Course-based Science Research Promotes Learning in Diverse Students at Diverse Institutions

Course-based research experiences (CREs) are powerful strategies for spreading learning and improving persistence for all students, both science majors and nonscience majors. Here we address the crucial components of CREs (context, discovery, ownership, iteration, communication, presentation) found across a broad range of such courses at a variety of academic institutions. We also address how the design of a CRE should vary according to the background of student participants; no single CRE format is perfect. We provide a framework for implementing CREs across multiple institutional types and several disciplines throughout the typical four years of undergraduate work, designed to a variety of student backgrounds. Our experiences implementing CREs also provide guidance on overcoming barriers to their implementation

How principals talk about the first year of teaching: Implications for administrative preparation and practice.

This study focuses on how principals talk about the first year of teaching, supporting beginning teachers, and research about beginning teachers. In addition, this study investigates how principals talk about their own first year of teaching. Data were provided from three different sets of interviews with nine principals. The first interview set asked principals to respond to general, open-ended questions about beginning teachers and the first year of teaching. The second interview set provided seven probes from research on beginning teachers, asking principals to respond in agreement or disagreement, and the third set of interviews solicited data regarding principals own first year of teaching. Each of the three interview protocols focused in three areas: the first year of teaching, support for first-year teachers, and the role of the principal and first-year teachers. The responses from each of the participants are represented in graphic form. The principals in this study described the first year of teaching in five common areas: idealism, reality impact, need to belong, loss of vision, and revitalization. These stages were similar to phases described in the beginning teacher literature; however, two areas were described as extending longer for some novice teachers. Additional findings from the study concur with research findings that principals tend to treat beginning teachers in ways similar to how they themselves were supported as novices. Principals' descriptions of how they support beginning teachers varied from the literature and among each other. Only four out of the nine principals interviewed described methods of providing support to beginning teachers in any detail. When responding to the research cues principals agreed approximately 50% of the time with the findings presented for their consideration. For the most part, the principals interviewed were uninformed of current research in areas that impact the development of beginning teachers. If the induction process for novice teachers is to become more supportive and helpful, it would appear that principals must become more knowledgeable and involved in the process.Ed.D.EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/104073/1/9500871.pdfDescription of 9500871.pdf : Restricted to UM users only

Prosocial Development in Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants’ and friends’ reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21– 22, 23–24, and 25–26 years. In addition, participants’ prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants’ and friends’ reports of a prosocial disposition