Teacher Candidates as Writers: What is the Relationship Between Writing Experiences and Pedagogical Practice

Both teacher candidates (TCs) and practicing teachers are asked to engage in personal writing experiences as means of learning about writing instruction. Yet, research on the relationship between writing and teaching writing provides variable, sometimes contradictory, results. This study investigated the relationship between TCs’ experiences writing a personal narrative in an undergraduate teacher education course and how they read and respond to a second grader’s personal narrative. Results indicate that, initially, many TCs did not draw on their writing experiences to inform how they analyzed, interpreted, and responded to the student’s composition. However, when specifically prompted to think about their writing experiences in the course, 89% were able to notice features in the child’s writing that they had learned to include in their own writing. The authors offer a theoretical framework to explain the results and argue that the framework could be used to guide writing teacher educators as they design writing experiences for teacher candidates. This study provides insights into teachers as writers and how writing experiences impact teachers candidates’ writing pedagogy

Lesson Study: Developing a Knowledge Base for Elementary Writing Instruction

Concern about students\u27 writing skills has led to recommendations that elementary teachers receive more professional development in how to teach writing (National Commission on Writing, 2006). However, there is currently little evidence about the knowledge teachers need to teach writing well, and it is therefore difficult for teacher educators to design effective professional development experiences. What is needed is a better understanding of the knowledge base that informs teaching writing to elementary children. One possible means of gathering evidence about this knowledge base is through a collaborative teacher research process known as lesson study (Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002; Lewis, Perry, & Murata, 2006). Lesson study engages teachers in planning, evaluating, and improving lessons, so the process generates knowledge teachers find useful for their practice and may provide a mechanism for identifying some of the knowledge needed to teach writing. The goal of this study was to explore that possibility by describing the knowledge about writing instruction that elementary teachers generated through the lesson study process. This qualitative case study drew on complexity theory (Davis & Sumara, 2006), to conceptualize lesson study as a knowledge producing process and the lesson study groups who participated as knowledge producing systems. It addressed two main questions: (1) How did the lesson study systems enable and constrain the knowledge about writing instruction that emerged through them? and (2) What was the nature and content of the knowledge about writing instruction that emerged through the lesson study systems? Four lesson study groups, two in each of two elementary schools, participated. Data was collected through videotaping the lesson study sessions, collecting the documents the groups created during the lesson study process, and interviewing the participants after the lesson study cycle ended. The findings indicated that instances of over constraint, under constraint, and enabling constraint occurred in each lesson study group and that the groups produced knowledge that varied in content and nature. In general, instances of enabling constraint produced knowledge that fit the criteria for professional knowledge outlined by lesson study proponents (Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002). Instances of over constraint and under constraint produced knowledge that did not fit the professional knowledge criteria. This knowledge may therefore be less useful for teachers outside the lesson study groups than for the teachers who generated it. The findings suggests that lesson study can, but does not always, produce knowledge suitable for the professional knowledge base for teaching writing. The implication is that, if lesson study groups are to generate knowledge for the knowledge base, they must be organized is such a way that they prompt enabling constraint within themselves

Performance Anxiety in the Young Child

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among state and trait anxiety, physiological changes, and performance in school-aged children. It was predicted that older children would have higher trait anxiety scores. High state anxiety was expected to raise pulse rates and lower performance for both age levels. Twenty-one kindergarten students and seventeen third-grade students served as subjects. The children completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. They learned an age appropriate song and performed this song at home and at a concert. Pulse rates were measured both at home and the concert. Statistical analysis showed that the older children did not have higher T-anxiety scores. State anxiety was related to lower performance for the older children only. Even though pulse rates at performances increased over resting rates, pulse rates were not related to state anxiety. However, state anxiety was related to setting. The results from this study confirmed the complex relationship between anxiety and performance. This complexity must be kept in mind when considering the effects of educational practices on anxiety levels

Identifying Coalitions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68781/2/10.1177_104649647901000304.pd

Teacher Professional Learning in a Writing-as-Making MOOC

Teaching students to compose multimodal, digital writing is imperative in today’s world. Yet, few teachers feel prepared to effectively teach writing, particularly digital composing. This study investigated the design and implementation of an online professional development, Writing-as-Making Massive Open Online Collaboration(wmMOOC). In its design, wmMOOC drew upon elements of the maker movement, principles of connected learning, and the social practices of the National Writing Project. Results indicate that participants took ownership over their writing/making and learning processes and engaged in risk-taking—two necessary stances for creating effective digital compositions. However, they did not critically evaluate the traditional writing in their curriculum, indicate that writing-as-making changed their views of writing instruction, or implement writing-as-making with their students. This study provides insights into how to design effective online professional development for supporting teachers’ learning about digital composing and writing-as-making

Microfluidic integration of photonic crystal fibers for online photochemical reaction analysis

Liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs) are perfect optofluidic channels, uniquely providing low-loss optical guidance in a liquid medium. As a result, the overlap of the dissolved specimen and the intense light field in the micronsized core is increased manyfold compared to conventional bioanalytical techniques, facilitating highly-efficient photoactivation processes. Here we introduce a novel integrated analytical technology for photochemistry by microfluidic coupling of a HC-PCF nanoflow reactor to supplementary detection devices. Applying a continuous flow through the fiber, we deliver photochemical reaction products to a mass spectrometer in an online and hence rapid fashion, which is highly advantageous over conventional cuvette-based approaches

Learnings and Recommendations to Advance 4-H Science Readiness

The case study investigation reported here assessed California 4-H professionals\u27 understanding of the essential components of effective 4-H Science programming as established by the National 4-H Science Mission Mandate. Using the 4-H Science Checklist as the basis for defining 4-H Science Readiness, academic and program staff were surveyed and interviewed to determine their understanding of what constitutes effective science programming in 4-H and their capacity to deliver science professional development and programs. Results indicated a need to build staff capacity relative to 4-H Science in California and outcomes may have implications for 4-H professionals nationally

Characterisation of two key virulence factors in Escherichia coli O157:H7

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are a subset of pathogenic E. coli which can cause diarrhoeal disease, with the majority of infections due to serovar O157:H7. Successful infection by EHEC is determined by the expression of two key virulence factors, flagella and the type three secretion system (T3SS), a bacterially encoded needle-like filament. Flagella are responsible for directional and targeted swimming of the bacteria as well as for initiating bacteria: host cell attachment. A subsequent switch to T3SS expression promotes enhanced binding via the transmission of bacterial proteins (termed effectors) into the host cell. Once in the host cell these effectors act to manipulate host cell pathways and further facilitate infection. This thesis sets out to explore these two important virulence factors; firstly by exploring the regulation of flagella rotation, and thus motility, in a series of Acetaldehyde coA dehydrogenase (AdhE) deletion mutants; and secondly by assessing the potential of a novel fluorescent reporter molecule, LOV, in imaging the expression, translocation and host cell localisation of T3SS injected effector proteins. Findings from this study show that the LOV domain can be used to fluorescently tag the bacterial effector, Tir, and monitor it’s expression, translocation through the T3SS and localisation within the host cell, in real-time. This opens up exciting new possibilities in using LOV to fluorescently monitor the localisation of bacterial effector proteins within the host cell and thus give information on potential cellular partners and mechanism of action. Additionally, exploration of flagella rotation regulation, through the isolation and genomic sequencing of a set of AdhE deletion mutants, suggested a role for AdhE in bacterial motility via indirect acetylation of the chemotaxis protein CheY. A better understanding of both of these virulence factors will render us more capable in our ability to carry out treatment and prevention of EHEC mediated disease

Encouraging Positive Youth Development with Youth Leadership Summits

This article describes the California 4-H Youth Development Program’s (4-H YDP) creation of a Youth Leadership Summit (YLS), as well as information gained from three summits held in the summers of 1999 through 2001. Previous studies (Camino, 2000; Lerner, 2000; Zeldin, 2000) suggested that youth-adult collaborations along with meaningful activities could have a positive impact on youth. Therefore, the summits emphasized the positive youth development model, employed youth-adult collaborations, and encouraged youth to become involved in their communities. In this article, we share the YLS procedures, the roles of youth and adults and the engagement of youth on community issues. The YLS model developed by the California 4-H YDP impacted the individuals and communities involved in important and positive ways and might be a useful model to follow in the establishment of similar youth programs developed by youth professionals