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Classroom Teachers (classroom + teacher)
Selected AbstractsTeaching nature of science within a controversial topic: Integrated versus nonintegratedJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 4 2006Rola Khishfe This study investigated the influence of two different explicit instructional approaches in promoting more informed understandings of nature of science (NOS) among students. Participants, a total of 42 students, comprised two groups in two intact sections of ninth grade. Participants in the two groups were taught environmental science by their regular classroom teacher, with the difference being the context in which NOS was explicitly taught. For the "integrated" group, NOS instruction was related to the science content about global warming. For the "nonintegrated" group, NOS was taught through a set of activities that specifically addressed NOS issues and were dispersed across the content about global warming. The treatment for both groups spanned 6 weeks and addressed a unit about global warming and NOS. An open-ended questionnaire, in conjunction with semistructured interviews, was used to assess students' views before and after instruction. Results showed improvements in participants' views of NOS regardless of whether NOS was integrated within the regular content about global warming. Comparison of differences between the two groups showed "slightly" greater improvement in the informed views of the integrated group participants. On the other hand, there was greater improvement in the transitional views of the nonintegrated group participants. Therefore, the overall results did not provide any conclusive evidence in favor of one approach over the other. Implications on the teaching and learning of NOS are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 395,418, 2006 [source] The effectiveness of two form-focused tasks in advanced EFL pedagogyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2002María Del Pilar García Mayo Recent research on second language pedagogy advocates the use of form-focused tasks which require learners to produce output collaboratively. This article reports on the results of a study carried out with high-intermediate/advanced EFL learners who completed two form-focused tasks (a dictogloss and a text reconstruction) collaboratively. The learners' interaction in both tasks was codified and language-related episodes (LREs) identified. Results indicate that (i) learners' attention to form was task-dependent; (ii) the linguistic features of concern were those targeted by the tasks in the case of text-reconstruction, and (iii) high-intermediate/advanced learners provide no justification for most of the decisions concerning LREs. The results are considered in the light of current claims about the need for classroom teachers and researchers to carefully consider the choice of task and how learners interpret and complete it. [source] Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in teacher-rated aggression during early adolescenceAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2006Elina Vierikko Abstract Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change in aggression were studied in a sample of 1,041 twin pairs (364 monozygotic; 348 same-sex dizygotic; and 329 opposite-sex dizygotic) as part of an ongoing, population-based Finnish twin-family study. At ages 12 and 14, the twins' aggression was assessed by their classroom teachers, using a rating form of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory. Genetic and environmental sources of continuity and change were studied by fitting a longitudinal bivariate Cholesky decomposition model. Longitudinal model-fitting results indicated that both genetic and environmental factors influenced continuity in aggression during this 2-year period, but the age-to-age correlation of these factors differed by sex. Continuity in boys' aggression was mediated by genes and common environmental factors; in girls, in contrast, continuity was due primarily to common environmental, and to a lesser degree, unique environmental factors. Genes and unique environments contributed to change in aggression in both sexes. Aggr. Behav. 31:1,13, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A computer-assisted test design and diagnosis system for use by classroom teachersJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 6 2005Q. He Abstract Computer-assisted assessment (CAA) has become increasingly important in education in recent years. A variety of computer software systems have been developed to help assess the performance of students at various levels. However, such systems are primarily designed to provide objective assessment of students and analysis of test items, and focus has been mainly placed on higher and further education. Although there are commercial professional systems available for use by primary and secondary educational institutions, such systems are generally expensive and require skilled expertise to operate. In view of the rapid progress made in the use of computer-based assessment for primary and secondary students by education authorities here in the UK and elsewhere, there is a need to develop systems which are economic and easy to use and can provide the necessary information that can help teachers improve students' performance. This paper presents the development of a software system that provides a range of functions including generating items and building item banks, designing tests, conducting tests on computers and analysing test results. Specifically, the system can generate information on the performance of students and test items that can be easily used to identify curriculum areas where students are under performing. A case study based on data collected from five secondary schools in Hong Kong involved in the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre's Middle Years Information System Project, Durham University, UK, has been undertaken to demonstrate the use of the system for diagnostic and performance analysis. [source] The Effects of Instructional Training on University Teaching AssistantsPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2003Patricia L. Hardré ABSTRACT This study addressed the need for empirical tests of the global instructional design (ID) model as a toolkit for classroom teachers in authentic settings; and the performance improvement challenge of finding effective, efficient methods of professional development for preparing graduate assistants to teach. Participants were eighteen teaching assistants (TAs) with primary instructional responsibilities at a large Midwestern university. Twelve were given a training intervention in instructional design, while the other six served as a control group. The intervention was based on the iterative, five-phase ADDIE model, and principles from educational psychology. Dependent measures were TAs' ID knowledge, teaching self-efficacy, satisfaction with knowledge and strategies, perceived teaching competence, teaching performance and teaching effectiveness, and their students' engagement and perceived learning. All of the study's seven hypothesized relationships were found statistically significant. The intervention, though brief, measurably increased the ID knowledge of participating TAs, along with their teaching-related self-perceptions, and student outcomes. Instructional design emerges as a potentially powerful training tool for organizing teachers' and trainers' knowledge related to the complex practice of classroom instruction. [source] Construct validity of the adjustment scales for children and adolescents and the preschool and kindergarten behavior scales: Convergent and divergent evidencePSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 6 2002Gary L. Canivez Construct validity (convergent and divergent) of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA; McDermott, Marston, & Stott, 1993) and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS; Merrell, 1994a) is presented. Regular classroom teachers (n = 38) randomly selected 5- and 6-year-old children (N = 123) and rated them on the ASCA and PKBS in counterbalanced order. Convergent evidence of construct validity was observed for the PKBS Externalizing Problems scale and the ASCA Overactivity syndrome. Divergent evidence of construct validity was provided for the PKBS Externalizing Problems scale and ASCA Underactivity syndrome. Convergent and divergent evidence of construct validity for the PKBS Internalizing Problems scale and ASCA Overactivity and Underactivity syndromes was mixed. Results were identical to those of Canivez and Bordenkircher (2002). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 39: 621,633, 2002. [source] Fine motor difficulties: The need for advocating for the role of occupational therapy in schoolsAUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007Michelle Jackman Background:,Fine motor difficulties can impact on the academic, social and emotional development of a student. Aim:,The aims of this paper are to: (i) investigate the need for support to students experiencing fine motor difficulties from the perspective of their classroom teachers, and (ii) report on the level of knowledge teachers have in regard to the role of occupational therapists in supporting students with fine motor difficulties. Methods:,Fifteen teachers from a stratified random sample of public schools within two regions of Victoria, Australia, were interviewed in this qualitative, grounded theory investigation. Results:,Results showed that the current level of support for students with fine motor difficulties is inadequate. Conclusion:,Occupational therapists in Victoria need to advocate their role in developing the fine motor skills of students at both an organisational and an individual level in order to increase the access of students with fine motor difficulties to occupational therapy services. [source] Understanding nurturing practices , a comparison of the use of strategies likely to enhance self-esteem in nurture groups and normal classroomsBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2003John Colwell Nurture groups are now being established in many parts of the UK, as research evidence continues to confirm both their effectiveness and cost-efficiency in helping children with emotional and behavioural difficulties to remain within mainstream schools. Their conceptual framework is based on Bowlby's attachment theory, in which impaired early care is seen to have led to low self-esteem, mistrust of others and behaviour that impedes success in school. The nurture group provides the opportunity to re-experience early nurturing in a warm and accepting environment, which fosters positive self-regard and the development of secure relationships with the nurture group staff. The study reported in this article sought to determine a reason for the effectiveness of this early intervention by focusing on the enhancement of self-esteem. John Colwell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at De Montfort University, and Tina O'Connor, a teacher at Oakthorpe Primary School in the London Borough of Enfield, conducted an observational study of nurture groups and normal classrooms in order to compare climates in terms of self-esteem enhancement strategies. Results confirmed that teachers' verbal and non-verbal communications in the nurture group were much more positive and more likely to enhance the self-esteem of pupils. In contrast, the communications of normal classroom teachers were found to be less likely to create an environment conducive to fostering positive self-esteem. The authors conclude that their evidence supports conceptual explanations of the effectiveness of nurture groups and propose that mainstream schools could become more inclusive if whole-school nurturing approaches were adopted. [source] | |||||||||||||