Science Teachers’ Views of Science and Religion vs. the Islamic Perspective: Conflicting or Compatible?

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleThis paper reports a study that explores Egyptian science teachers' views on religion and science within the context of Islam. It also highlights an ontological and epistemological consideration of these views, particularly the ways through which Egyptian Muslim teachers understand such a relationship with reference to the Qur'anic/Islamic attitude toward science and knowledge. The study built upon Barbour's categorization scheme to guide the data collection and analysis and to guide the interpretation of the teachers' responses in the interviews. Informed by a multigrounded theory of the teachers' views of science and religion, and using Roth and Alexander's analytical framework to interpret how teachers accommodate the relationship between science and religion within their belief system, the findings suggest that participants' views of the relationship between science and a specific religion (Islam) confirmed the centrality of teachers' personal religious beliefs to their own thoughts and views concerning issues of both science and Islam. This centralization, in some cases, appeared to lead teachers to hold a conflicting relationship, hence to a creation of a false contradiction between science and Islam. Therefore, it could be concluded that teachers' personal Islamic-religious beliefs inform their beliefs about the nature of science and its purpose

Opportunities to Learn Mathematics Pedagogy and Connect Classroom Learning to Practice: A Study of Future Teachers in the United States and Singapore

In this study, we conducted secondary analyses using the TEDS-M database to explore future mathematics specialists teachers’ opportunities to learn (OTL) how to teach mathematics. We applied latent class analysis techniques to differentiate among groups of prospective mathematics specialists with potentially different OTL mathematics pedagogy within the United States and Singapore. Within the United States, three subgroups were identified: (a) Comprehensive OTL, (b) Limited OTL, and (c) OTL Mathematics Pedagogy. Within Singapore, four subgroups were identified: (a) Comprehensive OTL, (b) Limited Opportunities to Connect Classroom Learning with Practice, (c) OTL Mathematics Pedagogy, and (d) Basic OTL. Understanding the opportunities different prospective teachers had to learn from and their experiences with different components of instructional practice in university and practicum settings has implications for teacher preparation programs

Enhancing the spaces of reflection: A buddy peer-review process within physical education initial teacher education

Innovation in enhancing the reflective abilities of physical education trainee teachers was explored in this study through establishing peer ‘training buddies’ during their school placements. Opportunities for active engagement in peer- and self-reflection were provided to full-time Post-Graduate Secondary Physical Education trainee teachers (n = 23). Data were collected through surveys, focus group interviews and trainee reflections shared through online discussion boards. Prior to their first school placement trainees were assigned a peer training buddy. Whilst on placement, they recorded each other teaching a physical education lesson; immediately afterwards, the pair watched the recorded lesson and conducted a joint evaluation. This dialogue allowed them to engage in reflective discussion. The process was repeated during the trainees’ second placement with a different peer training buddy. Grounded theory methodology informed an emergent model of reflective practice. By being and having a training buddy, trainees created, enabled and negotiated their own rules, structures and practices for implementing the process. Common themes emerging from the data pointed to a series of mutually-created spaces: safe – non-judgemental and creating a sense of solidarity; relaxed – non-pressured and conversational; equal – involving all participants at the same stage and status; pedagogic – collaborative and involving the sharing of ideas; negotiated – allowing autonomy and ownership of the process; and alternative – experiencing a different school environment. Trainees endorsed the peer review process as a method of engaging in critical reflection. The data illustrated the positive benefits that can be derived from sharing feedback with a peer. The emergent theory presented suggests that the collaborative spaces created by training buddies enhance reflective ability and practice

Anti-OX40 prevents effector T-cell accumulation and CD8+ T-cell mediated skin allograft rejection.

BACKGROUND: OX40 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily and is a potent T-cell costimulatory molecule. Although the impact of blockade of the OX40-OX40L pathway has been documented in models of autoimmune disease, the effect on allograft rejection is less well defined. METHODS: The expression of OX40 and impact of OX40 blockade on BM3 T cells (H2Kb-reactive, T-cell receptor-transgenic) after stimulation with alloantigen were assessed in vitro by the incorporation of 3H-thymidine and flow cytometry. In vivo, naïve BM3 or polyclonal CD8+ T cells were transferred into syngeneic recombinase-activating gene(-/-) mice, which received an H2b+ skin allograft with and without anti-OX40. Skin allograft survival was monitored, and the proliferation, number, and phenotype of BM3 T cells were determined using flow cytometry. RESULTS: In vitro allogeneic stimulation of CD8+ T cells resulted in OX40 expression, the blockade of which was found to partially inhibit 3H-thymidine incorporation as a result of increased cell death among activated T cells. Similarly, in vivo, anti-OX40 prevented skin allograft rejection mediated by CD8+ T cells. However, after cessation of anti-OX40 therapy, skin allografts were eventually rejected indicating that tolerance had not been induced. Correlating with the in vitro data, analysis of lymph nodes draining skin allografts revealed that OX40 blockade had no effect on the activation and proliferation of BM3 T cells but rather resulted in diminished effector T-cell accumulation. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data demonstrate that anti-OX40 attenuates CD8+ T-cell responses to alloantigen by reducing the pool of effector T cells, suggesting that this may be a worthwhile adjunct to preexisting costimulatory molecule-blocking regimens