The older, the wiser? profiles of string instrument teachers with different experience according to their conceptions of teaching, learning, and evaluation

When posting or re-using the article, you should provide a link/URL from the article posted to the SAGE Journals Online site where the article is published: http://online.sagepub.com and please make the following acknowledgment: ‘The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in , Vol/Issue, Month/Year by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © [The Author(s)]Recent research on music teaching and the curricula proposed in different countries increasingly insists on moving towards teaching centered on managing students' mental processes according to the constructivist approach. However, studies on conceptions and practices of teaching-learning show that these still largely focus on transmitting the musical and technical knowledge needed to produce the correct sound. Our main aim was to study the conceptions of teaching-learning held by 53 string teachers at elementary levels, and to test how they are affected by the variable teaching experience (in three groups: [a] less than 7 years; [b] 7-14 years; and [c] more than 14 years). We also wanted to determine whether these conceptions give rise to consistent profiles in three pedagogical dimensions: teaching, learning, and evaluation. We collected data by means of a multiple-choice questionnaire, and applied cluster analysis, correlations, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post hoc tests. Agreeing with prior research, we found three distinct profiles in the answers to the questionnaire: direct, interpretative, and constructive. Teachers' beliefs were more constructive regarding teaching and evaluation than regarding learning, although younger teachers held more complex positions regarding teaching and learning music, in contrast to much research on teaching-expertise

Analysis of Different Views and Conceptualizations of the Literacy Practices of Pupils, Families, and Teachers in Costa Rican Primary Education

This article is based on a socio-cultural discourse model of literacy, whereby literacy events are regarded as being situated within social practices, creating various formal, informal, and non-formal literacy events that are part of 10multiliteracies. The aim of the research was to analyze primary pupils ’ literacy practices (8–12 years) from the perspectives of 1,354 primary pupils, 1,020 family members, and 96 teachers in Costa Rica, using an ex-post facto design and a survey method. The findings indicate that the three groups of participants (pupils, family members, and teachers) have different views on 15and conceptualizations of literacy practices in school and in the community. The results show that young learners develop their literacy practices according to their different communicative needs inside and outside school. A multimodal literacy is promoted outside school to meet students’ daily communicative needs. However, the school promotes a monomodal lit20eracy, which allows pupils to respond essentially to school needs

The KiVa antibullying program in primary schools in Chile, with and without the digital game component: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Bullying is a major problem worldwide and Chile is no exception. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend him or herself. Victims suffer social isolation and psychological maladjustment, while bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last over time. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on victimization and self-reported bullying. The aims of this study are (1) to develop a culturally appropriate version of the KiVa material and (2) to test the effectiveness of the KiVa program, with and without the online game, on reducing experiences of victimization and bullying behavior among vulnerable primary schools in Santiago (Chile), using a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with three arms: (1) full KiVa program group, (2) partial KiVa (without online game) program group and (3) control group. METHODS AND DESIGN: This is a three-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrolment of 1495 4th and 5th graders attending 13 vulnerable schools per arm. Students in the full and partial KiVa groups will receive universal actions: ten 2-h lessons delivered by trained teachers during 1 year; they will be exposed to posters encouraging them to support victims and behave constructively when witnessing bullying; and a person designated by the school authorities will be present in all school breaks and lunchtimes using a visible KiVa vest to remind everybody that they are in a KiVa school. KiVa schools also will have indicated actions, which consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies, with proper follow-up. Only full KiVa schools will also receive an online game which has the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victimized peers. Self-reported victimization, bullying others and peer-reported bullying actions, psychological and academic functioning, and sense of school membership will be measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization. DISCUSSION: This is the first cluster RCT of the KiVa antibullying program in Latin America. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT02898324 . Registered on 8 September 2016

Meanings given to algebraic symbolism in problem posing

Some errors in the learning of algebra suggest students have difficulties giving meaning to algebraic symbolism. In this paper, we use problem posing in order to analyze the students’ capacity to assign meaning to algebraic symbolism and the difficulties that students encounter in this process depending on the characteristics of the algebraic statements given. We designed a written questionnaire composed of eight closed algebraic statements expressed symbolically, which was administered to 55 students who had finished their compulsory education and that had some previous experience in problem posing. In our analysis of the data, we examine both syntactic and semantic structures of the problem posed. We note that in most cases students posed problems with syntactic structures different to those given. They did not include computations within variables, and changed the kinds of relationships connecting variables. Students easily posed problems for statements with additive structures. Other differences in the type of problems posed depend on the characteristics of the given statements

Expansión de la educación superior y sus efectos en matriculación y migración: evidencia de Colombia

La dinámica económica y social de las principales ciudades ha resultado en un crecimiento heterogéneo de la cobertura educativa del país. Así, la oferta de educación superior se ha concentrado históricamente en las ciudades de Bogotá, Medellín, Cali y Barranquilla, lo que las ha convertido en polos de atracción de estudiantes, que se han visto forzados a migrar asumiendo los costos económicos de esta decisión y creando asignaciones ineficientes en el acceso a la educación superior. Este artículo examina el efecto exógeno del incremento de la oferta en educación superior sobre la probabilidad de matricularse y migrar, al controlar por habilidades como el desempeño académico, características socioeconómicas y la cercanía a la oferta educativa. Los resultados muestran un efecto significativo del incremento en la oferta sobre la probabilidad de matricularse y un efecto no significativo sobre la migración. En este sentido, las políticas de regionalización y expansión de la educación superior en Colombia no tienen un efecto claramente identificable en la permanencia de los estudiantes en sus lugares de origen, aun cuando esto pueda ser deseable por parte de la política educativa del país