Identifying the underlying dimensions of teachers\u27 emotional intelligence

Within the area of educational research that has its focus on individual differences, the concept of emotional intelligence and its study in relation to the professional lives of teachers has raised considerable interest over the past decade. This article reports on data from a new measure of emotional intelligence specifically related to situations in the teaching environment. The four underlying dimensions that are identified in this study appear to be a more relevant way of characterising emotional intelligence for those in the teaching profession than other conceptualisations of emotional intelligence. The article concludes with an examination of the contention that emotional intelligence is strongly connected to effective teaching practice<br /

Denotation and connotation in the human-computer interface: The ‘Save as...’ command

This paper presents a semiotic technique as a means of exploring meaning and understanding in interface design and use. This is examined through a study of the interaction between the ‘file’ metaphor and ‘save as’ command metaphor. The behaviour of these (from a functional or computational basis) do not exactly match, or map onto, the meaning of the metaphor. We examine both the denotation of a term to the user, i.e. its literal meaning to that person, and the term’s connotations, i.e. any other meanings associated with the term. We suggest that the technique applied is useful in predicting future problems with understanding the use of metaphor at the interface and with designing appropriate signification for human-computer interaction. Variation in connotation was expected but a more fundamental difference in denotation was also uncovered. Moreover, the results clearly demonstrate that consistency in the denotation of a term is critical in achieving a good user understanding of the command

An exploration of individual differences in teachers’ temperaments and multiple intelligence

For this study on individual differences, predictions were made from the literature on the four temperaments in order to examine how teachers with particular temperaments might use their multiple intelligence strengths in their approaches to teaching and learning. From a cohort of 336 beginning teachers it was found that temperaments and multiple intelligences are two separate constructs. The differences in patterns of intelligence strengths confirm that each of the four temperaments is distinct from the other. Teachers adopting a Catalyst Temperament have above average strengths in Linguistic, Musical, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Intelligences. Those with a Stabilizer Temperament display above average strengths in Logical-Mathematical and Interpersonal Intelligences. Teachers adopting a Theorist Temperament demonstrate strengths in Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Spatial and Intrapersonal Intelligences. Those with an Improviser Temperament show below average strengths in all except Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence.<br /

Metaphors are good mirrors: reflecting on change for teacher educators

In this paper we discuss the use of metaphor as an educative tool for reflection. In the instance of this paper we use metaphor to reflect on the personal images of change that were used by some women teacher educators to make sense of their professional lives and practices over the last decade. This last decade in teacher education has seen significant institutional and cultural change. The paper discusses the strengths and limitations of the use of metaphor. The different interpretations of these metaphors illustrates how these women have used metaphor for explaining facets of change in their professional lives. The challenge of professional renewal is apparent in the metaphors in the ways that complexity, change, journeys, and movement are indicated. Reflection on change in professional practice needs to be continuous. Use of metaphor in the way described in this paper encourages that ongoing process. <br /

Partnerships for effective teacher renewal

The Quality Teacher Program (QTP) recently introduced by the Commonwealth Government is a three year program that provides funding to strengthen the skills and understanding of those in the teaching profession.In Victoria, The Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV) in response to this initiative, has developed a project entitled &lsquo;School-based Teacher Renewal&rsquo; involving three independent sector specific strategies and one cross-sectoral strategy.One of these strategies, &lsquo;Teacher Renewal Through Partnerships&rsquo; is a strategy which focuses on schools establishing a teacher renewal coordinating team being assisted by a university facilitator to address issues of teacher renewal. Schools were required to develop a Quality Teacher Strategic Plan associated with target curriculum area/s. Integral to this strategy is the provision of an external facilitator to support the teacher renewal coordinating team in each schoolApproximately 46 academic staff from Faculties of Education at Deakin University and The University of Melbourne are working in partnership with AISV across 50 schools on this three year project.This project builds on successful teacher professional development outcomes learned from the previous Commonwealth project, the Innovative Links Between Universities and Schools under the National Professional Development Program (NPDP) from 1994 to 1996.This paper, presented by the Project Directors from Melbourne University and Deakin University will describe outcomes of the &lsquo;Teacher Renewal Through Partnerships&rsquo; program and discuss findings gathered from experiences to date of those involved in this partnership program.<br /

Differences in student engagement : investigating the role of the dominant cognitive processes preferred by engineering and education students

This paper reports on a study of the differences in the dominant cognitive processes preferred by groups of engineering and education students and examines the implications of these differences for the assessment of student engagement with university courses. Concern is expressed that the items commonly used to capture student engagement data do not adequately cover the full range of the dominant cognitive processes preferred by tertiary students. The paper sets out a brief overview of student engagement along with the theory of dominant and auxiliary cognitive processes, as developed by Jung and later by Myers. Evidence is presented of the differing frequencies of the eight cognitive processes, as assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, that are preferred by cohorts of students undertaking courses in engineering and education. The implications of these differences are discussed in the context of subject disciplines in university environments.<br /

Identifying a taxonomy for the emergence of metacognition in young learners

This paper details a study of upper primary (elementary) students&rsquo; thinking as they go about solving a problem, presented in an innovative computer program. Student responses to a metacognitive probe question reveal levels of responses that can be classified because of their shared quality. A thematic analysis was conducted with the initial classifications being based on theoretically derived categories from the metacognitive literature. These classifications were subsequently ordered into a taxonomy of hierarchical progression towards metacognition. Results in this instance indicated that less than 20% of these upper primary students showed they were capable of operating at a metacognitive level