ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
As an Infused or a Separated Theme? Chinese Science Teacher Educators' Conceptions of Incorporating Nature of Science Instruction in the Courses of Training Pre-Service Science Teachers
Author: Wan, Zhi Hong
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Scientific Principles,Science Instruction,Teacher Educators,Teacher Attitudes,Preservice Teacher Education,Science Teachers,Preferences,Interviews,Inquiry,Active Learning,Integrated Activities,Science History,Textbooks,Textbook Evaluation,Influences,Teaching Methods,History,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Course Content

Teaching nature of science (NOS) is beginning to find its place in science education in China. This exploratory study interviewed twenty-four Chinese science teacher educators about their conceptions of teaching NOS to pre-service science teachers. Although five dimensions emerged, this paper mainly focuses on reporting the findings relevant to one dimension, i.e., incorporating NOS instruction in the courses of training pre-service science teachers. There were two preferences: twelve out of the twenty-four educators preferred having NOS instruction infused into the teaching of various course components, including inquiry-based science teaching approach, history of science, science subject content, and school science textbook analysis. The others chose to have a separated NOS module in their courses, though they indicated NOS might be also touched upon in other course components. It was found that three factors influenced their preference; the textbooks currently used by Chinese science teacher educators to train pre-service science teachers, their views of NOS content to be taught, and their vision of teaching NOS. We argue that the findings in this study provide some hints on ways to encourage science teacher educators to give higher priority to NOS instruction in their courses, which is believed necessary for achieving the goal of developing public's scientific literacy. (Contains 3 tables and 4 footnotes.)
An Understanding of Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development among German Student Teachers and Trainee Teachers of Chemistry
Author: Burmeister, Mareike
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Sustainable Development,Sustainability,Chemistry,Science Instruction,Teacher Attitudes,Positive Attitudes,Political Influences,Foreign Countries,Role of Education,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Teaching Methods,Student Teacher Attitudes,Student Teachers,Likert Scales,Surveys

Sustainable development is a central concern of today's politics across the world. Different political agendas have been developed to promote sustainability and make it a political goal worldwide. As stated in Agenda 21, the political debate seems to agree that education has to play a key role in achieving sustainability. But practices focusing on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are rarely implemented in many educational domains, including chemistry teaching. A more thorough focus on ESD in chemistry teaching demands, among other things, a positive teacher attitude towards ESD, specific subject matter knowledge, and knowledge of suitable pedagogies. Such knowledge concerning ESD in these three areas is generally rare in the literature, particularly in the German context. This is why the current paper elaborates German student teachers' and trainee teachers understanding of sustainability and ESD, including their viewpoints on chemistry education. In this study, 87 student teachers and 97 trainee teachers answered a set of closed, Likert-type and open survey-questions that were analyzed both, qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of the study indicate that these groups show principally positive attitudes towards ESD in chemistry education. However, their knowledge is only vaguely informed in the theoretical sense. Few participants in this study possessed any clear, theory-supported concepts when it came to either sustainability, or ESD. (Contains 5 tables and 6 figures.)
Asserting the Possible: Gunzenhauser&apos;s &quot;Ethics of the Everyday.&quot; Response to the Presidential Address
Author: Worley, Virginia
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Presidents,Ethics,Power Structure,Political Influences,High Stakes Tests,Accountability,Educational Philosophy,Neoliberalism,Criticism,Educational Attitudes,Moral Values,Standards,Teacher Responsibility,Speeches,Teaching Methods

In this article, the author responds to the Presidential address, &quot;Ethics for the New Political Economy: What Can It Mean to Be Professionally Responsible?&quot; in which Michael G. Gunzenhauser defines, names, and proposes a professional ethics for educators: an ethics of the everyday. The author introduces her response by stating that neither an ethics of collective action nor an ethics of protest, ethics of the everyday concerns how human beings daily treat each other and, specifically, in the context within which Gunzenhauser writes, how educators daily regard and behave toward each other, students, parents, and school staff. Practicing ethics of the everyday within schools and other public educational settings does not mean working to transcend school, district, state, and national structures but transforming one&apos;s individual practice so to assert the possible while attending to dangers, especially the eminent danger of foreclosing students&apos; and one&apos;s own possibilities. Asserting the possible means transforming children&apos;s daily lives in schools--their learning and social experiences, their claiming knowledge and educations--and means creating a facilitating environment  through which children reclaim themselves as individuals and individuals in community. Educators&apos; first step toward embracing Gunzenhauser&apos;s ethics of the everyday is a step many educators neglect, ignore, or never think about at all, a step even teacher educators fail to take, work through with their students, and require their students to formulate: their philosophies of teaching and of education. Through formulating a philosophy that grounds one&apos;s teaching practice in ethics of the everyday, teachers would be bound to include this element of possibility where Gunzenhauser argues power, politics, relationships, and ethics converge. The author explores these areas in depth, examining Gunzenhauser&apos;s views on high-stakes accountability within U.S. neoliberalism; his critique of educators conflating test-score accountability with professionalism and professional ethics; his use of &quot;professionalism&quot; and &quot;professional ethics&quot;; and his ethics of the everyday as a moral ideal for the teaching profession. (Contains 20 footnotes.)
Thoughts on the Power and Promise of Parent Organizing
Author: Quinn, Rand
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,Activism,Advocacy,Parent Participation,Community Organizations,School Community Relationship,Politics of Education,Educational Administration,Participative Decision Making,Urban Schools,Educational Finance,Principals

Urban districts throughout the nation are contending with declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, persistently low student achievement, increased competition with charters, and severe fiscal constraints. Philadelphia is a case in point. Over the past year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was forced to borrow $304 million dollars to cover basic operating expenses, close 24 of its 242 schools, and lay off thousands of its employees. As of this writing, schools have been allotted a principal and a secretary but must anticipate operating without assistant principals, counselors, or support staff. Essential student programs have been curtailed or eliminated, and the district faces the very real prospect of yet another round of closures ahead of the 2013-14 school year. Despite these unprecedented cuts, the district continues to carry an enormous budget deficit. This is due, in part, to the state, which in recent years has reduced funding and maintained an allocation formula that places Philadelphia, with its comparatively large population of low-income students and English language learners, at a disadvantage. Although the state has offered a partial bailout, it is contingent on a set of salary and benefit concessions totaling $133 million that have yet to be approved by the affected unions, including the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. With colleagues, these authors spent the summer assessing the political terrain of the district by interviewing a diverse group of parent advocates, organizers, and activists, as well as district staff and elected officials. Their efforts will continue in the fall. However, Lytle's commentary on the &quot;deconstruction&quot; of the SDP has led them to briefly reflect on their interviews, and to offer their own (still developing) perspective. Lytle writes that a social movement (&quot;Occupy our Schools&quot;) to reinvent schooling as &quot;engaging, demanding, responsive, accessible, timely, [and] future-oriented&quot; is a solution. These authors agree, and from their interviews, many stakeholders and knowledgeable observers of Philadelphia schools would also agree. But this, of course, is easier said than done. Several of the interview participants described the disparate and disconnected nature of parent organizing for school reform in light of what many see as a vibrant and dense agglomeration of nonprofit and voluntary organizations that could play facilitative roles. The authors call on their fellow educators and organizers to look for ways to better facilitate and channel parent impact and power.
Suicide in the Middle Years
Author: Coombs, David W.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Suicide,Adults,At Risk Persons,Victims,Trend Analysis,Natural Disasters,Prevention,Economic Factors,Age Differences,Racial Differences,Gender Differences,Environmental Influences,Unemployment,Mental Health,Religion,Mental Disorders,Weapons,Substance Abuse,Conflict,Family Relationship,Social Isolation,Psychological Patterns,Intervention,Counseling,Professional Training

This article presents an overview of adult suicide in the United States and Alabama. This includes the latest available information on the prevalence of suicide in the US and Alabama, demographic characteristics of suicide victims, trends in suicide, and known reasons behind adult suicide. With respect to adult suicide in Alabama, it focuses on economic issues and the recent occurrences of natural disasters. Also provided are risk factors and early, acute warning signs for potentially suicidal adults as well as selected strategies for preventing individual suicides.
Preparing Teachers--The Importance of Connecting Contexts in Teacher Education
Author: Adoniou, Misty
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Context Effect,Alignment (Education),Teacher Education Programs,Teacher Effectiveness,Best Practices,Practicums,Employment Potential,Organizational Development,Models,Foreign Countries,Beginning Teacher Induction,Partnerships in Education,Elementary School Teachers,Teaching Experience,Classroom Observation Techniques,Interviews,Online Surveys,Phenomenology,Individual Development,Professional Development

Everybody wants quality teachers in schools. How are such teachers developed? In this article a model is presented that describes four contexts crucial to the preparation of teachers: the personal, the university, the practicum and the employment contexts. The ways in which these different contexts can and should work together in the education and development of teachers are discussed. The model was developed as a result of a 16 month inductive study into the first year experience of 14 beginning teachers who were graduates of a Bachelor of Education in Primary teaching in an Australian university. Whilst the findings of the study are immediately applicable to the teacher education course under investigation, congruence with findings in other studies, both Australian and international, suggests  the model may have applications beyond the university in the study. (Contains 1 figure.)
The Weaving of a Tapestry: A Metaphor for Teacher Education Curriculum Development
Author: Simon, Susan E
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Education,Curriculum Development,Figurative Language,Foreign Countries,Accountability,Standards,Teacher Educators,Program Development,Teacher Education Programs,Accreditation (Institutions),Advertising,Social Justice,Inclusion,Capacity Building

Teacher educators rightfully dream of delivering inspiring programs to benefit future teachers and the students they will in turn inspire. However, in the current teacher education environment in Australia, the artisan's craft of weaving rich texture and producing a masterpiece is potentially over-shadowed by the educational administrator's continual focus on the mapping of professional standards to produce an accreditation-worthy product. Responding to increased accountability, teacher educators at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, embarked on re-developing  programs utilising a process akin to tapestry weaving. This metaphor enriched contributors' understanding of the complex process of teacher education program re-development and it reflected qualities associated with the emergence of a tapestry, including artistic blocks and changing perspectives, agendas and anticipated outcomes. (Contains 5 figures.)
Changes in Pre-Service Teachers Perceptions' of Teacher Qualities: Development from Egocentric to Student Centric
Author: Sheridan, Lynn D.
Date: 2013-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Student Teacher Attitudes,Attitude Change,Preservice Teacher Education,Beliefs,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Competencies,Theory Practice Relationship,Professional Identity,Constructivism (Learning),Foreign Countries,Student Surveys,Focus Groups,Semi Structured Interviews,Mixed Methods Research

This study looks at pre-service teachers' developing perceptions with a view to supporting teacher education practices. In determining and guiding program structures it is the opinions of the experts that are most often heard. Absent from this debate is an understanding of the changing perceptions of the pre-service teacher as they progress through their program. The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of pre-service teacher belief systems' highlighting, the relevance this has for understanding and supporting pre-service teacher development. The perceptions of valued teacher qualities changed from ego-centric beliefs to student centric practices for the participants in this study. Effective teacher education makes connections between perceptions and new ideas, building on existing conceptual frameworks. Findings from this study contribute to the discourse on how pre-service teachers construct and reframe their beliefs about &quot;good&quot; teachers as they progress from pre-service teacher to graduate teacher. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)
Start with the End in Mind: Experiences of Accelerated Course Completion by Pre-Service Teachers and Educators
Author: Collins, Anita
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Program Effectiveness,Measures (Individuals),Student Motivation,Acceleration (Education),Postsecondary Education,Preservice Teachers,Adult Students,College Students,Difficulty Level,Outcomes of Education,Mixed Methods Research,Online Surveys,Interviews,Pretests Posttests,Focus Groups,Teacher Educators,Demography,Student Characteristics,Gender Differences,Age Differences,Expectation,Delivery Systems,Student Attitudes

In response to changes government funding and policies over the past five years, the Australian tertiary sector has entered an increasingly competitive climate. This has forced many universities to become more strategic in attracting increased numbers of PSTs. Providing accelerated learning opportunities for PSTs is viewed as one way to gain greater market share. Accelerated learning programs are one of the fastest growing transformations in Australian higher education over the past five years. There is limited research that investigates the effectiveness of accelerated programs and the ways in which PSTs experience them. This preliminary study investigates the experiences of pre-service teachers and educators, via a purpose built instrument, of an accelerated learning program in Australia. The study found that PSTs were strongly motivated by such factors as early course competition and greater study plan flexibility. This study  contributes to the emerging field of accelerated learning design in the  tertiary sector. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)
Usefulness of a Survey on Underage Drinking in a Rural American Indian Community Health Clinic
Author: Gilder, David A.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Areas,Youth,At Risk Persons,Alcohol Abuse,Clinics,Surveys,Children,Young Adults,Adolescents,Reservation American Indians,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Marijuana,Stimulants,Drug Abuse,Psychological Patterns,Suicide,Motor Vehicles,Smoking,Injuries,Health Programs,Regression (Statistics),Mixed Methods Research

This study examined the usefulness of a survey on underage drinking in a rural American Indian community health clinic. One hundred ninety-seven youth (90 male, 107 female; age range 8-20 years) were recruited from clinic waiting rooms and through community outreach. The study revealed that the usefulness of the survey was twofold: Survey results could be used by clinic staff to screen for underage drinking and associated problems in youth served by the clinic, and the process of organizing, evaluating, and implementing the survey results accomplished several important goals of community-based participatory research. (Contains 4 tables.)
Teachers' Questioning Techniques in Advanced Level Chemistry Lessons: A Tanzanian Perspective
Author: Kira, Ernest
Date: 2013-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Questioning Techniques,Advanced Courses,Chemistry,Foreign Countries,Thinking Skills,Learning Motivation,Secondary School Curriculum,Classroom Observation Techniques,Interviews,Teaching Skills,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Knowledge Level,Educational Practices

This study investigated the extent to which teachers' questioning techniques and the way teachers handled students' responses facilitated students' learning and promoted their thinking skills. The study focused on three secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. The data collection process involved classroom observations during chemistry lessons and interviews of 10 chemistry teachers. The findings showed that 80% of the observed teachers had a moderate ability in using questioning techniques to measure students' understanding. The interesting observation in all schools was that teachers interacted frequently with active students and bothered less to involve the least active ones. Moreover, above 80% of all teachers had problems of promoting students' thinking by maintaining a balance between the open- ended and close-ended questions or between convergent and divergent questions. Also, the teachers indicated severe weaknesses in guiding classroom discussions through effective questioning as their abilities in probing were low. Thus, in-service program for these teachers may improve their classroom questioning behaviour. (Contains 4 tables.)
Consistency in the Reporting of Sensitive Behaviors by Adolescent American Indian Women: A Comparison of Interviewing Methods
Author: Mullany, Britta
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,Adolescents,Interviews,Research Methodology,Computers,Drug Use,Sexuality,At Risk Persons,Questionnaires,Early Parenthood,Reservation American Indians,Pregnancy,Health Behavior,Drinking

Computer-assisted interviewing techniques have increasingly been used in program and research settings to improve data collection quality and efficiency. Little is known, however, regarding the use of such techniques with American Indian (AI) adolescents in collecting sensitive information. This brief compares the consistency of AI adolescent mothers' reporting of sensitive sexual and drug use behaviors gathered through three distinct interviewing techniques: computer-assisted (ACASI), self-administered questionnaire (SAQ), and face-to-face interview (FTFI). Endorsement of drug use and reporting of sexual activity was highest for ACASI, followed by SAQ, and was significantly lower for FTFI. Relatively strong agreement was measured between ACASI and SAQ, and relatively poor agreement was measured between the ACASI and FTFI. Findings support the use of computer-assisted interviewing techniques with AI adolescents, and implications for future research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)
Incorporating the Aesthetic Dimension into Pedagogy
Author: Webster, R. Scott
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Aesthetics,Teaching Methods,Case Studies,Educational Philosophy,Learning Activities,Outcomes of Education,High Stakes Tests,Secondary School Teachers,Educational Practices,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Attitudes,Interviews,Mathematics Instruction,History Instruction,Science Instruction,Technology Education,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Observation,Semi Structured Interviews

This paper reports on a case study that was undertaken to discover not only the belief and intent behind the everyday opportunities that four exemplary teachers offered their high performing students but what activities they incorporated into their everyday lessons in an attempt to make sense of how aesthetic experiences may enhance learning. The paper explores the importance of understanding the effects of practical aesthetic experiences on learning as identified by pragmatist philosopher and educator John Dewey. It is assumed here that every classroom experience is an aesthetic experience that may be positive (i.e. educative), negative (i.e. miseducative) or benign; it will affect the students in some way. This recognition is crucial to avoid unintended miseducative practices and alternatively embrace positive aesthetic learning practices and rituals. Adopting an aesthetic pedagogy in the classroom does imply taking the &quot;scenic route&quot; of learning but it does  not necessarily compromise or work against the current dominant practice of high-stakes testing and measured outcomes. It alternatively claims to positively enhance these compulsory and measured outcomes for students in that they can critically engage with these practices.
Averting Uncertainty: A Practical Guide to Physical Activity Research in Australian Schools
Author: Rachele, Jerome N.
Date: 2013-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Research,Educational Researchers,Health Promotion,Physical Activities,Research Design,Outcome Measures,Predictor Variables,Measures (Individuals),Observation,Measurement Techniques,Feedback (Response),Incentives,Ethics,Participation

Preventative health has become central to contemporary health care, identifying youth physical activity as a key factor in determining health and functioning. Schools offer a unique research setting due to distinctive methodological circumstances. However, school-based researchers face several obstacles in their endeavour to complete successful research investigations; often confronted with complex research designs and methodological procedures that are not easily amenable to school contexts. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical guide for teachers (both teacher educators and teaching practitioners) seeking to conduct physical activity-based research in Australian school settings, as well as discuss research practices. The research enabling process has been divided into six  phases: preparation; design; outcome measures; procedures; participants; and feedback. Careful planning and consideration must be undertaken prior to the commencement of, and during the research process, due to the complex nature of school settings and research processes that exist in the Australian context.