Pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge of secondary mathematics teachers.

Drawing on the work of L. S. Shulman (1986), the authors present a conceptualization of the pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge of secondary-level mathematics teachers. They describe the theory-based construction of tests to assess these knowledge categories and the implementation of these tests in a sample of German mathematics teachers (N=198). Analyses investigate whether pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge can be distinguished empirically, and whether the mean level of knowledge and the degree of connectedness between the two knowledge categories depends on mathematical expertise. Findings show that mathematics teachers with an in-depth mathematical training (i.e., teachers qualified to teach at the academic-track Gymnasium) outscore teachers from other school types on both knowledge categories and exhibit a higher degree of cognitive connectedness between the two knowledge categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training related changes in the ways that group trainees structure their knowledge of group counseling leader interventions.

Pathfinder Network Analyses (Schvaneveldt, 1990) was used to examine changes and convergence in the knowledge structure of group counseling interventions, for 33 group counseling trainees and three experienced group therapists. The similarity of each pair of 19 group interventions was obtained by examining the co-occurrence of these interventions across 21 situations depicted in the Group Therapy Questionnaire (GTQ; Wile, Brown, & Pollack, 1970). The Pathfinder analyses of these similarity matrices were used to infer the knowledge structure of group counseling interventions of the trainees (pre and post group practicum class) and the three experienced group therapists. Analyses of the structural features of the pre- and post-training knowledge structures suggested that prior to the practicum class, novice group counselors’ knowledge structures were linear and simplistic and contained fewer circular patterns among the interventions compared with the knowledge structures of the experienced group therapists. As hypothesized the novices’ maps became more complex, hierarchical, evidenced more circular patterns, and were more similar to the experienced therapist’s knowledge structure after the practicum class. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use and effectiveness of a comparison routine in diverse secondary content classrooms.

The purpose of this investigation was to explore teachers' use and effectiveness of a comparison routine to help students understand comparisons of important content information in secondary content classes containing students of diverse ability. Various research methodologies, including single-subject and large-group experimental designs, were used. Measures included students' knowledge of information involving comparisons, the numbers and types of comparisons teachers used, teachers' use of the instructional routine, and teachers' and students' satisfaction with the instruction. Use of the routine led to significantly better retention and expression of information by students in the experimental condition compared with students participating in a traditional lecture-discussion format. Teachers easily learned the routine, delivered more complete instruction, and used the routine to teach regularly scheduled curricula. Teachers indicated that they were satisfied with the routine; in general, students were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the routine. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of change in adolescent substance use and symptomatology: Impact of paternal and maternal substance use disorders.

The effects of paternal and maternal substance use disorders (SUDs) on trajectories of change in adolescent offspring nicotine, alcohol, and drug use and symptomatology were investigated in a population-based sample of adolescent twins (N = 1,514). Adolescent and parental substance phenotypes were assessed when most adolescents were 11 years old, with 2 assessments of adolescents approximately every 3 years thereafter. Growth curves were fit using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated acceleration of substance involvement during adolescence, particularly for boys. Paternal and maternal SUD were each associated with more extreme trajectories. There was evidence for an additive, rather than interactive, combined parental effect. Findings help clarify the impact of paternal and maternal SUD on the development of substance involvement during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge: Writing instruction in middle school classrooms.

Writing is a very demanding task, requiring the orchestration of a variety of cognitive resources. For developing writers, it can be especially demanding, as they have not yet mastered important writing processes, skills, and knowledge involved in planning, drafting, and revising text. In the present study, middle school students were directly taught strategies that facilitated the execution of each of these processes. They were also taught the knowledge and skills needed to carry out these strategies. In comparison to peers in the control condition, students in the experimental treatment condition produced essays that were longer, contained more mature vocabulary, and were qualitatively better. These gains were evident immediately following instruction and on a short-term maintenance probe administered 1 month later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of categorization and reasoning in the natural world: Novices to experts, naive similarity to ecological knowledge.

Two experiments investigate the role of similarity and causal-ecological knowledge in expert and novice categorization and reasoning. In Experiment 1, university undergraduates and commercial fishermen sorted marine creatures into groups; although there was substantial agreement, novices sorted largely on the basis of appearance, whereas experts often cited commercial, ecological, or behavioral factors, and systematically subdivided fish on the basis of ecological niche. In Experiment 2, experts and novices were asked to generalize a blank property or novel disease from a pair of marine creatures. Novices relied on similarity to guide generalizations. Experts used similarity to reason about blank properties but ecological relations to reason about diseases. Expertise appears to involve knowledge of multiple relations among entities and context-sensitive application of those relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)