Sherman Rosenfeld

Developing effective teacher beliefs about learners: the role of sensitizing teachers to individual learning differences

Effective teacher beliefs about students are an integral part of effective teaching. Teachers with interventionist beliefs about students (‘I can intervene to help a learner with difficulties’) show more effective practice than teachers with pathognomonic beliefs (‘I blame the learner for his difficulties’). A professional development (PD) course sensitized teachers (N = 234) to individual learning differences (ILDs), using five learning/cognitive styles tools. Teachers’ responses to a pre‐/post‐test question concerning their beliefs about ‘weak students’ were analyzed and correlated with their ILD scores. Before the PD, teachers with strong ILD preferences matched to traditional learning contexts were significantly more ‘at risk’ (i.e., had fewer interventionist beliefs) than the other teachers; the former teachers were significantly overrepresented in the sample. After the PD, teachers’ interventionist beliefs significantly increased, regardless of their ILD preferences. Neither the length of the PD (28 hrs. vs. 56 hrs.) nor the amount of teaching experience affected the teachers’ interventionist beliefs about students. A mediated, constructivist and collaborative PD, which sensitizes teachers to individual learning differences, can increase effective teacher beliefs about students. We conclude that developing more effective teacher beliefs about learners should become a component of teacher professional development.

School and out-of-school science: a model for bridging the gap

Children learn in formal (school) and informal (out-of-school) contexts. Do these children integrate what they learn in these different contexts? While some research shows that they do most of the literature points to a serious lack of contact between these contexts when dealing with related content. During the last two decades, many education researchers have called to bridge this gap. The aim of this paper is to develop a model to guide dialogue and cooperation between staff members within formal and informal educational contexts, in order to foster this integration. We present: (1) a rationale for bridging between formal and informal learning contexts, including the need for a comprehensive and practical model to guide this effort; (2) a design-based research methodology for developing the model; and (3) the resulting 4 × 4-bridging model. We argue that this model can help educators, engaged in formal and informal learning, to develop practical and productive partnerships with each other.

The story of lead: a context for learning about responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the chemistry classroom

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) stands at the center of several EU projects and represents a contemporary view of the connection between science and society. The goal of RRI is to create a shared understanding of the appropriate behaviors of governments, business and NGOs which are central to building trust and confidence of the public and other stakeholders in research and innovation. In this paper we describe a 4.5 hour lesson, “The Story of Lead,” which was developed for teaching RRI to high school chemistry students, based on the historical story of lead. The lesson is part of a larger module. The lesson connects the chemistry curriculum, related to the scientific aspects of lead, to the 6 RRI dimensions. We describe the progression of the lesson, provide relevant links and teaching materials, and present responses of teachers, after they tried out the lesson. The RRI dimensions are compared to prior work done in the field of Socioscientific Issues (SSI). Based on this evidence, we suggest that the lesson can be a good introduction to the topic of RRI in chemistry classrooms.

Using advanced technologies to connect schools to science museums

Field trips in science centers and museums are often isolated from the school curriculum, missing the opportunity to link fun to science learning. This research describes the efforts to enhance the students and teachers experience when visiting a science center or museum. Broadband technologies are used to support students? activities before and after the visit to the science centre and mobile and wearable technologies are used to visualize invisible phenomena while the students visit the science center.

The Impact of Computers on Student and Teacher Commitment to Learning and Teaching

During the past 15 years, the slow penetration of computers into schools, as well as their limited impact there, gives credence to the claim that computers have had a modest impact on the average student. We identify four possible sources of this limited impact of computers on school learning: (1) lack of a critical mass of computers, (2) inappropriate goals and expectations, (3) insufficient interaction of computers with the content of school learning, and (4) insufficient professional development and related support. What might be the impact of computers and information technology to learning and teaching if serious efforts were undertaken to offset these four limitations?

Understanding Teachers with Extreme Individual Learning Differences: Developing More Effective Teachers.

Three teachers, who held extreme preferences for the ways they learn, participated in a year‐long professional development course, designed to sensitize teachers to their own and colleagues’ individual learning differences (ILDs). The case study focuses on their extreme learning preferences and discusses the impact of these preferences on their language, beliefs and practice, both before and after the course. The teachers’ learning preferences were determined from their scores on seven learning/cognitive styles tools and understood further from field notes, interviews and pre‐/post‐test responses. The study suggests that teachers with extreme learning preferences tend to: (a) teach the way they prefer to learn; (b) overgeneralize and project their own learning needs onto students; and (c) hold initial pathognomonic (“blame the learner”) beliefs about students mismatched to them. After the course, the teachers changed their language, beliefs and practice in the direction of becoming more effective teachers, e.g., they held more interventionist beliefs (“I can intervene to help the learner”). The three teachers were strong prototypes who can provide insights about the importance of ILDs in learning, practice and professional development.