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In this paper we propose that hypertext writing at school could have beneficial effects on the acquisition of content knowledge and the acquisition of writing skills compared to linear writing. We view the effects of hypertext writing on writing skills from the perspective of “shared” cognitive activities in writing linear texts and hypertexts. In a pilot study we examined the effects of hypertext writing on writing processes and we related the occurrence of writing processes to the quality of the resulting writing products. We set up this study to identify students’ cognitive activities during hypertext and linear writing. We also tried to determine whether hypertext writing could facilitate linear writing. We focused on the most central, distinctive features of linear and hypertext writing. For linear writing, this is a linearization process: i.e., transforming elements of content into linear text. For hypertext writing, this is a hierarchicalization process: converting a linearly presented line of thought into a hierarchical structure. Students (N=123) from Grades 8 and 9 performed two linearization tasks and two hierarchicalization tasks under think aloud conditions. Results showed that Planning and Analyzing activities contributed to the final quality of hypertexts and linear texts, and that these activities were more often elicited in hypertext tasks than in linear writing. We argue that writing hypertexts stimulates the use of writing activities that are positively related to writing proficiency. Moreover, we speculate that creating hypertext writing conditions and optimizing these conditions for different writer/learner styles might be a theoretical and practical challenge for mother tongue teaching.

This study investigates the use of an evaluation function to increase the local relevance of replies in online anchored discussion. Being implemented in a university course on French linguistics, a regular system for anchored discussion is compared with two versions that are enhanced with an integrated evaluation function. The function asks students to evaluate the relevance of each others’ replies. To compare between experimental and control conditions, the collaboration protocols are analysed with a newly developed coding scheme for the local relevance of replies. Statistical processing of the data is done with a multilevel approach and results indicate that an evaluation function can effectively increase the local relevance of students’ replies, but only if it is actually used to a certain extent. Using the evaluation function is hypothesized to increase students’ awareness of the importance of writing relevant replies.

This study examined writers’ use of their first language (L1) while writing in their second language (L2). Twenty students each wrote four short argumentative essays in their L1 (Dutch) and four in their L2 (English) under think-aloud conditions. We analysed whether L1 use varied between writers and tasks, and whether it was related to general writing proficiency, L2 proficiency, and L2 text quality. The analysis focused on the occurrence of a number of conceptual activities, including Generating ideas, Planning, and Metacomments. Results indicate that all participants used their L1 while writing in their L2 to some extent, although this varied among conceptual activities. In addition, L2 proficiency was directly related to L2 text quality but was not related to the occurrence of conceptual activities either in L1 or L2. General writing proficiency, on the other hand, has a negative influence on L1 use during L2 writing and a positive effect on L2 use during L2 writing. L1 use during L2 writing is negatively related to L2 text quality, at least for Metacomments. Finally, L2 use appears to be positively related to L2 text quality for Goal setting, Generating ideas, and Structuring, but negatively related to L2 text quality for Self-instructions and Metacomments. The theoretical relevance of these findings is also discussed.

This study attempts to reliably measure literature reading and creative writing ability, and subsequently to determine whether a relationship exists between the two abilities. Participants were 19 eleventh-grade students: 11 were known to be good readers of literature, whereas 8 were known to be poor readers of literature. Each participant read 4 literary texts and wrote 5 creative texts. Texts concerned two genres: poems and short stories. The transcriptions of reading responses and writing products were rated by different panels of 7 and 8 independent expert judges, respectively.Multilevel analyses indicated that agreement among judges was high and that individual student performance relative to other students was fairly consistent among tasks, both for reading and writing tasks. Moreover, average reading and average writing performance appeared to be related even when the a priori selection was taken into account.The results support our hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between literature reading and creative writing ability. Moreover, it shows that both constructs can be measured in reliable ways. Implications for further research and for the position of creative writing within the literature curriculum are discussed.

In this study we examined the effects of self-questioning on students’ interpretation and appreciation of complex short stories. Two experiments were carried out, in which tenth grade students from different secondary schools participated. In Experiment 1 self-questioning instruction was compared to instructor-made questions about stories. In Experiment 2 two forms of self-questioning instruction were compared: an unguided and a guided form. Literature discussions in peer groups formed a substantial part of all conditions. Results showed that (unguided) self-questioning had a positive effect on students’ appreciation of literary stories, compared to instructor-prepared questions and to guided self-questioning. The results for quality of interpretation were more diffuse. In Experiment 1 effects on students’ story interpretation could not be established. In Experiment 2 a main effect on story interpretation was found for both the guided and unguided form of self-questioning instruction. In addition, students’ reading experience appeared to be important for the effectiveness of the unguided self-questioning condition: avid readers tended to benefit more from this condition than infrequent readers. We conclude that an open literature approach, based on ‘authentic’ student-generated questions in response to short stories, can be beneficial for students’ story interpretation and appreciation.

The use of technology (information and communication technology, ICT) in secondary education is an important aspect of the current curriculum and of teachers' pedagogy. Learning supported by computers is supposed to be motivating for students and is, therefore, assumed to have positive effects on learning experiences and results. However, the question remains whether these motivating effects are equal for all students. Although the gender gap in the use of ICT and knowledge about it has diminished, there are still indications that the use of technology in education affects girls and boys differently. The present empirical study focuses on the relationship between the inclusiveness of educational tools and the learning experiences of girls and boys. The results show that gender scripts are embedded in educational tools, which are reinforced in classroom practice and affect learner experiences. A greater inclusiveness of the tools appears to improve the participation of students, enhances positive attitudes toward learning and technology, and improves the learning effects as reported by girls and boys. Girls especially tend to benefit from the inclusiveness of educational tools.

In the context of educational innovation, it is important to investigate how in-service teachers learn and adapt their knowledge to changing professional circumstances. The authors investigated the informal learning of a small number of experienced science teachers in their first few years of teaching a new science syllabus in secondary education in the Netherlands. The storyline method was used to elicit the teachers' perceptions of their learning from experiences at work. The authors focused on three aspects of learning, namely, teachers' learning activities, courses of development, and changed competences. From the results, two qualitatively different ways of learning were identified. Type I represents a revolutionary course of development in a teacher's engagement in mainly individual activities in the working context. Type II symbolizes an evolutionary development in a teacher's participation in both individual and collaborative activities. Implications for professional development initiatives are discussed, as are suggestions for initial teacher education.

There is little doubt that e-learning has had a major impact in large companies, both in allowing the extension of training provision and in facilitating professional development activities. However, the picture is far less clear when it comes to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Technology and attitudes of managers and employees seem to form potential drawbacks to e-learning initiatives in SMEs. Questionnaire data have been gathered from more than 400 owner-managers of SMEs in 7 European countries. Furthermore, 105 owner-managers and 5 employees from 105 of these firms have been interviewed on aspects of e-learning in their company. The overall picture of e-learning in small firms across seven European countries was fairly negative: owner-managers generally did not show positive attitudes towards technology, learning and training in companies. These attitudes are strongly related to technology infrastructure in the company and vary among companies of different size and from different economic sectors.

A mobile and multimedia game designed for history education was analyzed in terms of how it is designed and how it was applied as a narrative learning environment. In history education, narrative can be argued to be very useful to overcome fragmentation of the knowledge of historical characters and events, by relating these with meaningful connections of temporality and sequence (storification). In the game studied, students explore the history of Amsterdam by walking in the city, experiencing characters, buildings, and events, while using UMTS/GPS phones for communication and exchange of information. The history game was played during one day by 216 students, spread over 10 secondary school classes, in groups of four or five students. All information exchanged during the games was collected, and the game play and introduction of the game was observed by team coaches and researchers. The design of the game as well as the actual gaming process was analyzed with respect to how it evoked three types of storification: receiving (spectator), constructing (director) and participating in (actor) the story. Results show that the game evoked a mixture of these three types of storification. Moreover, these types of storification processes differently affected students’ engagement. Participating in the story evoked high activity in the game but less awareness of the whole story, whereas constructing the story triggered awareness of the whole story. Compared to receiving the story, both these types positively affected the engagement of the students being active and motivated during the game.

In dit artikel rapporteren we over een studie waarin 144 eerstejaarsstudenten een synthese van bestaande onderzoeksresultaten leerden schrijven. Studenten werden random toegewezen aan de experimentele conditie (leren-door-observeren) of de controleconditie (leren-door-doen). De studenten uit de leren-door-doen-conditie bekwaamden zich in de nieuwe tekstsoort door korte schrijfoefeningen te maken. De studenten uit de leren-door-observeren-conditie schreven niet zelf tijdens de oefenfase, maar observeerden en evalueerden de schrijfaanpak en teksten van hardopdenkende peers.We hadden met deze studie drie onderzoeksdoelen voor ogen: (1) testen of observerend leren leidt tot betere schrijfprestaties dan leren-door-doen, (2) nagaan of observerend leren bijdraagt tot positievere succesverwachtingen voor een nieuwe, vergelijkbare schrijftaak en (3) onderzoeken of observerend leren leidt tot een beter inzicht in het eindproduct (genrecriteria) en het schrijfproces (taakaanpak).De resultaten geven aan dat observerend leren een positief effect had op de schrijfprestaties van de studenten. De teksten van de experimentele groep bevatten betere inleidingen en conclusies en de inhoud was vaker thematisch geordend. We konden geenverschillen vaststellen in de sterkte van de succesverwachtingen. Observerend leren had wel een positief effect op de taakkennis van de observanten. Zij konden na de interventie gedetailleerder beschrijven welke voorbereidende handelingen nodig zijn om een goed literatuuroverzicht op papier te zetten. Onze studie bevestigtdaarmee in grote lijnen de resultaten van eerder onderzoek en toont aan dat observerend leren ook binnen het academisch schrijfonderwijs een effectievere onderwijsmethode is dan leren-door-doen.

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory research is to test the model of training transfer as a two‐way process.Design/methodology/approachBased on self‐report data gathered from 58 to 44 respondents in a field experiment, it is argued that there is not just learning in the context of training and not just application in the context of work. For training design may ask for performance during training, and data show significant further learning of skills in the context of work.FindingsThe overall results of the data analysis suggest support for transfer as a two‐way process. Data show a dip in transfer in the first interval, three weeks after training. In the longer term (one year), transfer restored significantly.Practical implicationsDiscusses how to combine learning and performance, in the training context and the work context.Originality/valueThe usual view of transfer is one‐way (from training to work; from learning to application), while transfer may be a two‐way process. A presented model is put to the test.

In this study, the influence of parental input on the acquisition of discourse connectives was investigated. Three factors were hypothesized to play a role in contributing to the course of language acquisition: first, an increase in age, and hence, an increase in conceptual abilities; second, short-term frequency effects (effects of parental input in the space of one recording); and third, long-term frequency effects (effects of the cumulative parental input over a longer period of time). The authors developed a growth curve analysis and used this to analyze data from a dense longitudinal corpus of a German boy aged 1;11.12—2;11.27. Results show that each factor has a significant effect on the acquisition of the German connectives aber `but,' damit `so that,' und `and,' weil `because,' and wenn `when' and should always be taken into account when studying connective acquisition. Furthermore, growth curve analysis promises to be an innovative tool to study factors influencing the course of language acquisition.

This article focuses on the use of online interactive peer feedback in higher education and identifies the successful uptake of feedback as an important aspect. We investigate the link between the nature of students’ feedback, the way it is evaluated by the receiver, and its consecutive use for the revision of students’ products. Two separate studies were conducted to investigate the link between these three variables across different educational contexts and tools. Both studies showed a significant relationship between feedback containing concrete suggestions and a successful uptake of the feedback. Regarding the different tools that were used, these concrete suggestions were more often produced in the Annotation system than in the Blackboard discussion forum, the latter showing more evaluative forms of feedback. We also found significant relationships between elements of both the nature and the reception of feedback on the one hand, and the use of this feedback by the receiver on the other hand.

This paper investigates the developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of nine experienced science teachers in their first few years of teaching a new science syllabus in the Dutch secondary education system. We aimed to identify the content and structure of the PCK for a specific topic in the new syllabus, 'Models of the Solar System and the Universe', describing the PCK development in terms of relations between four different aspects: knowledge about instructional strategies; knowledge about students' understanding; knowledge about assessment of students; and knowledge about goals and objectives of the topic in the curriculum. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in three subsequent academic years. From the analysis of the data, two qualitatively different types of PCK emerged. Type A can be described as oriented towards model content, while Type B can be typified as oriented towards model content, model production, and thinking about the nature of models. The results also indicate that these two types of PCK developed in qualitatively different ways.

In order to examine and explain differences in self-regulated (SR) deep learning of successful immigrant and non-immigrant students we investigated a population of 650 high track 10th grade students in Amsterdam, of which 39% had an immigrant background. By means of a questionnaire based on the MSLQ of Pintrich and De Groot (1990) the students reported their use of learning and resource management strategies, and their motivational values and attitudes. Two tests measured vocabulary and mathematical reasoning. Background characteristics, grades, track position and school composition (i.e., proportions of immigrant students) were registered as well. A factor analysis yielded two learning patterns: self-regulated deep learning and self-regulated surface learning. Subsequent analyses of variance showed that, compared to boys, girls prefer SR surface learning. However, immigrant girls fit best in the SR deep learning pattern. The contrast between immigrant and non-immigrant girls is substantial. Explanations for this particular group difference, and for variance in SR deep learning in general, were explored. Of the achievement measures, only average grade explains variance in SR deep learning. Motivational values and resource management strategies do so as well. Track position does not, but school composition does affect the way immigrant students learn. Schools with more than 60% immigrant students enhance more SR deep learning than schools with less than 20% immigrant students. As the difference in SR deep learning between immigrant and non-immigrant girls is not explained by any of the covariates, we suggest alternative explanations in the discussion section.

In this article, we propose to link the study of writing-to-learn to the theory of aptitude–treatment interaction (ATI). In an experimental study we examined the effects of a course on “Writing-to-learn about literary stories” consisting of writing tasks adapted to either a planning or a revising writing strategy. We hypothesized that the effects of writing-to-learn tasks depend on the interaction between students' preferred writing strategy and the type of writing instruction, matching or mismatching students' writing strategy. Our match hypothesis was in the main confirmed: results indicated that adapting writing tasks to students' writing strategies increases their learning in the field of literature.

In 2005 the Dutch Minister of Education proposed making it compulsory for all schools in The Netherlands to stimulate active citizenship and social integration. Teachers must give these educational goals a tangible form in their practice. What are the teachers' views on citizenship education? Concepts of citizenship education and the teacher's role in it may differ widely, and very different perspectives on values and value development are possible. This article addresses how teachers view citizenship education. We present the results of a survey conducted among a representative sample of Dutch secondary schools. The results show that teachers make clear choices in the importance they attach to certain values. Teachers want students to acquire skills to analyse, communicate and reflect on values, and they want to stimulate the development of certain values. The chosen values relate to different types of citizenship. School level, school subject and the age of the teachers make a difference to the importance teachers attach to different values.

This study examines whether writers vary how they write under influence of the changing task situation when writing in a second language (L2) and, if so, whether differences in the way they write are related to variations in text quality. Twenty first year students wrote four texts each in their L2 (English) under think-aloud conditions. The analysis focused on four cognitive activities: Reading the assignment and sources, Planning, Generating ideas and Formulating. Results indicate that, on average, the occurrence of each activity varies during the writing process. In addition, writers differ in the extent that they vary their process execution (i.e., the way they apply different activities) while writing. These differences, however, depend on the moment in the writing process, and on the activity being carried out. In general, writers’ behaviour is rather stable between tasks, at least at the start of the writing process. Finally, results indicate that the correlation between each activity and text quality varies during the writing process and also differs somewhat between tasks.

Psycholinguistic data are often analyzed with repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVA), but this paper argues that mixed-effects (multilevel) models provide a better alternative method. First, models are discussed in which the two random factors of participants and items are crossed, and not nested. Traditional ANOVAs are compared against these crossed mixed-effects models, for simulated and real data. Results indicate that the mixed-effects method has a lower risk of capitalization on chance (Type I error). Second, mixed-effects models of logistic regression (generalized linear mixed models, GLMM) are discussed and demonstrated with simulated binomial data. Mixed-effects models effectively solve the "language-as-fixed-effect-fallacy", and have several other advantages. In conclusion, mixed-effects models provide a superior method for analyzing psycholinguistic data.

The Vietnamese curriculum reform which trends toward a student-centered approach requires Vietnamese teacher educators to prepare student teachers for teaching using this approach. In this article, we present a case study of three Vietnamese student teachers working in groups in a methods course to explore Freudenthal’s theory of realistic mathematics education (RME). The course emphasized students’ knowledge construction in meaningful contexts. Transcripts of class discussions and group discussions, interviews, student teachers’ lesson plans, and journal writings were the main data sources that were used to investigate the development of student teachers’ views on mathematics and mathematics education during the course. The deliberation about teaching strategies of three subjects working in a group to design lesson plans were also analyzed. The findings showed that the three student teachers explored new meanings of mathematics teaching that caused them to shift from their traditional point of view to a student-centered one. The student teachers were able to adapt the texts of their lessons to suit the student-centered approach. It is noted that among three subjects, there were two student teachers who questioned the realization possibilities of the student-centered approach in the Vietnamese educational context where the social and political conditions are not favorable for teaching with this approach.

A growing body of studies involves complex research processes facing many interpretations and iterations during the analyses. Complex research generally has an explorative in-depth qualitative nature. Because these studies rely less on standardized procedures of data gathering and analysis, it is often not clear how quality was insured or assured. However, one can not easily find techniques that are suitable for such complex research processes to assess the quality of the study. In this paper, we discuss and present a suitable validation procedure. We first discuss how ‘diagnosing’ quality involves three generic criteria. Next, we present findings of previous research in possible procedures to assure the quality of research in social sciences. We introduce the audit procedure designed by Halpern [(1983) Auditing Naturalistic Inquiries: The Development and Application of a Model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University] we found an appropriate starting point for a suitable procedure for quality judgment. Subsequently, we will present a redesign of the original procedure, with according guidelines for the researcher (the auditee) and for the evaluator of the quality of the study (the auditor). With that design, we aim to enable researchers to bring forward their explorative qualitative studies as stronger and more equally valuable to studies that can rely on standardized procedures.

We present the results of a literature review of studies on teaching strategies for moral education in secondary schools (1995-2003). The majority of the studies focus on the 'what' and 'why', i.e. the objectives, of curriculum-oriented moral education. Attention to the instructional formats for enhancing the prosocial and moral development of students (the 'how') is relatively sparse. Most studies on teaching strategies for moral education recommend a problem-based approach to instruction whereby students work in small groups. This approach gives room for dialogue and interaction between students, which is considered to be crucial for their moral and prosocial development. Other studies discuss more specific teaching methods, such as drama and service learning. We conclude that the theoretical discourses on moral education are not reflected on the practice of curriculum-oriented moral education and its effects on students' learning outcomes. We recommend that future research on curriculum-oriented moral education includes the subject areas encompassing moral issues and the social differences between students.

The aim of the study was to identify the features of the pedagogical context in choreography and dance technique classes which could be viewed as the basis for developing a suitable web-based ICT application to support teaching and learning in practical dance classes. The sample consisted of teachers from four dance academies in the Netherlands. Data about the pedagogy was gathered using a questionnaire and an interview. The results showed that there are similar patterns in applying reflection in terms of content, methods and frequency, and that students encounter difficulties with reflection activities in both choreography and technique classes. Therefore, an appropriate ICT tool for practical dance classes should focus on facilitating the pedagogy of students’ reflection.

Purpose of the present study was to test a conceptual model of relations among achievement goal orientation, self-efficacy, cognitive processing, and achievement of students working within a particular collaborative task context. The task involved a collaborative computer-based modeling task. In order to test the model, group measures of mastery-approach goal orientation, performance-avoidance goal orientation, self-efficacy, and achievement were employed. Students’ cognitive processing was assessed using an online log-file measure. As predicted, mastery-approach goal orientation had a significant positive effect on achievement, which was mediated through students’ use of deep processes. No significant relationships could be found between performance-avoidance goal orientation and surface processing and between surface processing and achievement. Results are discussed with respect to general theoretical implications and lead to suggestions for the design of appropriate scaffolds.

Just as linguistic errors have provided insights into the nature of linguistic competence(s), detailed analyses of blind spots or marked trajectories in the reflection cycles of novice teachers may provide a window on their underlying beliefs, and thus on relevant zones of proximal development. In this paper we analyse a case study in an experimental web-based learning environment in which a novice teacher demonstrably just reproduces the assumptions she started out with rather than re-inspecting them. Having located a problem of motivation uniquely inside the learners' heads, she pointedly ignores hints in the feedback that her own verbal and nonverbal behaviour in the classroom might be a relevant domain of enquiry. Our findings show the need for structural interventions within a priori hypothesized, linearly ordered, stages in reflection models. We report on two small-scale experiments that implement suggested changes in the architecture of the web site which yield more context-sensitive ways of scaffolding reflection. In conclusion we argue that detailed discursive accounts of successful and less successful reflection trajectories are needed to refine and further develop models in teacher thinking.

In this article we discuss the social competence students should acquire to participate in society in an adequate manner. The focus is on social competence as an educational goal and on the question of how to evaluate the efforts of schools in enhancing the social competence of their students. First, a review study is presented of research on the social competence or pro-social development of students. Two perspectives figure in the literature on the meanings of social competence in modern society: an 'educating for adulthood' perspective and an 'educating for citizenship' perspective. Each emphasises different aspects of the social competence youngsters need to develop and follows a different line of thought in considering the task of education in enhancing social competence. In the second part of this article we select the components of social competence that should form part of the development of children and young people in a democratic society. We question what instruments are necessary to assess educational results in the field of social competence. On the basis of the review study we also analyse what type of instruments are currently available and what problems have been identified in measuring educational results in the field of social competence. The article concludes with a discussion of the normative character of the concept of social competence. © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Defining is a natural and necessary response to an ambiguous world, but causes fixation of categories and perspectives. On the basis of two earlier studies of project groups, we came to argue that redefining, and hence constructing various ways in which one perceives and understands something, enables groups to overcome imprisonment in meaning, establishing continuous development and flexibility. In this article, we first build a rationale for facilitating a process of redefining, to be taken into account when designing technology. Departing from this rationale, we discuss features of groupware technology that permit change by being flexible, and evoke redefining by engaging the user more actively. In so doing, we argue to think along new lines in the design of communication and collaboration technology. This paper proposes a specific perspective on technology, facilitating groups to engage in a productive, creative fashion of exploiting meaning potential.

Various strands of research in educational, social and organizational psychology focus on structures of collectively created meaning that emerge in and coordinate activities of groups. Despite expanding, this field still lacks conceptual clarity, enhanced by the multitude of terms used, such as common ground, shared understanding, collective mind, team mental models, and distributed cognition. We conducted a review of the conceptual frameworks being used in empirical studies, focusing on the premises of the conceptualizations. Therefore, we connected these conceptualizations to either cognitive or socio-cultural perspectives on the social nature of cognition. Some studies are identified as representing initial ways of boundary crossing between these perspectives. To conclude, we explore ways for boundary crossing and cross-fertilization in future research. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to get a clear view on how can we judge groups in relation to the characteristics of a community of practice (CoP), and the presence of collective learning in these groups.Design/methodology/approachA review of literature on collective learning and CoPs led to the development of a conceptual model, which was tested through case study research against empirical data from three groups in organizations.FindingsThe groups differed concerning group characteristics, but also concerning the collective learning processes and learning outcomes present. The group that can be characterized as a CoP learns a lot, but the (learning) processes in the group are not always in favour of the organizational learning process.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual framework was helpful to evaluate the characteristics of CoPs in relation to collective learning. These findings suggest that it will be interesting to expand the model, for example with consideration to the way CoPs experience the need to change.Practical implicationsThe developed framework might help managers to judge if groups in an organization have characteristics of a CoP, if they are in balance and what might be needed to develop towards an ideal CoP with a great learning potential.Originality/valueA first attempt is made to build a framework for judging CoPs for several aspects of their functioning. The research also shows that CoPs are not always stimulating forces for organizational learning.

As teachers' knowledge determines to a large extent how they respond to educational innovation, it is necessary for innovators to take this knowledge into account when implementing educational changes. This study aimed at identifying patterns in the content and the structure of science teachers' knowledge, at a point in time when they still had little experience in teaching a new subject, that is, Public Understanding of Science. We investigated three domains of teacher knowledge: Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), subject-matter knowledge, and general pedagogical knowledge. A semi-structured interview and a questionnaire were used. From the analysis of the data, two types of teacher knowledge emerged. One of the types was more integrated and more extended in terms of PCK. Teachers who represented this type of knowledge had developed PCK that connected the various programme domains of the new science subject. In both types, PCK was found to be consistent with general pedagogical knowledge. In both types, however, subject-matter knowledge was similar, and not directly related to the other knowledge domains. Implications for the implementation of the new subject are discussed.

The aim of the research described in this article was the development of an instrument to measure social emotional characteristics and special educational and pedagogical needs of students in the last grade of primary education. Questionnaires were developed for teachers as well as for students.

Contains fulltext : 56629.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Preffi 2.0 is an evidence-based Dutch quality assessment instrument for health promotion interventions. It is mainly intended for both planning and assessing one's own projects but can also be used to assess other people's projects (external use). This article reports a study on the reliability of Preffi as an external quality assessment instrument. Preffi is used to assess quality at three levels: (i) specific criteria, (ii) clusters of criteria and (iii) entire projects. The study compared Preffi-based assessments of 20 projects by three practitioners with their intuitive assessments of the same projects and with assessments by three experts, which were to be used as external criteria. The intuitive assessments only related to the cluster and project levels. Our main hypothesis was that intuitive assessments by practitioners would be less reliable and accurate than their Preffi-based assessments and the experts' assessments. On the whole, we failed to confirm this hypothesis: the experts' assessments proved less reliable and accurate than the practitioners' intuitive and Preffi-based assessments and differed too much from each other to be used as external criteria. The Preffi-based assessments by the practitioners had an acceptable generalizability coefficient (G) and accuracy (standard error of measurement). At the level of the entire project, two assessors are needed to produce sufficiently reliable and accurate assessments, whereas three are needed for assessment at cluster level. The study also showed that different assessors use different perspectives and base their assessment on a variety of aspects. This was regarded as inevitable and even useful by the assessors themselves. Discussions between assessors are important to achieve consensus. The article suggests some improvements to Preffi to further increase its reliability. 11 p.

This article deals with the potential of school-based teacher education for creating a professional community of learners. Learning to participate in the social and cultural practices with regard to education is assumed to be crucial for developing a professional identity as a teacher. From the perspective of socio-cultural theory, we have made a retrospective analysis of a project for collaborative school-based teacher education. The main research question was whether there was a stimulating context for student teachers to develop their own professional identity. To what extent were students able to function as ‘legitimate peripheral participants’ in the school, and to what extent has a ‘professional community of learners’ been realized? Finally, we reflect on the conditions in which teacher education can be centred on a specific school innovation project.

This article focuses on the enhancement of social competence of students in secondary education. In the literature two perspectives on social competence can be distinguished: an ‘educating for adulthood’ perspective and an ‘educating for citizenship’ perspective. From each perspective goals are formulated for what education should be aimed at and what teachers could strive for. By means of a survey, teachers' educational goals regarding the social domain were explored. The results show that teachers unanimously emphasize educational goals from the ‘educating for adulthood’ perspective. The citizenship goals receive less attention. Irrespective of the perspective, pre‐vocational teachers appear less confident than general secondary teachers regarding the attainability of the goals for their students. They intend to contribute to the development of social competence of their students in their own lessons more often. In conclusion, we argue that teaching strategies should be developed that support teachers' contribution to their students' development of social competence, particularly the citizenship elements.

In this article we analyze the dialogic learning of one pair of students in order to investigate how these students cope with a collaborative learning situation in the classroom. Our aim is to substantiate the claims that not only are young students (8 year olds) capable of solving mathematical problems collaboratively, but that they also take an active role in regulating their collaborative learning activities. More specifically, our claim is that children appear to apply constructs of "mathematical level raising", "social interaction" and "division of time" to steer their own collaborative learning and that they are rather successful in balancing these three aspects. The analysis is exploratory, but this new perspective on collaborative learning is relevant theoretically and consequential for classroom practice.

So far, results on the dimensionality of the Young Schema-Questionnaire (YSQ) were based on exploratory factor analysis. In this study, confirmatory techniques were used to investigate the latent structure of the YSQ and its measurement invariance across a Dutch clinical (n = 172) and non-clinical (n = 162) sample. Data support the 16 factor structure as originally hypothesized by Young (Young, J. E. (1994). Cognitive therapy for personality disorders: A schema-focused approach (Rev. ed.). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press), including Social Undesirability, which did not appear as a separate factor in earlier studies. Furthermore, results suggest factorial similarity across both samples. Best fit was found for a model in which inter-factor correlations and factor loadings were specified as invariant across samples while error variances were allowed to vary. An additional finding was that the YSQ can be split into two parallel parts. Parallel tests represent the same underlying constructs, and share identical psychometric properties, but contain different items. Their utilization could be highly profitable for research and clinical practice.

Inquiry learning is a didactic approach in which students acquire knowledge and skills through processes of theory building and experimentation. Computer modeling and simulation can play a prominent role within this approach. Students construct representations of physical systems using modeling. Using simulation, they execute these representations to study the phenomena or systems modeled. However, the modeling task is complex, and students can fail to create adequate models, which prevents effective learning. This necessitates supportive measures to scaffold the modeling processes. In this paper, we address the issue of designing such support through the development of intelligent advice to be incorporated in modeling environments. The advice is based on the definition of a family of reference solutions for each modeling problem, on the comparison of the reference solutions with the students' solutions, and on the use of an advice knowledge base. This advice guides the students to the construction of a better solution, helping them acquire the knowledge required for successful modeling and for the correction of modeling mistakes. In a collaborative session, having the advice encourages discussion between students about the advice and the best way of proceeding. Empirical validations of the advice approach are presented. (http://www.inf-cr.uclm.es/www/cbravo/papers/cbravo3.pdf )

The aim of this paper is to offer an additional perspective to the understanding of educational change processes by clarifying the significance of identity learning. Today’s innovations require changes in teachers’ professional identity. Identity learning involves a relation between social‐cognitive construction of new meanings and individual, emotional sense‐making of new experiences. This relationship between cognition and emotion asks for a strong learning environment: the question is whether schools provide these strong learning environments. To answer this question, the paper provides an overview of the existing knowledge about schools as contexts for teacher learning and change. It will become clear that the emotional side of the change process has been overlooked. A model for identity learning is presented, involving both meaning‐giving and sense‐making. Building on this model, it is discussed how school leaders can build strategies for the identity learning of teachers.

There are many design challenges that must be addressed in the development of collaborative scientific discovery learning environments. This contribution presents an overview of how these challenges were addressed within Co-Lab, a collaborative learning environment in which groups of learners can experiment through simulations and remote laboratories, and express acquired understanding in a runnable computer model. Co-Lab's architecture is introduced and explicated from the perspective of addressing typical problem areas for students within collaborative discovery learning. From this view the processes of collaboration, inquiry, and modeling are presented with a description of how they have been supported in the past and how they are supported within Co-Lab's design and tools. Finally, a research agenda is proposed for collaborative discovery learning with the Co-Lab environment.

To investigate the role of biomedical and diagnostic inferences in clinical reasoning of advanced medical students and experienced family physicians using a lexical decision task.In 2002, 15 family physicians and 20 fourth-year medical students at Maastricht University medical school in The Netherlands were instructed to carefully study 60 short clinical texts consisting of signs and symptoms associated with a particular disease. Participants read the texts on a computer screen and responded using a computer keyboard. Each text was followed by a target item (i.e., biomedical item, diagnostic item, or a nonword). Participants had to decide as quickly and accurately as possible whether the presented target item was a word or a nonword. For both groups, mean response time and mean error rate for all levels of item type were analyzed.Findings indicate that both physicians and medical students judged diagnostic target items faster and more accurately than biomedical target items. However, physicians were considerably faster than were students on judging biomedical and diagnostic target items.These findings are largely in line with knowledge encapsulation in that biomedical knowledge still plays a prominent role in the physician's clinical reasoning.

In common with other European countries, the Dutch government has pursued an active educational policy on migrants and minorities focusing on integration. This article presents the results of a study into the objectives and results of this policy between 1970 and 2002. Were the desired objectives achieved or were the outcomes of the educational policy the opposite of what was intended? To what extent did the integration policy in the Netherlands get a chance to take effect or was it abandoned before it had the opportunity to succeed? Firstly, the different assumptions and focal points of the Dutch educational policy regarding migrants and minorities in the past 30 years are discussed. Secondly, the educational position of the various ethnic groups is analysed. To conclude, we give an answer to the question regarding the extent to which the objectives of the educational policy on migrants and minorities were achieved and then go on to discuss the extent to which the integration policy of the central government in the field of education can be evaluated as successful.

Contains fulltext : 64761.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This paper describes the design and outcomes of implementing Preffi 1.0, a quality assurance instrument for health promotion (HP) interventions, among Dutch HP professionals. The Preffi instrument promotes a systematic way of working that is driven by evidence, which is expected to lead to high-quality projects and better outcomes. Implementation interventions included nationwide activities aimed at awareness of and positive attitudes toward the instrument, and an intensive 5-day programme for a self-selected sample aimed to enhance self-efficacy and use. Effects of the nationwide activities were measured in two independent representative samples of Dutch HP professionals (N = 120 and 316, respectively), while a cohort design was used to measure the effects of the training programme. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used to guide both the interventions and the study. While the nationwide implementation activities raised awareness of Preffi and contributed to a more positive attitude towards the instrument, a significant increase in its use required a more intensive training programme. Attitude was especially influenced by the perceived value and necessity of a systematic approach, and the usefulness of the instrument. Health managers in The Netherlands failed to stimulate a systematic implementation of Preffi, even though the embeddedness of Preffi in the quality system of a HP team was found to be a major predictor of its implementation. The study showed that determinants of the implementation stages vary by stage. 13 p.

The first objective of this study was establishing to what extent the development of metacognitive skills is associated with intellectual growth. As a second objective, the generality vs. domain specificity of metacognitive skills was investigated across age groups. A standardized intelligence test was administered to a group of first-year and third-year secondary-school students. Students in random order solved six math word problems while thinking aloud and performed an inductive-learning task in the domain of biology. Metacognitive skillfulness was assessed through systematic observation and computer log-files, while learning performance was measured by performance on the math task and a biology questionnaire. Results show that metacognitive skillfulness develops alongside, but not fully dependent on intellectual ability. Moreover, metacognitive skillfulness outweighs intelligence as predictor of learning performance. Finally, metacognitive skills appear to be general for third-year students, but rather domain-specific for first-year students. Consequences for the early acquisition of metacognitive skills are discussed.

This article is about enhancing critical thinking as a crucial aspect of the competence citizens need to participate in society. First empirical research into the question which instructional strategies are ‘effective’ in enhancing critical thinking is reviewed. Characteristics of instruction that are assumed to enhance critical thinking are: paying attention to the development of the epistemological beliefs of students; promoting active learning; a problem-based curriculum; stimulating interaction between students; and learning on the basis of real-life situations. Research has failed to prove the effectiveness of programs especially devised to improve critical thinking (higher-order) skills. In the second part of this article, the various proposals for instructional formats for critical thinking are discussed from a social constructivist point of view. Learning to think critically is conceptualized as the acquisition of the competence to participate critically in the communities and social practices of which a person is a member. If education is to further the critical competence of students, it must provide them with the opportunity at the level of the classroom and the school to observe, imitate and practice critical agency and to reflect upon it. Learning contexts must be chosen which students can make sense of and in which they can develop a feeling of responsibility for the quality of the practice in question. # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this study, we examined why observational learning positively affects learning outcomes of new writing tasks. In this study, we focused on the effects of observational learning on the temporal organization (i.e., orchestration) of writing processes and on the subsequent influence on text quality. An experiment was set up in which participants (N = 52; 8th-grade students) were assigned to 1 of 2 observational-learning conditions or a control (CO) condition. In the observational-learning conditions, participants learned by observing peer models' writing processes and in the CO condition by performing writing tasks. To measure the orchestration of writing processes, the participants performed posttest-writing tasks under think-aloud conditions.

The aim of this study was to examine the role of metacognitive skillfulness and intellectual ability during initial inductive learning with a complex computer simulation. It was hypothesized that adequate learning behavior and performance is initiated by a high quality of metacognitive skillfulness. Theories proposed by Elshout [Elshout, J. J. (1987). Problem solving and education. In E. de Corte, H. Lodewijks, R. Parmetier, & P. Span (Eds.), Learning and instruction (pp. 259–271). Oxford: Pergamon Books Ltd. Leuven: University Press] and Raaheim [Raaheim, K. (1988). Intelligence and task novelty. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (Vol. 4; pp. 73–97). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum] predict that the impact of intellectual ability on learning performance is at most moderate during initial inductive learning. Students with a low or high intellectual ability were asked to induce rules of optics by conducting experiments with lights and lenses in a computerized Optics Lab. Learning performance was assessed using both qualitative and quantitative measures. Results showed that metacognitive skillfulness was positively related to learning behavior and to scores on the qualitative tests. As predicted by Elshout (1987) and Raaheim [1988; Raaheim, K. (1991). Is the high IQ person really in trouble? Why? In H. A. H. Rowe (Ed.), Intelligence: reconceptualization and measurement (pp. 35–46). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum], the impact of intellectual ability on learning performance was moderate during initial inductive learning. Metacognitive skillfulness and intellectual ability appeared to be unrelated. This study shows that during initial inductive learning with a complex computer simulation learners draw heavily on their metacognitive skillfulness, which results mainly in qualitative knowledge. Consequently, complex computer-simulated learning environments are only appropriate for novice learners with high metacognitive skillfulness.

Background: This article addresses the question whether communication apprehension (CA) should be regarded as a unidimensional or alternatively as a multidimensional construct. The answer is not only interesting from a theoretical point of view. There might also be practical implications for the treatment of CA. If CA were to appear to be unidimensional and a student's level of CA were to be the same across situations and tasks, there would be no need to tailor the treatment to particular speaking situations or specific writing problems. If, however, CA appeared to be multi-dimensional and a student might have a variety of different levels and types of CA, one type of treatment might be more effective for one student than for another one. Aim: To examine the effects of situational, task and school effects on speaking and writing apprehension. Sample: Use was made of the dataset of the 1987-1988 National Assessment of Language Performance in the Netherlands. The nationally representative sample consisted of 1448 students from 184 secondary schools; 52% of the students were boys and 48% were girls; the mean age of the students was 15 years 6 months. Method: Speaking and writing apprehension were measured by means of self-report measures in grade 9. Multilevel factor analysis (MLFA) was used to determine the dimensionality of the measurement of speaking and writing apprehension. Results and conclusions: First, all seven speaking situations and three out of four writing problems could be distinguished empirically. Speaking and writing apprehension are clearly multidimensional constructs that depend on the speaking situation and the writing task. Second, correlations between speaking and writing apprehension were rather low. Speaking and writing apprehension seem to represent skill-specific constructs, which cannot be considered as equivalent forms of communication apprehension. Third, differences between schools in the level of speaking and writing apprehension were very small compared to measurements of speaking and writing performance.