ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Defining Primary Geography from Teachers&apos; Expertise: What Chilean Teachers Mean by Geography
Author: Salinas-Silva, Victor
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Geography,Geography Instruction,Elementary School Teachers,Expertise,Foreign Countries,Personal Narratives,Rural Schools,Inservice Teacher Education,Teaching Methods,Preservice Teacher Education,Qualitative Research,Content Analysis,Structured Interviews

This article examines teachers' subject expertise in a context where geography could be considered a neglected school subject. Using an empirical approach to the problem, the article aims to provide a view on the dynamics of teaching primary geography in Chile, through considering teachers' narratives on curriculum making and their associated conceptualisations of the discipline. 21 rural educators were interviewed about geography education to gain a general view of primary geography in the country. Findings reveal the need to understand how teachers conceive of and accommodate geographical knowledge. Even though there is a recognised chain of pressures regarding curriculum changes and deficient initial teacher training, geography as a school subject is still in place because of teachers' practices. Recognising their dynamics will shed light on how to make geography sustainable as a school subject in the future.
A Comparison of Questions and Tasks in Geography Textbooks before and after Curriculum Reform in China
Author: Yang, Daihu
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,Geography,Geography Instruction,Textbooks,Content Analysis,Foreign Countries,Curriculum Development,Taxonomy,Textbook Content,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Outcomes of Education,Chinese,High School Students

This study centres on the questions and tasks in geography textbooks written before and after the curriculum reform in China. The aim of the study is to reveal the recent changes in amount, learning outcomes and types of questions and tasks in geography textbooks as well as the extent to which the ideas and intentions advocated by the curriculum reform have been actualized in the questioning and tasking practices of geography textbooks. Five geography textbooks written before and after the curriculum reform have been quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed and compared in terms of amount, learning outcomes and type. The findings show that the questioning and tasking practices can be characterized as an increase in amount, more emphasis on the intermediate-order cognitive level of analysis, little concern for the affective and psychomotor abilities, and less diversity of types of questions and tasks. Current textbook writing does not fully and vigorously respond to the ideas and intentions articulated by the curriculum reform. The amount, learning outcomes and types of questions and tasks in the geography textbooks need to be adjusted so as to better meet the aims of the curriculum reform.
&quot;The Hole in the Sky Causes Global Warming&quot;: A Case Study of Secondary School Students&apos; Climate Change Alternative Conceptions
Author: Chang, Chew-Hung
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Secondary School Students,Scientific Concepts,Climate,Ecology,Misconceptions,Males,Pretests Posttests,Natural Disasters,Conservation (Environment),Knowledge Level,Geography,Case Studies,Multiple Choice Tests,Films

This study identified secondary school students' alternative conceptions (ACs) of climate change and their resistance to instruction. Using a case-based approach, a diagnostic test was administered to Secondary 3 male students in a pre-test and post-test. The ACs identified in the pre-test were on the causes of climate change, the natural greenhouse effect and its properties, the enhancement of the greenhouse effect, the elements involved in heat-trapping and their characteristics. There were also notable ACs on the effects of climate change, mostly on how the phenomenon is related to nonatmospheric events such as tsunami, earthquakes, acid rain and skin cancer. The students confuse the Montreal with the Kyoto Protocol as the primary treaty aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Whereas there was significant improvement in students' understanding in the post-test, the distribution of responses for each of the ACs showed that the reduction in erroneous responses was not sufficient to reject the ACs fully. The authors recommend that instruction should move beyond patchwork pedagogy to a more explicit acknowledgement, incorporation and direct refutation of misconceived knowledge structures.
Transforming Sustainability Development Education in Malaysian Schools through Greening Activities
Author: Hanifah, Mahat
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Sustainability,Sustainable Development,Conservation (Environment),Questionnaires,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Secondary School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Program Effectiveness,Behavior Change,Correlation,Knowledge Level,Competition,Educational Environment,Documentation,Check Lists,Individual Characteristics,Gardening,Energy Conservation

This article aims to evaluate the practice of sustainability among Malaysian Secondary Schools involved in the Sustainable Schools Program Environmental Award (SLAAS). The research attempts to identify the SLAAS effects on teachers' and students' behaviors after direct involvement with the activities of the program. The cluster sampling technique was used in selecting the school samples and the respondents were then also selected through simple random sampling among upper secondary pupils. A questionnaire survey was administered for 247 teachers and 447 pupils, to evaluate the after effects of the SLAAS. Document analysis was employed to identify the greening activities that were carried out in the schools involved. The results showed that the schools' involvement in SLAAS had some transformative effect on the schools especially on greening activities and also on sustainable behavior within the school compound. Based on the correlation analysis, it showed that there was a significant correlation between the knowledge about SLAAS program and the behavior of the teachers and similarly, it was also found that the significant correlation between the knowledge of the SLAAS and the behavior of the pupils post SLAAS. Hence SLAAS must be continuously deployed in school outdoor activities on greening efforts to educate pupils to sustain environmental quality. It is suggested that teachers should play the role model of sustainability, not only for the pupils but also for the public.
The Initial Training of Geography Teachers at the University of Porto: Model and Training, Practices and Representations
Author: Martins, Felisbela
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Geography,Geography Instruction,Foreign Countries,Student Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,Teaching Methods,Masters Programs,History Instruction,History

Since 2008, the initial training of Geography teachers in Portugal was combined with the initial training of History teachers. This forced union has led to implications in the practices and teaching of geography. This paper intends to explore the thoughts and actions of the student teachers at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto, (FLUP), with regard to the practices they follow, as well as understand their points of view about what they teach and how they teach Geography. We further intend to examine their opinion about what Geography and Geographical Education is. To this end, we gathered information from student teachers and cooperating supervisors based on questionnaires and classroom diaries, from 2008 to 2013. We found that students are concerned with their image as teachers, and are far from thinking they are educators with the ability to adopt an investigative attitude to their mode of teaching, as they are still centered on themselves. As such, we believe they lack the ability to think about the process of teaching geography. As a Bachelor of Arts, Geography is a comprehensive science that studies the natural and human aspects of the Earth's surface, the distribution of the phenomena and the relationships among them. The Bachelor in History with a minor in Geography encompasses a more traditional definition of geography than the geography major, but its students revealed a more accurate notion of what Geographical Education is than those enrolled in the Bachelor in Geography with a minor in History.
The Challenge to Change (?) Geography Teaching from a Number of Perspectives Offered by Polish Student-Teachers at the University of Gdansk
Author: Sadon-Osowiecka, Teresa
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Teachers,Foreign Countries,Student Teacher Attitudes,Geography Instruction,Teaching Methods,Geography,Preservice Teacher Education

The author interprets comments made by student-teachers given during interviews, as well as notes written in their teaching practice journals, made during or completed shortly after their practices in school. The background to these interpretations are official documents (e.g. the Polish Standards for Teacher Education, the Polish National Curriculum) and theories of learning and teaching (constructivist vs behaviorist). The main questions asked are what knowledge is important for young teachers and how they want to teach it. Other questions include: What possibilities does school give them to try out their ideas about teaching? What does school actually give them? What does school demand of them? What do their practices at school actually teach them (the tacit programmme)? And, how do the students actually view the reality that exists in school? Overall, the student's impressions show school to be a very formal organisation, where the teacher-trainer decides on the content of lessons, methods of learning and the course of lessons (&quot;for the good of pupils&quot;). In many cases too, the students only realise their teacher's ideas. In such a situation, this raises the question of whether or not they will be able to provide innovative education if they cannot themselves attempt to implement their own ideas.
Critical Intersections of Knowledge and Pedagogy: Why the Geographic Literacy of Preservice Elementary Teachers Matter?
Author: Thomas-Brown, Karen
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Geographic Concepts,Geography,Geography Instruction,Preservice Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Spatial Ability,Thinking Skills,Preservice Teacher Education,Critical Literacy,Online Surveys,Statistical Analysis,Personal Narratives

This research examines the geographic literacy of a group of preservice elementary (K-5) teachers in a mid-sized university located in America's Midwest Rust Belt. The research sought to achieve three main aims using a geographic literacy survey. The first aim was to examine the approximate geographic literacy of the participants. The second aim was to determine how comfortable the participants were with teaching geography content in the future, and the third aim was to determine the extent to which preservice teachers demonstrated the ability and willingness to adopt a critical stance to spatial thinking in the future. From the geographic literacy survey, we found that many of the preservice teachers demonstrated adequate place-based and geographic knowledge. However, many of the participants also showed some deficits in spatial thinking skills, and in the application and contextualization of geospatial knowledge beyond map-based activities. The research also found that the participants expressed an overall discomfort with teaching geography materials in the future, this indicated their inadequate mastery of key geographic literacy skills. To arrive at these findings, this research used a multi-method approach that was epistemologically framed by Kolb's Experimental Learning Theory (KELT) and Critical Literacy Theory (CL).
Using a Social Web 2.0 Tool in Geography and Environmental Research Project: A Content Analysis of Greek High School Students&apos; Learning Exchanges
Author: Exarchou, Evi
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Web 2.0 Technologies,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Geography,Environmental Education,High School Students,Foreign Countries,Interaction,Cognitive Development,Teaching Methods,Sustainability,Student Projects,Web Sites,Internet,Questionnaires,Coding,Content Analysis,Computer Mediated Communication,Statistical Analysis

The first part of this paper refers to the contribution of geographic education in the development of knowledge, attitudes and skills for environmental protection in the context of sustainable development of the world's societies. Thus, specific concerns identified regarding the young people participation in research and collaborative actions using Web 2.0 applications, in the context of geography and environmental education, through sociocultural constructive view of learning. In particular, the concerns relating to the way of the young people interaction using an educational online environment and how it can help to improve their learning process. Accordingly, the study considered the following research question: Does the sociocultural constructivist interaction of students in an educational online environment affect their cognitive development and their geography and environmental approach to the research issue? The answers to above question is given by the empirical part of the research that is based on results which focused on the analysis of sociocultural constructivist interactions of high school of Athens students (N = 16) during an eight-month geography and environmental for sustainability research project in a social computing and specifically a free social bookmarking site, Diigo. The results indicated that the quality of their interaction was at a satisfactory level with most complete learning exchanges, progressively developing essential skills for an organized and integrated geography and environmental approach, throughout the project.
The &quot;Universitisation&quot; of Geography Teacher Training in Portugal: Reflecting on Its Results and Weaknesses
Author: Alexandre, Fernando
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Professional Training,Geography,Geography Instruction,Teaching Methods,Student Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs

In Portugal, geography teacher training followed a process of &quot;universitisation&quot; that enhanced its academic dimension and weakened the importance of professional training. Training became focused on &quot;outcomes&quot;, more than on &quot;processes&quot;, and its effects were increasingly disappointing as regards changing teachers' practices. Although such problems are not confined to geography teacher training, in the case of geography they seem to be particularly pertinent, since they contribute to widen the gap between academic and school geography. The paper intends to address two questions: (1) how did the &quot;universitisation&quot; of teacher training affect teachers' involvement as regards the overall training process?; (2) how to explain the marginal results obtained by training as regards changing teachers' practices? From the data collected for this research through the content analysis of primary documents, databases and the results presented by various field researches, it seems possible to identify the main weaknesses that affect geography teacher training: (a) training programmes fail to narrow the gap between theory and practice; and (b) training processes are unable to identify and take into account the experiences and the personal beliefs that shaped student teachers' knowledge before they enter training. These justify the design of a new reflective methodology.
Reconciling Educational Adequacy and Equity Arguments through a Rawlsian Lens
Author: Pijanowski, John
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Equal Education,Educational Opportunities,Educational Theories,Resource Allocation,Justice,Democracy

A theory of educational opportunity that combines adequacy and equity arguments is informed by examining two popular philosophies of resource distribution. Amy Gutmann's democratic threshold theory provides an adequacy argument that mirrors in several ways arguments that have held favor in educational policy. Similarly, the distributive justice theories of John Rawls parallel the logic opined in several key school finance cases. The Rawlsian influence is particularly strong in developing connections between educational opportunities and the expression or enjoyment of basic liberties.
Corporate Culture and University Goal Achievement in South-West Zone, Nigeria
Author: Abdulkareem, Rasaq L.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Organizational Culture,Universities,Educational Objectives,Geographic Location,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Correlation,Statistical Analysis,Collegiality,Administrative Organization,Teamwork,Faculty Development,Leadership Styles,Surveys

This study investigated the relationship between culture and university goal achievement in South west geo-political zone, Nigeria. Specifically, the purpose was to find out the nature of the corporate culture and university goal achievement as well as to determine the relationship between corporate culture and university goal achievement in South west geo-political zone, Nigeria. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted in carrying out this study. The sample of the study was 1361 lecturers and 96,595 graduate of the five federal universities in South west geo-political zone between 2008/2009-2012/2013 academic sessions. The sample was selected using proportional sampling technique for the lecturers while purposive sampling technique was used for selecting the students. A questionnaire titled corporate culture questionnaire and student academic performance pro-forma were used to collect information for this study. The instruments were validated and the reliability value was 0.69. The research questions were answered using percentage and Pearson moment correlation statistic. The findings of the study include; that the corporate culture in South west universities is both collegial and bureaucratic in nature; that university goals have been achieved to a high extent in South west geo-political zone, Nigeria and; there is significant relationship between corporate culture and university goal achievement in South west geo-political zone, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it is therefore recommended that university administration should ensure that team work, lecturers' development and research collaborations strive in the universities to ensure high university goal achievement.
Threat Assessment and Targeted Violence at Institutions of Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice Including Unique Considerations for Community Colleges
Author: Bennett, Laura
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Violence,College Environment,Higher Education,School Policy,Educational Practices,Community Colleges,Emergency Programs,Risk,Student Behavior,State Legislation,Weapons,Scoring Rubrics,Training,Teamwork,Institutional Characteristics,Student Characteristics,Two Year College Students,Student Personnel Services,Teacher Role,College Faculty

This article provides an overview of the research on targeted violence, including campus violence, and the implications for policy and practice at institutions of higher education. Unique challenges of threat assessment in the community college setting are explored, and an overview of an effective threat assessment policy and team at William Rainey Harper College is provided as an example.
The Professional Development Plan of a Health Care Workforce as a Qualitative Indicator of the Health Care System&apos;s Well-Being
Author: Saiti, Anna
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Professional Development,Allied Health Personnel,Well Being,Factor Analysis,Satisfaction,Training,Educational Policy,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Hospitals,Clinics,Correlation,Age Differences

The quality of a health care system is heavily dependent on a capable and skillful health care workforce so as to guarantee the delivery of quality health care services to its user groups. Hence, only through continuous training and development can the health care workforce follow rapid scientific progress while equitably balancing investment efficiency in the health care sector. The purpose of this study was, through the factor analysis of principal components, to identify the factors of satisfaction regarding the professional development and training policies as experienced by the Greek health care workforce. This study supports the view that only an education policy based on professional development and training is a fundamental factor for any sector and should aim to respond to the need for quality services.
The Argument Is Not Compulsory Law, but How Attendance Is Recorded
Author: Watson, Michael
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Attendance,School Policy,Public Schools,Nontraditional Education,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Accountability,Virtual Classrooms,School Attendance Legislation

This paper examines attendance accounting policies and practices for students enrolled in public schools in Texas and in alternative schools of choice (ASC) in particular. Technology advancement allows students to complete their coursework virtually anywhere they have internet access; however, conventional state attendance policies still require students to be in physical attendance unless enrolled in a Texas approved virtual school setting. Our preliminary findings suggest that ASCs and the students who attend them could benefit from more flexible attendance accounting procedures. Policy recommendations are presented and discussed.
Oklahoma and Texas Completion Policies for Community Colleges
Author: Rankin, David A.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Community Colleges,Two Year College Students,Academic Persistence,Statistical Analysis,Graduation Rate,Racial Differences,African American Students,White Students,Hispanic American Students,Ethnic Groups,State Policy,Achievement Gap,Databases,Grants,Student Financial Aid

This study measured the effectiveness of and differences between Oklahoma's Brain Gain and Texas' Closing the Gaps policies to enhance degree completion of students at community colleges. Descriptive statistics and independent-samples &quot;t&quot; tests were conducted utilizing data from community colleges' 3-year graduation rates from the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems database for benchmark year 2002 and years 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. The results showed that both states' total, black, and white community college 3-year graduation rates decreased from 2002 to 2012. Only Oklahoma's Hispanic graduation rate increased while Texas' Hispanic graduation rate decreased during the same period. No statistically significant differences were found between total, Black, Hispanic, and White community college graduation rates in Oklahoma and Texas. Findings revealed that the policies implemented in Oklahoma and Texas did not cause the desired impact at their states' community colleges. Recommendations for policy and future research are provided.