CET Research Briefs
What Are Preadolescent Readers Doing Online? A Survey of Upper Elementary Students' Digital Reading, Writing, and Communication (July 2016) by Amy C. Hutchison, Lindsay Woodward, and Jamie Colwell
This 8-page brief was excerpted from a Reading Research Quarterly article by Hutchison et al.
Recommendations for teachers based on their findings include:
- Provide students opportunities to participate in online activities in which they provide information or create content.
- Provide students with social media experience in school settings.
- Begin instruction in Internet navigation, reading, and writing in earlier grades.
- Help students become informed and critical consumers of online images and videos.
- Encourage girls to see themselves as more capable technology users.
- Use digital technology to get male students more interested in reading.
High School Chemistry Teachers' Views of Engineering Inclusion Before and After a Professional Development Program (June 2017) by Sarah B. Boesdorfer
This 6-page brief reports findings from Boesdorfer's 2013-15 CET-sponsored study.
Considerations for science education professional development providers based on her findings include:
- Teachers view engineering positively, but likely have a naive view of it, assuming it is more similar to science than it is.
- As with most preconceptions, teachers' preconceptions about engineering are difficult to change.
- Science teacher educators should focus on helping science teachers learn to incorporate the processes/skills of "defining problems" and "optimization" into their classrooms.
- When curriculum reform requires changing teacher preconceptions, intensive and sustained professional development is necessary.