ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Complex Dynamic Systems View on Conceptual Change: How a Picture of Students&apos; Intuitive Conceptions Accrue from Dynamically Robust Task Dependent Learning Outcomes
Author: Koponen, Ismo T.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Concept Formation,Systems Approach,Intuition,Context Effect,Outcomes of Education,Epistemology,Models,Electronics,Equipment,Secondary School Students,College Students

We discuss here conceptual change and the formation of robust learning outcomes from the viewpoint of complex dynamic systems (CDS). The CDS view considers students' conceptions as context dependent and multifaceted structures which depend on the context of their application. In the CDS view the conceptual patterns (i.e. intuitive conceptions here) may be robust in a certain situation but are not formed, at least not as robust ones, in another situation. The stability is then thought to arise dynamically in a variety of ways and not so much to mirror rigid ontological categories or static intuitive conceptions. We use computational modelling to understand the generic dynamic and emergent features of that phenomenon. The model is highly simplified and idealized, but it shows how context dependence, described here by an epistemic landscape structure, leads to the formation of context dependent robust states that can be viewed as attractors in learning, and how owing to the sharply defined nature of these states, learning appears as a progression of switches from one state to another, giving thus the appearance of conceptual change as switches from one robust state to another. Finally, we discuss the implications of the results in directing attention to the design of learning tasks and their structure, and how empirically accessible learning outcomes might be related to these underlying factors.
The Dynamics of Cognitive Performance: What Has Been Learnt from Empirical Research in Science Education
Author: Stamovlasis, Dimitrios
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Education,Educational Research,Research Methodology,Predictor Variables,Models,Theories,Science Achievement,Behavior,Learning Problems,Probability

This paper discusses investigations in science education addressing the nonlinear dynamical hypothesis. Learning science is a suitable field for applying interdisciplinary research and predominately for testing psychological theories. It was demonstrated that in this area the paradigm of complexity and nonlinear dynamics have offered theoretical advances and better interpretations of empirical data. Research showed that besides linear modes of behavior, sudden transitions occur in cognitive performance and this has questioned basic theoretical and epistemological assumptions. The neo-Piagetian framework and motivational theories offering constructs for serving as predictors in various model are the local theories which are embraced by the CDS meta-theory. Sudden transitions are modeled by catastrophe theory (CT) the analyses of which reveal the crucial role of certain variables, namely the bifurcation factors. Beyond a critical value of the bifurcation factor, the state variable splits into two-attractor regions and becomes bimodal. The bifurcation effect induces uncertainty and unpredictability in the system, which oscillates between two states entering the regime of chaos. Then in state variables such as learning outcomes and achievement, sudden transitions from success to failure are expected. Catastrophe theory explains unexpected phenomena associated with school failure, dropouts, illicit behaviors, sudden attitude change, and creativity. Moreover CT could contribute in elucidating theoretical debates and conflicting empirical evidences.
Phase Transitions: In the Brain, Socio-­Dramatic Play and Meaningful Early Learning
Author: Fromberg, Doris Pronin
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Dramatic Play,Early Reading,Young Children,Brain,Brain Hemisphere Functions,Neurosciences,Neuropsychology,Educational Practices,Grammar,Early Experience,Theory Practice Relationship,Early Childhood Education

There are similar, non-linear complex dynamical systems that underlie the epigenetic development of young children. This paper discusses the confluence of research on brain functions; a body or research that informs the characteristics of young children's play and imagination; and the ways in which young children acquire fresh perceptions and cognitions. Focus on the spaces among components of physical and interpersonal relationships can illuminate the processes of these non-linear, complex, dynamical systems. Particular implications are relevant for educational practices.
On Reinventing Education in the Age of Complexity: A Vygotsky-­Inspired Generative Complexity Approach
Author: Jörg, Ton
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Systems Approach,Educational Change,Creativity,Interaction,Causal Models,Learning,Individual Development,Theories

Reinventing education is the ultimate aim of this contribution. The approach taken is a radical new complexity-inspired bottom-up approach which shows complexity as the fount of creativity and innovation. Organizing complexity accordingly may be the foundation for a new complexified vision of education. It all starts with new thinking in complexity about how complexity is actually generated in the real world. Such thinking offers new kinds of complexity like generative and emergent complexity. The approach taken is very much inspired by the genius of Vygotsky, as a visitor from the future. His focus was not only process-oriented, but also very much possibility-oriented. His method was bottom-up, and opened new spaces of the possible, like the Zone of Proximal Development. Yet he was not able to deal with the problem of complexity in his days. He &quot;simply&quot; lacked an adequate causal framework, which showed causation as a generative bottom-up process, to be linked with potential nonlinear effects over time. He could not explain what he saw as possible: the turning points and upheavals of learning and development. In this contribution the focus will be on the link between the new thinking in complexity and the causal, generative nature of complexity in the real world. This link may show the ontological creativity of the entire world in general, and of human learning and development in particular. It may show the power of generativity to unleash this creativity by a new way of theorizing on education. The complexity-inspired theory of development as generative change, as thriving on the generative power of interaction, is fundamental and foundational for this new theorizing.
The Socially Situated Dynamics of Children&apos;s Learning Processes in Classrooms: What Do We Learn from a Complex Dynamic Systems Approach?
Author: Steenbeek, Henderien
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Classroom Techniques,Learning Processes,Group Dynamics,Models,Teaching Models,Science Education,Interaction,Educational Theories,Educational Principles,Teacher Student Relationship,Scheduling,Simulation,Children,Systems Approach,Case Studies,Intervention

This article concentrates on the question what kind of model--conceptual and statistical--can serve as a good working model for the study of learning and teaching processes qua processes. We claim that a good way of answering this question is to begin by observing a teaching and learning process as, where, and when it occurs. In addition, a conceptual model of intertwined learning-teaching processes is discussed, and dynamic modeling as an approach to theory formation about teaching-learning processes. The focus lies on the evolution term, the timescale of interaction processes, state space as a perspective on teacher-student interaction dynamics, and the principle of agency. Finally, an empirical approach to studying teaching-learning processes is illustrated by means of a case study, focusing on the use of cluster analyses techniques. In the Conclusion and Discussion section, further perspectives on theory building and empirical research are discussed.
Using a Complexity Approach to Study the Interpersonal Dynamics in Teacher-­Student Interactions: A Case Study of Two Teachers
Author: Pennings, Helena J. M.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Case Studies,Interpersonal Relationship,Questionnaires,Teacher Behavior,Student Behavior,Grade 8,Grade 9,Science Instruction,Mathematics Instruction,Secondary School Teachers,Foreign Countries,Data Analysis,Systems Approach,Teaching Methods

In the present study, complex dynamic systems theory and interpersonal theory are combined to describe the teacher-student interactions of two teachers with different interpersonal styles. The aim was to show and explain the added value of looking at different steps in the analysis of behavioral time-series data (i.e., observations of teacher and student behaviors) that are described by Warner (1998): (1) the general level and overall coordination, (2) the presence of linear, quadratic and cubic trends in behavior, (3) the coherence and phase in cyclical trends that are superimposed on the linear, quadratic and cubic trends, and (4) the residual fluctuations, when studying the fit between teacher and student interpersonal behavior. Interactional fit is conceptualized, and described in each step of the time-series analysis, using the principle of complementarity (e.g., Kiesler, 1996). Results showed that the teacher-student interactions of the teacher with the most desirable interpersonal style largely followed the complementarity principle, whereas the interactions of the teacher with the less desirable interpersonal style did not. These results are discussed in light of the hypotheses and limitations of the study.
Politics of Education and Teachers&apos; Support for High-Stakes Teacher Accountability Policies
Author: Pizmony-Levy, Oren
Date: 2017-08-21
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Politics of Education,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Evaluation,Accountability,Educational Policy,Performance Based Assessment,Educational Change,Teacher Surveys,Teacher Effectiveness,State Legislation,Educational Legislation,Standardized Tests,Resistance to Change,Multivariate Analysis,Questionnaires,Least Squares Statistics,Regression (Statistics),Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research

Although educators are at the center of contentious high-stakes teacher accountability policies, we know very little about their attitudes toward these policies. This research gap is unfortunate because teachers are considered key actors in successful implementation of educational reforms. To what extent do the politics that accompany the introduction of high-stakes teacher accountability policies affect teachers' support for the policies themselves? To address this gap, we used data from an experimental survey of teachers in New Jersey (n = 444), where a new reform--Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for Children of New Jersey Act (TEACHNJ)--was signed into law in 2012 and implemented shortly thereafter. The cornerstone of the reform is a new evaluation system that ties student performance on standardized tests to teachers' evaluations. We found that the majority of teachers in our study oppose the new evaluation system. Teachers' attitudes were shaped by the politics of the key actors advocating for the policy, perceptions of implementation efforts, and beliefs in the potential outcome of the policy. Open-ended responses indicated that teachers question the validity of the evaluation system and are concerned about the negative intended and unintended consequences of the system. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of these findings for policy studies and policymaking.
Learning &quot;about&quot; and Learning &quot;through&quot; Technology: An Analysis of Syllabi from Foreign Language Teaching Methods Courses
Author: Angus, Katie B.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Course Descriptions,Graduate Students,Teacher Competencies,Methods Courses,Teaching Assistants,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Questionnaires,Coding

The 2007 Modern Language Association (MLA) report recommended that foreign language (FL) graduate students be provided with &quot;substantive training in language teaching and in the use of new technologies&quot;. In the present study, I examined teaching methodology (&quot;methods&quot;) course syllabi in order to gauge the extent of professional development in technology after the publication of the MLA report. Using data from methods course syllabi (N = 31), I explored how FL Teaching Assistants (TAs) learned about technology and learned through technology and found that there were considerable missed opportunities for both. Data suggest that technology in the methods course is not keeping pace with advances in technology and that the methods course needs to be rethought.
Accessing the Curricular Play of Critical and Creative Thinking
Author: Macintyre Latta, Margaret
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,Critical Thinking,Creativity,Educational Change,Case Studies,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Curriculum,Inquiry,Administrator Role,School Culture,Leadership Responsibility,Cooperation

A three-year collaborative research project in a K-6 elementary school is underway. The collaboration entails participating educators and their students exploring curricular enactment that embraces critical and creative thinking within its conduct. This article reveals whole-school efforts over Year One to build educators' and students' confidence to do so, sustaining such curricular practices. Chronicled as a case study, narrative inquiry fittingly unfolds the particularities encountered within the specifics of the case during Year One. Educators' belief in the worthiness of curricular play, as well as concretely negotiating critical and creative thinking with their students, arises as a necessary issue to address in order to invest in the research intents over three years. The integral role of participants' commitments to professional growth through curricular play and experimentation, actively seeking resources, entering wholly into curricular-making efforts, conversing sincerely with colleagues through inquiry conversations, and seeking organizational structures that support and strengthen curricular-making efforts, are found to be key to fostering the pedagogically oriented context needed to grow and sustain project intents.
Assessing Young Children&apos;s Oral Language: Recommendations for Classroom Practice and Policy
Author: Malec, Alesia
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Young Children,Oral Language,Language Tests,Indigenous Populations,Educational Research,Early Childhood Education,Meta Analysis,Action Research,Reading Comprehension,Vocabulary,Syntax,Communicative Competence (Languages),Language Acquisition,Literature Reviews

A systematic review of research on oral language assessments for four-to-eight-year- old children was undertaken to support a six-year action research project aimed toward co-creating classroom oral language assessment tools with teachers in northern rural and Indigenous Canadian communities. Through an extensive screening process, 10 studies were assessed as highly rated and identified for inclusion in the final review. Narrative, vocabulary, and syntax assessments were the most common assessment types found in the final review. Assessment practices in all studies in the final review involved gathering language samples in one-on-one adult-directed contexts. The systematic review also revealed that a preponderance of the research on young children's oral language assessment has been published in speech-language pathology and language testing journals. Although educational researchers recognize the importance of oral language to children's literacy and learning, there is a paucity of research on oral language assessment conducted by educational researchers and published in educational research journals. Implications to policy and classroom practice include recommendations for increased research collaboration between speech-language pathology researchers and literacy researchers along with input from early childhood educators to develop oral language assessment instruments that support children's oral language in classroom settings.
The Emphasis of Student Test Scores in Teacher Appraisal Systems
Author: Smith, William C.
Date: 2017-08-21
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Accountability,Testing,Scores,Feedback (Response),Academic Achievement,Teacher Attitudes,Standardized Tests,Teacher Surveys,Comparative Education,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,International Assessment

Over the past 30 years teachers have been held increasingly accountable for the quality of education in their classroom. During this transition, the line between teacher appraisals, traditionally an instrument for continuous formative teacher feedback, and summative teacher evaluations has blurred. Student test scores, as an &quot;objective&quot; measure, are increasingly used in teacher appraisals in response to historic questions that evaluations are based on &quot;subjective&quot; components. Their central position in appraisals is part of a larger Global Testing Culture, where standardized tests are linked with high stakes outcomes. Although most teacher appraisal systems are based on multiple components, the prominence of testing as the taken for granted measure of quality suggests that not all components are given equal weight or seen as equally important. This article further explores the role of testing in high stakes teacher appraisal systems across 33 countries using data from the 2013 TALIS; addressing both the prominence of student test scores and their relative importance in teacher's perceived feedback utility. Results indicate that, while rarely applied in isolation, student test scores are the most common component used in teacher appraisals. Relative to other components, student achievement is more often emphasized and, when emphasized in feedback, teachers are more likely to feel their appraisal had limited impact on their instruction and was completed solely as an administrative exercise.
Making Sense of the Performance (Dis)Advantage for Immigrant Students across Canada
Author: Volante, Louis
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Secondary School Students,Achievement Tests,International Assessment,Achievement Gap,Immigrants,Generational Differences,Academic Achievement,Educationally Disadvantaged,Educational Policy,Mathematics Achievement,Scores,Socioeconomic Status,Student Characteristics,Family Characteristics,State Policy,Cultural Influences,Demography,Elementary Secondary Education

International achievement measures such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have traditionally reported a significant gap between non-migrant and immigrant student groups--a result that is often referred to as the &quot;immigrant performance disadvantage&quot;. This article examines first- and second-generation immigrant student achievement results in greater detail across Canada. Overall, Canadian achievement results are atypical in relation to the international community in that immigrant student groups significantly outperform non-migrants in some provincial jurisdictions, and also significantly underperform in other provincial jurisdictions, in relation to reading, mathematics, and scientific literacy. This article examines these diverse results in relation to the available literature and offers a conceptual framework that explains the unique case of Canada. The framework highlights the importance of assessing immigrant student achievement by taking into account the level of individual characteristics, provincial policies, as well as sociocultural and demographic contexts across Canada.
Communities of Practice and PISA for Schools: Comparative Learning or a Mode of Educational Governance?
Author: Lewis, Steven
Date: 2017-08-21
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communities of Practice,Achievement Tests,Foreign Countries,International Assessment,Secondary School Students,Comparative Education,Faculty Development,Economic Development,International Trade,Cooperation,Global Approach,Accountability,Educational Policy,Governance,Best Practices

This paper examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) &quot;PISA for Schools,&quot; a new variant of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that compares school-level performance on reading, math and science with international schooling systems (e.g., Shanghai-China, Finland). Specifically, I focus here on a professional learning community--the &quot;Global Learning Network&quot; (GLN)--of U.S. schools and districts that have voluntarily participated in PISA for Schools, and how this, arguably, helps to normatively determine &quot;what works&quot; in education. Drawing suggestively across diverse thinking around contemporary modes of governance, and emerging topological spaces and relations associated with globalization, and informed by interviews with 33 policy actors across the PISA for Schools policy cycle, my analyses suggest that GLN allows the OECD to discursively and normatively constrain how &quot;world-class&quot; schools and systems, and their policies and practices, are defined. However, and in light of the productive capacities of power relations, I also argue that GLN provides opportunities for local educators and leaders to undertake meaningful collaboration and sharing, and to find policy spaces outside of those defined by more performative discursive framings of school accountability. To this end, I explore how GLN may help to foster alternative policy spaces from which educators can &quot;talk back&quot; to national and state authorities, and potentially promote more &quot;authentic&quot; understandings of, and possibilities for, schooling accountability.
Mapping the Field: Examining the Recertification of Internationally Educated Teachers
Author: Marom, Lilach
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Barriers,Teacher Certification,Institutional Characteristics,Political Influences,Educational Policy,Foreign Students,Teacher Education,Case Studies,Interviews,Language Proficiency,Administrative Organization,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,College Faculty,Observation

In this article I examine the structural barriers in the recertication trajectory of internationally educated teachers (IETs) in British Columbia (BC). By applying the Bourdieuian concept of field, I extend from IETs' experiences in the recertification process to institutional and political factors that affect these experiences. I demonstrate how policies and regulations that govern the field as well as the interplay between its main institutional players, namely, the Teacher Regulation Branch, teacher education programs, and school districts, result in unequal opportunities for IETs to be certified and hired as teachers. As a result, IETs' potential contribution to diversifying the teacher force in BC is diminished.