Qualifications of an Effective Mathematics Teacher from the Perspectives of 5<sup>th</sup> to 8<sup>th</sup> Grade Secondary School Students

A university degree is not enough in itself to equip a mathematics teacher for successful secondary school-teaching in the longer term. Without continuous training and career-long learning, a teacher will not be able to provide adequate support for students in activities such as extended essays or explorations, both of which are compulsory components of the IB programme. In this paper, we present some examples of such work by IB students at our school. In addition, some Slovenian secondary school students regularly participate in a national research competition for which they must submit project-based work in various fields. The present article describes how university departments co-operated with our secondary school in the course of such research. Examples of research carried out by a number of 16-year-old students at our school are also presented here.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of a Summer-School Program for Highly Gifted Secondary-School Students: The German Pupils Academy

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.18.3.214 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 214-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Heinz Neber ◽

Kurt A. Heller

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Summer School ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Gifted Students ◽

School Program ◽

School Students ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Regulatory Strategies ◽

Cognitive Framework

Summary The German Pupils Academy (Deutsche Schüler-Akademie) is a summer-school program for highly gifted secondary-school students. Three types of program evaluation were conducted. Input evaluation confirmed the participants as intellectually highly gifted students who are intrinsically motivated and interested to attend the courses offered at the summer school. Process evaluation focused on the courses attended by the participants as the most important component of the program. Accordingly, the instructional approaches meet the needs of highly gifted students for self-regulated and discovery oriented learning. The product or impact evaluation was based on a multivariate social-cognitive framework. The findings indicate that the program contributes to promoting motivational and cognitive prerequisites for transforming giftedness into excellent performances. To some extent, the positive effects on students' self-efficacy and self-regulatory strategies are due to qualities of the learning environments established by the courses.

Download Full-text

Ethnolinguistic Identity and Television Use in a Minority Language Setting

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000071 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 135-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jake Harwood ◽

Laszlo Vincze

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Minority Language ◽

German Language ◽

Tv Viewing ◽

School Students ◽

Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽

Ethnolinguistic Identity ◽

Television Use

Based on the model of Reid, Giles and Abrams (2004 , Zeitschrift für Medienpsychologie, 16, 17–25), this paper describes and analyzes the relation between television use and ethnolinguistic-coping strategies among German speakers in South Tyrol, Italy. The data were collected among secondary school students (N = 415) in 2011. The results indicated that the television use of the students was dominated by the German language. A mediation analysis revealed that TV viewing contributed to the perception of ethnolinguistic vitality, the permeability of intergroup boundaries, and status stability, which in turn affected ethnolinguistic-coping strategies of mobility (moving toward the outgroup), creativity (maintaining identity without confrontation), and competition (fighting for ingroup rights and respect). Findings and theoretical implications are discussed.

Download Full-text

Smart Girls, Dumb Boys!?

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000167 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 112-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Martin Latsch ◽

Bettina Hannover

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Stereotype Threat ◽

Gender Stereotypes ◽

Secondary School Students ◽

Learning Goals ◽

School Students ◽

Compensatory Strategies ◽

Media Portrayal ◽

Stereotype Lift ◽

The Media

We investigated effects of the media’s portrayal of boys as “scholastic failures” on secondary school students. The negative portrayal induced stereotype threat (boys underperformed in reading), stereotype reactance (boys displayed stronger learning goals towards mathematics but not reading), and stereotype lift (girls performed better in reading but not in mathematics). Apparently, boys were motivated to disconfirm their group’s negative depiction, however, while they could successfully apply compensatory strategies when describing their learning goals, this motivation did not enable them to perform better. Overall the media portrayal thus contributes to the maintenance of gender stereotypes, by impairing boys’ and strengthening girls’ performance in female connoted domains and by prompting boys to align their learning goals to the gender connotation of the domain.

Download Full-text