ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
U. S. Fourth Graders' Informational Text Comprehension: Indicators from NAEP
Author: Schugar, Heather R.
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Grade 4,Reading Comprehension,Educational Indicators,National Competency Tests,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Recreational Reading,Content Area Reading,Interdisciplinary Approach,Reading Motivation,Eligibility,Lunch Programs,Classroom Communication,Correlation,At Risk Students,Achievement Gap,Socioeconomic Status,Reading Achievement,Poverty,Componential Analysis

This study is a secondary analysis of reading data collected from over 165,000 fourth graders as part of the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress. Using hierarchical linear modelling, the authors investigated factors associated with students' informational text comprehension, including out-of-school reading engagement, and in-school measures of cross-curricular reading, discussion about reading, and reading-related activities (e.g., book reports, projects). In addition, this study examined the interactions between these factors, informational text comprehension, and students' eligibility for Free and Reduced Priced Meals (FARMS). There were positive associations between students' informational text comprehension and their reading engagement, cross-curricular reading, and discussion about reading. However, reading-related experiences were associated with lower than expected scores. In addition, out-of-school reading engagement and in-school reading experiences may not be associated with informational reading comprehension to the same degree for the most at-risk U.S. students, as most results differed in strength of association for FARMS-eligible students.
Learning to Lead (P)ublic Schools
Author: Stone-Johnson, Corrie
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Schools,Instructional Leadership,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Course Descriptions,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Beliefs,Leadership Training,Alignment (Education),Skills,Graduate Study,Leadership Qualities

Engaging multiple publics calls for a skill set that &quot;stand[s] in stark opposition to the typical types of managerial and administrative habits characteristic of public schools today&quot; (Knight Abowitz, 2011, p. 477). As instructors in two graduate level leadership preparation programs, we grapple with the tension between developing &quot;managerial and administrative habits&quot; and developing leaders who help people &quot;to mobilize around particular problems related to young people and their schools&quot; (p. 467). In this self-study, we explore how these differing discourses influence the work that we do and our ability to help our students learn to engage with multiple publics. Using a structured, collaborative model for our self-study (Patrizio, McNary &amp; Ballock, 2011) that includes doing shared readings about curriculum leadership, studying artifacts from our practice, extending conversations with a series of reflective letters (Altman, 1982), and revisiting all of our data sources as an aggregate for analysis, we find that pressure to align our courses to the state and professional standards that govern our programs prioritizes a focus on managerial and administrative habits. Further, we find that our students' beliefs about curriculum leadership more closely align with a managerial and administrative perspective than one that includes multiple publics. Our findings echo Knight Abowitz's concerns about the types of skills leaders need, the extent to which we expose our students to them, and the mismatch between leadership that privileges a narrow understanding of curriculum and one that transcends any focus on outcomes and blends technical and political skills.
Engaging Families in Cross-Cultural Connections through a School-Based Literacy Fair
Author: Ceprano, Maria A.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Social Studies,Methods Courses,Literacy Education,Urban Schools,Elementary Schools,School Community Programs,College School Cooperation,After School Programs,Cultural Awareness,Family Programs,Professional Development Schools,Minority Group Students,Partnerships in Education,Exhibits,Cooperative Planning,Parent Participation

This paper describes how 20 pre-service teachers enrolled in two social studies methods courses at Buffalo State College worked collaboratively to produce a Cross-cultural Literacy Fair at an urban-based elementary school. The participatory activities created for the event were provided in conjunction with a community after-school program and directed at promoting literacy and cross-cultural understandings not only for the children enrolled at the school but for their parents, as well. Events yielded a positive venue for Teacher Candidates to interact with parents and children and demonstrated ways literacy and other cultural understandings can be successfully and appreciatively supported at home. The authors are educators in the Department of Elementary Education and Reading and work with students enrolled in social studies/literacy methods courses that are infused within their first field based practicum at Enterprise Charter School (ECS), an urban based professional development school with demographics generally indicating high percentages of minority children from high poverty families.
Investigation on How Pre-Service Elementary Mathematics Teachers Write and Use Mathematical Definitions
Author: Özyildirim Gümüs, Feride
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Investigations,Preservice Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Mathematics,Mathematics Teachers,Definitions,Mathematical Concepts,Mathematics Instruction,College Mathematics,Semi Structured Interviews,Problem Solving,Qualitative Research,Research Methodology,Algebra,Mathematical Formulas

The aim of the study was to determine whether pre-service elementary mathematics teachers could write and use mathematical definitions. For this reason, the question sheet containing two questions, was given to 76 pre-service teachers in a public university who was taking general mathematics course. Qualitative research method was used during data analysing. According to the answers given by them, five themes for the first and six themes for the second question were classified. In order to reach detailed results, semi-structured interviews were conducted with one pre-service teacher for each theme. Findings showed that they had difficulties in writing a formal definition assumed to be known and in using a given definition assumed to be not known of a mathematical concept.
Project Learning in Science: 6th Graders' Scientific Investigations
Author: Shea, Mary
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Projects,Teaching Methods,Grade 4,Middle School Students,Science Process Skills,Student Research,Science Experiments,Inquiry,Science Instruction,Common Core State Standards,Early Adolescents,Developmentally Appropriate Practices

This article presents rationale for an enhanced inquiry approach to science education that authentically integrates content knowledge and application skills in a middle school science curriculum. Such pedagogy ensures students' attainment of national and state standards for learning science and multiple literacies (e.g. language arts and technology) recognized as tools for science achievement; it also provides developmentally appropriate instruction aligned with characteristics of young adolescent learners. Two projects are described; in both, students research, experiment, construct, create, compose, and report, integrating multiple complex skills in ways that simulate real world science investigation. Results demonstrate that students recognize their work as relevant and take responsibility for quality and outcomes.
Engaging Young Readers with Text through Shared Reading Experiences
Author: Honchell, Barbara
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Programs,Reading Aloud to Others,Reading Instruction,Teaching Methods,Cooperative Learning,Young Children,Story Reading,Books,Printed Materials,Visual Aids,Early Reading,Beginning Reading,Semi Structured Interviews,Reading Teachers

This article explores Shared Reading as an instructional approach that mimics home reading experiences in a group setting for young children. The article includes information about how to use enlarged text as the teacher provides experiences with books that first focus on the meaning and enjoyment of the story and then shifts to how print works and conventions that enhance the meaning of the story. The importance of being able to see the print in enlarged text that allows the teacher to extend the read aloud experience to include viewing print in big books and charts establishing the beginnings of visual attention to letters, words, and punctuation is examined.
Perceived Benefits of an Undergraduate Degree
Author: Norton, Cole
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Attainment,Higher Education,Intellectual Development,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Educational Benefits,Employment Potential,Student Attitudes,Career Development,Economic Factors,Research Methodology,Academic Degrees,Attitude Change,Outcomes of Education,Developmental Stages,Epistemology,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Online Surveys

Canadian university students tend to endorse employment-related reasons for attending university ahead of other reasons such as personal satisfaction or intellectual growth. In the present study, first- and fourth-year students from a mid-sized Canadian university reported on the benefits they expected to receive from their degree and rated their relative importance. These open-ended responses suggested that both groups of students placed a greater emphasis on benefits related to career preparation and economic advancement than those associated with learning and self-improvement. However, when asked to evaluate the importance of a comprehensive list of degree-related benefits both groups of students endorsed the value of many of them, including those related to learning and self-improvement. Our results suggest the importance of methodology in gathering data about this issue, and we consider them in light of current concerns with helping students to understand the full value of their degree.
The Presence of Gender Disparity on the Force Concept Inventory in a Sample of Canadian Undergraduate Students
Author: Normandeau, Magdalen
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Scientific Concepts,Mechanics (Physics),Gender Differences,College Science,Pretests Posttests,Science Tests,Scores,Science Achievement,Achievement Gains,Teaching Methods,Statistical Analysis

Concept inventories (CI) are validated, research-based, multiple-choice tests, which are widely used to assess the effectiveness of pedagogical practices in bringing about conceptual change. In order to be a useful diagnostic tool, a CI must reflect only the student understanding of the conceptual material. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is arguably the standard for testing conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Studies in the United States and United Kingdom have shown the existence of a gender gap in FCI scores and gains between male and female students. This study aimed to examine whether such a gap exists for Canadian students at a mid-sized university. Four-hundred and thirty-four men and 379 women taking first-term introductory physics courses from the past nine years were assessed with the FCI prior to and after receiving instruction. A gender gap in the pre-instruction and post instruction scores was revealed in favour of male students (p &lt; 0.01). There also existed a gender disparity in the learning gains between the two tests, where males had significantly higher gains (p &lt; 0.01), although the effect size was small. Further analysis found that both male and female students who studied in classes that included interactive engagement methods had somewhat higher gains than students in traditional lecture courses, but that the interactive engagement methods did not eliminate the gender gap between male and female students (p &lt; 0.01). Our results sound a cross-disciplinary note of caution for anyone using concept inventories as research or self-assessment tools.
Does Correct Answer Distribution Influence Student Choices When Writing Multiple Choice Examinations?
Author: Carnegie, Jacqueline A.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Student Evaluation,Multiple Choice Tests,Test Format,Test Items,Summative Evaluation,Computer Assisted Testing,Test Construction,Test Wiseness,Outcomes of Education,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Word Order,Student Surveys,Foreign Countries

Summative evaluation for large classes of first- and second-year undergraduate courses often involves the use of multiple choice question (MCQ) exams in order to provide timely feedback. Several versions of those exams are often prepared via computer-based question scrambling in an effort to deter cheating. An important parameter to consider when preparing multiple exam versions is that they must be equivalent in their assessment of student knowledge. This project investigated a possible influence of correct answer organization on student answer selection when writing multiple versions of MCQ exams. The specific question asked was whether the existence of a series of four to five consecutive MCQs in which the same letter represented the correct answer had a detrimental influence on a student's ability to continue to select the correct answer as he/she moved through that series. Student outcomes from such exams were compared with results from exams with identical questions but which did not contain such series. These findings were supplemented by student survey data in which students self-assessed the extent to which they paid attention to the distribution of correct answer choices when writing summative exams, both during their initial answer selection and when transferring their answer letters to the Scantron sheet for correction. Despite the fact that more than half of survey respondents indicated that they do make note of answer patterning during exams and that a series of four to five questions with the same letter for the correct answer would encourage many of them to take a second look at their answer choice, the results pertaining to student outcomes suggest that MCQ randomization, even when it does result in short serial arrays of letter-specific correct answers, does not constitute a distraction capable of adversely influencing student performance.
Finding Place in Higher Education: An Epistemological Analysis
Author: Crooks, Shelagh M.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,Epistemology,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Educational Practices,Student Attitudes,College Students,Student Adjustment

Though the topic of student transition into the culture and practices of higher education has been the subject of considerable investigation by scholars, the transition literature has been largely silent on the epistemological challenges that new students face in the context of the university classroom. The purpose of this paper is to look at student transition from this unique perspective. The paper reviews recent empirical research in the area of &quot;personal epistemology,&quot; which establishes the facts regarding what students actually believe about knowledge and knowing as they enter university. The paper also provides an analysis of the epistemological beliefs of university teachers, and the influence that these beliefs have on the teachers' educational practice. A key issue discussed here is the conflict between students' conception of knowledge (as certain and possessed by authorities) and their teachers' conception of knowledge (as something constructed through a process of evidential inquiry). Finally, the impact of this epistemological conflict on students' ability to make sense out of, and find their place in, the new and different learning environment of the university is considered.
Student Perceptions of Staged Transfer to Independent Research Skills during a Four-Year Honours Science Undergraduate Program
Author: Symons, Sarah L.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Research Skills,Honors Curriculum,College Science,Longitudinal Studies,Program Effectiveness,Science Programs,Skill Development,Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries

We describe interim results of an ongoing longitudinal pedagogical study investigating the efficacy of the Honours Integrated Science Program (iSci). We describe the pedagogical methods we use to prompt research skill development in a model from instructor-dependence to independent original research. We also describe a tool we use to help students organise their group research during their first attempts. Finally, we discuss students' perceptions of how well iSci develops their research skills. Our results show that students are attracted to the iSci program because of the opportunities for research-based learning and skills development. We also found that in-program students value research skill development as a tool for successful completion of their degree and for their future academic or career plans. We conclude that our study methods help identify areas where we can support our students by building their research confidence and, in particular, their time-management skills.
Implementation and Evaluation of the Course Dossier Methodology
Author: Khanam, Wahidun N.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Teaching Methods,Science Education,Physics,Humanities,Scientific Concepts,Reflection,Writing (Composition),Essays,Hermeneutics,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Peer Evaluation,Constructivism (Learning),Writing Across the Curriculum,Concept Formation,Scientific Attitudes,Student Evaluation,Scientific Literacy,Semi Structured Interviews,Data Analysis,Learning Strategies,Problem Solving

It has been argued that for novice students to acquire a full understanding of scientific texts, they also need to pursue a recurrent construction of their comprehension of scientific concepts. The course dossier method has students examine concepts in multiple passes: (a) through reflective writing on text before it is considered in the classroom, (b) in a one-page essay at the end of the week, and (c) through a final essay at the end of the term. Students are encouraged to relate to the text in their reflective writing and critiques in the manner of a hermeneutical circle. Students are further scaffolded in writing their final essay by the use of student reviewers. This study explored how students in a humanities course perceived and accomplished the course dossier method. It was found that students' understanding of concepts improved as the course progressed.
Empowering Children with Adaptive Technology Skills: Careful Engagement in the Digital Information Age
Author: Huda, Miftachul
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Assistive Technology,Skill Development,Technological Literacy,Empowerment,Technological Advancement,Children,Moral Development,Learner Engagement,Developmentally Appropriate Practices,Appropriate Technology,Child Safety,Child Development,Influence of Technology

The technological advancement occurring in the world today has a potency to create positive and negative side effects especially on children. The positive side may entail increased empathy and acceptance of diversity through modelling the prosocial behaviours, while the negative can be manifest in aggressive behaviour, risky sexual behaviour, and substance abuse. These challenges pose a need to draw a particular attention to children's rights of protection and care in relation to the use of technology. This paper sought to critically explore the way in which children adapt technology skills and the way they respond towards media influences. The findings revealed that the adaptive technology skills are needed in providing a considerable guidance for child protection and careful engagement towards digital information as part of their rights to natural growth and development.
Academic Achievement and Perceived Peer Support among Turkish Students: Gender and Preschool Education Impact
Author: Bursal, Murat
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Academic Achievement,Peer Relationship,Peer Acceptance,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Gender Differences,Socioeconomic Status,Low Income Students,Factor Analysis,Preschool Education,Correlation,Scores,Student Development,Social Development,Prior Learning,Surveys,Likert Scales,Statistical Analysis

This study was conducted to investigate the academic achievement and perceived peer support levels of 4th-8th grade Turkish elementary and middle school students at low socio-economic status. Factorial design analyses were used to test the statistical effects of gender and preschool education variables on the dependent variables. The findings indicated that while girls performed a higher general academic achievement in school courses than boys, the perceived peer support levels were similar for both groups. On the other hand, although no significant effect of preschool education was detected on academic achievement, students who had completed preschool education were found to have significantly higher perceived peer support scores than their peers. Similar to findings of studies from non-Western contexts, no significant relationship was found between the Turkish students' academic achievement and perceived peer support levels.
Relations between Prejudice, Cultural Intelligence and Level of Entrepreneurship: A Study of School Principals
Author: Baltaci, Ali
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Correlation,Cultural Awareness,Regression (Statistics),Entrepreneurship,Bias,Principals,Grounded Theory,Administrator Attitudes,Elementary Schools,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Factor Analysis,Statistical Analysis

The aim of this study is to determine the mediating role of prejudice in the relationship between the cultural intelligence of school principals and the level of entrepreneurship. The design of this study was classified as correlational survey research. This study was designed by quantitative research method. The universe of this study constitutes 642 School Principals. In this study, the entire universe was reached and a &quot;complete counting&quot; technique was used. Relations between the variables of this study were examined by correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. Findings have shown that cultural intelligence is positively related to prejudice and entrepreneurship. As a result of the hierarchical regression analysis, the prejudice has been completely mediated-agent between the cultural intelligence and the level of entrepreneurship. The positive relationship between cultural intelligence and prejudice has been identified for the first time and this finding contributes exceptional data for literature. This research is also particularly important in that it is the first study to examine the relationship between the level of entrepreneurship, the prejudice, and the cultural intelligence. The findings are helpful to the educational and organizational literature, but in practice, they will provide strategic alternatives for school principals to engage in entrepreneurial activities.