Search results for "ta516"
showing 10 items of 614 documents
Professional identity in relation to vocational teachers’ work : an identity-centred approach to professional development
2018
This paper reports a study on teachers’ professional identity and work in vocational education. The findings showed that vocational teachers’ work included vocational teaching within the school, developmental work, technology-enhanced work, professional duties outside the school, and educational duties within the school. Furthermore, the study revealed the harmonious and tensioned relationships between these elements of the work and teachers’ identities. Recognition of the nuanced nature of these relationships provides a perspective for promoting teachers’ professional development. From a practical perspective, there is a need to support vocational teachers’ identity work and the adoption o…
Physical education teacher educators’ views regarding the purpose(s) of school physical education
2015
The aim of this paper was to gain an understanding of the views of a group of physical education teacher educators on the purpose(s) of school physical education and whether, how and why these views have changed over time. Semi-structured individual interviews were carried out with thirteen physical education teacher educators; a fourteenth participant responded to interview questions in writing. Participants were based in seven countries: Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and the USA. A relative consensus on the overarching purpose of physical education was evident, centred on physical education preparing young people for a lifetime of physical activity. The fram…
Preparing physical and health education pre-service teachers to support students’ physical activity and wellbeing during the school day
2017
Increasingly, physical education teachers are expected to become the cog in an ever-expanding physical activity (PA) promotion wheel. This requires such teachers to be equipped with new knowledge a...
A Study on the Assessment of Introductory Computational Thinking via Scratch Programming in Primary Schools
2018
Computational thinking (CT), a transversal intellectual foundation integral to computer science, is making its way into compulsory comprehensive education worldwide. Students are expected to attain skills and knowledge in such interdisciplinary CT principles as Algorithmic thinking, Data representation, and Debugging. Problem-solving by designing and manipulating interactive media with Scratch, a graphical programming tool, is popular especially at the primary school level. However, there has been confusion regarding how introductory CT can be operationalized for educational practice. Teachers and students need research-based knowledge for setting appropriate learning goals in addition to i…
Self-regulatory efficacy and sources of efficacy in elementary school pupils: Self-regulatory experiences in a population sample and pupils with atte…
2019
In this study, we examined self-regulatory efficacy and sources of self-efficacy (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and physiological/emotional states) and the relationships between self-efficacy and its sources among elementary school pupils. Two groups were compared: a population sample (PS, N = 1284) and pupils with difficulties in attention and executive functions (AED, N = 61). Data gathered from self-report questionnaires indicated that pupils in the PS group had more positive efficacy beliefs and mastery experiences and fewer negative physiological/emotional states than the AED group. Analyses showed strong connections between sources and self-regulatory e…
From conceptualization to constructions in Finnish as an L2 : a case study
2017
AbstractThis study traces the individual learning trajectories of an adult beginner L2 Finnish learner in expressing the extralinguistic concept of evaluation from a dynamic usage-based perspective. Our results provide support for the view of learner language as a dynamic system in which patterns wax and wane and in which a change in one component has the potential to affect the whole system. In the early stages of learning there was a strong preference to use lexical verbs first, and then adjectives. The study also shows that variability plays a role. Finally, the study confirms that the learning of L2 constructions is in some cases item based. However, another highly frequent and superfic…
Applying the integrated trans-contextual model to mathematics activities in the classroom and homework behavior and attainment
2016
The aim of the present study was to test hypotheses of the trans-contextual model. We predicted relations between perceived autonomy support, autonomous motivation toward mathematics learning activities in an educational context, autonomous motivation toward mathematics homework in an out-of-school context, social-cognitive variables and intentions for future engagement in mathematics homework, and mathematics homework outcomes. Secondary school students completed measures of perceived autonomy support from teachers and autonomous motivation for in-class mathematics activities; measures of autonomous motivation, social-cognitive variables, and intentions for out-of-school mathematics homewo…
When Investment in Basic Skills Gives Negative Returns
2017
In recent years, the Norwegian government has invested heavily in improving basic skills in the adult population. Initiatives have included legislation, the introduction of work-based adult education programs, and reforms in schooling. In light of this investment, we explore trends in adult literacy and numeracy, by comparing data from two international surveys of adult skills, conducted in 2003 and 2012. Paradoxically, the proportion of low-performing adults appears to have increased, most significantly in the 16- to 24-year age group and in the foreign-born population. The profile of the lowest performing group has changed in the intervening years. These findings suggest that adult educa…
Relations between representational consistency, conceptual understanding of the force concept, and scientific reasoning
2012
Previous physics education research has raised the question of “hidden variables” behind students’ success in learning certain concepts. In the context of the force concept, it has been suggested that students’ reasoning ability is one such variable. Strong positive correlations between students’ preinstruction scores for reasoning ability (measured by Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning) and their learning of forces [measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI)] have been reported in high school and university introductory courses. However, there is no published research concerning the relation between students’ ability to interpret multiple representations consistently (i.e.,…
Does using a visual-representation tool foster students’ ability to identify forces and construct free-body diagrams?
2013
Earlier research has shown that after physics instruction, many students have difficulties with the force concept, and with constructing free-body diagrams (FBDs). It has been suggested that treating forces as interactions could help students to identify forces as well as to construct the correct FBDs. While there is evidence that identifying interactions helps students in quantitative problem solving, there is no previous research investigating the effect of a visual-representation tool—an interaction diagram (ID)—on students’ ability to identify forces, and to construct the correct FBDs.We present an empirical study conducted in 11 Finnish high schools on students (n ¼ 335, aged 16) takin…