Ten Australian elementary teachers' discourse and reported pedagogical practices during cooperative learning

This article describes the types of discourse 10 Australian grade 4-6 teachers used after they had been trained to embed cooperative learning in their curriculum and to use communication skills to promote students' thinking and to scaffold their learning. One audiotaped classroom social science lesson involving cooperative learning was analyzed for each teacher. We provide vignettes from 2 teachers as they worked with groups and from 2 student groups. The data from the audiotapes showed that the teachers used a range of mediated-learning behaviors in their interactions with the children that included challenging their perspectives, asking more cognitive and metacognitive questions, and scaffolding their learning. In turn, in their interactions with each other, the children modelled many of the types of discourse they heard their teachers use. Follow-up interviews with the teachers revealed that they believed it was important to set expectations for children's group behaviors, teach the social skills students needed to deal with disagreement in groups, and establish group structures so children understood what was required both from each other and the task. The teachers reported that mixed ability and gender groups worked best and that groups should be no larger than 5 students. All teachers' programs were based on a child-centered philosophy that recognized the importance of constructivist approaches to learning and the key role interaction plays in promoting social reasoning and learning.

Time for action? Elementary engineering education - Challenging teachers, policy makers and parents

Grounded in the findings of a three year exploratory student whereby teachers' and policy makers' perceptions of elementary level engineering education were analysed, this paper focuses upon three strands of engineering education activity: Pedagogy: Practice, and: Policy. Taking into account the challenges associated with introducing engineering education at an elementary level across the UK, the paper critiques the role played by the 'competition model' in promoting engineering to children and 4 to 11 years. In considering the 'added value' that appropriately developed engineering education activities can offer in the classroom the discussion argues that elementary level engineering has the potential to reach across the curriculum, offering context and depth in many different areas. The paper concludes by arguing that by introducing the discipline to children at a foundational level, switching on their 'Engineering Imaginations' and getting them to experience the value and excitement of engineering, maths and applied science a new "Educational Frontier" will be forged. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2014.

Making the grade: The perceived impact of Florida's A+ Plan on the learning environment of one elementary school

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of educators at one elementary school regarding the changes in the teaching and learning environment and their related effects following the implementation of Florida's A+ high-stakes accountability system. This study also assessed whether these changes were identified by participants as meaningful and enduring, in terms of the definition by Lieberman and Miller (1999). Twenty-one educators, including 17 teachers and four administrators, at Blue Ribbon Elementary school were interviewed. Data were inductively coded and categorized into four major themes: (a) teaching and learning environment consistency, (b) changes in the teaching and learning environment since the implementation of A+, (c) effects of the changes, and (d) significant and enduring change. Findings fell into three categories (a) identified changes since A+ implementation, (b) effects of changes, and (c) what participants believed was significant and long term change, which included those characteristics of the school that had been identified as consistent in the teaching and learning environment. Statements of the participants explained their perceptions about what instructional decisions where made in response to the A+ Plan including the modification of curriculum, the addition or omission of subject matter taught, and the positive or negative impact these decisions had on the teaching and learning environment. It was found that study participants felt all changes and their effects were a direct result of the A+ Plan and viewed many of the changes as being neither significant nor long term Analysis of the educators' perceptions of the changes they experienced revealed the overall feeling that the changes were not indicative of what was necessary to make a school successful. For the participants, the changes lacked the characteristics that they had described as vital in what constituted success. This led to the conclusion that, by Lieberman and Miller's definition, the majority of changes and effects that were implemented at the school as a result of the mandated A+ Plan, were not meaningful and enduring for effective school reform. ^

Effect of the Florida A+ Plan on curriculum and instruction in Title I public elementary schools

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of the Florida A+ Plan accountability program on curriculum and instruction in four Title I public elementary schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. It focused on the experiences of the school principals and the classroom teachers of the four schools as they related to curriculum and instruction. The study included an analysis of the school improvement plans in curriculum and instruction for each school during the school years 1998-2004. ^ The study was conducted in the format of interviews with the school principals and principal selected classroom teachers who taught third, fourth, or fifth grade during the first six years of the Florida A+ Plan. The analysis of the school improvement plans focused on the implementation of curriculum and instruction for each of the four schools. It focused on the goals and measurable objectives selected by each school to improve its instructional program in the academic subjects of reading, mathematics, writing, and science. ^ The findings indicated that under the pressure to improve their school grade on the Florida A+ Plan, each of the target schools, based on individual needs assessments, and restructured their instructional program each school year as documented in their school improvement plans. They altered their programs by analyzing student performance data to realign curriculum and instruction. The analysis of the interviews with the principals and the teachers showed that each school year they restructured their program to align it with the FCAT content. This realigning was a collaborative effort on the part of the administration and the instructional staff. ^

Relationships between gifted selection criteria and performance in sixth -grade gifted science

This study examined the relationships between gifted selection criteria used in the Dade County Public Schools of Miami, Florida and performance in sixth grade gifted science classes.^ The goal of the study was to identify significant predictors of performance in sixth grade gifted science classes. Group comparisons of performance were also made. Performance in sixth grade gifted science was defined as the numeric average of nine weeks' grades earned in sixth grade gifted science classes.^ The sample consisted of 100 subjects who were formerly enrolled in sixth grade gifted science classes over two years at a large, multiethnic public middle school in Dade County.^ The predictors analyzed were I.Q. score (all scales combined), full scale I.Q. score, verbal scale I.Q. score, performance scale I.Q. score, combined Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) score (Reading Comprehension plus Math Applications), SAT Reading Comprehension score, and SAT Math Applications score. Combined SAT score and SAT Math Applications score were significantly positively correlated to performance in sixth grade gifted science. Performance scale I.Q. score was significantly negatively correlated to performance in sixth grade gifted science. The other predictors examined were not significantly correlated to performance.^ Group comparison results showed the mean average of nine weeks grades for the full scale I.Q. group was greater than the verbal and performance scale I.Q. groups. Females outperformed males to a highly significant level. Mean g.p.a. for ethnic groups was greatest for Asian students, followed by white non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and black. Students not receiving a lunch subsidy outperformed those receiving subsidies.^ Comparisons of performance based on gifted qualification plan showed the mean g.p.a. for traditional plan and Plan B groups were not different. Mean g.p.a. for students who qualified for gifted using automatic Math Applications criteria was highest, followed by automatic Reading Comprehension criteria and Plan B Matrix score. Both automatic qualification groups outperformed the traditional group. The traditional group outperformed the Plan B Matrix group. No significant differences in mean g.p.a. between the Plan B subgroups and the traditional plan group were found. ^

From the Elementary to the Circuitous: Digital Processing Workflows at FIU

This presentation was given at the FLVC regional conference at Broward College on May 7, 2015 and introduced scanning, processing, record creation, dissemination, and preservation in FIU Libraries' Digital Collections Center. The main focus was on processing, specifically employing OCR technology with difficult sources.

Integrating science through Bayesian Belief Networks : case study of Lyngbya in Moreton Bay

Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) are emerging as valuable tools for investigating complex ecological problems. In a BBN, the important variables in a problem are identified and causal relationships are represented graphically. Underpinning this is the probabilistic framework in which variables can take on a finite range of mutually exclusive states. Associated with each variable is a conditional probability table (CPT), showing the probability of a variable attaining each of its possible states conditioned on all possible combinations of it parents. Whilst the variables (nodes) are connected, the CPT attached to each node can be quantified independently. This allows each variable to be populated with the best data available, including expert opinion, simulation results or observed data. It also allows the information to be easily updated as better data become available ----- ----- This paper reports on the process of developing a BBN to better understand the initial rapid growth phase (initiation) of a marine cyanobacterium, Lyngbya majuscula, in Moreton Bay, Queensland. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Lyngbya blooms in this region have increased in severity and extent over the past decade. Lyngbya has been associated with acute dermatitis and a range of other health problems in humans. Blooms have been linked to ecosystem degradation and have also damaged commercial and recreational fisheries. However, the causes of blooms are as yet poorly understood.