Under the premise that language learning is bidirectional in nature, this study aimed to investigate syntactic coordination within teacher-student interactions by using cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA). Seven teachers’ and a group of their students’ interactions were repeatedly measured in the course of an intervention in early science education. Results showed changes in the proportion of recurrent points; in case of simple sentences teachers and students became less coordinated over time, whereas in case of complex sentences teachers and students showed increasing coordination. Results also revealed less rigid (more flexible) syntactic coordination, although there were no changes in the relative contribution of teacher and students to this. In the light of the intervention under investigation this is an important result. This means that teachers and students learn to use more complex language and coordinate their language complexity better in order to co-construct science discourse. The application of CRQA provides new insights and contributes to better understanding of the dynamics of syntactic coordination.
This study aimed to describe verbal student–teacher interactions in vocational education from a socio-cultural perspective on negotiation of meaning. Teaching as part of these interactions is addressed by a combination of diagnosing, checking and intervening strategies. A study was conducted in which students (n students = 20) and teacher (n teachers = 5) from Social Work (SW) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) worked together in small groups (n groups = 5) discussing vocational core problems. Each group held five discussions (n discussions = 25). All discussions were audio recorded and transcribed before they were analysed for negotiation of meaning including teaching strategies. The results showed that 5–8% of the interactions include negotiation of meaning. Interactions in SW groups revealed more negotiation of meaning than in interactions in ICT groups. Teaching strategies mainly included checking and intervening activities in favour of diagnosing activities. Furthermore, teachers used meta-cognitive and conceptual interventions most frequently. The implications of these results are discussed by reflecting on occupational differences and on how negotiation of meaning including teaching strategies can be enhanced.
The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the experimental research into the effects of job-embedded professional development (JEPD) for teachers and student outcomes. Our meta-analysis of experimental studies of the effects JEPD, included 20 studies (with 79 experimental comparisons) at teacher level and 19 studies at student level (with 34 experimental comparisons). Analyses of the studies, representing 2,062 teachers and 21,425 students, revealed a significant, medium-to-large effect size at teacher level (ES= 0.699, SE= 0.092) and a significant medium effect at student level (ES = 0.523, SE= 0.137). Effects for teachers were smaller in studies with a large sample size. Effects for students were positively related to the length of the intervention. The positive outcomes at teacher and student level support the implementation and expansion of JEPD programsacross schools.
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