Reforming Only Half: A Study of Practice-Based Teacher Education in Traditional Field Placements

Practice-based teacher education is poised to improve teacher education by focusing on interns’ enactment of complex teaching practices and helping them develop these professional skills. However, much of this work has yet to study the trajectory of learning between university training and field experiences. This article explores seven history and social studies interns’ experiences with their cooperating teachers as they utilize two practices from their teacher training. Findings suggest that though interns were trained with carefully scaffolded experiences to use ambitious models of teaching and learning at the university, once they moved to the field classroom they were often on their own to use their teacher training. This article concludes with a call to action for universities to create more alignment between the field and the university to help interns develop professional skills

Taxonomic status and behavioural documentation of the troglobiont Lithobius matulici (Myriapoda, Chilopoda) from the Dinaric Alps: Are there semiaquatic centipedes in caves?

Lithobius matulici Verhoeff, 1899 is redescribed based on type material and newly collected specimens. Strandiolus jugoslavicus Hoffer, 1937, described from another cave in the same region in Bosnia and Hercegovina, is presented as a junior subjective synonym of L. matulici (syn. nov.). L. matulici is shown to be most closely related to Lithobius remyi Jawlowski, 1933, type species of the subgenus-Thracolithobius Matic, 1962. The completeness of the chitin-lines on the forcipular coxosternite is discussed as a promising character for interspecific differentiation within Lithobiomorpha. Documentation of hitherto unknown semiaquatic behaviour in L. matulici and other cave-dwelling centipede species from Heizeguvinian-, Montenegrin- and Pyrenean caves is presented

Exploring the Final Step of Teacher Education: A Study of Student Teachers' Use of New Practices.

The final semester in teacher education, known as student teaching, is arguably the most difficult time in the professional training of teachers. Research suggests that student teaching is a clinical experience filled with conflicting visions, competing practices, and insufficient guidance that can undermine the essential aims of teacher education programs. This experience can hinder student teachers’ use of newly learned knowledge and skills in the field classroom. This dissertation addresses how student teachers use, modify, or disregard practices they learned in their teacher education coursework. Through case studies of seven secondary history/social studies student teachers in an innovative teacher education program seeking to bring coherence between the field and the university, this study sought to understand how pre-service teachers see and experience challenges and supports in using new practices as they enter a traditional student teaching semester. The practices include (a) building lessons around central concepts or big ideas, (b) using historical/historiographic or social scientific problems to launch and organize lessons and units, and (c) employing lessons to hook secondary students in historical or social science content. A central finding of this dissertation is that regardless of the coherence they experienced in previous semesters, these student teachers perceived a breach between their field experience and their teacher education program during their student teaching semester. They described challenges in using new practices, often with insufficient support from both the field classroom and from the university, to mediate these challenges. My study suggests that some of these challenges affect whether student teachers would use, modify, or disregard the practices they learned. This analysis revealed specific hindrances to teacher education, such as a lack of capacity to effectively support novice teachers in the field and tensions between giving student teachers codified instructions for practices and helping them use practices creatively and malleably. To improve teacher education, this dissertation calls for a more intentional design of the student teaching semester to ensure a more coherent experience for novice teachers. Further, this study calls for the formal training of cooperating teachers in the methods and theoretical foundations of the teacher education programs.PHDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99996/1/sheeptuf_1.pd

State Education Agencies\u27 Acquisition and Use of Research Knowledge for School Improvement Strategies

Over the last 20 years, state education agencies (SEAs) have been given considerably more responsibilities for directing and guiding the improvement of low-performing schools. At the same time, federal policies strongly pressed SEAs to use research to design these supports. Very few studies have explored the SEA as an organization, or its role in accessing and using research. Likewise, few, if any, have studied the role of social networks in the organization and flow of information in SEAs. This exploratory study was designed to fill those gaps by examining where and how a purposive sample of three SEAs searched for, incorporated, and used research and other types of knowledge to design, implement, and refine state school improvement policies, programs and practices

Checklist of Georgian centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda)

Abstract The Caucasus ecoregion is distinguished by its biodiversity. The flora and fauna of the ecoregion became the study area of many zoologists and botanists. Georgia, as a part of it, is important for its valuable and impressive diversity. However, despite many years of scientific research, certain groups, among them centipedes, are not so well studied. This is the first comprehensive summary of current knowledge about centipedes distributed in the territory of Georgia, based on literature data. It provides information about 59 taxa (57 species and two subspecies) known from Georgia, belonging to 16 genera in seven families from four orders. Nineteen species are endemic to the Caucasus, eight of which are Georgian endemics. Among them, two species: Cryptops datviensis Tuf, Barjadze, and Maghradze, 2022, and Harpolithobius birsteini Zalesskaja, 1972, are troglobiotic. Another four species (Lithobius caucasicus Sseliwanoff, 1881; Lamyctes coeculus (Brölemann, 1889); Lithobius semperi (Haase, 1887); and Scolopocryptops nigridus McNeill, 1887) are considered doubtful records. An overview of local and global distribution for each taxon is included. Lithobius fasciatus Muralevitch, 1929, syn. nov. is formally synonymized with Lithobius striatus Muralevitch, 1926

Millipede and centipede assemblages on the northern and southern slopes of the lowland Altais, southwestern Siberia, Russia (Diplopoda, Chilopoda)

The total species richness in the myriapod assemblages of the lowland Altais near Charyshskoe Village, Altai Province, southwestern Siberia, Russia is estimated to be at least 19 species from ten genera, eight families, five orders, and two classes. The following species are new to SW Siberia: Lithobius (Ezembius) ostiacorum Stuxberg, 1876, L. vagabundus Stuxberg, 1876, and L. (Monotarsobius) nordenskioeldii Stuxberg, 1876, while L. (E.) proximus Sseliwanoff, 1880 and L. (M.) insolens Dányi & Tuf, 2012 are recorded for the first time from the Altai Province of Russia. A species of Strigamia which is morphologically similar to Strigamia cf. transsilvanica (Verhoeff, 1928) has been found in the study area but its true specific identity is yet to be determined. The seasonal dynamics of myriapod assemblages in terms of the species diversity, density, sex-age structure, and vertical distribution along the soil profile have been studied with regard to the different slope exposures

Les peuplements de millipèdes et de centipèdes résultant du type de gestion des pâturages : résultats préliminaires en République tchèque

The aim of this study was to compare distribution and assemblage structures in centipedes and millipedes in pastures with different management arrangements. The evaluated types of management included sheep grazing, mowing, mulching and various combinations of these treatments. Different foundation modes of pasture were also evaluated – commercial mixtures of fodder crops, local mixtures of seeds with different proportions of dicotyledonous herbs, and spontaneous fallow land. Despite low abundance of both centipedes and millipedes, the most positive effect observed in millipedes was in mulching due to the surplus of dead organic matter. The best way to manage pasture is to use a mixture of local seeds with a high proportion of dicotyledonous herbs as food of highe r substantiality compared to grassLe but de cette étude était de comparer la répartition et les structures des groupements de centipèdes et de millipèdes dans les pâturages en fonction de différents types de gestion. Les types de gestion évalués étaient le pâturage de moutons, le fauchage et le paillage dans diverses combinaisons. Différents modes de fondations de pâturages ont également été évalués - mélange commercial des cultures fourragères, semences locales mélangées avec des proportions différentes de plantes dicotylédones, et une jachère spontanée. Malgré la rareté des centipèdes et des millipèdes, l'effet le plus positif pour les millipèdes a été observé dans le cadre du paillage car celui-ci offre de la matière organique morte. La meilleure façon de gérer le pâturage est d'utiliser un mélange local de semences à forte proportion de plantes dicotylédones comme nourriture de qualité supérieure en comparaison du gazon

Migration strategy of the Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) in an artificial pond

In animals, migration is an evolutionary adaptation to manage seasonally varying habitats. Often driven by climatic changes or resource availability, amphibians then migrate from their hibernation sites to their breeding grounds. This research focused on the migratory habits of the Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus). The study explored factors like gender, body size, and environmental determinants, noting that immigration and emigration events proved distinct during the year. Results unveiled that males typically reached ponds first, with temperature being pivotal: males preferred up to 5 °C, females around 10 °C, while juveniles moved as temperatures increase. Wind velocity affected larger newts, around 120 mm, prompting them to migrate with stronger winds. Notably, heavy rainfall favored migration of newts of roughly 60 mm size. Humidity displayed gender-based trends: males associated positively with average levels, females showed aversion above 50%, and juveniles leaned towards drier conditions. Emigration patterns mirrored these findings, emphasizing roles of temperature, wind, and humidity. The effect of moonlight is not statistically significant. These findings provide valuable insights into the environmental factors influencing the migration of T. cristatus, which may guide future conservation efforts