Cultural influence and learning to teach: Beginning teachers' perceptions of teacher preparation programs and school support systems

Beginning teachers in the field of English Language Arts and Reading are responsible for providing literacy instruction to students. Teachers need a broad background in teaching reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing, as well as critical thinking. In secondary schools in particular, beginning English Language Arts and Reading teachers are also faced with the challenge of preparing students to be proficient enough readers and writers to meet required State standards. Beginning teachers must navigate compelling challenges that exist during the first years of teaching. The school support systems available to new teachers are an integral part of their educational development. ^ This qualitative study was conceptualized as an in-depth examination of the experiences and perceptions of eight beginning teachers. They represented different racial/ethnic groups, attended different teacher preparation programs, and taught in different school cultures. The data were collected through formal and informal interviews and classroom observations. A qualitative system of data analysis was used to examine the patterns relating to the interrelationship between teacher preparation programs and school support systems. ^ The experiences of the beginning teachers in this study indicated that teacher education programs should provide preservice teachers with a critical knowledge base for teaching literature, language, and composition. A liberal arts background in English, followed by an extensive program focusing on pedagogy, seems to provide a thorough level of curriculum and instructional practices needed for teaching in 21st century classrooms. The data further suggested that a school support system should pair beginning teachers with mentor teachers and provide a caring, professional environment that seeks to nurture the teacher as she/he develops during the first years of teaching. ^

Development and validation of an instrument to predict online student success using faculty perceptions

Distance learning is growing and transforming educational institutions. The increasing use of distance learning by higher education institutions and particularly community colleges coupled with the higher level of student attrition in online courses than in traditional classrooms suggests that increased attention should be paid to factors that affect online student course completion. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate an instrument to predict community college online student course completion based on faculty perceptions, yielding a prediction model of online course completion rates. Social Presence and Media Richness theories were used to develop a theoretically-driven measure of online course completion. This research study involved surveying 311 community college faculty who taught at least one online course in the past 2 years. Email addresses of participating faculty were provided by two south Florida community colleges. Each participant was contacted through email, and a link to an Internet survey was given. The survey response rate was 63% (192 out of 303 available questionnaires). Data were analyzed through factor analysis, alpha reliability, and multiple regression. The exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a four-factor solution that accounted for 48.8% of the variance. Consistent with Social Presence theory, the factors with their percent of variance in parentheses were: immediacy (21.2%), technological immediacy (11.0%), online communication and interactivity (10.3%), and intimacy (6.3%). Internal consistency of the four factors was calculated using Cronbach's alpha (1951) with reliability coefficients ranging between .680 and .828. Multiple regression analysis yielded a model that significantly predicted 11% of the variance of the dependent variable, the percentage of student who completed the online course. As indicated in the literature (Johnson & Keil, 2002; Newberry, 2002), Media Richness theory appears to be closely related to Social Presence theory. However, elements from this theory did not emerge in the factor analysis.

The relationship between prekindergarten social and emotional development and academic success among Hispanic children from low-income families

Social and emotional development has been considered an important factor in child development which has been placed at the end of the learning spectrum due to high stakes testing. Social and emotional development consists of the relationships an individual has with others, the level of self-control, and the motivation and perseverance a person has during an activity (Bandura, 1989). This study examined the relationship between Hispanic children’s prekindergarten social and emotional development and their academic success. Hispanic children from a large southeastern city whose parents were receiving subsidized child-care were followed from their prekindergarten year through third grade (N=1,978). Several hierarchical regressions were run to determine the relationship between children’s social and emotional development, during their prekindergarten year using the DECA (Devereaux Early Childhood Assessment), and the their academic success, as measured by kindergarten through third grade end of the year reading and mathematics academic grades, second grade SAT (Stanford Achievement Test) scores, and third grade FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) and NRT (Norm Referenced Test) scores. Hierarchical regressions were conducted for each grade and subject in order to control for demographics and prior achievement. The results of this study revealed that for Hispanic children from low-income families, the best predictor for academic success was the children’s prior academic achievement. Social and emotional development showed no significant predictive value for the third grade criterion variables as well as end of the year academic grades in second grade and kindergarten reading. Evidence did suggest that for first grade end of the year academic grades and kindergarten math, social and emotional development had a small predictive value. Further research must be conducted as to why social and emotional development, after controlling for demographics and previous academic achievement, bears such a small predictive value when it is clear that many professionals feel it is the most important factor for school readiness.

Metaphor: The Hidden Link between Visual Literacy and Learning

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) have been proven to enhance learning abilities in children. This study will examine how the use of metaphor might affect the development of fourth graders’ verbal and written abilities at three schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School system.

Metacognitive Strategies and Learning

During the past decade, metacognition has been identified not only as a component of cognition but also as an important factor in learning. This practitioner proposes that educators and educational researchers should focus on the development and implementation of metacognitive learning strategies. The existing metacognitive studies have concentrated on several areas. One area centers on the continuing efforts to identify all the elements of metacognition. Another area concentrates on the roles that metacognition plays in specific learning behaviors that occur at various ages and levels of complexity. The third area investigates the relationships of metacognition to specific content areas of learning by focusing on the effects of metacognitive learning strategies. The most common areas of study have been reading comprehension, math skills, writing skills, and applying metacognitive strategies to learn various subjects using the computer. Directly or indirectly, the existing studies relate to the expanding applications of the relationships and relevancies of metacognition to learning. Considerable evidence confirms that when students use metacognitive strategies they often experience a higher level of learning. This practitioner believes that experiencing higher levels of learning gives students the confidence they need to construct knowledge which promotes lifelong learning.

Self-assessment of clinical nurse mentors as dimensions of professional development and the capability of developing ethical values among nursing students : A correlational research study

Date of Acceptance: 08/04/2015 The paper presents, in part, the results of a broader non-profit development project entitled “Advance level of knowledge for quality in clinical mentorship — professional ethics and continuously professional development”. The project was financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia (contract no. 3211-11-000263, the number of project OP RCV_VS-11-14). The members of the development group of the project were: Brigita Skela-Savič (leader), Karmen Romih, Sanela Pivač, Katja Skinder Savić and Andreja Prebil. The research report for the entire project is available on the online bibliographic database COBIB.si, at the Faculty of Health Care Jesenice and at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.

Self-assessment of clinical nurse mentors as dimensions of professional development and the capability of developing ethical values among nursing students : A correlational research study

Date of Acceptance: 08/04/2015 The paper presents, in part, the results of a broader non-profit development project entitled “Advance level of knowledge for quality in clinical mentorship — professional ethics and continuously professional development”. The project was financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia (contract no. 3211-11-000263, the number of project OP RCV_VS-11-14). The members of the development group of the project were: Brigita Skela-Savič (leader), Karmen Romih, Sanela Pivač, Katja Skinder Savić and Andreja Prebil. The research report for the entire project is available on the online bibliographic database COBIB.si, at the Faculty of Health Care Jesenice and at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.

Self-assessment of clinical nurse mentors as dimensions of professional development and the capability of developing ethical values among nursing students : A correlational research study

Date of Acceptance: 08/04/2015 The paper presents, in part, the results of a broader non-profit development project entitled “Advance level of knowledge for quality in clinical mentorship — professional ethics and continuously professional development”. The project was financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia (contract no. 3211-11-000263, the number of project OP RCV_VS-11-14). The members of the development group of the project were: Brigita Skela-Savič (leader), Karmen Romih, Sanela Pivač, Katja Skinder Savić and Andreja Prebil. The research report for the entire project is available on the online bibliographic database COBIB.si, at the Faculty of Health Care Jesenice and at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.

Development and Testing of An Automatic Lung IMRT Planning Algorithm

Knowledge-based radiation treatment is an emerging concept in radiotherapy. It

mainly refers to the technique that can guide or automate treatment planning in

clinic by learning from prior knowledge. Dierent models are developed to realize

it, one of which is proposed by Yuan et al. at Duke for lung IMRT planning. This

model can automatically determine both beam conguration and optimization ob-

jectives with non-coplanar beams based on patient-specic anatomical information.

Although plans automatically generated by this model demonstrate equivalent or

better dosimetric quality compared to clinical approved plans, its validity and gener-

ality are limited due to the empirical assignment to a coecient called angle spread

constraint dened in the beam eciency index used for beam ranking. To eliminate

these limitations, a systematic study on this coecient is needed to acquire evidences

for its optimal value.

To achieve this purpose, eleven lung cancer patients with complex tumor shape

with non-coplanar beams adopted in clinical approved plans were retrospectively

studied in the frame of the automatic lung IMRT treatment algorithm. The primary

and boost plans used in three patients were treated as dierent cases due to the

dierent target size and shape. A total of 14 lung cases, thus, were re-planned using

the knowledge-based automatic lung IMRT planning algorithm by varying angle

spread constraint from 0 to 1 with increment of 0.2. A modied beam angle eciency

index used for navigate the beam selection was adopted. Great eorts were made to assure the quality of plans associated to every angle spread constraint as good

as possible. Important dosimetric parameters for PTV and OARs, quantitatively

re

ecting the plan quality, were extracted from the DVHs and analyzed as a function

of angle spread constraint for each case. Comparisons of these parameters between

clinical plans and model-based plans were evaluated by two-sampled Students t-tests,

and regression analysis on a composite index built on the percentage errors between

dosimetric parameters in the model-based plans and those in the clinical plans as a

function of angle spread constraint was performed.

Results show that model-based plans generally have equivalent or better quality

than clinical approved plans, qualitatively and quantitatively. All dosimetric param-

eters except those for lungs in the automatically generated plans are statistically

better or comparable to those in the clinical plans. On average, more than 15% re-

duction on conformity index and homogeneity index for PTV and V40, V60 for heart

while an 8% and 3% increase on V5, V20 for lungs, respectively, are observed. The

intra-plan comparison among model-based plans demonstrates that plan quality does

not change much with angle spread constraint larger than 0.4. Further examination

on the variation curve of the composite index as a function of angle spread constraint

shows that 0.6 is the optimal value that can result in statistically the best achievable

plans.

'Lines of flight': digital musical instruments, inclusive music bands, meaningful engagement in music-making and learning

In this study I examine the development of three inclusive music bands in Cork city. Derived from Jellison’s research on inclusive music education, inclusive music bands involve students with disabilities coming together with typically developing peers to make and learn music that is meaningful (Jellison, 2012). As part of this study, I established three inclusive music bands to address the lack of inclusive music making and learning experiences in Cork city. Each of these bands evolved and adapted in order to be socio-culturally relevant within formal and informal settings: Circles (community education band), Till 4 (secondary school band) and Mish Mash (third level and community band). I integrated Digital Musical Instruments into the three bands, in order to ensure access to music making and learning for band members with profound physical disabilities. Digital Musical Instruments are electronic music devices that facilitate active music making with minimal movement. This is the first study in Ireland to examine the experiences of inclusive music making and learning using Digital Musical Instruments. I propose that the integration of Digital Musical Instruments into inclusive music bands has the potential to further the equality and social justice agenda in music education in Ireland. In this study, I employed qualitative research methodology, incorporating participatory action research methodology and case study design. In this thesis I reveal the experiences of being involved in an inclusive music band in Cork city. I particularly focus on examining whether the use of this technology enhances meaningful music making and learning experiences for members with disabilities within inclusive environments. To both inform and understand the person centered and adaptable nature of these inclusive bands, I draw theoretical insights from Sen’s Capabilities Approach and Deleuze and Guatarri’s Rhizome Theory. Supported by descriptive narrative from research participants and an indepth examination of literature, I discover the optimum conditions and associated challenges of inclusive music practice in Cork city.

Learning for self-regulation: Improving instructional benefits for pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society at large

Compulsory education laws oblige primary and secondary schools to give each pupil positive encouragement in, for example, social, emotional, cognitive, creative, and ethical respects. This is a fairly smooth process for most pupils, but it is not as easy to achieve with others. A pattern of pupil, home or family, and school variables turns out to be responsible for a long-term process that may lead to a pupil’s dropping out of education. A systemic approach will do much to introduce more clarity into the diagnosis, potential reduction and possible prevention of some persistent educational problems that express themselves in related phenomena, for example low school motivation and achievement; forced underachievement of high ability pupils; concentration of bullying and violent behaviour in and around some types of classes and schools; and drop-out percentages that are relatively constant across time. Such problems have a negative effect on pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society alike. In this address, I would therefore like to clarify some of the systemic causes and processes that we have identified between specific educational and pupil characteristics. Both theory and practice can assist in developing, implementing, and checking better learning methods and coaching procedures, particularly for pupils at risk. This development approach will take time and require co-ordination, but it will result in much better processes and outcomes than we are used to. First, I will diagnose some systemic aspects of education that do not seem to optimise the learning processes and school careers of some types of pupils in particular. Second, I will specify cognitive, social, motivational, and self-regulative aspects of learning tasks and relate corresponding learning processes to relevant instructional and wider educational contexts. I will elaborate these theoretical notions into an educational design with systemic instructional guidelines and multilevel procedures that may improve learning processes for different types of pupils. Internet-based Information and Communication Technology, or ICT, also plays a major role here. Third, I will report on concrete developments made in prototype research and trials. The development process concerns ICT-based differentiation of learning materials and procedures, and ICT-based strategies to improve pupil development and learning. Fourth, I will focus on the experience gained in primary and secondary educational practice with respect to implementation. We can learn much from such practical experience, in particular about the conditions for developing and implementing the necessary changes in and around schools. Finally, I will propose future research. As I hope to make clear, theory-based development and implementation research can join forces with systemic innovation and differentiated assessment in educational practice, to pave the way for optimal “learning for self-regulation” for pupils, teachers, parents, schools, and society at large.

The Hidden benefits of “poster presentation assessment”: Skill acquirement and learning; evaluated from the nursing students perspective

Introduction
This paper reports to an exercise in evaluating poster group work and poster presentation and the extra learning and skill acquisition that this can provide to nursing students, through a creative and stimulating assessment method. Much had been written about the benefits of using posters as an assessment method, yet there appears to be a lack of research that captures the student experience.
Aim
This evaluative study sought to evaluate the student experience by using a triangulation approach to evaluation:
Methodology
All students from the February 2015 nursing intake, were eligible to take part (80 students) of which 71 participated (n=71). The poster group presentations took place at the end of their first phase of year one teaching and the evaluation took place at the end of their first year as undergraduate. Evaluation involved;
1. Quantitative data by questionnaires
2. Qualitative data from focus group discussions
Results
A number of key themes emerged from analysis of the data which captured the “added value” of learning from the process of poster assessment including:
 Professionalism: developing time keeping skills, presenting skills.
 Academic skills: developing literature search, critic and reporting
 Team building and collaboration
Overall 88% agreed that the process furnished them with additional skills and benefits above the actual production of the poster, with 97% agreeing that these additional skills are important skills for a nurse.
Conclusion
These results would suggest that the process of poster development and presentation furnish student nurses with many additional skills that they may not acquire through other types of assessment and are therefore beneficial. The structure of the assessment encourages a self-directed approach so students take control of the goals and purposes of learning. The sequential organization of the assessment guides students in the transition from dependent to self-directed learners.

An Enterprise Opportunity for Entrepreneurial Students: Student Enterprise Development and Experience Assessed through the Student Voice

Purpose: This research investigates the effectiveness of an experiential learning approach, available to students in all disciplines that combined a hands-on entrepreneurial and enterprise experience with professional consultant mentoring by using a competition to win business start-up funding. Design/methodology/approach: Students at a UK university had the chance to enter a competition in which they developed an entrepreneurial idea and then designed and presented a business plan to win business start-up capital. Students who were entrepreneurially motivated, but who lacked capital to start up their business, were targeted, as these students have been argued to benefit the most from a combination of business plan training and entrepreneurial development. Feedback and data was obtained from the students at each stage of the process and was thematically analysed to assess the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through the experience. Findings: The research found that the benefits gained from this approach included both enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, with the greatest impact being on student confidence and belief in their ability to start a business. The practical skills had a ‘demystifying’ effect on students that made them feel like entrepreneurship and enterprise start-up were attainable. Research limitations/implications: The research focused on students at one UK University and centered on entrepreneurship in a retail business. The competition thus appealed mainly to students who were interested in retail start-up, thus leaving out some enterprising students whose feedback may have been different. In addition, while entrepreneurial skills are assessed in the data, the students who would be interested in the competition would be assumed to be proactive, and this skill was not able to be analyzed. This research is a single case, and thus could be enhanced by more cases and looking at other enterprise start-up means beyond retail. Originality/value: This research makes a case that, in light of literature critical of the use of business plan training in entrepreneurship education, certain students are appropriate candidates for this approach. Specific skills and knowledge can be developed in university students using a live enterprise experience, supported by entrepreneurial mentoring. By making the event extracurricular, the study sought to capture the feedback of students who self-selected into the program, who can benefit most from combined entrepreneurial and business-plan development experience.

Virtual Mobility and Learning for PhD students of six European Countries: students’ programme evaluation

In this paper, the authors, as teachers of the Virtual Mobility and Learning ERASMUS Intensive Programme (VML–IP), put forward an analysis of the student’s final evaluation of the Programme as to the most important competences they have developed. In terms of methodology, this study has an exploratory and descriptive nature; hence, being based on empiric evidence. Thus, in the last face-to-face session, students were asked by the Programme’s coordination to present an overall evaluation of their experience in the VML–IP. Data were collected in loco, i.e. through the posters created by each group, as well as the video of the students’ oral presentations. They were later analysed using content analysis as data analysis technique. The results unveil that, although the main goal was fulfilled – i.e. to be able to design and implement a course on a ‘Virtual Mobility and Learning’ topic underpinned by solid theoretical background in the area –, the fact is that every group also pointed out several soft competences as a very important part of their experiences, and crucial for their development as students and future professionals.

Awareness and Learning in Participatory Noise Sensing

The development of ICT infrastructures has facilitated the emergence of new paradigms for looking at society and the environment over the last few years. Participatory environmental sensing, i.e. directly involving citizens in environmental monitoring, is one example, which is hoped to encourage learning and enhance awareness of environmental issues. In this paper, an analysis of the behaviour of individuals involved in noise sensing is presented. Citizens have been involved in noise measuring activities through the WideNoise smartphone application. This application has been designed to record both objective (noise samples) and subjective (opinions, feelings) data. The application has been open to be used freely by anyone and has been widely employed worldwide. In addition, several test cases have been organised in European countries. Based on the information submitted by users, an analysis of emerging awareness and learning is performed. The data show that changes in the way the environment is perceived after repeated usage of the application do appear. Specifically, users learn how to recognise different noise levels they are exposed to. Additionally, the subjective data collected indicate an increased user involvement in time and a categorisation effect between pleasant and less pleasant environments.