Perspectives of UK Vice-Chancellors on Leading Universities in a Knowledge-Based Economy

This paper draws upon the experiences and perceptions of ten university vice-chancellors in the United Kingdom on the challenges they face in providing leadership and strategic direction for their institutions into the twenty-first century. The paper reveals the perceptions and spoken words of these leaders as they identify the key challenges shaping higher education, their strategies for addressing these challenges, their struggle to maintain the core mission of universities and finally, implications for the future of higher education.     

Religious education,conflict and diversity: an exploration of young children’s perceptions of Islam

This article explores the way pupils in English primary school perceive Islam through discussion of Islam in the media. The research suggests that pupils are aware of Islam as a world religion and of many of the images and popular discourses associated with Islam. The research also suggests that while a minority of pupils expressed explicit racist or prejudiced views about Islam many pupils appeared to perceive Islam and Muslims as ‘foreign’ and ‘alien’. The article questions the effectiveness of an approach to teaching Islam that does not include pupil’s negative preconceptions of religion and which focuses on presenting an idealised or monolithic version of Islam.     

The effects of strategic counting instruction,with and without deliberate practice,on number combination skill among students with mathematics difficulties

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effects of strategic counting instruction, with and without deliberate practice with those counting strategies, on number combination (NC) skill among students with mathematics difficulties (MD). Students (n = 150) were stratified on MD status (i.e., MD alone versus MD with reading difficulty) and site (proximal versus distal to the intervention developer) and then randomly assigned to control (no tutoring) or 1 of 2 variants of NC remediation. Both remediations were embedded in the same validated word-problem tutoring protocol (i.e., Pirate Math). In 1 variant, the focus on NCs was limited to a single lesson that taught strategic counting. In the other variant, 4–6 min of practice per session was added to the other variant. Tutoring occurred for 16 weeks, 3 sessions per week for 20–30 min per session. Strategic counting without deliberate practice produced superior NC fluency compared to control; however, strategic counting with deliberate practice effected superior NC fluency and transfer to procedural calculations compared with both competing conditions. Also, the efficacy of Pirate Math word-problem tutoring was replicated.     

Inquiry-based learning and e-mentoring via videoconference: a study of mathematics and science learning of Canadian rural students

This research seeks to (1) establish a feasible development and implementation model for an inquiry-based learning environment with e-mentoring using videoconference, and (2) apply the model to examine its impact on rural students’ learning. To achieve these goals, we developed a model of inquiry-based learning with e-mentoring (IBLE) based on CII’s inquiry model (Community Informatics Initiative 2009; http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/). We then tested the effectiveness of the IBLE model and reported our work in a rural context. Results showed that IBLE had enhanced students’ learning, most significantly on their affective development, including increased motivation, broadened understanding, and augmented career awareness. Implications for design and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

Meeting Needs of Young Children at Risk for or Having a Disability

Poverty-related factors place children at higher risk for disabilities and also serve as barriers to families accessing services for their children and themselves. Early childhood practitioners can play a critical role in supporting families by providing services to overcome these obstacles and by working in partnership with specialized early intervention programs to assure the families and children receive those services. Families (N = 3,001) enrolled in the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project were randomly assigned to the program group (who received EHS services) or the control group in a rigorous, experimental design study in order to evaluate program impacts. All participating families were living in poverty, included a pregnant woman or a child below age 1, and were eligible for EHS. The majority of children enrolled in the EHS Research and Evaluation Project was identified as having at least one of a great variety of disability indicators (e.g., family received Part C services, child has been diagnosed as having asthma). There was a very small number of families, however, actually enrolled in Part C services. Enrollment in EHS was associated with children being less likely to have cognitive or language delays and their families being more likely to receive early intervention (Part C) services and have Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) when they needed them.     

Medical educators’ metaphoric talk about their assessment relationships with students: ‘you don’t want to sort of be the one who sticks the knife in them’

Current perspectives in cognitive linguistics highlight the conceptual nature of cognition and how the conceptual metaphors we hold affect ways we think, talk and act. This study examines medical educators’ metaphoric talk to understand ways in which assessment relationships with students are conceptualised in order to understand why educators might ‘fail to fail’ underperformance in medical students. We conducted 10 focus groups with 70 educators at two UK medical schools. The audiotapes were transcribed and analysed using systematic metaphor analysis. The analysis revealed six over‐arching metaphors associated with the target domain of assessment relationships, i.e. assessment relationships as journey, war, sport, parentalism, machine and medicine. While medical educators conceptualised students’ academic failure in relatively innocuous ways (e.g. students’ failure to arrive at their destination; journey), they also conceptualised failure in harmful ways (e.g. students’ death; war). If medical educators hold the concept of assessment relationships as war, it is perhaps unsurprising that they are reluctant to fail students. We discuss these findings in light of existing literature and provide recommendations for designing training sessions through which assessors can address reluctance to fail underperformance. Such faculty development may aid assessors in identifying and using alternative metaphors to conceptualise the assessment relationship.     

Learning orientations: Diversity in higher education

As teachers struggle to meet the needs of a highly diverse student body, technology holds out the promise of a solution. However, first the nature and scope of differences between students has to be identified. This study (n = 1811) takes a comprehensive approach, selecting differences from each stage in the learning process. These were termed learning orientations. Factor analysis (FA) produced ten learning orientations, which were then subjected to a second order FA. Three learning pathways emerged; cognitive voyaging, industrious pragmatism and multimedia collaboration. About 65% of students are high on industrious pragmatism, 15% high on cognitive voyaging and 9.2% multimedia collaboration. Both learning orientations and learning pathways were used in ANOVAS and t-tests to explore differences in age, gender and ethnicity. Students who were younger and/or of Asian or Polynesian ethnicity were more likely to follow a multimedia collaboration pathway. Older students are more likely to go the cognitive voyaging or industrious pragmatism way.     

Improving Preservice Middle Grades Science Teachers’ Understanding of the Nature of Science Using Three Instructional Approaches

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in preservice teachers’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as a result of four activity-based interventions that represent three instructional approaches used in a middle grades science methods course. Ten participants’ understanding of NOS and their perceptions about the activity-based interventions were investigated. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews before and after the interventions. Written artifacts and recorded group discussions were collected during the interventions. The results of this study showed that inclusion of various approaches to teaching NOS can contribute to developing preservice teachers’ understanding of NOS. The activities complemented each other in the teaching of the NOS components. In addition, the preservice teachers perceived that the four interventions were helpful in improving their understanding of NOS and in preparing them for future teaching.     

Media Portrayals of Romantic Relationship Maintenance: A Content Analysis of Relational Maintenance Behaviors on Prime-Time Television

Maintenance behaviors play an important role in sustaining relational states, especially within committed romantic relationships. Limited research, however, has considered media portrayals of these behaviors. From the framework of social cognitive theory, this content analysis examined relational maintenance behaviors portrayed by committed romantic couples (heterosexual, gay, and lesbian) on prime-time network television. The frequency of maintenance behaviors (positivity, understanding, self-disclosure, assurances, relationships talks, tasks, and networks) varied by type, valence, program genre, and couple type (married/civil union or cohabitating). Results indicated that comedies featured more frequent relationship maintenance behaviors than dramas. In addition, comedies exhibited more frequent negative maintenance behaviors than dramas. Differences also existed between couple regarding the types of maintenance behavior exhibited. No sex differences in maintenance behaviors were observed between male and female characters.