The impact of integrated STEM modeling on elementary preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy for integrated STEM instruction: A co‐teaching approach

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of co‐taught integrated STEM methods instruction on preservice elementary teachers’ self‐efficacy for teaching science and mathematics within an integrated STEM framework. Two instructional methods courses (Elementary Mathematics Methods and Elementary Science Methods) were redesigned to include STEM integration components, including STEM model lessons co‐taught by a mathematics and science educator, as well as a special education colleague. Quantitative data were gathered at three time points in the semester (beginning, middle, and end) from 55 preservice teachers examining teacher self‐efficacy for integrated STEM teaching. Qualitative data were gathered from a purposeful sample of seven preservice teachers to further understand preservice teachers’ perceptions on delivering integrated STEM instruction in an elementary setting. Quantitative results showed a significant increase in teacher self‐efficacy across all three time points. Item‐level analysis revealed that self‐efficacy for tasks involving engineering and assessment (both formative and summative) were low across time points, while self‐efficacy for tasks involving technology and flexibility were consistently high. Qualitative results revealed that the preservice teachers did not feel adequately prepared by university‐level science and mathematics courses, in terms of content knowledge and integration of science and mathematics for elementary students.     

A revised theorization of the relationship between teachers’ conceptions of mathematics and its teaching

We assembled the ideas about mathematics and about its teaching which were expressed by mathematicians and mathematics educators into two pairs of ‘official’ (collective) conceptions: mathematics is either static or dynamic, and mathematics teaching is either closed or open. These polar conceptions produce a 4-pair relationship between the conceptions of mathematics and its teaching. The adherence to official conceptions was tapped by a questionnaire encompassing 176 Israeli high school mathematics teachers, aimed at examining the relationship between their conceptions of mathematics and its teaching. The majority of these teachers either hold a single conception in one of the domains or do not adhere to any conception, and a quarter of them hold either the static-closed or dynamic-open pairs of conceptions that prevail among teachers in other countries. Consequently, we define a conception of an entity as a comprehensive and homogenous set of ideas about a particular characteristic or feature of that entity. Reality is that teachers practice their profession without adhering to any official conception, and perhaps are (/to be?/) praised for their reluctance to blindly adopt the clear-cut rigid official conceptions of mathematics and its teaching while maintaining their individual and independent blends of ideas.     

民族地区高师院校计数器基础实验教学研究

根据民族地区地方高师院校的办学状况,提出了在计数器实验教学中"加强实验基础理论——理论与实践相结合,做好计数器基础实验"的教学模式,并对74LS192和74LS161进行的六进制计数器从设计方法和电路的异同进行了深入的分析研究。     

不改初心 方得始终——首届全国高等学校物理基础课程青年教师讲课比赛参赛感想

作者简要回顾了参加第一届全国高等学校物理基础课程青年教师讲课比赛的历程,总结了本项比赛的特点,讨论了比赛对日常教学的促进作用,分享了参加比赛的收获.     

教学的平台 探索的基地 求知的乐园——实验物理教学的追求

文章从实验物理教学的范畴和性质出发,比较中外实验教学的差异,结合当前存在的问题,探讨理想的实验物理教学模式．提出实验物理教学应当以学生为中心,鼓励学生的自主创新精神和师生密切互动;发展实验教学中心应当以质量为重点,而不是盲目追求数量;努力把实验物理教学中心建设成为教学的平台、探索的基地、求知的乐园．     

A report on the introduction of a multiple choice examination for a first year university engineering mathematics course

The paper is an account of the experience of introducing a multiple choice mathematics examination paper for the first year engineering mathematics course at Nottingham University. The form of the paper is described, as is a system for providing the candidates with feedback on their performance without the publication of the examination paper.     

Pre-service mathematics teachers’ concept images of radian

This study investigates pre-service mathematics teachers’ concept images of radian and possible sources of such images. A multiple-case study was conducted for this study. Forty-two pre-service mathematics teachers completed a questionnaire, which aims to assess their understanding of radian. Six of them were selected for individual interviews on the basis of theoretical sampling. The data indicated that participants’ concept images of radian were dominated by their concept images of degree. As the data in this study suggested, pre-service mathematics teachers were reluctant to accept trigonometric functions with the inputs of real numbers but rather they use value in degrees. More interestingly, they have two distinct images of π : π as an angle in radian and π as an irrational number.     

Enhancing pre-service teachers’ fraction knowledge through open approach instruction

This study explores whether using the open approach instruction in teaching mathematics has a positive effect for enhancing pre-service teachers’ fraction knowledge. The test consisted of 32 items that were designed to examine pre-service teachers’ procedural and conceptual knowledge of fractions before and after receiving open approach instruction. The study was undertaken among students in four mathematics content and methods courses for the Elementary School Education program in a mid-western public university. The findings show that most of the teachers achieved improved learning outcomes through the open approach instruction.     

PLC干预下的全日制化学教育硕士PCK发展的个案研究——以“离子反应”教学实践为例

通过工具性个案研究,旨在探查不同阶段的教师专业学习共同体（professional learning community,PLC）干预下职前全日制化学教育硕士的PCK发展,并在此基础上探讨所构建的PLC干预模式的合理性。对1位全日制教育硕士在教育实践过程中的多种数据类型进行收集,采用帕克等人所构建的PCK结构模型进行特征分析和比较,发现全日制教育硕士的PCK结构在经过PLC干预后有显著改善,尤其是各个要素之间的整合更加紧密;不同干预阶段对全日制教育硕士PCK发展作用方式和影响程度不尽相同。PLC干预模式能够促进职前全日制化学教育硕士的PCK发展,然而,其机理及其带来的PCK改变的持久性和稳定性还有待进一步研究。