Chapter 6 Kindergarten educators’ affective-motivational dispositions

Affective-motivational dispositions regarding the fostering of mathematics are an important aspect of early educators' professional competence, as educators are not following curricular programmes but need to seize moments in everyday activities and in play in order to foster mathematics. A variety of scales measuring variables of affective-motivational dispositions within a questionnaire were employed in a binational study involving 132 kindergarten educators in Germany and Switzerland. Based on the expectancy-value theory of motivation, the relations between educators' emotions regarding mathematics at school, the enthusiasm for mathematics as a subject, the value placed on mathematics and the expectancy of fostering mathematics successfully (self-efficacy) as well as the enthusiasm for fostering mathematics in kindergarten are examined. Following the analysis of correlations and the testing of a multiple regression model, it was found that enthusiasm for mathematics as a subject, importance of mathematics as a subject in kindergarten and self-efficacy predict enthusiasm for fostering mathematics, whereas the variable emotions regarding mathematics at school does not increase the variance explained. Self-efficacy, importance given to mathematics and enthusiasm for fostering mathematics are slightly higher in Switzerland than in Germany, which could be interpreted in light with the structural differences regarding kindergarten

Teaching quality in kindergarten: professional development and quality of adaptive learning support enhances mathematical competency

Adaptive learning support provided by kindergarten teachers before and after (macro-adaptive learning support) as well as during mathematical learning activities (micro-adaptive learning support) is a cross-cutting concept of teaching quality. Effective adaptive learning support enhances children’s learning. However, providing it is challenging and teachers need professional development (PD) to improve the quality of their support. This study investigates the mediating role of teaching quality between PD programs for kindergarten teachers and the development of children’s mathematical competency. 122 kindergarten teachers and their 825 pupils participated in the study. The teachers were randomly assigned to three groups. Two groups attended PD sessions designed to foster either macro- or micro-adaptive learning support. The third was the materials-only control group. The data was analyzed using a self-developed rating instrument focusing on generic and domain-specific elements of teaching quality related to macro- and micro-adaptive learning support. The multilevel latent change model analysis revealed that the PD programs had positive and significant effects on the teaching quality of kindergarten teachers. A significant positive relationship was also found between micro-adaptive learning support and changes in children’s mathematical competency. However, an indirect effect of teaching quality could not be detected, and the PD programs did not have a total effect on children’s mathematical competency. The study reinforces the importance of PD that specifically targets macro- and micro-adaptive learning support for kindergarten teachers. The mediation between PD and mathematical competency development requires further investigation

HBV-RNA Co-amplification May Influence HBV DNA Viral Load Determination

Despite effective hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA suppression, HBV RNA can circulate in patients receiving nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NAs). Current assays quantify HBV DNA by either real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which uses DNA polymerase, or transcription-mediated amplification, which uses reverse-transcriptase (RT) and RNA polymerase. We assessed the effect of RT capability on HBV-DNA quantification in samples from three cohorts, including patients with quantified HBV RNA. We compared the HBV-DNA levels by real-time PCR (cobas HBV, Roche 6800/8800; Xpert HBV, Cepheid), transcription-mediated amplification (Aptima HBV, Hologic), and real-time PCR with added RT capability (cobas HBV+RT). In the first cohort (n = 45) followed over 192 weeks of NA therapy, on-treatment HBV-DNA levels were higher with cobas HBV+RT than cobas HBV (mean difference: 0.14 log10 IU/mL). In a second cohort (n = 50) followed over 96 weeks of NA therapy, HBV-DNA viral load was significantly higher with the cobas HBV+RT and Aptima HBV compared with the cobas HBV test at all time points after initiation of NA therapy (mean difference: 0.65-1.16 log10 IU/mL). A clinically significant difference was not detected between the assays at baseline. In a third cohort (n = 53), after a median of 2.2 years of NA therapy, we detected HBV RNA (median 5.6 log10 copies/mL) in 23 patients (43.4%). Median HBV-DNA levels by Aptima HBV were 2.4 versus less than 1 log10 IU/mL in samples with HBV RNA and without HBV RNA, respectively (P = 0.0006). In treated patients with HBV RNA, Aptima HBV measured higher HBV-DNA levels than Xpert HBV and cobas HBV. Conclusion: Tests including an RT step may overestimate HBV DNA, particularly in samples with low viral loads as a result of NA therapy. This overestimation is likely due to amplification of HBV RNA and may have an impact on clinical decisions

Modelling early childhood teachers’ mathematics-specific professional competence and its differential growth through professional development: an aspect of structural validity

Research on teacher knowledge has been criticised for taking too narrow a view on expertise. Therefore, teacher competence frameworks have been developed that are closely related to professional demands. Their practice-oriented conceptualisations have led to innovative measures with situative demands. However, there is still a lack of knowledge on whether these frameworks are actually suited to map teacher growth. This study investigated whether two components of teacher competence, Action-related (AC) and Reflective Competence (RC), can be differentially fostered through specific interventions in early childhood mathematics education. We designed two professional development programmes with a focus on AC and RC and implemented them in a randomised controlled experiment with 170 teachers. Overall, we found that AC, RC, and professional knowledge were sensitive to interventions with different change profiles. Although our hypotheses were only partially supported, the results can be seen as evidence regarding the distinctness of competence and knowledge components

Kindergarten educators' affective-motivational dispositions: examining enthusiasm for fostering mathematics in kindergarten

Affective-motivational dispositions regarding the fostering of mathematics are an important aspect of early educators' professional competence, as educators are not following curricular programmes but need to seize moments in everyday activities and in play in order to foster mathematics. A variety of scales measuring variables of affective-motivational dispositions within a questionnaire were employed in a binational study involving 132 kindergarten educators in Germany and Switzerland. Based on the expectancy-value theory of motivation, the relations between educators' emotions regarding mathematics at school, the enthusiasm for mathematics as a subject, the value placed on mathematics and the expectancy of fostering mathematics successfully (self-efficacy) as well as the enthusiasm for fostering mathematics in kindergarten are examined. Following the analysis of correlations and the testing of a multiple regression model, it was found that enthusiasm for mathematics as a subject, importance of mathematics as a subject in kindergarten and self-efficacy predict enthusiasm for fostering mathematics, whereas the variable emotions regarding mathematics at school does not increase the variance explained. Self-efficacy, importance given to mathematics and enthusiasm for fostering mathematics are slightly higher in Switzerland than in Germany, which could be interpreted in light with the structural differences regarding kindergarten

Längsschnittliche Messung numerischer Kompetenzen von Kindergartenkindern: Analysen zur Messinvarianz am Beispiel des Tests TEDI-MATH

Zusammenfassung. Wird ein Instrument für längsschnittliche Messungen eingesetzt, muss es zusätzlich zu üblichen messtheoretischen Anforderungen die Voraussetzung zeitbezogener Messinvarianz erfüllen. Dies ist für die Erfassung numerischer Kompetenzen im Kindergartenalter aufgrund des hohen Entwicklungstempos herausfordernd. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist, anhand einer Stichprobe von 894 Kindergartenkindern aus der Schweiz ( n = 523) und Deutschland ( n = 371) zu untersuchen, ob auf Grundlage des TEDI-MATH-Itempools die Entwicklung numerischer Kompetenzen von Kindergartenkindern reliabel und unverzerrt erfassbar ist. In einer Skalierung mittels des Raschmodells erwies sich das Instrument nach Ausschluss von 17 Items mit zeitbezogenen differenziellen Itemfunktionen (DIF) als überzeitlich reliabel. Eine anschließende CFA zeigte jedoch auf, dass die faktorielle Struktur zwar theoriekonform, über die Zeit jedoch nicht vollständig strukturstabil war. Zudem wies das gekürzte Instrument DIF auf Ebene der Länderteilstichproben auf: Diese Unterschiede könnten durch unterschiedliche Kindergarten-Förderkonzepte in den Ländern bedingt sein, was bereits für das Kindergartenalter die Frage der Kontextabhängigkeit von Leistungsmessungen aufwirft

Längsschnittliche Messung numerischer Kompetenzen von Kindergartenkindern: Analysen zur Messinvarianz am Beispiel des Tests TEDI-MATH

Diagnostica, Vol. 67, Nr. 2 (2021), 62-74Wird ein Instrument für längsschnittliche Messungen eingesetzt, muss es zusätzlich zu üblichen messtheoretischen Anforderungen die Voraussetzung zeitbezogener Messinvarianz erfüllen. Dies ist für die Erfassung numerischer Kompetenzen im Kindergartenalter aufgrund des hohen Entwicklungstempos herausfordernd. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist, anhand einer Stichprobe von 894 Kindergartenkindern aus der Schweiz (n = 523) und Deutschland (n = 371) zu untersuchen, ob auf Grundlage des TEDI-MATH-Itempools die Entwicklung numerischer Kompetenzen von Kindergartenkindern reliabel und unverzerrt erfassbar ist. In einer Skalierung mittels des Raschmodells erwies sich das Instrument nach Ausschluss von 17 Items mit zeitbezogenen differenziellen Itemfunktionen (DIF) als überzeitlich reliabel. Eine anschließende CFA zeigte jedoch auf, dass die faktorielle Struktur zwar theoriekonform, über die Zeit jedoch nicht vollständig strukturstabil war. Zudem wies das gekürzte Instrument DIF auf Ebene der Länderteilstichproben auf: Diese Unterschiede könnten durch unterschiedliche Kindergarten-Förderkonzepte in den Ländern bedingt sein, was bereits für das Kindergartenalter die Frage der Kontextabhängigkeit von Leistungsmessungen aufwirft