Learning In Elementary Classrooms Research Articles

The Critical Roles of a Mathematics Specialist in Establishing Effective, Coordinated Professional Development Systems

ABSTRACT For nearly three decades, mathematics research has indicated the need for high-quality mathematics instruction including both ambitious and equitable practices, as well as continuous, innovative learning opportunities for educators. Teaching practices and standards for mathematical practice have been identified to provide guidance. While research connects effective professional development (PD) to improved instructional practices, there is a need for additional research on the role mathematics specialists play in developing and sustaining PDs. This qualitative case study examined the multiple roles of a specialist while laying the foundational components for a coordinated PD system to improve and strengthen mathematics teaching and learning in elementary classrooms. The PD efforts included the implementation of a teacher subsystem where a specialist led all components consisting of pull-out PD, mathematics coaching, collaborative time, and teacher networks. This study took place at a rural, pre-K through fourth-grade school in a southeastern state. Analysis of the data identified the specialist’s key roles in each component of the teacher subsystem. The results indicated that the development and implementation of a teacher subsystem impacts the overall effectiveness of PD. Findings serve as a foundation for specialists to design and implement coordinated efforts that can have positive impacts on the teaching and learning of mathematics.

Developing pre-service teachers’ adaptive expertise through STEM-CT integration in professional development and residency placements

This paper focuses on how one innovative teacher education model, that included a unique residency model and the integration of computational thinking and digital teaching and learning in elementary classrooms, supported the development of adaptive expertise in pre-service teacher education programs. The theoretical frame applied in this study is adaptive expertise through the lens of sociocultural theory, and it employs tenets of ethnographic research procedure as methodology. Data demonstrated that the model provided pre-service teachers with a rigorous setting that allowed for practice of routine expertise as well as adaptive expertise. Additionally, analysis pointed to balancing efficiency and innovation and mentor-mentee collaboration as key components of the development of adaptive expertise in pre-service teachers.

Approaches to Learning in Elementary Classrooms: Contribution of Mastery Motivation and Executive Functions on Academic Achievement

Approaches to Learning in Elementary Classrooms: Contribution of Mastery Motivation and Executive Functions on Academic Achievement

Teacher‐created video instruction in the elementary classroom—Its impact on students and teachers

AbstractDespite the proliferation of multimedia devices in elementary classrooms, there is limited research examining teacher‐created video instruction, particularly regarding its effect on academic growth and engagement. This study investigated the effect of teacher‐created computer‐based video instruction (CBVI) using iPads on students' academic, behavioural and affective learning in elementary classrooms. The study used a repeated‐measures design with counterbalancing to measure the effects of CBVI during mathematics lessons on student achievement scores, time on‐task and attitudes towards learning. Three year three classes (n = 49) completed three lessons, each using a different mode of instruction: CBVI created by the class teacher, CBVI created by a stranger, and a traditional live lesson delivered by the class teacher. Results were analysed using a Linear Mixed Model. No significant growth in performance was detected during video instruction, however a significant growth result was achieved for the traditional live teaching mode (p < 0.001), possibly attributable to the longer duration of experimental session. Behavioural engagement was considerably higher during CBVI lessons than live lessons and students preferred their teacher's voice during CBVI. Three teachers were interviewed to examine how CBVI affected teaching and learning, with two main themes emerging: (1) positive impacts of CBVI upon students; and (2) positive impacts on teacher wellbeing. This research indicates benefits for students and teachers when using teacher‐created CBVI. Further research is needed to better understand the factors that influence cognitive development of students using CBVI and to also further explore the effect of CBVI on teacher wellbeing.

Integrating Informational Text and STEM: An Innovative and Necessary Curricular Approach

Recent standards-based reforms call for the use of a variety of informational texts at the elementary level. Informational texts are essential for implementing integrated problem-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in elementary classrooms. Additionally, integrated STEM projects support the use of informational texts as students conduct research, design solutions, and communicate their results, thereby providing real-world applications of informational text. Elementary teachers need encouragement and support in order to increase the use of informational texts that assist in implementing effective STEM lessons. The authors provide strategies for melding informational texts with problem- and project-based learning in STEM.

Emphasizing collaborative practices in learning to teach: coteaching and cogenerative dialogue in a field‐based methods course

This article details a field‐based methods course for preservice teachers that has been designed to integrate shared teaching experiences in elementary classrooms with ongoing critical dialogues with a focus on highlighting the complexities of teaching. I describe the structure of the course and explore the use of coteaching and cogenerative dialogue as approaches to learning how to teach. Vignettes that typify experiences in this course are analyzed, and two main findings are explored. First, coteaching provided critical support to preservice teachers as they taught their first lessons to children. Second, cogenerative dialogues mediated reflexive dialogue around the complexities of teaching. This structure provided a foundation for participants to examine their epistemological assumptions. It is argued that at a time of increasing segmentation of teacher education, teacher educators need to support dialogic, multi‐perspectival approaches that emphasize the complex nature of teaching and learning in elementary classrooms.

Cooperative Learning in Elementary Classrooms: Teaching Practices and Lesson Characteristics

Characteristics of cooperative learning (CL) lessons were investigated in this observational, field-based study. 18 elementary school teachers (grades 2-6) who were experienced users of CL were observed on multiple occasions and interviewed. In all, 56 CL lessons were observed and described. Field notes of the observations were analyzed to identify the nature of lesson activities, their contents, teacher and student behavior, and characteristics of the academic tasks. Results include summaries both of the lesson characteristics and comparisons of more and less successful lessons based on assessments of student engagement, performance, and cooperation. There was considerable variation in the extent to which lessons incorporated major features of CL. Lesson success was associated with higher levels of individual or group accountability, teacher monitoring, feedback, and the use of manipulative materials in group work.

It threw me for a loop!: Preservice teachers’ reactions to issues‐centered social studies in the primary grades

There is a strong theoretical base supporting the use of issues‐centered social studies. Even so, little information exists regarding its implementation at the elementary level. This reflective inquiry examines preservice teachers’ responses to my methods course, which was designed to promote issues‐centered social studies in the primary grades. The obstacles that we all encountered are discussed as well as a call for research focused on the design and implementation of issues‐centered social studies and its influence on teaching and learning in elementary classrooms. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Pupil experiences and pupil learning in the elementary classroom: An illustration of a generative methodology

This paper describes the methodology of a research programme designed to develop a grounded theory of pupil learning in elementary classrooms. The methodology involves the interactive use of both quantitative and qualitative data based on extensive observational study of selected case-study pupils. Quantitative data from the first and third of a series of four studies are used to illustrate the nature of this part of the data analysis. Findings examine the relationship of instructional contexts, content variables, and pupil behaviours and utterances to both short-term and long-term learning. The nature of the nascent theory of classroom learning emerging from the first study and the process of developing that theory in the light of findings from the subsequent studies is described.

Cross-Sex Collaborative Learning in Elementary Classrooms

Cross-Sex Collaborative Learning in Elementary Classrooms

Cross-Sex Collaborative Learning in Elementary Classrooms

Structured naturalistic observations, representing about 1,400 hours of classroom behavior, and student surveys were analyzed to determine: (a) the extent to which small group instruction was used in elementary school classrooms, (b) the academic conditions under which small group instruction was used, and (c) the effects of small group instruction on student attitudes and perceptions, particularly those related to gender stereotypes. In 29 fourth and fifth grade classrooms 23,590 observation records were collected; approximately 11% of the records indicated the use of instructional small groups, of which 8% were mixed-sex groups. Small groups were observed more often in physical education and reading classes and less often in art classes. The use of small groups was not related to gender stereotypes regarding student competence but was negatively related to more general gender stereotypes held by female students. Attitudes toward cross-sex cooperation were negatively related to cooperative groupings for both male and female students, although cross-sex peer ratings by females were positively related to cooperative groupings. Perceptions of oneself as a problem solver were positively associated with cooperative groupings for male students only. The results are discussed in relationship to the characterization of sex as a status characteristic influencing the dynamics of group interaction.