems that arise in today's society are rooted in the issue of morality as a result of the marginalization of the values of character. To solve this problem, need to be enforced the values of good character on every member of the community, and the proper way is through the educational process, including through education in schools ranging from elementary education to higher education. To find out whether the teachers in elementary schools are ready to take this work, the research conducted to determine the readiness of teachers and the problems associated with its implementation. Through a questionnaire calculated in descriptive percentage on a sample of elementary school teachers who are spread in Semarang, Semarang District and Temanggung, it can be concluded that in teachers’ view it is very important to integrate the learning of characters in the lesson. However, they need guidance /examples to develop learning model with its features, which integrate the values of the characters in the science subject.Banyak persoalan yang timbul di masyarakat dewasa ini berakar pada persoalan moralitas sebagai akibat terpinggirkannya nilai-nilai karakter, Untuk mengatasi persoalan ini, perlu ditegakkan lagi nilai nilai karakter yang baik pada setiap anggota masyarakat, dan cara yang tepat adalah melalui proses pendidikan, di antaranya melalui pendidikan di sekolah mulai dari pendidikan dasar sampai pendidikan tinggi. Untuk mengetahui apakah para guru pada Sekolah Dasar siap mengemban tugas ini, maka diadakan penelitian untuk mengetahui kesiapan para guru dan masalah-masalah yang terkait dengan pelaksanaannya. Melalui angket yang kemudian diolah secara deskriptive persentasi pada sampel guru SD yang tersebar di Kota Semarang, Kabupaten Semarang dan Kabupaten Temanggung, dapat diketahui bahwa para guru menganggap sangat penting untuk mengintegrasikan pembelajaran karakter dalam matapelajaran IPA. Namun demikian mereka membutuhkan bimbingan

ELECTRIC MOTORS FOR FARM USE.

Science.gov (United States)

Illinois Univ., Urbana. Coll. of Agriculture.

BETWEEN 2 AND 8 HOURS ARE REQUIRED FOR USE OF THIS TEXTUAL OR REFERENCE MATERIAL ON ELECTRIC MOTORS. IT WAS DEVELOPED BY AN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION-AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING SPECIALIST ON THE BASIS OF CONFERENCES WITH SUBJECT MATTER SPECIALISTS, TEACHER EDUCATORS, SUPERVISORS, AND TEACHERS. THE OBJECTIVES AND SUBJECT MATTER CENTER AROUND THE…

Closing down the Conversation: Discouraging Student Talk on Unfamilar Science Content

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsen, William

2015-01-01

This paper describes strategies used by novice biology teachers to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar subject-matter content. These discourse control strategies were identified in a year-long study of teacher subject-matter knowledge and its effects on teaching, and are illustrated in three lessons taught by…

Bonded Relationships: Supporting Pre-Service Teachers to Develop Confidence and Competency as Elementary Literacy Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Ticknor, Anne Swenson; Cavendish, Leslie M.

2015-01-01

Relationships matter in learning and in particular they matter for pre-service teachers engaged in learning how to teach in Midwest University, USA. This article reports findings from an 18-month long study that investigated how relationships supported and constrained four elementary pre-service literacy teachers' professional identities as…

Rwandan teachers as educational researchers: why it matters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user17

for teaching would be grown so expansively that it cannot be mastered and ..... guage-in-education policy of using English as the only medium of instruction in ..... Teachers as researchers: advantages, disadvantages and challenges for ...

An investigation of primary school teachers’ PCK towards science subjects using an ınquiry-based approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK of four experienced primary school teachers was investigated within the “Let’s Solve the Riddle of Our Body Unit”. The PCK investigation adopted a learning approach based on inquiry, content representation and pedagogical and professional-experience repertoires (PaP-eRs, and interview forms were used as data collection tools. During the course of the research, the findings obtained from observations made during a total of 18 course hours formed the basic data source of the study. According to the results of the study, in which descriptive and content analysis were used concurrently, primary school teachers lack subject matter knowledge, do not interrogate the pre-knowledge of students and some misconceptions exist regarding about blood moves and exercise with pulse. Additionally, some deficiencies were detected in the curriculum, i.e., it offers non-inquisitional knowledge. Furthermore, teachers employee assessment methods with traditional teaching methods and techniques. In the context of an inquiry-based learning approach, teachers appeared to believe that classroom activities were adversely affected by the physical conditions (class size, lack of laboratory etc., students’ cognitive levels and parent profiles. The result of this study revealed that PCK components affect one another. The PCK findings pertaining to primary school teachers as it concerns the unit are briefly discussed and some suggestions about the development of PCK are submitted.

Physics Education: Effect of Micro-Teaching Method Supported by Educational Technologies on Pre-Service Science Teachers' Misconceptions on Basic Astronomy Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Gurbuz, Fatih

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research study is to explore pre-service science teachers' misconceptions on basic astronomy subjects and to examine the effect of micro teaching method supported by educational technologies on correcting misconceptions. This study is an action research. Semi- structured interviews were used in the study as a data collection…

Primary Teacher Education in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Ching, Chin Phoi; Yee, Chin Peng

2012-01-01

In Malaysia the training of primary school teachers is solely carried out by teacher training institutes which offer the Bachelor of Teaching with Honors (Primary education) program and was first launched in 2007. This program prepares primary school teachers specializing in various subjects or major and is carried out in 27 teacher training…

The Roles of Teachers' Work Motivation and Teachers' Job Satisfaction in the Organizational Commitment in Extraordinary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Tentama, Fatwa; Pranungsari, Dessy

2016-01-01

Teachers' work motivation and teachers' job satisfaction are the factors influencing the organizational commitment. This research is aimed to empirically examine the roles of teachers' work motivation and teachers' job satisfaction in the commitment of the organization in extraordinary schools. The subjects of the research are the teachers in…

Design and validation of a standards-based science teacher efficacy instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Kerr, Patricia Reda

National standards for K--12 science education address all aspects of science education, with their main emphasis on curriculum---both science subject matter and the process involved in doing science. Standards for science teacher education programs have been developing along a parallel plane, as is self-efficacy research involving classroom teachers. Generally, studies about efficacy have been dichotomous---basing the theoretical underpinnings on the work of either Rotter's Locus of Control theory or on Bandura's explanations of efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancy. This study brings all three threads together---K--12 science standards, teacher education standards, and efficacy beliefs---in an instrument designed to measure science teacher efficacy with items based on identified critical attributes of standards-based science teaching and learning. Based on Bandura's explanation of efficacy being task-specific and having outcome expectancy, a developmental, systematic progression from standards-based strategies and activities to tasks to critical attributes was used to craft items for a standards-based science teacher efficacy instrument. Demographic questions related to school characteristics, teacher characteristics, preservice background, science teaching experience, and post-certification professional development were included in the instrument. The instrument was completed by 102 middle level science teachers, with complete data for 87 teachers. A principal components analysis of the science teachers' responses to the instrument resulted in two components: Standards-Based Science Teacher Efficacy: Beliefs About Teaching (BAT, reliability = .92) and Standards-Based Science Teacher Efficacy: Beliefs About Student Achievement (BASA, reliability = .82). Variables that were characteristic of professional development activities, science content preparation, and school environment were identified as members of the sets of variables predicting the BAT and BASA

Geography Teachers' Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Classroom Management

Science.gov (United States)

Dikmenli, Yurdal; Çifçi, Taner

2016-01-01

This study scrutinizes geography teachers' attitude and belief levels regarding classroom management. As a matter of fact, classroom management is one of the prominent areas emphasized by all educators. Descriptive correlational survey model was used in the study. Study group includes 58 geography teachers working in Sivas province during the…

Becoming a teacher educator: experiences with a specific induction period for beginning teacher educators.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr Rita Schildwacht; MEd Marly Gootzen; dr.ir. Quinta Kools; MEd Marije Veraa

2012-01-01

Introduction and theoretical background In the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the specific position of beginning teacher educators. In the book 'Becoming a teacher Educator' (Swennen & Van der Klink, 2009) several chapters deal with this subject. In conclusion, teacher

Exploring Teacher Trust in Technical/Vocational Secondary Schools: Male Teachers' Preference for Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Van Houtte, Mieke

2007-01-01

This article explores whether teachers' trust in pupils in technical/vocational schools is associated with teachers' and pupils' gender. As for the teachers, besides gender, age, socioeconomic origin, and subject taught are considered and, as for the pupils, the gender composition of the school (proportion of girls at school), the socioeconomic…

Initial teacher education and continuing professional development for science teachers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dolin, Jens; Evans, Robert Harry

2011-01-01

Research into ways of improving the initial education and continuing professional development of science teachers is closely related to both common and unique strands. The field is complex since science teachers teach at different educational levels, are often educated in different science subjects......, and belong to various cultures, both educationally and socially. Section 1 presents a review of the research literature across these dimensions and looks at the knowledge, skills and competences needed for teaching science, specific issues within science teacher education, and strategies for educating...... and developing science teachers....

Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions with Regard to Teaching-Learning Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Özdas, Faysal

2018-01-01

Teaching-learning process has a great important medium where pre-service teachers develop experiences and competences. Pre-service teachers are introduced to this process in a professional sense through the school experience course in teacher training. In this process, it is crucial to identify the encountered difficulties and matters. For this…

Relationship Between Teachers\\' Qualification And Students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It has been observed that students\\' performance in technical subjects is very poor. Coupled with this problem is that of lack of qualified technical teachers. This study determines the relationship between teachers\\' qualification and students\\' performance in technical subjects in selected schools in northern Nigeria.

Does Teaching Experience Matter? The Beliefs and Practices of Beginning and Experienced Physics Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Caleon, Imelda S.; Tan, Yuen Sze Michelle; Cho, Young Hoan

2018-02-01

This study utilized multiple data sources to examine the beliefs about learning and teaching physics and the instructional practices of five beginning teachers and seven experienced teachers from Singapore. Our study was implemented in the unique context of teachers teaching the topic of electricity to students grouped according to academic abilities. The topic of electricity is one of the most difficult physics topics for students to understand and for teachers to teach. It was found that the experienced teachers, compared to the beginning teachers, tended to have beliefs about teaching and learning physics that are closer to constructivist views. The majority of the teachers, particularly the beginning teachers, espoused beliefs about learning physics that were incongruent with their beliefs about teaching physics. Although transmission-oriented and teacher-directed practices dominated the classroom lessons of both groups of teachers, more elements of constructivist instruction were found in the classroom lessons of the experienced teachers. It was also found that the classroom practices of the teachers, especially those in their inductive years of teaching, were more aligned with their beliefs about learning physics than their beliefs about teaching physics.

Building a "Lifetime Circle": English Education in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter

Science.gov (United States)

Winn, Maisha T.

2018-01-01

This article argues that, to prepare teachers in the era of #BlackLivesMatter, there must be a radical reframing of teacher education in which teachers learn to disentangle their teaching from the culture of Mass Incarceration and the criminalization of Black and Brown people in the context of the United States in their practice. Using a…

CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES OF THE EDUCATIONAL PLANNING BASED ON A COMPETENCIES APPROACH OF TEACHERS OF TRAINEE TEACHERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inocente Melitón-García

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In order to understand the challenges faced by teachers in response to the innovation of curriculum and teaching matters, it is important to go deep into the the state of knowledge of trainee teachers education, analyze and systematize the production generated around this field called "didactic planning of the faculty". It is possible to state that talking about a daily basis teaching practice, it is a must to consider two aspects; on the one hand, referring to the work that prepares the teacher to the practice in schools for trainee teachers; on the other, updating and improvement during the professional performance. As a result, the hinge point to study all related to the planning of teaching from the perception of teachers of trainee school teachers, has been poorly treated by researchers or education specialist.

Classroom-Level Teacher Professional Development and Satisfaction: Teachers Learn in the Context of Classroom-Level Curriculum Development

Science.gov (United States)

Shawer, Saad

2010-01-01

This qualitative study examined the impact of classroom-level teacher professional development (CTPD) and curriculum transmission on teacher professional development and satisfaction. Based on work with English-as-a-foreign-language college teachers and students, data analysis showed that CTPD significantly improved student-teacher subject,…

Current Challenges to Teacher Education in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staugaard, Hans Jørgen; Rasmussen, Palle

and other subjects. But the university colleges are not part of the regular university sector, so teacher education is still generally separated from the research-based university tradition. Currently this fact is much debated. Two main types of arguments are being put forward for relocating teacher...... education to universities. One is that it will improve the subject knowledge of teacher and thus enable them to raise the skill levels of Danish students in core subjects. This is deemed necessary in the wake of international comparative surveys of achievement (like the PISA). Another argument is that many......Until recently, teacher education in Denmark for primary and lower secondary school (the Folkeskole) was organised in separate teacher training colleges. During the last ten years two comprehensive reforms of the system of medium cycle higher education have been implemented, first the act...

Mind Over Matter: The Brain's Response to Marijuana

Science.gov (United States)

... Search Term(s): Teachers / Lesson Plan and Activity Finder / Mind Over Matter Series / Marijuana / The Brain's Response to ... Us Accessibility FOIA NIH Home Privacy Policy Site Map Contact Us Find NIDA for Teens on: Site ...

Talking the talk…but walking the walk? How do non-specialist mathematics teachers come to see themselves as mathematics teachers?

OpenAIRE

Crisan, C.; Rodd, M.

2014-01-01

In order to address the shortage of mathematics teachers in England, the UK government has funded various in-service subject knowledge courses for practising teachers, who are not mathematics specialists. These courses aim to develop these teachers’ mathematical subject knowledge (e.g., DfE 2014). In this TAS session we will report on a research project which was set up to investigate how teachers on the in-service programmes offered by our institution developed as teachers of mathematics. We...

Teachers, Arts Practice and Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Franks, Anton; Thomson, Pat; Hall, Chris; Jones, Ken

2014-01-01

What are possible overlaps between arts practice and school pedagogy? How is teacher subjectivity and pedagogy affected when teachers engage with arts practice, in particular, theatre practices? We draw on research conducted into the Learning Performance Network (LPN), a project that involved school teachers working with the Royal Shakespeare…

Validity of Subjective Self-Assessment of Digital Competence among Undergraduate Preservice Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Maderick, Joseph Andrew

2013-01-01

Technology is now integrated into the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) required to be a highly qualified 21st century teacher. Accurate measurement of digital competence has become critical. Self-assessment has been used widely to measure the digital competence of preservice teachers who are expected to integrate technology into…

Teacher labor markets in developed countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladd, Helen F

2007-01-01

Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries-an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly, that students in countries with high teacher salaries do not in general perform better on international tests than those in countries with lower salaries. Ladd does find, however, that the share of underqualified teachers in a country is closely related to salary. In high-salary countries like Germany, Japan, and Korea, for example, only 4 percent of teachers are underqualified, as against more than 10 percent in the United States, where teacher salaries, Ladd notes, are low relative to those in other industrialized countries. Teacher shortages also appear to stem from policies that make salaries uniform across academic subject areas and across geographic regions. Shortages are especially common in math and science, in large cities, and in rural areas. Among the policy strategies proposed to deal with such shortages is to pay teachers different salaries according to their subject area. Many countries are also experimenting with financial incentive packages, including bonuses and loans, for teachers in specific subjects or geographic areas. Ladd notes that many developed countries are trying to attract teachers by providing alternative routes into teaching, often through special programs in traditional teacher training institutions and through adult education or distance learning programs. To reduce attrition among new teachers, many developed countries have also been using formal induction or mentoring programs as a way to improve new teachers' chances of success. Ladd highlights the need to look beyond a single policy, such as higher salaries, in favor of broad packages that address teacher preparation and certification

Teachers ‘And Students ‘View Points about the Characteristics of Effective Teaching, Brijand University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, April2003-4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

reza Ghaderi

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: As achieving the intended goals in medical education necessitates the utilization of effective teaching & learning methods. In order to further retention of the knowledge, continuous research is needed to study the factors affecting the quantitative and qualitative development of medical education. This study was to recognize the factors delineated by the students and teachers as to be important in the teaching-learning process.Methods: this was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study comprised of 880 students and 68 teachers at the Medical University of Birjand, lasting from April 2003 till April 2004. SPSS software and statistical test of Mann-Whitney were used for data analysis.Results: In this study, teachers ‘and students’ opinions about the characteristics of an effective teaching includingProfessional, and personal characteristics of the teachers, and motivation students toward independent learning each consisting of several items - were assessed  with regard to their sex, marital status. Residential status, educational level and educational group.The results were as the followings: Professional characteristics of the teachers: mastery over the subject. Rational sequencing of the subject matters, proper use of the basic knowledge of the related discipline, and use of simple language in teaching, were the choices rated by the teachers and students as the most important ones. Personal characteristics of teachers: self confidence in teaching. Interests in teaching, clear speech were the choices most rated by the teachers and students.Amongst the 3 characteristics of an effective teaching, teachers gave the first priority to motivation the students toward independent learning. While students regarded the professional characteristics of the teachers as the most preferred one.Conclusion: The study found that teachers and students regarded mastery over the subject, self confidence in teaching, use of simple

Mind over Matter: Contributing Factors to Self-Efficacy in Montessori Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatia, Punum

2012-01-01

Interpreting Albert Bandura's term "self-efficacy" as the individual's belief in his own abilities to succeed in spite of the given circumstances, this study seeks to identify the influences which lead to self-efficacy in Montessori teachers. In order to evaluate perceptions of self-efficacy, 35 pre-service teachers in the…

The role of physical activity in pre-service teachers’ subjective vitality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdullah Bora Özkara

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: In the present study, subjective vitality considered to be one of the contributions provided by participation in physical activity is examined on a sample of pre-service teachers. When teachers who are important part of education system are healthy and fit, it will help to build future generations. Materials: The research was conducted in the city of Trabzon, located in the northeastern region of Turkey. The sample of the study is composed of 328 last grade pre-service teachers (133 women, 195 men, age: 23.14 ± 2.62 studying at Karadeniz Technical University in the academic year of 2015-2016. Data was collected through Childhood and Adolescence Physical Activity Levels Questionnaire, Subjective Vitality Scale, and a personal information form asking for information about gender, doing sports as a certified sportsman/woman and department. Results: The research results yielded a significant difference between subjective vitality levels of those who do sports as a certified sportsman/woman and those who do not, and between pre-service teachers of physical education and those of other departments (p<0,01. There was also a positive and low-level significant relationship between subjective vitality and physical activity experiences of pre-service teachers (r= .23; p<0.01. However, subjective vitality did not differ significantly by gender. Conclusions: The research results seem to support other studies that reveal social and psychological contributions provided by participation in physical activity. Therefore, participation in physical activity seems to have positive effects on the subjective vitality of pre-service teachers.

From the Classroom to the Keyboard: How Seven Teachers Created Their Online Teacher Identities

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Jennifer C.; Alsup, Janet

2015-01-01

Teacher identity is defined as a sense of teacher self that results from a productive combination of key personal and professional subjectivities or beliefs. Much empirical research has been done on the development of teacher identity in the K-12 arena, with a great deal of theoretical and philosophical scholarship about teaching at the college…

Does Variation in the Extent of Generalized Trust, Individual Education and Extensiveness of Social Security Policies Matter for Maximization of Subjective Well-Being?

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Valeeva, Rania F.

2016-01-01

In this paper, I examine whether generalized trust and education, as well as social security policies of welfare state institutions matter for cross-national differences in subjective well-being (SWB), because knowledge on this issue is still lacking. For this purpose I integrated the insights of two sociological theories: Social Function…

Science Teachers' Voice on Homework: Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors

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Kukliansky, Ida; Shosberger, Itai; Eshach, Haim

2016-01-01

Homework (HW) is an integral part of the learning process. Currently, there is renewed interest and controversy about its effectiveness. The present study explores the voices of the science teachers on this matter. Adopting the view that reporting both teachers' views and actual classroom practices is necessary for obtaining a more complete view…

Mentoring Matters: Finding the Golden Mean--Mentors and Student Teachers Working for Success

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Spangler, Susan

2012-01-01

The cooperating teachers who make the greatest positive impact on interns allow student teachers to make mistakes and learn from them, offer constructive feedback, invest in their student teachers' success, practice current pedagogy in their own classrooms, and remain positive throughout the experience. In this article, the author suggests that…

Initial Teacher Training: The French View.

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Holyoake, John

1993-01-01

Discusses recent, radical reforms in France's preservice teacher education introduced by a socialist government within a changing political, economic, and educational climate. The paper examines the European context, history of France's teacher education, teacher training before recent reforms, current reforms, subject versus professional…

Academic gender stereotypes of pre-service teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ćirović Ivana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed at studying the content of academic gender stereotypes of pre-service teachers who are being prepared for working in different cycles of education. The sample included 408 students of teaching programmes of the Teacher Training College, Faculty of Mathematics and Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. It has been established that future class and subject teachers have gender stereotypes about the interests and achievements of students in different school subjects. pre-service teachers from both groups are of the opinion that girls get interested more easily than boys in the majority of school subjects, as well as that girls are more talented for the subjects in the field of humanities and languages, while boys are more talented for the subjects in the field of sciences. Pre-service teachers estimate that boys typically have a low achievement in languages, arts and music, while girls have a low achievement in physics, computer science, technical sciences and physical education. Since teachers’ gender stereotypes can affect students’ achievement, educational and career choices, it is important to raise awareness about the content and consequences of such beliefs in teachers and focus on certain actions towards their altering. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179034: Od podsticanja inicijative, saradnje, stvaralaštva u obrazovanju do novih uloga i identiteta u društvu i br. 47008: Unapređivanje kvaliteta i dostupnosti obrazovanja u procesima modernizacije Srbije

Subject (of documents)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjørland, Birger

2017-01-01

This article presents and discuss the concept “subject” or subject matter (of documents) as it has been examined in library and information science (LIS) for more than 100 years. Different theoretical positions are outlined and it is found that the most important distinction is between document......-oriented views versus request-oriented views. The document-oriented view conceive subject as something inherent in documents, whereas the request-oriented view (or the policy based view) understand subject as an attribution made to documents in order to facilitate certain uses of them. Related concepts...

Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity Matter

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Hawley, Willis D.; Nieto, Sonia

2010-01-01

When it comes to maximizing learning opportunities and outcomes for students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, race and ethnicity matter: They affect how students respond to instruction and curriculum, and they influence teachers' assumptions about how students learn. Effective implementation of race- and ethnicity-responsive…

Class Size and Student Diversity: Two Sides of the Same Coin. Teacher Voice

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Froese-Germain, Bernie; Riel, Rick; McGahey, Bob

2012-01-01

Among Canadian teacher unions, discussions of class size are increasingly being informed by the importance of considering the diversity of student needs within the classroom (often referred to as class composition). For teachers, both class size and diversity matter. Teachers consistently adapt their teaching to address the individual needs of the…

Self-Regulated Learning Microanalysis as a Tool to Inform Professional Development Delivery in Real-Time

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Peters-Burton, Erin E.; Botov, Ivan S.

2017-01-01

Elementary teachers in the United States are tasked with teaching all core subject matter and have training that involves many topics, which may limit the depth of their subject matter knowledge. Since they have low content knowledge, they often feel less confident about teaching technical subject matter, such as science (Bleicher "Journal of…

Gray matter alterations and correlation of nutritional intake with the gray matter volume in prediabetes

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Hou, Yi-Cheng; Lai, Chien-Han; Wu, Yu-Te; Yang, Shwu-Huey

2016-01-01

Abstract The neurophysiology of prediabetes plays an important role in preventive medicine. The dysregulation of glucose metabolism is likely linked to changes in neuron-related gray matter. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate gray matter alterations in medication-naive prediabetic patients. We expected to find alterations in the gray matter of prediabetic patients. A total of 64 prediabetic patients and 54 controls were enrolled. All subjects received T1 scans using a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging machine. Subjects also completed nutritional intake records at the 24-hour and 3-day time points to determine their carbohydrate, protein, fat, and total calorie intake. We utilized optimized voxel-based morphometry to estimate the gray matter differences between the patients and controls. In addition, the preprandial serum glucose level and the carbohydrate, protein, fat, and total calorie intake levels were tested to determine whether these parameters were correlated with the gray matter volume. Prediabetic patients had lower gray matter volumes than controls in the right anterior cingulate gyrus, right posterior cingulate gyrus, left insula, left super temporal gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus (corrected P prediabetic patients. PMID:27336893

Cooperative studyware development of organic chemistry module by experts, teachers, and students

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Dori, Yehudit J.

1995-06-01

Experts, teachers, and students took active part in a process of organic chemistry studyware development. A unique characteristic of this process was the active involvement of three different groups of people in the authoring process: science educators, chemistry teachers, and chemistry students studying towards an education certificate. The science educators—the experts—advised the team on new methods of presenting the subject matter in an appealing way, using 3D computerized molecular modeling. The in-service chemistry teachers contributed from their rich field experience to constructing the studyware. This mutual development helped maintain the balance between expert requirements and expectations from students on one hand, and the actual student capabilities, as perceived by teachers through constant contact with the students, on the other. Finally, the preservice teachers—the undergraduate chemistry students—were often zealous, enthusiastic, and willing to put in the extra time and effort needed to produce quality studyware, while following the guidelines of the experts and teachers. Feedback on the qualities and shortcomings of the studyware was obtained in two cycles. The first one was done while the studyware was still under development by peers, and the second by individual target students, serving as a beta-site. This double feedback helped improve the studyware, mainly by elaborating on portions that require more detail and explanation. The paper describes the process as well as representative parts of the studyware. The combination of experts, teachers, and students in the development team seems to have the potential to yield studyware that is appropriate for effective science education in general and chemistry teaching in particular.

The effect of productive classroom talk and metacommunication on young children's oral communicative competence and subject matter knowledge: An intervention study in early childhood education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Veen, C.; de Mey, J.R.P.B.; van Kruistum, C.J.; van Oers, B.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of productive classroom talk and metacommunication on the development of young children's oral communicative competence and subject matter knowledge. This study can be characterized as a quasi-experimental study with a

Dimensions of school climate: teachers' or principals' power styles and subjects' propensities to be climate vigilant as related to students' perceptions of satisfaction and of peers' abusive behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoek-Miller, Nancy; Miller, Duane I; Shirachi, Miyoko; Hoda, Nicholas

2002-08-01

Two studies investigated teachers' and principals' power styles as related to college students' retrospective ratings of satisfaction and peers' abusive behavior. One study also investigated retrospective self-perception as related to students' sensitivity to the occurrence of physical and psychological abuse in the school environment. Among the findings were positive correlations between subjects' perceptions that their typical elementary school teacher used referent, legitimate, or expert power styles and subjects' reported satisfaction with their elementary school experience. Small but statistically significant correlations were found suggesting that principals' power style was weakly associated with ratings of psychological abuse in elementary school and physical abuse in middle school. Also, students who rated themselves as intelligent, sensitive, attractive, and depressive had higher ratings of perceived psychological and physical abuse at school. It was concluded that parameters of leaders' power styles and subjects' vigilance might be useful for understanding school climates. Experimentally designed studies are required.

Motivation of Professional Choice as a Component of Professional Subjectness in Teachers

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Budnikova S.P.,

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue of factors that define the choice of university and future profession in prospective students of the Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University. The motives of professional choice are essential when it comes to analyzing the conditions of development of professional subjectness. Our study involved 62% of all first-year students and 85% of first-year students of pedagogical departments. We used our specially developed questionnaire “Motives of University Choice” and a set of others, such as V.G. Katashev’s “Technique for Measuring Learning Motivation in Students” and K. Zamfir’s “Work Motivation Technique” (modified by A.A. Rean. The outcomes show that most students make choices basing on their emotional attitude to the professional sphere which is generally positive. Also, it was revealed that important inner and outer positive motives prevail in most future teachers. The paper states that it is necessary to find the universal criteria which could help predict successful self-actualisation in profession in individuals during their study at university and thus help reveal the mechanisms for managing this process. Finally, we suggest some possible forms promoting professional self-orientation at university.

Using Multiple Lenses to Examine the Development of Beginning Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Natural Selection Simulations

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Sickel, Aaron J.; Friedrichsen, Patricia

2018-02-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become a useful construct to examine science teacher learning. Yet, researchers conceptualize PCK development in different ways. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use three analytic lenses to understand the development of three beginning biology teachers' PCK for teaching natural selection simulations. We observed three early-career biology teachers as they taught natural selection in their respective school contexts over two consecutive years. Data consisted of six interviews with each participant. Using the PCK model developed by Magnusson et al. (1999), we examined topic-specific PCK development utilizing three different lenses: (1) expansion of knowledge within an individual knowledge base, (2) integration of knowledge across knowledge bases, and (3) knowledge that explicitly addressed core concepts of natural selection. We found commonalities across the participants, yet each lens was also useful to understand the influence of different factors (e.g., orientation, subject matter preparation, and the idiosyncratic nature of teacher knowledge) on PCK development. This multi-angle approach provides implications for considering the quality of beginning science teachers' knowledge and future research on PCK development. We conclude with an argument that explicitly communicating lenses used to understand PCK development will help the research community compare analytic approaches and better understand the nature of science teacher learning.

Teachers Matter: An Examination of Student-Teacher Relationships, Attitudes toward Bullying, and Bullying Behavior

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Wang, Cixin; Swearer, Susan M.; Lembeck, Paige; Collins, Adam; Berry, Brandi

2015-01-01

This study investigated the influence of student-teacher relationships and attitudes toward bullying on middle school students' bullying behaviors. Gender and grade differences were also examined. Data were collected from 435 middle school students. Results indicated that students' attitudes toward bullying mediated the relationship between…

Competition for Private and State School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Francis; Machin, Stephen; Murphy, Richard; Zhu, Yu

2008-01-01

We analyse the role of private schools in the teachers' labour market. Private schools employ an increasingly-disproportionate share of teachers in Britain, relative to the number of their pupils. Their teachers are more likely than state school teachers to possess post-graduate qualifications, and to be specialists in shortage subjects.…

A nonpedagogical teacher education?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kvols, Anja Madsen; Madsen, Peter Hougaard; Beck, Mette Holdsendorf

regarding changes in education – which seem to come from evaluations more than from educational and pedagogical theories (Gruschka, 2011). Moreover, the teacher education has increased its focus on both research-based academic training and professional training at the same time. Our study is double – 1...... characterizes teacher professionalism? (Subject studies? Pedagogical studies? Professional training? Academic studies? Bildung studies? Etc.) - What characterizes ‘pedagogy of teacher education’ (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Loughran, 2008; Zeichner, 2005)?...

Teachers' Emotions: An Illustrated Discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Golby, Michael

1996-01-01

Considers the situations of two women teachers who have profound commitments to their pupils and who gain considerable emotional security from this. Argues that they tend to define school matters outside of teaching as distractions. Suggests that professional development requires a whole-school approach with greater emotional commitment to…

Assessing the Life Science Knowledge of Students and Teachers Represented by the K–8 National Science Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Philip M.; Coyle, Harold; Smith, Nancy Cook; Miller, Jaimie; Mintzes, Joel; Tanner, Kimberly; Murray, John

2013-01-01

We report on the development of an item test bank and associated instruments based on the National Research Council (NRC) K–8 life sciences content standards. Utilizing hundreds of studies in the science education research literature on student misconceptions, we constructed 476 unique multiple-choice items that measure the degree to which test takers hold either a misconception or an accepted scientific view. Tested nationally with 30,594 students, following their study of life science, and their 353 teachers, these items reveal a range of interesting results, particularly student difficulties in mastering the NRC standards. Teachers also answered test items and demonstrated a high level of subject matter knowledge reflecting the standards of the grade level at which they teach, but exhibiting few misconceptions of their own. In addition, teachers predicted the difficulty of each item for their students and which of the wrong answers would be the most popular. Teachers were found to generally overestimate their own students’ performance and to have a high level of awareness of the particular misconceptions that their students hold on the K–4 standards, but a low level of awareness of misconceptions related to the 5–8 standards. PMID:24006402

Assessing the life science knowledge of students and teachers represented by the K-8 national science standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Philip M; Coyle, Harold; Smith, Nancy Cook; Miller, Jaimie; Mintzes, Joel; Tanner, Kimberly; Murray, John

2013-01-01

We report on the development of an item test bank and associated instruments based on the National Research Council (NRC) K-8 life sciences content standards. Utilizing hundreds of studies in the science education research literature on student misconceptions, we constructed 476 unique multiple-choice items that measure the degree to which test takers hold either a misconception or an accepted scientific view. Tested nationally with 30,594 students, following their study of life science, and their 353 teachers, these items reveal a range of interesting results, particularly student difficulties in mastering the NRC standards. Teachers also answered test items and demonstrated a high level of subject matter knowledge reflecting the standards of the grade level at which they teach, but exhibiting few misconceptions of their own. In addition, teachers predicted the difficulty of each item for their students and which of the wrong answers would be the most popular. Teachers were found to generally overestimate their own students' performance and to have a high level of awareness of the particular misconceptions that their students hold on the K-4 standards, but a low level of awareness of misconceptions related to the 5-8 standards.

The Learning Assistant Model for Science Teacher Recruitment and Preparation

Science.gov (United States)

Otero, Valerie

2006-04-01

There is a shortage of high quality physical science teachers in the United States. In 2001, less than 50% of teachers who taught physics held a major or minor in physics or physics education (Neuschatz & McFarling, 2003). Studies point to content knowledge as one of the two factors that is positively correlated with teacher quality. However, those directly responsible for the science content preparation of teachers, specifically science research faculty, are rarely involved in focused efforts to improve teacher quality or to create alternative paths for becoming a teacher. What role should science research faculty play in the recruitment and preparation of science teachers? How might teacher recruitment and preparation be conceived so that science research faculty members' participation in these efforts is not at odds with the traditional scientific research foci of science research departments? To address this issue, we have coupled our teacher recruitment and preparation efforts with our efforts for transforming our large-enrollment, undergraduate science courses. This is achieved through the undergraduate Learning Assistant (LA) program, where talented mathematics and science majors are hired to assist in transforming large enrollment courses to student-centered, collaborative environments. These LAs are the target of our teacher recruitment efforts. Science research faculty, in collaboration with faculty from the school of education have established a community that supports LAs in making decisions to explore K12 teaching as a career option. Fifteen percent of the LAs who have participated in this program have entered teaching credential programs and now plan to become K12 teachers. An added effect of this program is that research faculty have developed skills and knowledge regarding inquiry-based and student-centered pedagogy and theories of student learning. The Learning Assistant program has led to increased subject matter knowledge among learning

Non-native Chinese Foreign Language (CFL) Teachers: Identity and Discourse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Chun

2014-01-01

Abstract Native Chinese foreign language (CFL) teacher identity is an emerging subject of research interest in the teacher education. Yet, limited study has been done on the construction of Non-native CFL teachers in their home culture. Guided by a concept of teacher identity-in-discourse, the pa......Abstract Native Chinese foreign language (CFL) teacher identity is an emerging subject of research interest in the teacher education. Yet, limited study has been done on the construction of Non-native CFL teachers in their home culture. Guided by a concept of teacher identity...... teachers face tensions and challenges in constructing their identities as CFL teachers, and the tensions and challenges that arose from Danish teaching culture could influence the Non-native CFL teachers' contributions to CFL teaching in their home cultures. The findings further show that in order to cope...

Teaching science as argument: Prospective elementary teachers' knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Barreto-Espino, Reizelie

For the past two decades there has been increasing emphasis on argumentation in school science. In 2007, the National Research Council published a synthesis report that emphasizes the centrality of constructing, evaluating, and using scientific explanations. Participating in argumentation is seen as fundamental to children's science learning experiences. These new expectations increase challenges for elementary teachers since their understanding of and experiences with science are overwhelmingly inconsistent with teaching science as argument. These challenges are further amplified when dealing with prospective elementary teachers. The current study was guided by the following research questions: (1) What are the ways in which preservice elementary teachers appropriate components of "teaching science as argument" during their student teaching experience? (2) To what extent do components from prospective elementary teachers' reflections influence planning for science teaching? (3) What elements from the context influence preservice elementary teachers' attention to teaching science as argument? This study followed a multi-participant case study approach and analyses were informed by grounded theory. Three participants were selected from a larger cohort of prospective elementary teachers enrolled in an innovative Elementary Professional Development School (PDS) partnership at a large Northeast University. Cross-case analysis allowed for the development of five key assertions: (1) The presence of opportunities for interacting with phenomena and collecting first hand data helped participants increase their emphasis on evidence-based explanations. (2) Participants viewed science talks as an essential mechanism for engaging students in the construction of evidence-based explanations and as being fundamental to meaning-making. (3) Participants demonstrated attention to scientific subject matter during instruction rather than merely focusing on activities and/or inquiry

Relative activity of cerebral subcortical gray matter in varying states of attention and awareness in normal subjects and patient studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, M.; Chen, C.T.; Levy, J.; Wagner, N.; Spire, J.P.; Jacobsen, J.; Meltzer, H.; Metz, J.; Beck, R.N.

1985-01-01

An important aspect of the study of brain function involves measurement of the relationships; between activities in the subcortical gray matter of the caudate and of the thalamus; and between these structures and functional cortical areas. The authors have studied these relationships in 22 subjects under different conditions of activation, sleep and sensory deprivation using a PET VI system and F-18-2DG to determine regional cerebral metabolism. Subject activating conditions were maintained throughout the period of equilibration of F-18-2DG and E.E.G.'s were monitored. Multiple tomographic slices of 1-2 million counts were obtained simultaneously with slice separation of 14mm and each plane parallel to the cantho-meatal line. In activated and non-activated awake conditions for normal subjects, left and right thalmus-to-caudate ratios were similar and greater than unity. This relationship was maintained in non-REM sleep, but was reversed and divergent in REM sleep and sensory deprivation; this was also evident in 3/4 narcoleptics awake and asleep in non-REM and REM and 2/3 schizophrenics and affective disorder, subjects. This approach appears to have potential for characterizating normal and disordered regional cerebral function

Capturing and portraying science student teachers' pedagogical content knowledge through CoRe construction

Science.gov (United States)

Thongnoppakun, Warangkana; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential kind of knowledge that teacher have for teaching particular content to particular students for enhance students' understanding, therefore, teachers with adequate PCK can give content to their students in an understandable way rather than transfer subject matter knowledge to learner. This study explored science student teachers' PCK for teaching science using Content representation base methodology. Research participants were 68 4th year science student teachers from department of General Science, faculty of Education, Phuket Rajabhat University. PCK conceptualization for teaching science by Magnusson et al. (1999) was applied as a theoretical framework in this study. In this study, Content representation (CoRe) by Loughran et al. (2004) was employed as research methodology in the lesson preparation process. In addition, CoRe consisted of eight questions (CoRe prompts) that designed to elicit and portray teacher's PCK for teaching science. Data were collected from science student teachers' CoRes design for teaching a given topic and student grade. Science student teachers asked to create CoRes design for teaching in topic `Motion in one direction' for 7th grade student and further class discussion. Science student teachers mostly created a same group of science concepts according to subunits of school science textbook rather than planned and arranged content to support students' understanding. Furthermore, they described about the effect of student's prior knowledge and learning difficulties such as students' knowledge of Scalar and Vector quantity; and calculating skill. These responses portrayed science student teacher's knowledge of students' understanding of science and their content knowledge. However, they still have inadequate knowledge of instructional strategies and activities for enhance student learning. In summary, CoRes design can represented holistic overviews of science student teachers' PCK related

Teacher Education and "Politics of Humanity"

Science.gov (United States)

Waghid, Y.

2011-01-01

Since the demise of apartheid education, the development of policy in relation to teacher education in South Africa has undergone major adjustments. By far the most poignant conceptual and pragmatic change that teacher education has been subjected to points towards the cultivation of teachers who can enact their professions as democratic citizens.…

The dynamics of a students´ groupwork in the Physics classes, their relationship to the knowledge, and the teacher´s interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glauco S. F. da Silva

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We present the learning-teaching process case of a group of High School students and emphasize their relation with physics subject-matter, the interventions of the teacher (presential and institutional and the difficult situations faced by them within the group. We used Pichon-Rivière’s theory of operative groups to analyze this data. In this theory, some important elements are: the task of the group, the bond and the roles the members play. We made a diachronical analysis of the group, raising the hypothesis of the dependence from the teacher, and we made a synchronical analysis from one class to reveal some details of the group process. We concluded that the members’ dependence was related to “not knowing Physics” whose teacher was the one who could solve their problems. Lastly, we discuss teacher’s intervention function in a students’groupwork during physics classes.

Pre-Service Teachers' Subject Knowledge of and Attitudes about Radioactivity and Ionising Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Colclough, Nicholas Denys; Lock, Roger; Soares, Allan

2011-01-01

This study focussed on secondary school (11-18 years) pre-service teachers' (n = 73) knowledge of and attitudes towards risks associated with alpha, beta, and gamma radiations. A multi-method approach was used with physics, chemistry, biology, and history graduates undertaking the one-year initial teacher training, Post Graduate Certificate in…

Variation in Teacher Salaries in Georgia: Does the Property Tax Base Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Winters, John V.

2009-01-01

There is a great deal of variation in teacher salaries across school districts. This is important because districts that pay low salaries are likely to have greater trouble recruiting and retaining quality teachers. Regression analysis reveals that local supplements--payments exceeding the state minimum salary schedule--are affected by a number of…

MATHEMATICS TEACHER: MOVING KNOWLEDGE UNDER FORMATION

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Roselaine Machado Albernaz

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This essay approaches the Mathematics teacher forming process from his/her experiences in the school system and the set of knowledge that hashistorical, philosophical and politically constituted him/her. This set of knowledge not only comprises academic knowledge, but also involves the subjective effects of knowledge it incorporates. Starting from a tale, the character, called ‘researcher-teacher’, conducts the text throughout questions about the forming processes of teachers of such a particular subject as Mathematics. The character seems to have an “interrogative something” which is peculiar to us, teachers, concerned about our disciplinary field. Having the objective of problematize the formation and knowledge of our character, her ways of being, thinking and perceiving, we intend to question, with and through her, the new requirements that have been demanded towards Mathematics teachers and the set of knowledge that constitute her, the way she is, her way of acting and taking  position in the school universe. The proposed essay seeks for an articulation between the fields of Art, Philosophy, Science and Education. It speaks about the intriguing school world, but not least, the ways we think to treat the forming process of Mathematics teachers from a set of logical, subjective and sensitive knowledge.  Key words: Forming process of teachers; mathematics; aesthetic experience; philosophy of difference.

Exploring the use of lesson study with six Canadian middle-school science teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Bridges, Terry James

This qualitative case study explores the use of lesson study over a ten-week period with six Ontario middle school science teachers. The research questions guiding this study were: (1) How does participation in science-based lesson study influence these teachers': (a) science subject matter knowledge (science SMK), (b) science pedagogical content knowledge (science PCK), and (c) confidence in teaching science?, and (2) What benefits and challenges do they associate with lesson study? Data sources for this study were: teacher questionnaires, surveys, reflections, pre- and post- interviews, and follow-up emails; researcher field notes and reflections; pre- and post- administration of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument; and audio recordings of group meetings. The teachers demonstrated limited gains in science SMK. There was evidence for an overall improvement in teacher knowledge of forces and simple machines, and two teachers demonstrated improvement in over half of the five scenarios assessing teacher science SMK. Modest gains in teacher science PCK were found. One teacher expressed more accurate understanding of students' knowledge of forces and a better knowledge of effective science teaching strategies. The majority of teachers reported that they would be using three-part lessons and hands-on activities more in their science teaching. Gains in teacher pedagogical knowledge (PK) were found in four areas: greater emphasis on anticipation of student thinking and responses, recognition of the importance of observing students, more intentional teaching, and anticipated future use of student video data. Most teachers reported feeling more confident in teaching structures and mechanisms, and attributed this increase in confidence to collaboration and seeing evidence of student learning and engagement during the lesson teachings. Teacher benefits included: learning how to increase student engagement and collaboration, observing students, including video data

Parent-Teacher Partnership and High School Students' Development in Mainland China: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Linyuan; Zhou, Nan; Nie, Ruihong; Jin, Peipei; Yang, Mengxi; Fang, Xiaoyi

2018-01-01

Parent-teacher partnership is associated closely with adolescents' development. However, little is known about the association between parent-teacher partnership and Chinese high school students' development. Therefore, this study examines whether and how parent-teacher partnership (objective contacts and subjective relationship quality) relates…

A description of a staff development program: Preparing the elementary school classroom teacher to lead environmental field trips and to use an integrated subject approach to environmental education

Science.gov (United States)

Egana, John Joseph

This study of the Field Trip Specialist Program (FTS) described how a professional development plan fostered change in the traditional roles of third and fourth grade teachers. Teachers that volunteered were prepared to become interpretive guides for their class on environmental field trips, integrate their basic subject areas lessons into an environmental science context, and develop their self-perception as professional educators. This qualitative study made use of quantitative data and drew on information collected over four years from surveys, interviews, classroom observations, field trip and workshop observations, focus groups, journals and assessments performed in Florida. The FTS Program attracted teachers who thought it was important for all students to understand environmental issues, and these teachers believed in integrated instruction. These beliefs were inconsistent with many aspects of school culture. FTS invited the participation of these teachers and encouraged them to take control of the program by serving as instructors and program developers. Teachers described themselves as prepared to deliver the FTS Program with a high level of motivation and relevance. They also credited the program as beneficial in preparation for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT). Teachers reported that their responsibility as field trip leaders was the primary factor motivating them to provide conscientious presentation of pre- and post-field trip lessons and thorough integration of environmental topics in basic subject area instruction. Despite the impact of the field trip leadership factor, I could not find another program in the State of Florida that required teachers to lead their own field trips. Other influential factors specific to this program were: Voluntary participation, on-site field instruction, peer instructors and program developers, high quality and task specific materials, and pre- and post-assessments for students. Factors were identified

Antecedents of teachers' emotions in the classroom: an intraindividual approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Eva S; Keller, Melanie M; Goetz, Thomas; Frenzel, Anne C; Taxer, Jamie L

2015-01-01

Using a preexisting, but as yet empirically untested theoretical model, the present study investigated antecedents of teachers' emotions in the classroom. More specifically, the relationships between students' motivation and discipline and teachers' enjoyment and anger were explored, as well as if these relationships are mediated by teachers' subjective appraisals (goal conduciveness and coping potential). The study employed an intraindividual approach by collecting data through a diary. The sample consisted of 39 teachers who each participated with one of their 9th or 10th grade mathematics classes (N = 758 students). Both teachers and students filled out diaries for 2-3 weeks pertaining to 8.10 lessons on average (N = 316 lessons). Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that students' motivation and discipline explained 24% of variance in teachers' enjoyment and 26% of variance in teachers' anger. In line with theoretical assumptions, after introducing teachers' subjective appraisals as a mediating mechanism into the model, the explained variance systematically increased to 65 and 61%, for teachers' enjoyment and anger respectively. The effects of students' motivation and discipline level on teachers' emotions were partially mediated by teachers' appraisals of goal conduciveness and coping potential. The findings imply that since teachers' emotions depend to a large extent on subjective evaluations of a situation, teachers should be able to directly modify their emotional experiences during a lesson through cognitive reappraisals.

White matter integrity in kleptomania: A pilot study

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Jon E.; Correia, Stephen; Brennan-Krohn, Thea

2007-01-01

This study's goal was to examine microstructural organization of frontal white matter in kleptomania. Ten females with DSM-IV kleptomania and 10 female controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Inferior frontal white matter was the a priori region of interest. Trace and fractional anisotropy (FA) were also calculated for frontal and posterior cortical regions in both subject groups. Kleptomania subjects had significantly higher mean frontal Trace, and significantly lower mean frontal FA than control subjects. Group differences remained significant when right and left frontal Trace and FA were analyzed. Groups did not differ significantly in posterior Trace or FA. Kleptomania may be associated with decreased white matter microstructural integrity in inferior frontal brain regions. PMID:16956753

Information Collection on the Situation of VET Teachers and Trainers in Candidate Countries

OpenAIRE

Foundation VET reform in Estonia / Estonian National Observatory

2002-01-01

Currently there are two main categories of teachers in VET schools – VET teachers and teachers of general education subjects. The former status of two different kinds of VET teachers – the professional subject teacher, and the training master has been replaced by one VET teacher category by the Regulation No 18 of the Minister of Culture and Education the Statute of a VET Teacher/Trainer of 26 May 1995.VET teachers have to carry out workshop training and teach professional subj...

Learning Mathematics for Teaching Mathematics: Non-Specialist Teachers' Mathematics Teacher Identity

Science.gov (United States)

Crisan, Cosette; Rodd, Melissa

2017-01-01

A non-specialist teacher of mathematics is a school teacher who qualified to teach in a subject other than mathematics yet teaches mathematics to students in secondary school. There is an emerging interest internationally in this population, a brief report of which is given in the paper. Because of concerns about the quality of non-specialists'…

The practice of nature-study: What reformers imagined and what teachers did

Science.gov (United States)

Doris, Ellen Elizabeth

The nature-study movement was an attempt to reform elementary education in America. It took place from about 1890 to 1930. Nature-Study, as envisioned by reformers, featured outdoor work and first-hand observation of common plants, animals and phenomenon. It stressed self expression and independent thinking. It also emphasized emotions and aesthetics, aiming to help children develop both knowledge of nature and an enduring love for it. Nature-study's advocates encouraged the expansion of school subject matter beyond the "three Rs." They also challenged the traditional pedagogy that revolved around rote memorization, recitation, and quiet classrooms. My investigation of the nature-study movement is focused on the practice of nature-study in schools. I first consider practice as it was imagined by reformers. I review the many specific suggestions they made, as well as more general statements about nature-study's aims, to learn what reformers hoped teachers would do. I then look at how nature-study was actually carried out. I use accounts written by teachers, children and observers, together with photographs, correspondence and reproductions of children's work to discover the range of ways in which nature-study materialized as teachers took up the subject with pupils. I also look closely at two particular versions of nature-study: one that developed in Chicago under the influence of Wilbur Jackman, and another that was promoted in New York State by faculty from Cornell's College of Agriculture. As a result of focusing in this way, I develop a detailed picture of what nature-study's advocates expected of teachers. I also describe what teachers, in specific instances, did. In addition, I offer some general conclusions about how nature-study was conceived of and carried out. I discuss how these conclusions relate to previous interpretations of the movement, and consider the relevance of the nature-study movement for contemporary educators, particularly those concerned

Primary Teacher Educators' Perception of Desired and Achieved Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Geography Education in Primary Teacher Training

Science.gov (United States)

Blankman, Marian; van der Schee, Joop; Volman, Monique; Boogaard, Marianne

2015-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a study conducted among primary geography teacher educators. The research examines the perceptions of educators of primary teacher students' desired and achieved levels of substantial knowledge, syntactic knowledge, and beliefs about the subject of geography. The findings indicate that primary teacher educators…

Does Teaching Experience Matter? The Beliefs and Practices of Beginning and Experienced Physics Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Caleon, Imelda S.; Tan, Yuen Sze Michelle; Cho, Young Hoan

2018-01-01

This study utilized multiple data sources to examine the beliefs about learning and teaching physics and the instructional practices of five beginning teachers and seven experienced teachers from Singapore. Our study was implemented in the unique context of teachers teaching the topic of electricity to students grouped according to academic…

Evaluating training and information to teachers on nuclear energy issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunnell, B.J.

1994-01-01

In England and Wales, school programs are defined by National Curricula; the method of teaching is left for the teacher to determine. This establishes the framework within which nuclear energy issues are taught. Teachers need a good understanding of what they teach and competence in the appropriate and effective learning strategies. A range of training opportunities is available to teachers (conferences from Local Education Authority, etc.), but the attention given to nuclear energy matters and controversial issues varies significantly between them. Many teaching resources are available but alone they cannot satisfy the training needs of all teachers (practical works, visits). 2 refs

The Connotations of Language Teacher Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Ligang

2017-01-01

With the research on the development of learner autonomy in foreign language education, teacher autonomy has become a hot topic in the research of foreign language teacher education. However, it is the most difficult question to define language teacher autonomy and any answer to it is likely to be subjective. On the basis of expounding upon the…

Major Superficial White Matter Abnormalities in Huntington's Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Owen R.; Joshi, Shantanu H.; Squitieri, Ferdinando; Sanchez-Castaneda, Cristina; Narr, Katherine; Shattuck, David W.; Caltagirone, Carlo; Sabatini, Umberto; Di Paola, Margherita

2016-01-01

Background: The late myelinating superficial white matter at the juncture of the cortical gray and white matter comprising the intracortical myelin and short-range association fibers has not received attention in Huntington's disease. It is an area of the brain that is late myelinating and is sensitive to both normal aging and neurodegenerative disease effects. Therefore, it may be sensitive to Huntington's disease processes. Methods: Structural MRI data from 25 Pre-symptomatic subjects, 24 Huntington's disease patients and 49 healthy controls was run through a cortical pattern-matching program. The surface corresponding to the white matter directly below the cortical gray matter was then extracted. Individual subject's Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data was aligned to their structural MRI data. Diffusivity values along the white matter surface were then sampled at each vertex point. DTI measures with high spatial resolution across the superficial white matter surface were then analyzed with the General Linear Model to test for the effects of disease. Results: There was an overall increase in the axial and radial diffusivity across much of the superficial white matter (p < 0.001) in Pre-symptomatic subjects compared to controls. In Huntington's disease patients increased diffusivity covered essentially the whole brain (p < 0.001). Changes are correlated with genotype (CAG repeat number) and disease burden (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed broad abnormalities in superficial white matter even before symptoms are present in Huntington's disease. Since, the superficial white matter has a unique microstructure and function these abnormalities suggest it plays an important role in the disease. PMID:27242403

Gray matter alterations and correlation of nutritional intake with the gray matter volume in prediabetes

OpenAIRE

Hou, Yi-Cheng; Lai, Chien-Han; Wu, Yu-Te; Yang, Shwu-Huey

2016-01-01

Abstract The neurophysiology of prediabetes plays an important role in preventive medicine. The dysregulation of glucose metabolism is likely linked to changes in neuron-related gray matter. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate gray matter alterations in medication-naive prediabetic patients. We expected to find alterations in the gray matter of prediabetic patients. A total of 64 prediabetic patients and 54 controls were enrolled. All subjects received T1 scans using a 3-T magnet...

Socio-Cultural Factors of Teachers' Conceptions of Knowledge: Epistemic Beliefs of Arab Teachers

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Mohamed, Mohamed Taha

2014-01-01

This research investigates aspects of epistemic beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers in the United Arab Emirates, and how these beliefs might be related to factors such as teachers' gender, location (where they live), and the subject they teach (humanities vs. science). A standardized Arabic version of the Epistemic Belief Inventory was…

Development of constructivist behaviors among four new science teachers prepared at the University of Iowa

Science.gov (United States)

Lew, Lee Yuen

approaches and assessments; (6) Establishing a friendly, non-judgmental learning environment; (7) Teaching that incorporates higher-order thinking skills and the use of scientific knowledge and ideas; (8) Teacher understanding of subject matter and the integration of content and process skills in context; (9) Teacher understanding of science in natural phenomena; (10) Teacher as intellectual, reflective practitioner.

Nobility, Competence, and Disruption: Challenges to Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Fenstermacher, Gary D.

2015-01-01

This article was comprises the keynote address presented by Gary D. Fenstermacher, at the Conference of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE), March 19, 2015, in San Jose, California. The subject covered Nobility, Competence, and Disruption and what they mean in teacher education. Fenstermacher presents his subject in four assertions:…

Teachers' Attitudes towards Teaching English Grammar: A Scale Development Study

Science.gov (United States)

Polat, Murat

2017-01-01

In most ELT classes, the importance of grammar, how it should be taught or how much it should be integrated into language teaching are still matters of discussion. Considering this fact, learning teachers' attitudes towards teaching grammar is significantly valuable for researchers. This study thus aimed to design a scale that identifies teachers'…

White matter connectivity and Internet gaming disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Bum Seok; Han, Doug Hyun; Kim, Sun Mi; Lee, Sang Won; Renshaw, Perry F.

2017-01-01

Internet use and on-line game play stimulate corticostriatal-limbic circuitry in both healthy subjects and subjects with Internet gaming disorder (IGD). We hypothesized that increased fractional anisotropy (FA) with decreased radial diffusivity (RD) would be observed in IGD subjects, compared with healthy control subjects, and that these white matter indices would be associated with clinical variables including duration of illness and executive function. We screened 181 male patients in order to recruit a large number (n = 58) of IGD subjects without psychiatric co-morbidity as well as 26 male healthy comparison subjects. Multiple diffusion-weighted images were acquired using a 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Tract-based spatial statistics was applied to compare group differences in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics between IGD and healthy comparison subjects. IGD subjects had increased FA values within forceps minor, right anterior thalamic radiation, right corticospinal tract, right inferior longitudinal fasciculus, right cingulum to hippocampus and right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) as well as parallel decreases in RD value within forceps minor, right anterior thalamic radiation and IFOF relative to healthy control subjects. In addition, the duration of illness in IGD subjects was positively correlated with the FA values (integrity of white matter fibers) and negatively correlated with RD scores (diffusivity of axonal density) of whole brain white matter. In IGD subjects without psychiatric co-morbidity, our DTI results suggest that increased myelination (increased FA and decreased RD values) in right-sided frontal fiber tracts may be the result of extended game play. PMID:25899390

Smart Money: What Teachers Make, How Long It Takes and What It Buys Them. Revised

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph Nithya; Waymack, Nancy

2014-01-01

What teachers are paid matters. Many factors play a role in making the decision to become a teacher, but, for many people, compensation heavily influences the decision not only to enter the profession but also whether to stay in it. Compensation certainly influences where a teacher chooses to work. Because school districts take different…

Evidence for Functional Networks within the Human Brain's White Matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Peer, Michael; Nitzan, Mor; Bick, Atira S; Levin, Netta; Arzy, Shahar

2017-07-05

Investigation of the functional macro-scale organization of the human cortex is fundamental in modern neuroscience. Although numerous studies have identified networks of interacting functional modules in the gray-matter, limited research was directed to the functional organization of the white-matter. Recent studies have demonstrated that the white-matter exhibits blood oxygen level-dependent signal fluctuations similar to those of the gray-matter. Here we used these signal fluctuations to investigate whether the white-matter is organized as functional networks by applying a clustering analysis on resting-state functional MRI (RSfMRI) data from white-matter voxels, in 176 subjects (of both sexes). This analysis indicated the existence of 12 symmetrical white-matter functional networks, corresponding to combinations of white-matter tracts identified by diffusion tensor imaging. Six of the networks included interhemispheric commissural bridges traversing the corpus callosum. Signals in white-matter networks correlated with signals from functional gray-matter networks, providing missing knowledge on how these distributed networks communicate across large distances. These findings were replicated in an independent subject group and were corroborated by seed-based analysis in small groups and individual subjects. The identified white-matter functional atlases and analysis codes are available at http://mind.huji.ac.il/white-matter.aspx Our results demonstrate that the white-matter manifests an intrinsic functional organization as interacting networks of functional modules, similarly to the gray-matter, which can be investigated using RSfMRI. The discovery of functional networks within the white-matter may open new avenues of research in cognitive neuroscience and clinical neuropsychiatry. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In recent years, functional MRI (fMRI) has revolutionized all fields of neuroscience, enabling identifications of functional modules and networks in the human

Job Satisfaction of a Physical Education Teacher as Seen by School Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rutkowska Katarzyna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In A high level of satisfaction with a job influences the effectiveness and increases the quality of performed tasks. In the case of physical education teachers it is connected not only with a higher commitment to passing knowledge and skills but also with instilling passion in their students. The aim of the study was to analyse how school community perceives job satisfaction of physical education teachers. The research included 148 teachers and 171 students who were divided into three groups by means of random-purposive sampling. The groups were as follows: physical education teachers (n=22, teachers of other subjects (n=22 and students (n=22. The results obtained from these respondents (n=66 were subjected to further analysis. In the study a modified Polish version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS prepared by Juczyński (2001 was used. It made it possible to diagnose the job satisfaction of physical education teachers. The analyses revealed that the subjects assess the job satisfaction of a physical education teacher at an average or low level. This assessment showed significant differences between physical education teachers and teachers of other subjects. The study also revealed differences between groups with regard to two out of five scores in the SWLS.

A construct of the instrument for measuring junior high school mathematics teacher's self-efficacy

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Rachmadi Widdiharto

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to develop a construct of the instrument for junior high school mathematics teacher self-efficacy and its mapping in the Special Region of  Yogyakarta. The population was 816 junior high mathematics teacher and a sample of 274 teachers was selected through proportionate random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, using software Lisrel 8.80 through the first order and the second order stages. The result of data analysis toward four dimensions obtained: 11 fit items for dimension of personal efficacy (PE, 12 fit items for dimension of general teaching efficacy  (GTE, 13 fit  items for dimension of subject matter teaching efficacy (STE, and 8 fit items for dimension of outcome efficacy (OE. Afterward, the result of selecting 54 items in the first order stage was examined for the second order CFA which obtained Chi-Square = 297.58; df = 271; p-value = 0.12824; RMSEA = 0.019, which showed the model was fit to the data and obtained 25 fit items.  The loading factors for each dimension PE, GTE, STE, and OE consecutively were: 0.46; 0.84; 0.89, and 0.92, and mapping of mathematics teacher self-efficacy level, which showed: 43.07% in low category, 55.47% in medium category (55.47% and 1.46% in the high category.

Condensed matter physics

CERN Document Server

Isihara, A

2007-01-01

More than a graduate text and advanced research guide on condensed matter physics, this volume is useful to plasma physicists and polymer chemists, and their students. It emphasizes applications of statistical mechanics to a variety of systems in condensed matter physics rather than theoretical derivations of the principles of statistical mechanics and techniques. Isihara addresses a dozen different subjects in separate chapters, each designed to be directly accessible and used independently of previous chapters. Topics include simple liquids, electron systems and correlations, two-dimensional

Perception about radiation by students and teachers. Necessity of bringing-up of ''radiation literacy''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurokui, Seiji

2005-01-01

Perception about radiation and nuclear-related matters by students and teachers were studies, and it has proved that the degree of acquisition of the knowledge about radiation by teachers is in general very poor. It is keenly felt that some fundamental policy for improving the present situation should be established for the goal of elevations the ''radiation literacy'' of the teachers. (author)

IODE OceanTeacher

OpenAIRE

Brown, M.; Pikula, L.; Reed, G.

2002-01-01

The OceanTeacher website and CD-ROM publication have proven to be powerful and flexible tools for marine data and information management training. There are two segments of OceanTeacher: marine data management and marine information management. The IODE trainers have created an encyclopedic Resource Kit covering all aspects of the subjects. Through continual updates, the Kit provides the latest versions of popular public-domain software, documentation for global and regional datasets, docu...

Teacher Education: The Application of Fisher's LSD Matrix in the Evaluation of Preservice Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Stolworthy, Reed L.

The degrees of variance among three groups of evaluators relative to their assessments of the teaching competencies of preservice teacher education students were studied. Subjects included groups of 23 and 32 undergraduates who were certified to teach by the teacher preparation program at Washburn University in Topeka (Kansas) in 1987 and in 1988,…

Subject Specialist Mentors in the Lifelong Learning Sector: The Subject Specialist Mentor Model; is it working? A case study approach

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Bailey, Wayne

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This short article explores whether using a mentoring model supports our Subject Specialist Mentors (SSMs with their role of mentoring trainees on Initial Teacher Training (ITT courses. Although there are many mentoring models to choose from, our model is based around mentoring within the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS where trainees need support for their subject specialism as well as their generic teaching skills. The main focus is the use of coaching and mentoring skills taking into consideration guiding, supporting and challenging the trainee during the lifetime of the mentor/trainee relationship. The SSMs found that using our model as a tool helped to structure meetings and to ensure that the trainee had the necessary support to enable them to become proficient, competent subject specialist teachers. In conclusion, it was found that there is a need for the use of a model or a framework to help the Subject Specialist Mentor (SSM with such an important role.

The validation of science virtual test to assess 7th grade students’ critical thinking on matter and heat topic (SVT-MH)

Science.gov (United States)

Sya’bandari, Y.; Firman, H.; Rusyati, L.

2018-05-01

The method used in this research was descriptive research for profiling the validation of SVT-MH to measure students’ critical thinking on matter and heat topic in junior high school. The subject is junior high school students of 7th grade (13 years old) while science teacher and expert as the validators. The instruments that used as a tool to obtain the data are rubric expert judgment (content, media, education) and rubric of readability test. There are four steps to validate SVT-MH in 7th grade Junior High School. These steps are analysis of core competence and basic competence based on Curriculum 2013, expert judgment (content, media, education), readability test and trial test (limited and larger trial test). The instrument validation resulted 30 items that represent 8 elements and 21 sub-elements to measure students’ critical thinking based on Inch in matter and heat topic. The alpha Cronbach (α) is 0.642 which means that the instrument is sufficient to measure students’ critical thinking matter and heat topic.

How Culture Matters in Educational Borrowing? Chinese Teachers' Dilemmas in a Global Era

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Sheng-nan; Feng, Da-ming

2015-01-01

Educational borrowing may cause numerous dilemmas that emerge from cross-cultural differences among teachers in the globalization. Through the case study on the flipped classroom introduced from the United States into Chinese middle schools, this article presents an examination of dilemmas that teachers encountered during educational borrowing in…

The Specific Heat of Matter at Low Temperatures

CERN Document Server

Tari, A

2003-01-01

Recent discoveries of new materials and improvements in calorimetric techniques have given new impetus to the subject of specific heat. Nevertheless, there is a serious lack of literature on the subject. This invaluable book, which goes some way towards remedying that, is concerned mainly with the specific heat of matter at ordinary temperatures. It discusses the principles that underlie the theory of specific heat and considers a number of theoretical models in some detail. The subject matter ranges from traditional materials to those recently discovered - heavy fermion compounds, high temper

Teacher Grading Decisions: Influences, Rationale, and Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Kunnath, Joshua P.

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study applied a decision-making theoretical framework to an investigation of teacher grading in a large urban school district in California. A sample of 251 high school teachers of core subjects were surveyed, and 15 teachers participated in four focus group interviews in order provide data on the influences, rationale, and…

Teacher characteristics and student performance: An analysis using hierarchical linear modelling

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Paula Armstrong

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This research makes use of hierarchical linear modelling to investigate which teacher characteristics are significantly associated with student performance. Using data from the SACMEQ III study of 2007, an interesting and potentially important finding is that younger teachers are better able to improve the mean mathematics performance of their students. Furthermore, younger teachers themselves perform better on subject tests than do their older counterparts. Identical models are run for Sub Saharan countries bordering on South Africa, as well for Kenya and the strong relationship between teacher age and student performance is not observed. Similarly, the model is run for South Africa using data from SACMEQ II (conducted in 2002 and the relationship between teacher age and student performance is also not observed. It must be noted that South African teachers were not tested in SACMEQ II so it was not possible to observe differences in subject knowledge amongst teachers in different cohorts and it was not possible to control for teachers’ level of subject knowledge when observing the relationship between teacher age and student performance. Changes in teacher education in the late 1990s and early 2000s may explain the differences in the performance of younger teachers relative to their older counterparts observed in the later dataset.

Does Early Childhood Teacher Education Affect Students' Cognitive Orientations? The Effect of Different Education Tracks in Teacher Education on Prospective Early Childhood Teachers' Cognitive Orientations in Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Mischo, Christoph; Wahl, Stefan; Strohmer, Janina; Wolf, Carina

2014-01-01

Early childhood teachers may differ regarding the knowledge base they use when making professional decisions. In this study two orientations are distinguished: the orientation towards scientific knowledge vs. the orientation towards intuition and subjective experience. As different tracks in early childhood teacher education qualify for…

Teacher perspectives about using formative assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Evans, Robert Harry; Clesham, Rose; Dolin, Jens

2018-01-01

This chapter examines three different classroom teacher perspectives when using ASSIST-ME project formative assessment methods as described in the introductory chapter. The first ‘teacher perspective’ is about changes in teacher self-efficacies while using formative assessment methods as monitored...... by a pre- and post-teacher questionnaire. Teachers who tried the unfamiliar formative methods of assessment (see introductory book chapter for these methods) as well as their colleagues who did not were surveyed. The second ‘teacher perspective’ examines changes in teachers’ subjective theories while...... trying project-specific formative assessment methods in Czech Republic. Analyses are done through case studies and interviews. The final part of the chapter looks at teacher perspectives while using an Internet-based application to facilitate formative assessment. The teacher use of the application...

Dancing on Thin Ice: The Journey of Two Male Teacher Candidates Emerging as Professionals within a Teacher Education Dance Program

Science.gov (United States)

Kalyn, Brenda; Campbell, Eric; McAvoy, Alekcei; Weimer, Michelle

2015-01-01

Teacher candidates entering the world of curricula face the realities of teaching a variety of subjects, some more conceptually foreign than others. One challenging area for teacher candidates, particularly males, is in dance education (Gard, 2008; Kiley, 2010). A teacher's former dance experience, beliefs about who dances and why, personal…

Teacher Expectancy Related to Student Performance in Vocational Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Samuel M.; Pandya, Himanshu S.

1980-01-01

This experiment explored the effect of teacher expectations on vocational students' cognitive and psychomotor skills and on attitudes. Although teachers' expectations changed student attitudes toward teachers and subjects, neither expectations nor attitude change had an effect on student achievement. (SK)

Girl Scouts and Subject Matter Experts: What’s the Connection?

Science.gov (United States)

Harman, Pamela; Girls Scouts of Northern California, Girl Scouts USA, Astronomical Society of the Pacifica, Univeristy of Arizona, and ARIES Scientific.

2018-01-01

Reaching for the Stars: NASA Science for Girl Scouts (Girl Scout Stars) fosters interaction between Girl Scouts and NASA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), disseminates NASA STEM education-related resources, and engages Girl Scouts in NASA science and programs through space science badges and summer camps.A space science badge is in development for each of the six levels of Girl Scouts: Daisies, Grades K – 1; Brownies, Grades 2 -3; Juniors, Grades 4 -5; Cadettes, Grades 6 -8; Seniors, Grades 9 -10; and Ambassadors, Grades 11 -12. Indirectly, SMEs will reach tens of thousands of girls through the badges. SETI Institute SMEs Institute and SME Co-Is located at ARIES Scientific, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, University of Arizona, and Girl Scouts of Northern California developed and modified astronomy activities for the Girl Scouts USA badge writers to finesse into the Girl Scout formats. Revisions are reviewed by SMEs for accuracy. Each badge includes a step option that encourages girls to connect with SMEs, and recommendations for volunteers.A total of 127 girls from 31 states and the District of Columbia attendedTotal Eclipse Destination Camps at three locations. SMEs led activities and tours, inspiring girls to consider STEM careers. University of Arizona (U of A) SMEs lead Astronomy Camp for Volunteers, enabling volunteers to lead and inspire Girl Scouts in their respective Girl Scout Councils. A Destination Camp for Girl Scouts was also held at U of A. Girls experience authentic astronomy, learning how to collect and analyze data.Eleven teams comprised of two Girl Scouts, a volunteer or Council Staff, and an amateur astronomer attended Astronomy Club Camp, held at NASA GSFC. SMEs delivered science content. The girls will lead the formation of astronomy clubs in their councils, and will train their successors. SMEs will present and coach the clubs during monthly webinars.This presentation will highlight success and discuss lessons learned that are applicable

Mapping the entangled ontology of science teachers' lived experience

Science.gov (United States)

Daugbjerg, Peer S.; de Freitas, Elizabeth; Valero, Paola

2015-09-01

In this paper we investigate how the bodily activity of teaching, along with the embodied aspect of lived experience, relates to science teachers' ways of dealing with bodies as living organisms which are both the subject matter as well as the site or vehicle of learning. More precisely, the following questions are pursued: (1) In what ways do primary science teachers refer to the lived and living body in teaching and learning? (2) In what ways do primary science teachers tap into past experiences in which the body figured prominently in order to teach students about living organisms? We draw on the relational ontology and intra-action of Karen Barad (J Women Cult Soc 28(3): 801, 2003) as she argues for a "relational ontology" that sees a relation as a dynamic flowing entanglement of a matter and meaning. We combine this with the materialist phenomenological studies of embodiment by SungWon Hwang and Wolff-Michael Roth (Scientific and mathematical bodies, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, 2011), as they address how the teachers and students are present in the classroom with/in their "living and lived bodies". Our aim is to use theoretical insights from these two different but complementary approaches to map the embodiment of teachers' experiences and actions. We build our understanding of experience on the work of John Dewey (Experience and education, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1938) and also Jean Clandinin and Michael Connelly (Handbook of qualitative research, Sage Publications, California, 2000), leading us to propose three dimensions: settings, relations and continuity. This means that bodies and settings are mutually entailed in the present relation, and furthermore that the past as well as the present of these bodies and settings—their continuity—is also part of the present relation. We analyse the entanglement of lived experience and embodied teaching using these three proposed dimensions of experience. Analysing interviews and observations of three Danish

Secondary school teachers' attitudes towards and beliefs about ability grouping.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallam, Susan; Ireson, Judith

2003-09-01

Internationally and historically considerable research has been undertaken regarding the attitudes of secondary school teachers towards different types of ability grouping. There has been no recent research taking account of the changing educational context in the UK. This paper aims to explore secondary school teachers' attitudes and beliefs about ability grouping taking account of school type, gender, experience and qualifications. The sample comprised over 1,500 teachers from 45 schools divided into three groups based on their ability grouping practices in years 7-9 (the students were aged 11-14). The sample included all the lower school teachers of mathematics, science and English and a random sample of teachers from other subjects in each school. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which explored their attitudes towards ability grouping through the use of rating scales and open-ended questions. The findings showed that the teachers' beliefs broadly reflected research findings on the actual effects of ability grouping, although there were significant differences relating to the type of school they taught in and the subject that they taught. Separate analysis of school types showed that length of time teaching, individual school differences and teacher qualifications were also significant predictors of attitudes. Teachers' beliefs about ability grouping are influenced by the type of groupings adopted in the school where they work, the subject that they teach, their experience and qualifications. As pedagogical practices are known to be influenced by beliefs these findings have important implications for teacher training.

Teacher Formation in the Mathematical Thinking through Problem Solving in the Second Phase of the CCyM Network of Reading Comprehension and Mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LUZ STELLA LÓPEZ

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This article shares the design, implementation, and evaluation of theLesson Study process used for the professional development of teachers of mathematics, through the Red de Comprensión Lectora y Matemáticas – CCyM Network, in ways to teach mathematics through problem solving. The program began with a course on the implementation of the Thinking Classroom, followed by the semi-presencial Lesson Study process. An analysis of teacher interactions during the Lesson Study process yielded these categories of study: Group Collective Thinking, Mathematical Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Subject Matter Knowledge, Knowledge about Technology, and Expert Support. The analysis reflected variations in group interactions, in the command of concepts, in reflective practice, in the ability to make arguments and to propose changes in practice, and in the ability to self-regulate.

The interrelationship between subject matter and school gardens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Jacob Højgaard; Wistoft, Karen

2018-01-01

This article maps out existing research regarding the effectiveness of integrated teaching in school gardens, i.e. including the math, languages and science subjects with their related objectives and curricula in school garden teaching and vice versa. The article is based on a literature review...... that concludes that school gardens have a predominantly positive influence on students’ learning outcome. However, there are a few school garden programmes that have the same or even a less beneficial influence on students’ learning outcome than traditional teaching. Thus, school gardens do not have...... an unequivocally positive academic learning effect. The review extracts and discusses some of the factors that are consistently emphasized in the research literature as central to ensuring successful subject integration in school gardens. Taking these as a point of departure, it is concluded that developing...

Travelling educational workshops for clinical teachers: are they worthwhile?

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Gallagher, Peter; Pullon, Sue

2011-03-01

The support of doctors who teach medical students in clinical settings is considered very important. In order to function as effectively as possible in their role as clinical teachers, these clinicians require educational support from faculty members. The most usual form that support takes is university staff offering face-to-face teaching on educational topics. It is estimated that in the course of 1 year, and across the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, there could be up to 600 clinicians actively involved in the direct support of medical students. Many of these clinicians work in locations some considerable distance from the university campus. In 2009 the Medical Education Unit based at the Wellington Campus introduced a series of peripatetic face-to-face workshops for clinical teachers in several different geographical locations. Educational support of this nature is challenging to organise and potentially expensive, which begs the question: are travelling workshops worthwhile? Whereas the subject matter of the workshops was of interest to those who attended, of equal importance was the opportunity the workshops created to interact with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere. In addition, the workshops were the catalyst for some clinicians to formally pursue their particular educational interests. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

White matter integrity in kleptomania: A pilot study

OpenAIRE

Grant, Jon E.; Correia, Stephen; Brennan-Krohn, Thea

2006-01-01

This study's goal was to examine microstructural organization of frontal white matter in kleptomania. Ten females with DSM-IV kleptomania and 10 female controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Inferior frontal white matter was the a priori region of interest. Trace and fractional anisotropy (FA) were also calculated for frontal and posterior cortical regions in both subject groups. Kleptomania subjects had significantly higher mean frontal Trace, and significantly lower mean frontal FA th...

Educating elementary-aged English learners in science: Scientists and teachers working together

Science.gov (United States)

Banuelos, Gloria Rodriguez

California's K-12 schools contain 40% of the nation's English learners, the majority of them enrolled at the elementary level. Traditionally, English learners in California have difficulty performing at the same level as their native English speaking counterparts on national achievement tests, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227 mandating that English learners be taught "overwhelmingly" in English, thus making teachers, many without expertise, responsible for teaching multilevel English proficient students subject matter. I studied the use of scientist-teacher partnerships as a resource for teachers of English learners. University scientists (graduate students) partnered with local elementary school teachers designed and implemented integrated science and English lessons for classrooms with at least 30% English learners. The study explored two major foci. First, integrated science and language lessons implemented by six scientist-teacher partnerships were investigated. Second, the responsibilities taken on by the team members during the implementation of integrated science and language lessons were examined. Three data sources were analyzed: (1) six lesson sequences comprised of 28 lessons; (2) 18 lesson worksheet; and (3) 24 participant Retrospective interview transcripts (12 scientists and 12 teachers). Lessons across were examined according to four analytical categories which included the following: (1) nature of the science activities (e.g. hands-on); nature of language activities (e.g. speaking); (2) nature of instructional practices (e.g. student grouping); and (3) responsibilities of teachers and scientists (e.g. classroom). A micro level analysis illustrates how one scientist-teacher team innovatively used a children's story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, to teach the measurement of length and temperature. A macro level analysis identified three characteristics of science activities

21st Century Learning Skills Embedded in Climate Literacy Teacher Professional Development

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Myers, R. J.; Schwerin, T. G.; Blaney, L.

2011-12-01

Century learning skills, the ESSEA program is based on the urgent need for professional development for pre- and in-service teachers of Earth science. The Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education (2001) cites the Glenn Report saying "...the way to interest children in mathematics and science is through teachers who are not only enthusiastic about their subjects, but who are also steeped in their disciplines and who have the professional training - as teachers - to teach those subjects well. Nor is this teacher training simply a matter of preparation; it depends just as much - or even more - on sustained, high-quality professional development" (p. 1). This treatise states that Earth and space sciences are in the greatest need for professional development. Teachers find themselves inadequately qualified to teach science and find that professional development is not available or lacking in quality. The ESSEA program addresses its educational priorities through enriching pre- and in-service Earth science teachers' backgrounds in Earth system science, specifically in the area of global climate change, and through developing educational materials in support of science education.

Foreign Language Teachers' Language Proficiency and Their Language Teaching Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Heather; Conway, Clare; Roskvist, Annelies; Harvey, Sharon

2013-01-01

Teachers' subject knowledge is recognized as an essential component of effective teaching. In the foreign language context, teachers' subject knowledge includes language proficiency. In New Zealand high schools, foreign languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish) have recently been offered to learners earlier in their schooling,…

Teachers of high ability pupils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cándido Genovard

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In this article we analyze the characteristics of gifted and talented students’ expert teachers. The subject background and the specific proprieties of the instructional process to meet gifted students’ educational needs are analyzed. The value of teacher-student interactions and of teaching and learning styles are highlighted. Also, we include different action guidelines and instructional resources to use in the classroom to teach these students. There is not an ideal teacher for high ability students. However, teachers must know what the teaching-learning processes are and how these work, and the diverse psychological, content and contextual variables involved in such processes.

Swedish Technology Teachers' Views on Assessing Student Understandings of Technological Systems

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Schooner, Patrick; Klasander, Claes; Hallström, Jonas

2018-01-01

Technology education is a new school subject in comparison with other subjects within the Swedish compulsory school system. Research in technology education shows that technology teachers lack experience of and support for assessment in comparison with the long-term experiences that other teachers use in their subjects. This becomes especially…

Age-related cerebral white matter changes on computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Hitoshi; Kobayashi, Shotai; Koide, Hiromi; Yamaguchi, Shuhei; Okada, Kazunori; Shimote, Kouichi; Tsunematsu, Tokugoro

1989-01-01

Changes of cerebral white matter on computed cranial tomography related to aging were studied in 70 subjects aged 30 to 94 years. The subjects had no histories of cerebrovascular accidents and no abnormalities in the central nervous system were shown by physical examinations and CT scans. We measured the average attenuation values (CT numbers) of each elliptical region (165 pixels, 0.39cm 2 ) in the bilateral thalamus and twelve areas of deep white matter. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the effects of age, cranial size and cranial bone CT numbers on the brain CT numbers. We also studied the association between brain CT numbers and brain atrophy, hypertension, diabetes mellitus. CT numbers of frontal white matter surrounding anterior horns decreased with aging in 70 subjects aged 30 to 94 years. No significant correlation between age and brain CT numbers was found in any other region by multivariate analysis, because of the prominent effect of cranial bone CT numbers on brain CT numbers. Although no age-related changes of white matter CT numbers was found in 41 subjects aged 30 to 65 years, there were significant negative correlations between age and white matter CT numbers at all regions in 29 subjects aged 66 to 94 years. Brain atrophy was associated with brain CT numbers. No association was found for hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Brain CT numbers decreased with aging even in neurologically healthy persons in older age. Brain CT numbers also decreased as cerebral atrophy advanced. (author)

Age-related cerebral white matter changes on computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukuda, Hitoshi; Kobayashi, Shotai; Koide, Hiromi; Yamaguchi, Shuhei; Okada, Kazunori; Shimote, Kouichi; Tsunematsu, Tokugoro

1989-01-01

Changes of cerebral white matter on computed cranial tomography related to aging were studied in 70 subjects aged 30 to 94 years. The subjects had no histories of cerebrovascular accidents and no abnormalities in the central nervous system were shown by physical examinations and CT scans. We measured the average attenuation values (CT numbers) of each elliptical region (165 pixels, 0.39cm/sup 2/) in the bilateral thalamus and twelve areas of deep white matter. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the effects of age, cranial size and cranial bone CT numbers on the brain CT numbers. We also studied the association between brain CT numbers and brain atrophy, hypertension, diabetes mellitus. CT numbers of frontal white matter surrounding anterior horns decreased with aging in 70 subjects aged 30 to 94 years. No significant correlation between age and brain CT numbers was found in any other region by multivariate analysis, because of the prominent effect of cranial bone CT numbers on brain CT numbers. Although no age-related changes of white matter CT numbers was found in 41 subjects aged 30 to 65 years, there were significant negative correlations between age and white matter CT numbers at all regions in 29 subjects aged 66 to 94 years. Brain atrophy was associated with brain CT numbers. No association was found for hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Brain CT numbers decreased with aging even in neurologically healthy persons in older age. Brain CT numbers also decreased as cerebral atrophy advanced. (author).

"Becoming" Learners/Teachers in Nomadic Space

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Gorodetsky, Malka; Barak, Judith

2016-01-01

This paper suggests a conjunction between the learning space of educational edge community (EEC) and the Deleuzeguattarian thought regarding the nature of teachers' "becoming." It attends to the emerging subjectivities of teachers/learners within an EEC, a nomadic, open, and smooth space of learning. It is suggested that autonomous…

The ability to produce media presentation among beauty study program students to prepare competence vocational school teachers

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Widowati, Trisnani

2018-03-01

One of the challenges of this 21st century teachers are teachers who are professionals and always use it in creative ways to convey the subject matter, including the creative use of media in learning. Problems that arise are as Vocational School teachers, Beauty Study Program students have not mastered the manufacture of media presentations. Class action research conducted in three phases with the learning cycle include planning actions, implementation measures, observation/evaluation of the action, and reflection, showed an increase in the results of the study are seen from the average value derived from 55.76 on Cycle I became 71.59 on cycle II and 78.33, in cycle 3. The obstacles encountered in the process of learning that is a limited time for any learning, students are not used to plan the creation of media presentations, limitations of materials supporting the creation of student-owned media presentations: images, animations, videos and the custom copy-paste material. The given solution to overcome the barriers that is emphasized again the steps of making a media presentation, the granting of duty as an exercise, and evaluation.

Future Teachers Debate Charter Schools on Facebook: Analysing Their Political Subjectivities

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Nairn, Karen; Anderson, Vivienne; Blanch, Keely

2018-01-01

We argue that Garrett and Segall's concepts of "doing school" and "pushing back" are valuable tools for analysing pre-service teachers' political views of neoliberal education reforms such as the introduction of charter schools. We extend Garrett and Segall's conceptualization by hybridizing "doing school" and…

A Place for Digital Storytelling in Teacher Pedagogy

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Clarke, Anne-Marie

2017-01-01

Traditional school subjects are challenged by the acceleration of access to knowledge in the new age of media available to both teachers and students. Teachers who are socialized into existing traditional practices are now encouraged to introduce technology into their pedagogy. This Paper explores a particular way in which teachers can creatively…

The Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum Improvement Study Goals-The Subject Matter-Accomplishments

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Fehr, Howard F.

1970-01-01

Describes an experimental study attempting to construct a unified school mathematics curriculum for grades seven through twelve. Study was initiated in 1965 and is to be a six-year study. The total program includes, in the following order, syllabus writing, conferences, writing of experimental textbook, education of classroom teachers, pilot class…

Correlation between white matter damage and gray matter lesions in multiple sclerosis patients

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Xue-mei Han

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We observed the characteristics of white matter fibers and gray matter in multiple sclerosis patients, to identify changes in diffusion tensor imaging fractional anisotropy values following white matter fiber injury. We analyzed the correlation between fractional anisotropy values and changes in whole-brain gray matter volume. The participants included 20 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and 20 healthy volunteers as controls. All subjects underwent head magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Our results revealed that fractional anisotropy values decreased and gray matter volumes were reduced in the genu and splenium of corpus callosum, left anterior thalamic radiation, hippocampus, uncinate fasciculus, right corticospinal tract, bilateral cingulate gyri, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus in multiple sclerosis patients. Gray matter volumes were significantly different between the two groups in the right frontal lobe (superior frontal, middle frontal, precentral, and orbital gyri, right parietal lobe (postcentral and inferior parietal gyri, right temporal lobe (caudate nucleus, right occipital lobe (middle occipital gyrus, right insula, right parahippocampal gyrus, and left cingulate gyrus. The voxel sizes of atrophic gray matter positively correlated with fractional anisotropy values in white matter association fibers in the patient group. These findings suggest that white matter fiber bundles are extensively injured in multiple sclerosis patients. The main areas of gray matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis are the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, parahippocampal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus. Gray matter atrophy is strongly associated with white matter injury in multiple sclerosis patients, particularly with injury to association fibers.

The Realities of Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Student Teachers: A Phenomenological Probe

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Jo Ann M. Petancio

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This study probed into the lived experiences of the student-teachers as they go through teaching Elementary Mathematics. Apart from Mathematics, these student-teachers who are generalists teach the other seven subjects. This phenomenological study was conducted during the first semester, school year 2017-2018 in Cebu Normal University-Integrated Laboratory School in Cebu City, Philippines. The researchers interviewed twelve student teachers and used Colaizzi’s method of data analysis. Results revealed that the essence of teaching Math from the lens of elementary student teachers is condensed in the following themes: a Emotional mix-up; b Challenging; c Never stop learning and reach out for help; d Success is a joint venture of teacher and student; e Values count; f We are work in progress. The researchers recommend that teacher education institutions may consider revisiting their policies and practices to strengthen the support lent by the supervisor, mentors and staff to the budding teachers; providing supplemental training and coaching towards improving the student teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in Math; and providing the pre-service teachers with reflective strategies in processing one’s own experiences in teaching the subject. Moreover, since elementary student-teachers teach not only Math but the other subjects as well, the researchers also recommend that further researches may be conducted on topics related on how the teaching of the other subjects influence one’s way of teaching Mathematics.

White matter involvement in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

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Caverzasi, Eduardo; Mandelli, Maria Luisa; DeArmond, Stephen J; Hess, Christopher P; Vitali, Paolo; Papinutto, Nico; Oehler, Abby; Miller, Bruce L; Lobach, Irina V; Bastianello, Stefano; Geschwind, Michael D; Henry, Roland G

2014-12-01

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is considered primarily a disease of grey matter, although the extent of white matter involvement has not been well described. We used diffusion tensor imaging to study the white matter in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease compared to healthy control subjects and to correlated magnetic resonance imaging findings with histopathology. Twenty-six patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and nine age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects underwent volumetric T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging. Six patients had post-mortem brain analysis available for assessment of neuropathological findings associated with prion disease. Parcellation of the subcortical white matter was performed on 3D T1-weighted volumes using Freesurfer. Diffusion tensor imaging maps were calculated and transformed to the 3D-T1 space; the average value for each diffusion metric was calculated in the total white matter and in regional volumes of interest. Tract-based spatial statistics analysis was also performed to investigate the deeper white matter tracts. There was a significant reduction of mean (P=0.002), axial (P=0.0003) and radial (P=0.0134) diffusivities in the total white matter in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Mean diffusivity was significantly lower in most white matter volumes of interest (PCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Mean diffusivity reduction reflected concomitant decrease of both axial and radial diffusivity, without appreciable changes in white matter anisotropy. Tract-based spatial statistics analysis showed significant reductions of mean diffusivity within the white matter of patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mainly in the left hemisphere, with a strong trend (P=0.06) towards reduced mean diffusivity in most of the white matter bilaterally. In contrast, by visual assessment there was no white matter abnormality either on T2-weighted or diffusion-weighted images. Widespread reduction in white matter mean

Refusing to be Complicit in our Prison Nation: Teachers Rethinking Mandated Reporting

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Erica Meiners

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Ensuring that Black Lives Matter in schools requires seismic shifts including excavating the ongoing practices and policies that reproduce heterogendered white supremacy in schools. However, what is too often erased in these movements is the key way the profession of teaching facilitates racialized surveillance and criminalization. Teachers are mandated reporters who are required by law to report suspected negligence and abuse. While on paper this charge looks neutral, this essay illustrates why teachers should rethink their roles and organize against mandated reporting laws. To teach to ensure that all Black Lives Matter requires refusing to be complicit in the mechanisms that contribute to the destruction of too many families and communities.

Mind Over Matter: The Brain's Response to Drugs. Teacher's Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

National Inst. on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD.

This teacher's guide aims to develop an understanding among students grades 5 through 9 of the physical reality of drug use. Contents include: (1) "Brain Anatomy"; (2) "Nerve Cells and Neurotransmission"; (3) "Effects of Drugs on the Brain"; (4) "Marijuana"; (5) "Opiates"; (6) "Inhalants"; (7) "Hallucinogens"; (8) "Steroids"; (9) "Stimulants";…

Substance use and regional gray matter volume in individuals at high risk of psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, James M; Bhattacharyya, Sagnik; Barker, Gareth J; McGuire, Philip K

2012-02-01

Individuals with an at risk mental state (ARMS) are at greatly increased risk of developing a psychotic illness. Risk of transition to psychosis is associated with regionally reduced cortical gray matter volume. There has been considerable interest in the interaction between psychosis risk and substance use. In this study we investigate the relationship between alcohol, cannabis and nicotine use with gray matter volume in ARMS subjects and healthy volunteers. Twenty seven ARMS subjects and 27 healthy volunteers took part in the study. All subjects underwent volumetric MRI imaging. The relationship between regional gray matter volume and cannabis use, smoking, and alcohol use in controls and ARMS subjects was analysed using voxel-based morphometry. In any region where a significant relationship with drug was present, data were analysed to determine if there was any group difference in this relationship. Alcohol intake was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in cerebellum, cannabis intake was use was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in prefrontal cortex and tobacco intake was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in left temporal cortex. There were no significant interactions by group in any region. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis of increased susceptibility to harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on regional gray matter in ARMS subjects. However, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis at low to moderate intake may be associated with lower gray matter in both ARMS subjects and healthy volunteers-possibly representing low-level cortical damage or change in neural plasticity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Making Physics Matter in Primary Schools

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Flaherty, Jackie; Cox, Wendy; Poole, Amanda; Watson, Jenny; Greygoose, Kirstin

2016-04-01

"Efforts to broaden students' aspirations, particularly in relation to STEM, need to begin in primary school." Kings College London "Aspires" Research Project 2013 From my outreach activity I have learnt that primary teachers could feel under pressure when faced with delivering the science curriculum. The teachers could be lacking confidence in their subject knowledge, lacking the equipment needed to deliver practical science or lacking enthusiasm for the subject. In addition, English and Mathematics were the subjects that were externally tested and reported to the authorities and so some teachers felt that time for science was being marginalised to ensure the best results in the externally assessed subjects. In my work with The Ogden Trust Primary Science team I have been involved in developing a range of strategies to address some of the issues outlined above. • CPD (Teacher Training) Programme We have provided free training to improve teachers knowledge and understanding of key physics concepts to GCSE standard and a practical workshop consisting of ten investigations, extension and challenge tasks. The teachers each receive a book of lesson plans and a resource box containing a class set of the equipment required. The four year programme covers Forces Light and Sound Electricity Earth & Space • "Phiz Labs" Funding from The Ogden Trust has allowed us to set up science laboratories within primary schools. The pupils have lab coats, goggles and access to a range of equipment that allows them to participate in more practical science activity and open-ended investigative work. My Phiz Lab is in the secondary school where I teach physics and practical workshops for primary pupils and teachers are held there on a regular basis. • Enrichment In order to enthuse and challenge the primary pupils a variety of enrichment activities take place. These include "Physics of Go-Karts" and "Particle Physics for Primary" workshops, competitions and regional Science Fairs

Key Influences on Special Education Teachers' Intentions to Leave: The Effects of Administrative Support and Teacher Team Efficacy in a Mediational Model

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Sharon; You, Sukkyung

2017-01-01

The subject of special education teachers' intentions to leave has been a longstanding concern of researchers and practitioners. This paper reports on a study that examined the workplace predictors of teachers' intentions to leave for a nationally representative USA sample of 2,060 secondary school special education teachers (with students aged…

Features of the Subject Domain of Historical Psychology

OpenAIRE

V A Koltsova

2008-01-01

The known psychologist, the author of a number of important works on methodology of psychological science as a whole and historical psychology, in particular, considers pressing matters of the formation of historical psychology. Her attention is drawn to such matters, as the subject, structure and method of arising intersubject branch of knowledge - historical psychology.

Mathematical knowledge for teaching in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ronald Keijzer; Marjolein Kool

2012-01-01

The implementation of the new mathematical knowledge base in Dutch teacher education institutes for primary education raises a need for curriculum development. Teacher educators have to raise student teachers’ subject matter knowledge to a higher level. In working on this aim teacher educators

Developing Intercultural Teachers: The Mumbai Global Experience Project

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Richard

2009-01-01

Interculturalism is a major theme that needs to inform the teaching and learning of all subjects in teacher education courses. Moreover, the practicum is an area where there needs to be more attention given to developing the attributes of an intercultural teacher. In 2008 I took a group of thirteen teacher education students on a three-week…

An experimental study of a museum-based, science PD programme's impact on teachers and their students

Science.gov (United States)

Aaron Price, C.; Chiu, A.

2018-06-01

We present results of an experimental study of an urban, museum-based science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4-8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science, along with teacher classroom behaviour. Subject content questions were mostly taken from standardised state tests and literature, with an 'Explain:' prompt added to some items. Teachers in the treatment group showed a 7% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group. Students of teachers in the treatment group showed a 4% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group on multiple-choice items and an 11% gain on the constructed response items. There was no overall change in science attitudes of teachers or students over the control groups but we did find differences in teachers' reported self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels, plus PD teachers reported doing more student-centered science teaching activities than the control group. All teachers came into the PD with high initial excitement, perhaps reflecting its context within an informal learning environment.

Group guidance services to improved creativity for teachers

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Solihatun Solihatun

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Creativity in the learning process by teachers is very important in order to support the task at school. Teacher creativity allows teachers to apply various learning methods that encourage students' interest to learn from the classroom. Besides, creativity for teachers is needed to support student development. This study aims to determine the level of creativity of teachers through group guidance services. Subjects in this study involved 10 teachers at Gemma Insani Indonesia Depok. Data analysis used a quantitative approach with pre-test and post-test control group of one design. The results show effective group guidance to improve teacher creativity at Gemma Insani Indonesia Depok.

From the Classroom to the Keyboard: How Seven Teachers Created Their Online Teacher Identities

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Jennifer C. Richardson

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Teacher identity is defined as a sense of teacher self that results from a productive combination of key personal and professional subjectivities or beliefs. Much empirical research has been done on the development of teacher identity in the K-12 arena, with a great deal of theoretical and philosophical scholarship about teaching at the college level, yet little research to date has looked at how instructors at the college level, especially those who are teaching online, develop their online instructor identity. The purpose of this interview-based, qualitative study is to understand the experience of first time online instructors and how they develop their online teacher identity and utilizes the framework established by Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop (2004 as the lens for analyses. Recommendations are made for cultivating online teacher identity and the many aspects of it as a means to strengthen online teacher identity to not only provide effective and innovative teaching experiences but also for the sake of retention.

Qualifying online teachers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin

2007-01-01

Worldwide there is an increasing demand for educational institutions to offer part of their educations online and mixed mode. For institutions to comply with these demands, it is necessary to prepare teachers (and other members of the staff), to fulfil their responsibilities within the virtual...... environment. Teachers must be able to organize their courses pedagogically according to different conditions, i.e., subject domains, group sizes, variations within communication and interaction. Teachers must acquire knowledge and skills in handling Information and Communication Techniques (ICT) as well...... as pedagogical possibilities and constraints inherited in the software available. Several studies demonstrate that technical obstacles are easier to overcome than lack of communication skills. Also the consequenses of communication breakdowns tend to create serious problems that technology cannot solve...

SYSTEM EDUCATION CONCEPTS OF THE SUBJECT AND ITS GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION

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Артём Авенирович Михайлюк

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article draws attention to the fact that the teacher in the course of constructing the course of the subject there is a need for systematization and structuring of the system of concepts of the academic subject, which is the basis of the future course. The choice of the system of concepts and ways to represent it depends on the period of the course and the cognitive abilities of the students. The presentation of a system of concepts in the form of infographics can help a teacher to develop a training course faster and more efficiently, and to teach it to his students. Beautiful clear graphs and diagrams are better perceived and remembered. And modern information technology allows you to create and share knowledge and research results in a spectacular, long- remembered form. And we must match time, and moreover, teach children to work with information in such a way that it would be desirable to look at it. In the process of such training, the teacher and students are formed interest in the subject, developing visual thinking.

Predicting Teacher Value-Added Results in Non-Tested Subjects Based on Confounding Variables: A Multinomial Logistic Regression

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Street, Nathan Lee

2017-01-01

Teacher value-added measures (VAM) are designed to provide information regarding teachers' causal impact on the academic growth of students while controlling for exogenous variables. While some researchers contend VAMs successfully and authentically measure teacher causality on learning, others suggest VAMs cannot adequately control for exogenous…

Researchers provide the evidence for the perfect teacher

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fugl, Marie

2008-01-01

Good relations with the individual pupils, the ability to organise and manage a class and a bit of subject skills. That is the recipe for a good teacher, one that generates high achievement in the pupils.......Good relations with the individual pupils, the ability to organise and manage a class and a bit of subject skills. That is the recipe for a good teacher, one that generates high achievement in the pupils....

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...

Gray Matter Concentration Abnormality in Brains of Narcolepsy Patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joo, Eun Yeon; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Sung Tae; Hong, Seung Bong [Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2009-12-15

To investigate gray matter concentration changes in the brains of narcoleptic patients. Twenty-nine narcoleptic patient with cataplexy and 29 age and sex-matched normal subjects (mean age, 31 years old) underwent volumetric MRIs. The MRIs were spatially normalized to a standard T1 template and subdivided into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These segmented images were then smoothed using a 12-mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) isotropic Gaussian kernel. An optimized voxel-based morphometry protocol was used to analyze brain tissue concentrations using SPM2 (statistical parametric mapping). A one-way analysis of variance was applied to the concentration analysis of gray matter images. Narcoleptics with cataplexy showed reduced gray matter concentration in bilateral thalami, left gyrus rectus, bilateral frontopolar gyri, bilateral short insular gyri, bilateral superior frontal gyri, and right superior temporal and left inferior temporal gyri compared to normal subjects (uncorrected p < 0.001). Furthermore, small volume correction revealed gray matter concentration reduction in bilateral nuclei accumbens, hypothalami, and thalami (false discovery rate corrected p < 0.05). Gray matter concentration reductions were observed in brain regions related to excessive daytime sleepiness, cognition, attention, and memory in narcoleptics with cataplexy

Gray Matter Concentration Abnormality in Brains of Narcolepsy Patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joo, Eun Yeon; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Sung Tae; Hong, Seung Bong

2009-01-01

To investigate gray matter concentration changes in the brains of narcoleptic patients. Twenty-nine narcoleptic patient with cataplexy and 29 age and sex-matched normal subjects (mean age, 31 years old) underwent volumetric MRIs. The MRIs were spatially normalized to a standard T1 template and subdivided into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These segmented images were then smoothed using a 12-mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) isotropic Gaussian kernel. An optimized voxel-based morphometry protocol was used to analyze brain tissue concentrations using SPM2 (statistical parametric mapping). A one-way analysis of variance was applied to the concentration analysis of gray matter images. Narcoleptics with cataplexy showed reduced gray matter concentration in bilateral thalami, left gyrus rectus, bilateral frontopolar gyri, bilateral short insular gyri, bilateral superior frontal gyri, and right superior temporal and left inferior temporal gyri compared to normal subjects (uncorrected p < 0.001). Furthermore, small volume correction revealed gray matter concentration reduction in bilateral nuclei accumbens, hypothalami, and thalami (false discovery rate corrected p < 0.05). Gray matter concentration reductions were observed in brain regions related to excessive daytime sleepiness, cognition, attention, and memory in narcoleptics with cataplexy

What Is It Like to Be a Child? Childhood Subjectivity and Teacher Memories as Heterotopia

Science.gov (United States)

Chang-Kredl, Sandra; Wilkie, Gala

2016-01-01

Foucault's notion of heterotopia offers a novel way to understand teachers' conceptualizations of childhood, in juxtaposing adult memories of childhood with their present context of teaching children. Memory writing prompts were given to 41 early childhood teachers, and the resulting written narratives were analyzed as heterotopic spaces. The…

TEACHER EDUCATION IN INDONESIA (An Account on the Development and Programs to Improve the Professional Qualification and the Competence of Indonesia Teaching Personnel

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Fahriany Fahriany

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Education is defined as a planned effort to establish a study environment and education process so that the student may actively develop his / her own potential to gain the religious and spiritual level, consciousness, personality, intelligence, behavior and creativity to him / herself other citizens and for the nations. The ultimate goal of   every  teaching and learning process is the success of the students to acquire the knowledge of subject matter being taught and one of the key successes in gaining the teaching learning objective is the teacher role. In fact, there are several aspects in order that the teacher professionalism may take place. To put the teacher professionalism into reality, it is not just from the teacher individually, but the surrounding, communities and the system where the teachers works and belong to, will give influence to it. The development of teacher education in Indonesia cannot be separated from the development of education in Indonesia. Since the independence in 1945, Indonesia has committed to make education available to all Indonesians citizens. This is due to the constitutional commitment stated that all citizens have the rights to get an education and the government has the responsibility to implement a national education system. DOI: 10.15408/tjems.v1i1.1107

Changing Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Beliefs about Mathematical Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Stohlmann, Micah; Moore, Tamara; Cramer, Kathleen; Maiorca, Cathrine

2015-01-01

Studies have reported that pre-service teachers often enter teacher preparation programs with beliefs and attitudes not conducive to teaching the subject conceptually. In the USA, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have brought a renewed focus on procedural and conceptual understanding. However, many U.S. pre-service teachers have…

Authentic Learning for Pre-Service Teachers in a Technology-Rich Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Gloria; Carr, Nicky

2012-01-01

This paper shares the findings from a three year Participatory Action Research Study around the selection, implementation and effectiveness of educational technologies for enhancing learning in a Teacher Education subject for second year pre-service primary teachers. The innovative Project-Based subject is described using a critical lens. The…

Music teacher identity and professionalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holgersen, Sven-Erik

2017-01-01

The present article is concerned with transformative learning and identity formation in student music teachers acting as researchers of a music education practice as part of their MA study programme. More specific, the aim is to discuss how engaging in a research perspective may serve as an eye......-opener for student music teachers and widen their perspective on subject didactics, teaching/learning issues and professional practice....

How Do Pre-Service Teachers Picture Various Electromagnetic Phenomenon? A Qualitative Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptual Understanding of Fundamental Electromagnetic Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, Christopher P.

2010-01-01

This study analyzes the nature of pre-service teachers' conceptual models of various electromagnetic phenomena, specifically electrical current, electrical resistance, and light/matter interactions. This is achieved through the students answering the three questions on electromagnetism using a free response approach including both verbal and…

In Pursuit of a Connected Way of Knowing: The Case of One Mathematics Teacher

Science.gov (United States)

Agudelo-Valderrama, Cecilia; Martínez, Diana

2016-01-01

In this paper, we offer illustrations of a mathematics teacher's difficulties with content knowledge when trying to find connections between school mathematics and science; we do so by describing the development of this teacher's thinking and learning in her pursuit of connections between the concepts of slope of a line and density of matter. The…

77 FR 269 - Matters Related to Patent Appeals

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-04

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Matters Related to Patent Appeals ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request. SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office... Matters Related to Patent Appeals comment'' in the subject line of the message. Mail: Susan K. Fawcett...

Strengthening Mathematics And Science Education (SMASE) For Improving The Quality Of Teachers in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Shuaibu, Zainab Muhammad

2016-04-01

The education system in Nigeria, especially at the basic education level, teachers who teach mathematics and science need to be confident with what they are teaching, they need to have appropriate techniques and strategies of motivating the pupils. If these subjects are not taught well at the basic education level its extraordinarily hard to get them (pupils/students) back to track, no matter what will be done in the secondary and tertiary level. Teachers as the driving force behind improvements in the education system are in the best position to understand and propose solutions to problems faced by students. Teachers must have access to sustainable, high quality professional development in order to improve teaching and student learning. Teachers' professional development in Nigeria, however, has long been criticized for its lack of sustainability and ability to produce effective change in teaching and students achievement. Education theorists today believe that a critical component of educational reform lies in providing teachers with various opportunities and supports structures that encourage ongoing improvement in teachers' pedagogy and discipline-specific content knowledge. However, the ongoing reforms in education sector and the need to refocus the Nigeria education system towards the goal of the National Economical Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) demand that the existing In-service and Education Training (INSET) in Nigeria be refocused. It is against this premise that an INSET programme aimed at Strengthening Mathematics And Science Education (SMASE) for primary and secondary school teachers was conceived. The relevance of the SMASE INSET according to the Project Design Matrix (PDM) was derived from an In-service aimed at enhancing the quality of teachers in terms of positive attitude, teaching methodology, mastery of content, resource mobilization and utilization of locally available teaching and learning materials. The intervention of

Mapping Geographical Knowledge and Skills Needed for Pre-Service Teachers in Teacher Education

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Terri Bourke

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In Australia, for more than two decades, a “social science” integrated framework was the favored approach for delivering subjects such as history and geography. However, such interdisciplinary approaches have continued to attract criticism from various parts of the academic and public spheres, and since 2009, a return to teaching the disciplines has been heralded as the “new” way forward. Using discourse analysis techniques associated with Foucauldian archeology, the purpose of this article is to examine the Australian Curriculum: Geography document to ascertain the discourses necessary for pre-service teachers to enact effective teaching of geography in a primary setting. Then, based on pre-service teachers’ online survey responses, the article investigates whether such future teachers have the knowledge and skills to interpret, deliver, and enact the new geography curriculum in primary classrooms. Finally, as teacher educators, our interest lies in preparing pre-service teachers effectively for the classroom, so that the findings are used to inform the content of a teacher education course for pre-service primary teachers.

Learner-Centered Micro Teaching in Teacher Education

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Kilic, Abdurrahman

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Learner-Centered Micro Teaching (LCMT) on the development of teacher candidates' teaching competencies. To achieve this goal, teacher candidates' teaching behaviors on subject area, planning, teaching process, classroom management, communication, and evaluation have been pre- and…

Preservice Teachers and Self-Assessing Digital Competence

Science.gov (United States)

Maderick, Joseph A.; Zhang, Shaoan; Hartley, Kendall; Marchand, Gwen

2016-01-01

This study compares matched surveys of subjective self-assessment and objective assessment on seven domains of digital competence for preservice teachers at a large Southwest public university. The results, consistent with earlier studies, confirm that the participating preservice teachers inaccurately self-assessed their digital competence. The…

Students' Self-Esteem and Their Perception of Teacher Behavior: A Study of Between-Class Ability Grouping

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Kususanto, Prihadi; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Jamil, Hazri

2010-01-01

Introduction: Between-class ability grouping practice in Malaysian Secondary Schools was studied in order to find the influence students' perception on their teachers' behavior on their self-esteem. Students' perception on teachers' behaviors were divided into two categories: controlling students' behavior to avoid disciplinary matters and…

Supervising and Controlling Unmanned Systems: A Multi-Phase Study with Subject Matter Experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Porat, Talya; Oron-Gilad, Tal; Rottem-Hovev, Michal; Silbiger, Jacob

2016-01-01

Proliferation in the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) in civil and military operations has presented a multitude of human factors challenges; from how to bridge the gap between demand and availability of trained operators, to how to organize and present data in meaningful ways. Utilizing the Design Research Methodology (DRM), a series of closely related studies with subject matter experts (SMEs) demonstrate how the focus of research gradually shifted from "how many systems can a single operator control" to "how to distribute missions among operators and systems in an efficient way". The first set of studies aimed to explore the modal number, i.e., how many systems can a single operator supervise and control. It was found that an experienced operator can supervise up to 15 UASs efficiently using moderate levels of automation, and control (mission and payload management) up to three systems. Once this limit was reached, a single operator's performance was compared to a team controlling the same number of systems. In general, teams led to better performances. Hence, shifting design efforts toward developing tools that support teamwork environments of multiple operators with multiple UASs (MOMU). In MOMU settings, when the tasks are similar or when areas of interest overlap, one operator seems to have an advantage over a team who needs to collaborate and coordinate. However, in all other cases, a team was advantageous over a single operator. Other findings and implications, as well as future directions for research are discussed.

Make dark matter charged again

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agrawal, Prateek; Cyr-Racine, Francis-Yan; Randall, Lisa; Scholtz, Jakub, E-mail: prateekagrawal@fas.harvard.edu, E-mail: fcyrraci@physics.harvard.edu, E-mail: randall@physics.harvard.edu, E-mail: jscholtz@physics.harvard.edu [Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2017-05-01

We revisit constraints on dark matter that is charged under a U(1) gauge group in the dark sector, decoupled from Standard Model forces. We find that the strongest constraints in the literature are subject to a number of mitigating factors. For instance, the naive dark matter thermalization timescale in halos is corrected by saturation effects that slow down isotropization for modest ellipticities. The weakened bounds uncover interesting parameter space, making models with weak-scale charged dark matter viable, even with electromagnetic strength interaction. This also leads to the intriguing possibility that dark matter self-interactions within small dwarf galaxies are extremely large, a relatively unexplored regime in current simulations. Such strong interactions suppress heat transfer over scales larger than the dark matter mean free path, inducing a dynamical cutoff length scale above which the system appears to have only feeble interactions. These effects must be taken into account to assess the viability of darkly-charged dark matter. Future analyses and measurements should probe a promising region of parameter space for this model.

Capturing the Object of Initial Teacher Education by Studying Tools-in-Use in Four School Subject Departments

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, Alaster Scott

2012-01-01

This paper makes the claim that student teachers' learning depends a great deal on the individual school department where they are working, its social practices and the relationships of the teachers involved in initial teacher education (ITE). The paper considers how using a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens to view data generated on…

From Students to Teachers: Investigating the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs and Experiences of Graduate Primary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Deehan, James; Danaia, Lena; McKinnon, David H.

2018-03-01

The science achievement of primary students, both in Australia and abroad, has been the subject of intensive research in recent decades. Consequently, much research has been conducted to investigate primary science education. Within this literature, there is a striking juxtaposition between tertiary science teaching preparation programs and the experiences and outcomes of both teachers and students alike. Whilst many tertiary science teaching programs covary with positive outcomes for preservice teachers, reports of science at the primary school level continue to be problematic. This paper begins to explore this apparent contradiction by investigating the science teaching efficacy beliefs and experiences of a cohort of graduate primary teachers who had recently transitioned from preservice to inservice status. An opportunity sample of 82 primary teachers responded to the science teaching efficacy belief instrument A (STEBI-A), and 10 graduate teachers provided semi-structured interview data. The results showed that participants' prior science teaching efficacy belief growth, which occurred during their tertiary science education, had remained durable after they had completed their teaching degrees and began their careers. Qualitative data showed that their undergraduate science education had had a positive influence on their science teaching experiences. The participants' school science culture, however, had mixed influences on their science teaching. The findings presented within this paper have implications for the direction of research in primary science education, the design and assessment of preservice primary science curriculum subjects and the role of school contexts in the development of primary science teachers.

Cigarette smoking is associated with reduced microstructural integrity of cerebral white matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Gons, Rob A R; van Norden, Anouk G W; de Laat, Karlijn F; van Oudheusden, Lucas J B; van Uden, Inge W M; Zwiers, Marcel P; Norris, David G; de Leeuw, Frank-Erik

2011-07-01

Cigarette smoking doubles the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Various pathophysiological pathways have been proposed to cause such a cognitive decline, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Smoking may affect the microstructural integrity of cerebral white matter. Diffusion tensor imaging is known to be sensitive for microstructural changes in cerebral white matter. We therefore cross-sectionally studied the relation between smoking behaviour (never, former, current) and diffusion tensor imaging parameters in both normal-appearing white matter and white matter lesions as well as the relation between smoking behaviour and cognitive performance. A structured questionnaire was used to ascertain the amount and duration of smoking in 503 subjects with small-vessel disease, aged between 50 and 85 years. Cognitive function was assessed with a neuropsychological test battery. All subjects underwent 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. Using diffusion tensor imaging, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were calculated in both normal-appearing white matter and white matter lesions. A history of smoking was associated with significant higher values of mean diffusivity in normal-appearing white matter and white matter lesions (P-trend for smoking status = 0.02) and with poorer cognitive functioning compared with those who never smoked. Associations with smoking and loss of structural integrity appeared to be strongest in normal-appearing white matter. Furthermore, the duration of smoking cessation was positively related to lower values of mean diffusivity and higher values of fractional anisotropy in normal-appearing white matter [β = -0.004 (95% confidence interval -0.007 to 0.000; P = 0.03) and β = 0.019 (95% confidence interval 0.001-0.038; P = 0.04)]. Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values in normal-appearing white matter of subjects who had quit smoking for >20 years were comparable with subjects who had never smoked. These data suggest

Approximating Literacy Practices in Tutorials: What Is Learned and What Matters for Teacher Preparation

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, James V.; Wetzel, Melissa Mosley; Peterson, Katie

2016-01-01

In this study, we examined the learning of preservice teachers associated with the features of a literacy tutorial experience. Our qualitative study focused on the close inspection of the experiences of 7 focus cases out of the 19 preservice teachers enrolled in our program across a one-semester tutorial experience. Through our research we…

Teachers Perspective of Using English as a Medium of Instruction in Mathematics and Science Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Mansor, Norudin; Badarudin, Mohamed Ishak; Mat, Azman Che

2011-01-01

The policy of changing the medium of instruction in the teaching of mathematics and science from Bahasa Melayu to English is an important innovation affecting teachers of mathematics and science. It poses special challenges not only for teachers who have been trained in the Malay medium but also for those trained in English. This investigation…

The Matters in Teaching Reading Comprehension to EFL Students

OpenAIRE

Yuliana Natsir; Anisati Anisati

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to find out the efforts that were being made by certified English teachers in teaching reading since reading is considered as one of the determiners of academic success. Descriptive qualitative research was used in this study; the subjects were two English teachers in Banda Aceh and the instrument was an interview guide. The interview questions were adapted from Fletcher, et al. (2012) that focused on curriculum, teacher preparation, teaching methodology, teachin...

A comparative study of voice complaints and risk factors for voice complaints in female student teachers and practicing teachers early in their career.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomas, G.; Kooijman, P.G.C.; Cremers, C.W.R.J.; Jong, F.I.C.R.S. de

2006-01-01

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was performed to compare female student teachers (454 subjects; 1st to 4th year of training) and practicing teachers (82 female teachers; 1st to 4th year of teaching career) of primary education early in their career, with regard to risk factors perceived to be

Comprehending Elementary School Teachers' Classroom Management Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Ali E.

2015-01-01

This study intends to determine elementary school teachers' degree of classroom control, which constitutes the consistency in their classroom management and discipline-related behaviour. The major research question was as follows: Is the control approach adopted by teachers related to certain variables (gender, age, subject area, experience)? The…

Experiencias coeducativas del profesorado de educación física y relación con los contenidos de la materia Co-educational experiences of physical education teachers in relation with the contents of the subject

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Pedro Ángel VALDIVIA MORAL

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Los objetivos de este estudio fueron conocer las vivencias coeducativas del profesorado en relación con los contenidos de Educación Física y analizar las diferentes estrategias metodológicas que se utilizan en cada bloque de contenidos. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas sometidas a análisis de contenido. Mediante el proceso hermenéutico se destaca que: (I la categoría “Bloque de contenidos de Condición Física y Salud” demuestra que el profesorado pretende que las diferencias fisiológicas por cuestión de sexo no se reproduzcan; (II la categoría “Bloque de contenidos de Expresión Corporal” señala que existe profesorado que no aborda estos contenidos porque los desconoce; (III la categoría “Bloque de contenidos de Juegos y Deportes” resalta que el principal problema que encuentra el profesorado son los estereotipos que ciertos deportes llevan asociados; la categoría (IV “Bloque de contenidos de Actividades en el Medio Natural” pone de manifiesto que ninguno de los dos sexos dificulta su trabajo.The aims of this study were to be familiar with the co-educational experiences of teachers in relation to the contents of Physical Education and to analyze the different methodological strategies which are used in each block of content. Semi structured interviews were realized subjected to content´s analysis. Through the hermeneutic process it is emphasized that: (I the category “Content´s Block of Fitness and Health” shows that the teacher pretends that the physiological differences that are produced by matter of sex don´t happen again; (II the category “Content´s Physical Language” notes that there are teachers who don’t deal with these contents because they don´t recognize them; (III the category “Content´s Block Games and Sports” underlines that the main problem that the teachers find is the stereotypes that some sports take associated; the category (IV “Content´s Block of Activities in the

Influence of Particle Theory Conceptions on Pre-Service Science Teachers' Understanding of Osmosis and Diffusion

Science.gov (United States)

AlHarbi, Nawaf N. S.; Treagust, David F.; Chandrasegaran, A. L.; Won, Mihye

2015-01-01

This study investigated the understanding of diffusion, osmosis and particle theory of matter concepts among 192 pre-service science teachers in Saudi Arabia using a 17-item two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test. The data analysis showed that the pre-service teachers' understanding of osmosis and diffusion concepts was mildly correlated with…

Representing Swiss Vocational Education and Training Teachers' Domain-Specific Conceptions of Financial Literacy Using Concept Maps

Science.gov (United States)

Leumann, Seraina

2017-01-01

Issues related to financial matters are an integral component of the curricula in vocational education and training in Switzerland. However, the differences between students' competences are caused not only by the curricula but by multiple factors. One key factor is teachers' characteristics that support successful learning processes. Teachers'…

Challenges to nordic teacher education programmes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jens; Dorf, Hans

2010-01-01

and subjects in the Finnish teacher education program (pedagogical studies, quality of practice teaching, research base) and its strong focus on training future teachers for the teacher profession and a professional community play an important role in respect to recruitment and low drop-out rates.......  This article resumes a comparative study on the Nordic teacher education programs in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (Nordisk Ministerråd/Nordic Council of Ministers, 2008). By focusing on the part of the study which is occupied with the structure and organisation of the Nordic...... teacher education programs it tries to find explanations for the fact that only the Finnish teacher education does not suffer from a decreasing number of applicants, from high drop-out rates, and from low retention rates. It is claimed that the strong emphasis on specific professional elements...

Expanding Horizons Teachers and Scientists Collabortaing

Science.gov (United States)

Teres, A.

2017-12-01

As a participant in PolarTrec, I joined the crew of NASA's Operation IceBridge in Greenland for the month of April 2017. As an active member of the team I learned the ins and outs of field research, and I learned about the work done by Operation IceBridge. As a result of participating in this project, I grew as a teacher and a scientist. I took my experiences and shared them with my classroom through stories, pictures, videos, and my lesson plans. By seeing the Artic through my experiences the class became enraptured by the subject matter. I was no longer talking about a distant or abstract place instead I was talking about an experience. This enabled my students to take an active part in the discussion and to feel like the cryosphere was part of their life too. Not only did I learn about the science but I leaned about logistics of field research. I reached out to my community and local communications outlets before and after my trip to Greenland to familiarize whomever I could connect with about my experience. I contacted a local news station and they did an interview with me about my trip. I emailed a local newspaper about my trip and was interviewed before I left and after I returned. Due to the newscast, I was contacted by my college sorority and was interviewed for the sorority's national newsletter which is distributed throughout the United States. Each connection helped to spread the word. I'm continuing to spread the word by volunteering to present my experience to schools throughout Broward County in Florida. I've already connected with teachers and schools to set up my presentation in the calendar. Having these types of experiences is critical for teachers to continue their growth within the scientific field and education. Effective teachers are those not constrained by the walls of their classroom. Having the opportunity to work with scientists and do research in the field has expanded my horizons. The people I met I am still in contact with and I am

Teacher enthusiasm: a potential cure of academic cheating

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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.

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

TEACHER-EDUCATOR VERSUS TEACHER-LEADER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincentas Lamanauskas

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Recently, in Lithuanian educational discourse there has been a lot of discussion about leadership. This has become so popular phenomenon that quite often one even does not go deep into the most important parameters of this phenomenon. Leadership phenomenon is not a very new thing, having started to be investigated more exhaustively as far back as the second half of the 20th century, however, over the last decade a lot of attention has been devoted to this in Lithuania. One can reasonably assert, that this is even a matter of fashion. During the aforementioned period, various questions such as teacher leadership, leadership development in schools (as if everyone has to be only a leader, leadership influence on organisation management and other have been investigated in one way or another.

World Language Teacher Candidate Performance on Edtpa: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hildebrandt, Susan A.; Swanson, Pete

2014-01-01

Federal and state legislation continues to promote teacher accountability in the United States. The new edTPA, a subject-specific teacher performance assessment, is purported to measure beginning teacher readiness and is being pilot tested and implemented for licensure and certification decisions across the country. In this exploratory…

Teachers in School Sports: Between the Fields of Education and Sport?

Science.gov (United States)

Ferry, Magnus

2016-01-01

According to the cultural sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, gaining access to a social space or a position within a social space requires a specific capital. For teachers, this is normally indicated by a valid teaching certificate with relevant subject knowledge. However, when no qualified teachers are available, which is the case for the subject of…

Students’ Perceptions on a Good Tertiary Foreign Language Teacher

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Siti Tarwiyah

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates students’ perception of tertiary teachers’ attitude, method of teaching and classroom management in the teaching and learning of (professional, pedagogic, social and personality competence English and Arabic Language at IAIN Walisongo Semarang. This study is designed quantitavely and qualitatively using closed and open-ended questionnaire for collecting data. The subject of this research is the second semester students of the two faculties at IAIN Walisongo who, in that semester, take Arabic or English language course. The subject is chosen because based on 2012 course distribution, English and Arabic are distributed in the first and the second semester. The findings revealed that it is clearly seen that KPI (Islamic Communication & Broadcasting department students have better perception to their English language teachers. Meanwhile, students who have better perception to their Arabic Language Teachers are those from Islamic Counseling Departments (BPI of Dakwah faculty. Data of Tarbiyah Faculty shows Arabic language teachers are dominating. Arabic language teachers win 0.5 over English language teachers in almost all characteristics. This implies that expected performance of students in English Language is based on the teachers’ attitude, method of teaching the subject and classroom management. Based on the above-findings, recommendations were made.

The Mystery of Matter, World of the Atom Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollard, William G.

This booklet is one in the "World of the Atome Series" for junior high school students and their teachers. It describes the fascinating story of the search for the key to the structure of matter. These topics are reviewed: the chemical atom of the 19th century, the planetary atom, the wave atom, inside the elementary particles, and the mystery of…

Who Teaches Primary Physical Education? Change and Transformation through the Eyes of Subject Leaders

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Luke; Green, Ken

2017-01-01

Primary physical education (PE) lessons tend to be taught by one, or a combination of, three different groups: generalist classroom teachers, specialist primary PE teachers and so-called adults other than teachers, who are almost exclusively sports coaches. Drawing upon data gathered from one-to-one interviews with 36 subject leaders (SLs), this…

Social Persuasions by Teachers as a Source of Student Self-Efficacy: The Moderating Role of Perceived Teacher Credibility

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Sungjun; Lee, Sun-Young; Bong, Mimi

2017-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the degree to which Korean middle school students perceived their teachers to be credible made a difference in the effectiveness of teachers' persuasion as a source of students' academic self-efficacy. In the contexts of both general school learning and a specific subject of Korean…

In Search of Quality Student Teachers in a Digital Era: Reframing the Practices of Soft Skills in Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hadiyanto; Mukmimnin, Amirul; Failasofah; Arif, Nely; Fajaryani, Nunung; Habibi, Akhmad

2017-01-01

The purpose of this current study was to examine and document the practices of soft skills (communication, IT, numeracy, learning how to learn, problem solving, working with others, and subject-specific competencies) among English as foreign language (EFL) student teachers at one public university teacher education program in Jambi, Indonesia. The…

The pursuit of dark matter at colliders—an overview

Science.gov (United States)

Penning, Björn

2018-06-01

Dark matter is one of the main puzzles in fundamental physics and the goal of a diverse, multi-pronged research programme. Underground and astrophysical searches look for dark matter particles in the cosmos, either by interacting directly or by searching for dark matter annihilation. Particle colliders, in contrast, might produce dark matter in the laboratory and are able to probe most basic dark-matter–matter interactions. They are sensitive to low dark matter masses, provide complementary information at higher masses and are subject to different systematic uncertainties. Collider searches are therefore an important part of an inter-disciplinary dark matter search strategy. This article highlights the experimental and phenomenological development in collider dark matter searches of recent years and their connection with the wider field.

TEACHERS NEEDED

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

The English Language Programme of the Lycée International de Ferney-Voltaire has two teaching posts available for la rentrée 2001. 1. Part-time teacher of Primary-level English Candidates for the post need to be mother-tongue English speakers. They should have a relevant degree and teaching qualification. The post involves teaching the English curriculum to pupils who are within the French educational system. Classes take place on Tuesday afternoons at the Lycée. Team spirit necessary as teachers work as a team. Induction & training are offered. 2. Part-time teacher of Secondary-level history-geography Candididates for the post need to be mother-tongue English speakers. They should have a relevant degree in history or geography and also a strong interest in the other subject. They should have a relevant teaching qualification and be confident classroom practioners. For more information on either of these posts please contact the school office on 04.50.40.82...

Current challenges in the organisation of teacher education in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Palle; Staugaard, Hans Jørgen

Two main types of arguments are being put forward for relocating teacher education to universities. One is that it will improve the subject knowledge of teacher and thus enable them to raise the skill levels of Danish students in core subjects. Another is that many students seem to fear being...... “locked” in the professional role as teacher and would like to have the wider range of choices – and perhaps the higher prestige - available in universities. In the paper we discuss the second of these arguments, the question of recruitment, on the basis of existing evidence . Furthermore we will present...... and discuss a new model for teacher education being developed in collaboration between the Northern Denmark University College and Aalborg University....

Description of Success: A Four-Teacher Instructional Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Dianne

This study described a four-teacher instructional model in operation at an elementary school, noting the perceptions of fourth grade students, parents, and teachers regarding the model. The model encompassed teaming, block scheduling, departmentalization of subjects, integrated/interdisciplinary instruction, and in-depth instruction in each…

Student Tests for Teacher Evaluation: A Critique.

Science.gov (United States)

Florio, David H.

1986-01-01

This article supports Edward Haertel's views on inappropriate use of student test scores in evaluating teachers. Tests scores may identify a few incompetent teachers, but may bring new ailments to schools. The article argues that even the system proposed by Haertal may become subject to abuse by mechanistic or autocratic administrative practices.…

The effects of policies concerning teachers' wages on students' performance

OpenAIRE

Varga, Júlia

2017-01-01

Using country panel data of student achievement from PISA, 2003-2012 combined with national-level teacher salary data from the OECD; this study investigates if relatively short term -5-years - changes in the level and structure of statutory teacher salaries affect student performance in the European countries. Our results show that there are marked differences between subjects and by the experience of teachers. Higher statutory teacher salaries and larger growth of teacher salaries at the fir...

Should mathematics be a creative subject? How is this realized in practice in Denmark?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ejersbo, Lisser Rye

as a creative subject. How do they understand creativity and how do they realize it in practice? And what makes mathematics a creative subject? Is it the task, the way it is performed or the relationship between teacher and students? The crucial difference between different classrooms seems to be the ways......The ministerial objectives for mathematics education in the Danish Folkeskole (grades K-ten) state that students will learn that mathematics is both a tool for problem-solving and a creative subject. In this article, I explore how teachers in Denmark meet the challenge of teaching mathematics....... The discussion will focus on how to make mathematics a creative subject....

14 CFR 17.11 - Matters not subject to protest.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Acquisition: (a) FAA purchases from or through, state, local, and tribal governments and public authorities...) Other transactions which do not fall into the category of procurement contracts subject to the AMS. ...

Analysis of primary teacher stress' sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katja Depolli Steiner

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Teachers are subject to many different work stressors. This study focused on differences in intensity and frequency of potential stressors facing primary schoolteachers and set the goal to identify the most important sources of teacher stress in primary school. The study included 242 primary schoolteachers from different parts of Slovenia. We used Stress Inventory that is designed for identification of intensity and frequency of 49 situations that can play the role of teachers' work stressors. Findings showed that the major sources of stress facing teachers are factors related to work overload, factors stemming from pupils' behaviour and motivation and factors related to school system. Results also showed some small differences in perception of stressors in different groups of teachers (by gender and by teaching level.

How a Deweyan Science Education Further Enables Ethics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Scott

2008-01-01

This paper questions the perceived divide between "science" subject matter and "moral" or "ethical" subject matter. A difficulty that this assumed divide produces is that science teachers often feel that there needs to be "special treatment" given to certain issues which are of an ethical or moral nature and which are "brought into" the science…

Human subjects and experimental irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, R.

1985-01-01

In recent years the public has expressed concern about the use of human subjects in scientific research. Some professional institutions have adopted codes of practice to guide them in this matter. At the University of New South Wales, where human subjects are used in teaching and research programmes, a committee ensures that high ethical standards are maintained. As the volunteer subjects do not gain any benefit themselves from the procedures, their level of risk is kept low. One type of procedure in which risk is becoming quantifiable, is the irradiation of human subjects. To assist peer review groups, the ICRP, WHO and the National Health and Medical Research Council have enunciated principles which should be followed in the irradiation of human volunteer subjects. In general the role of the Committee is advisory to protect the rights of the investigator, the subject, and the institution. Some of the inherent problems are discussed

Linking Teaching in Mathematics and the Subjects of Natural Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Claus

2017-01-01

teaching programs. This is partly due to the lack of a framework for integrating productive ideas across the disciplines. This paper focus on how to grasp the challenges of an interdisciplinary approach to teaching in mathematics and the subjects of natural science. Based on contemporary mathematics...... and science education we design a didactical framework for interdisciplinary teaching centered on modeling activities across mathematics and the disciplines of natural science. To exemplify the potential of the framework we present a case study of an intensive in-service teacher-training program...... for mathematics and biology teachers. The teachers were presented to the didactical framework and in pairs of two, one mathematics teacher and one biology teacher; they designed and implemented interdisciplinary mathematicsbiology teaching sequences. The teachers’ reports on their development and implementation...

A "Politics against Social Submission": Of Early Years Teachers' Accessibility and Work with Children in Québec