Education Commons^™

Gaining Interpretive Competence Through Cross-Cultural Dialogue Among Teachers And Researchers, Michelle Boone, Elaine Chan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

We examined the complexities of developing and implementing school curricula that reflect the goals for equality for students outlined in the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. Stories of teaching and learning experiences were presented to teacher-researchers as a means of generating discussion about differences in perspective pertaining to the curricular needs of an ethnically diverse student population. We articulate this ongoing inquiry about how best to meet the needs of a diverse society in terms of enhancing a sense of ‘interpretive competence’ (Conle, 1997b, Conle et al., 2000, Conle, 2000).

ACQUÉRIR LA COMPÉTENCE INTERPRÉTATIVE GRÂCE AU DIALOGUE INTERCULTUREL ENTRE ENSEIGNANTS ET CHERCHEURS--Nous …

Explicit Reflective Nature Of Science Instruction: Evolution, Intelligent Design, And Umbrellaology, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Mike U. Smith, Mark C. James, Murray Jensen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The investigators sought to design an instructional unit to enhance an understanding of the nature of science (NOS) by taking into account both instructional best practices and suggestions made by noted science philosopher Thomas Kuhn. Preservice secondary science teachers enrolled in a course “Laboratory Techniques in the Teaching of Science” served as participants in action research. Sources of data used to inform instructional decisions included students’ written reaction papers to the assigned readings, transcribed verbal comments made during class discussions and other in-class activities, and final reflection essays. Three iterative implementations of the instructional unit were attempted. The objectives of …

Raising The Bar: Encouraging High Level Thinking In Online Discussion Forums, Mary M. Christopher, Julie A. Thomas, Mary K. Tallent-Runnels

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

More universities are offering online instruction for students though we know little about effective online learning. Some have found online instruction increases student participation while others have reported that students prefer the traditional face-to-face format This study of gifted education graduate students follows the expectation that online students ought to have time to be more thoughtful with online course interactions as compared to the time-constrained interactions in a face-to-face course. Researchers evaluated students’ thinking levels (as per Bloom’s Taxonomy) in the online discussion forums required by a graduate course in gifted education. Results indicate there was no relationship between the …

Reexamining The Role Of Cognitive Conflict In Science Concept Learning, Sukjin Kang, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Taehee Noh

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract In this study, we defined and quantified the degree of cognitive conflict induced by a discrepant event from a cognitive perspective. Based on the scheme developed, we investigated the relationship between cognitive conflict and conceptual change, and the influences of students’ cognitive characteristics on conflict in learning the concept of density. Subjects were 171 seventh-grade girls from two city middle schools in Korea. Tests regarding logical thinking ability, field dependence/independence, and meaningful learning approach were administered. A preconception test and a test of responses to a discrepant event were also administered. Computer-assisted instruction was then provided to students as …

Perceived Professional Needs Of Korean Science Teachers Majoring In Chemical Education And Their Preferences For Online And On-Site Training, Taehee Noh, Jeongho Cha, Sukjin Kang, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In this study, we investigated the perceived professional needs of Korean science teachers majoring in chemical education, and examined their preferences for online and on-site inservice teacher training programs. The results were also compared with those of preservice teachers. Participants were 120 secondary school teachers and 67 preservice teachers, whose majors were either chemical education or science education with emphasis in chemistry. A questionnaire consisting of a modified Science Teacher Inventory of Need and a section concerning respondents’ demographic information and their use of the Internet was administered. In contrast to previous studies, the perceived needs of Korean inservice and …

Examining Students’ Views On The Nature Of Science: Results From Korean 6th, 8th, And 10th Graders, Sukjin Kang, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Taehee Noh

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In this study, students’ views on the nature of science (NOS) were investigated with the use of a large-scale survey. An empirically derived multiple-choice format questionnaire was administered to 1,702 Korean 6th, 8th, and 10th graders. The questionnaire consisted of five items that respectively examined students’ views on five constructs concerning the NOS: purpose of science, definition of scientific theory, nature of models, tentativeness of scientific theory, and origin of scientific theory. Students were also asked to respond to an accompanying open-ended section for each item in order to collect information about the rationale(s) for their choices. The results indicated …

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers To Teach With Technology: Getting Past Go In Science And Mathematics, Julie Thomas, Sandi Cooper

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

We are teacher educators (in elementary science and mathematics) who are enthusiastic about technology as a teaching tool—though it is as new to us as it is to our university colleagues. We recently led a United States Department of Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant project entitled TechLinks. In an effort to encourage peer faculty members to connect methods instruction with current technology initiatives (namely the International Society for Technology Education [ISTE], 2000, and the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 1997), TechLinks provided faculty fellowships–$1,000 for equipment and materials and a technology assistant who …

The Local Framing Of Latino Educational Policy, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In many parts of the country, Latino newcomers are encountering educational policies that were framed by non-Latino local leaders. This study, an ethnography of educational policy, depicts an unorthodox assemblage of policy framers from both the United States and Mexico who shaped the local education policies aimed at Latino newcomers in Dalton, GA, in the 1990s. The study considers the evolving underlying understandings of these framers and the strategies that resulted, considering also why a temporary consensus that launched an impressive initiative—the Georgia Project—ultimately

The Risk Of Intelligent Design, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Alternative explanations to evolution are very popular these days. An articulate advocacy exists for the Intelligent Design (ID) theory, led nationally by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute and academicians like Michael Behe (1996), Phillip Johnson (1997), and William Dembski (1998). In many U.S. communities science teachers are besieged with requests by local boards of education to include ID and evidence against evolution. Whether national or local, those representing the latest attacks on biological evolution demand such alternatives out of fairness, for religious reasons, or to protect a basic freedom of choice. The motives of individuals making these demands notwithstanding, the consequences …

Ethnic Identity In Transition: Chinese New Year Through The Years, Elaine Chan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Multiculturalism has been identified as the key educational issue of the epoch. However, despite studies acknowledging the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism in school contexts and research that attests to the importance of teachers learning about individual students’ experiences of culture rather than generalizing knowledge about culture groups to individual students, there exists only a small, and mostly recent, literature examining ethnic identity experientially. In the spirit of work done by Phillion (1999, 2002), He (1998, 2002a, b), and Hoffman (1989) examining the complexities of factors shaping a sense of ethnic identity, I examine here the experiences of first-generation Chinese …

Constructivism: Defense Or A Continual Critical Appraisal – A Response To Gil-Pérez Et Al., Mansoor Niaz, Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Alicia Benarroch, Liberato Cardellini, Carlos E. Laburu, NicoláS Marín, Luis A. Montes, Robert Nola, Yuri Orlik, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Chin-Chung Tsai, Georgios Tsaparlis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract. This commentary is a critical appraisal of Gil-Pérez et al.’s (2002) conceptualization of constructivism. It is argued that the following aspects of their presentation are problematic: (a) Although the role of controversy is recognized, the authors implicitly subscribe to a Kuhnian perspective of ‘normal’ science; (b) Authors fail to recognize the importance of von Glasersfeld’s contribution to the understanding of constructivism in science education; (c) The fact that it is not possible to implement a constructivist pedagogy without a constructivist epistemology has been ignored; and (d) Failure to recognize that the metaphor of the ‘student as a developing scientist’ …

In-Betweenness: Religion And Conflicting Visions Of Literacy, Loukia K. Sarroub

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In this article, I examine the multiple uses of religious and secular text at school, home, and in the community. Specifically, I focus on how Yemeni American high school girls employ religious, Arabic, and secular texts as a means for negotiating home and school worlds. The frame of reference—in-betweenness—is a powerful heuristic with which the contextual uses of texts and language among the Yemeni American students can be delineated. In-betweenness signifies the immediate adaptation of one’s performance or identity to one’s textual, social, cultural, and physical surroundings. During 1997–1999, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the Yemeni and Arab community in …

High School Students' Perceptions Of Evolutionary Theory, C. Sheldon Woods, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

If we are to be successful in teaching evolution, we must take into account our students' worldviews as well as their individual understandings and misconceptions. It is im-portant to know our students their cultures, personal his-tories, cognitive abilities, religious beliefs, [and] scientific misconceptions. [It is also important] to address directly the likely cultural/religious concerns with evolution and to do so early on so as to break down the barriers that keep many students from hearing what you say. (Smith, 1994, p. 591)

Smith penned these words for a special issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching which focused …

Nine Complementary Principles To Retain Adults In An Esol/Literacy Program, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The following list of principles is my attempt to share general recommendations to teachers of ESOL and/or limited literacy adults based on my specific practice running a bilingual family literacy program and confirmed by my more recent experience as a volunteer bilingual literacy teacher at the Asociación Latinoamericana (in Atlanta). Though I believe in bilingual classroom environments, I think the principles identified here are also pertinent to monolingual ESL environments.

Omaha Language Preservation In The Macy, Nebraska Public School, Catherine Rudin

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

A native language renewal program at the Macy, Nebraska Public School is described that is designed to preserve Omaha, a native American Indian language that is only a generation away from extinction. At the time of this research, only about 100 fluent Omaha speakers lived on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. The language and culture program, instituted in 1970, has employed various instruction techniques and methodologies, including immersion, memorization of words and phrases, and publication of student-authored stories in English and Omaha. The program has suffered from a lack of consistency; frequent changes in funding, personnel, and curriculum; and a …