Search

This paper reports the results from a second-order action research process, accompanying a continuing professional development (CPD), the "Pedagogy and Subject Didactics Programme" (PFL). PFL is a 2-year-postgraduate university course that focuses primarily on subject didactics, action research methods and peer group learning. This study accompanied PFL 2015-2017 with 20 graduates. The main objectives of the evaluation were to verify and maintain a good quality of the input and the possibility to bring this input into the daily work of teachers. Through the formative process orientation, we as program administrators were enabled to integrate many insights directly into the further development of the course. The described process shows how and to what extent PFL could be positively shaped by feedback from teachers and our reflection on it. In this way we were able to meet the needs of the participants without losing sight of PFL's goal. Targeted interventions enabled us to achieve most of the two main objectives of the study.

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is to describe how Lesson Study as second-order action research can be applied and how we planned to evaluate and improve course design, learners' progress, team members' roles and learning objectives of a 2-year university course for English as a Second Language teachers. The article describes the concept of a Lesson Study conducted in a course for teachers with a minimum of 3 years of teaching experience, rather than for students or undergraduates as in traditional concepts of the Lesson Study approach. PFL ('Pedagogy and Subject Didactics Programme') is a 2-year programme consisting of three seminars and five groups meetings in which the participants focus on the reflection of their professional practice in their specific school situation. All participants are required to plan, carry out and document their own action research project. The team provides input on action research and current topics in language teaching and learning, and advises participants. The methodology follows a mixed-method approach based on action research methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and observations. Analyses are conducted qualitatively and quantitatively. The article presents the concept of the project but not yet findings at this stage due to curriculum development and approval issues.

Scaling up educational innovations is a complex endeavour. It often fails or is only successful to a limited extent. More knowledge is therefore needed about the factors that lead to successful scaling up and about the challenges in doing so. The factors fostering the scaling up of educational innovations depend on the level where innovations are expected-at the teachers', schools', regional or at the national level. There is a lack of knowledge about these factors and their interconnectedness, in particular regarding large initiatives aiming at innovations at some or even at all of these levels. This paper reports a meta-study building on several existing empirical studies, theoretical considerations and complementing new studies related to the multi-layered nationwide initiative IMST (Innovations Make Schools Top) in Austria. The meta-study synthesises findings and considerations regarding IMST and aims to analyse and identify relevant fostering factors and challenges. The diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and the self-determination theory (SDT) are used as lenses on the complex topic of scaling up of educational innovations. The meta-study highlights the particular relevance of the factors need for competence (referring to SDT) as well as relative advantage and trialability (both referring to DOI) in scaling up the initiative. As major challenges, we highlight the interconnection between individual and organisational learning, the balance between a bottom-up and top-down strategy and the need to further build up resources in subject didactics in Austria. Finally, we sketch ideas how to further develop IMST.

Over the past few years, more attention has been paid to jingle and jangle fallacies in psychological science. Jingle fallacies arise when two or more distinct psychological phenomena are erroneously labeled with the same term, while jangle fallacies occur when different terms are used to describe the same phenomenon. Jingle and jangle fallacies emerge due to the vague linkage between psychological theories and their practical implementation in empirical studies, compounded by variations in study designs, methodologies, and applying different statistical procedures' algorithms. Despite progress in organizing scientific findings via systematic reviews and meta-analyses, effective strategies to prevent these fallacies are still lacking. This paper explores the integration of several approaches with the potential to identify and mitigate jingle and jangle fallacies within psychological science. Essentially, organizing studies according to their specifications, which include theoretical background, methods, study designs, and results, alongside a combinatorial algorithm and flexible inclusion criteria, may indeed represent a feasible approach. A jinglefallacy detector arises when identical specifications lead to disparate outcomes, whereas jangle-fallacy indicators could operate on the premise that varying specifications consistently yield overrandomly similar results. We discuss the role of advanced computational technologies, such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), in identifying these fallacies. In conclusion, addressing jingle and jangle fallacies requires a comprehensive approach that considers all levels and phases of psychological science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lo's variation theory is a learning and teaching theory based on Marton's phenomenographic approach and is one of the most important backbones of learning studies. The proponents of variation theory demarcate their approach from constructivist learning approaches, stressing constructivism as philosophical framework, but not as learning theory. At the same time, the phenomenographic approach emphasizes the importance of Piaget's work about the cognitive development, which should be considered when talking about learning and teaching. We argue that -- from a theoretical point of view -- Piaget's theory of how cognitive schemata are developed and how variation theory proposes that learning can be fostered entails many similarities which are not apparent at first glance. We demonstrate the similarities and differences using a teaching example from an English as second language classroom and show the implications for practical instructional work. Finally, we discuss concrete suggestions how variation theory could benefit even more from Piaget's theory.

Out-of-field teaching is viewed as inferior to subject-specific instruction, but its impact on student outcomes varies depending on the criteria used for evaluation. The present study investigated the consequences of out-of-field teaching in science on different student outcomes on an international scale. Analyses were based on the sixth cycle of PISA data, using a subsample of N = 128,438 students (51% girls) and N = 27,819 teachers (44% women) from 4,037 schools in 18 countries. Results show that higher specialised science teachers rates in schools were linked to improved scientific literacy and students enjoyment. Science teachers with specialised science training in a school were associated with higher science competencies in students, while the impact on the enjoyment of science was smaller. However, the share of specialised teachers was not associated with students' self-efficacy or perceived teaching practices. The findings suggest that specialised teachers are critical in positively influencing students' literacy and enjoyment. Moreover, it informs policymakers and school administrators about the need to prioritise hiring specialised science teachers to improve the overall quality of science education. Further research is needed to understand how specialised teachers affect student outcomes and to identify other factors impacting science literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents typically exhibit a marked decline in academic intrinsic motivation throughout their school careers. Following self-determination theory, it is hypothesised that traditional school environments insufficiently satisfy three basic psychological needs of youths during maturation, namely the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. As a consequence, insufficient need satisfaction might account for the decline in intrinsic academic motivation during adolescence. This hypothesis was tested in an accelerated longitudinal cohort design on N = 600 students (286 girls) between 11 and 16 years of age. The results showed that students exhibited a marked decline in intrinsic motivation during adolescence. Moreover, differences in need satisfaction predicted the decline in motivations. These results support the notion that an adequate satisfaction of three basic psychological needs in school is crucial for the maintenance of intrinsic academic motivation during adolescence.