The policy problem: the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and implications for access to education

This paper explores the changing terrain of disability support policy in Australia. Drawing on a critical disability framework of policy sociology, the paper considers the policy problem of access to education for people with disabilities under recent reform by means of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which commenced full roll-out across the country from July 2016. The paper reviews NDIS reports, legislation and associated literature to consider how eligibility to scheme participation and education services are shaped, and how education is positioned in the development and implementation of the NDIS. The analysis highlights tensions that exist for people with disabilities and their families who both access the scheme and who might draw on its provision to support their education, because of the way the policy is oriented towards pathological categorisation, standardised outcomes and service delineation rather than integrated support and informed involvement. The paper concludes by arguing that despite the policy priority across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries of increasing lifelong learning opportunities, fragmented NDIS policy in Australia prevents people with disabilities from achieving this ideal.     

User experience of government documents: A framework for informing design decisions

People still use documents in many everyday government processes. From tax payments to passport requests, citizens have to interact with low-interactivity information artifacts such as reports, maps and datasets, among many others. Despite efforts to improve information delivery in the public sector, effective information usage remains a critical topic of action and research. The user experience of government documents has rarely been assessed, despite them being regularly published and frequently used. Considering this, the two following research questions arise: 1) How can government documents be classified (or grouped) in terms of user experience? 2) How can the user experience of government documents be monitored over time in order to inform design decisions? Working with a public agency in Chile, we develop and test a classification and monitoring framework based on two online surveys (N?=?338 and N?=?298). We then propose a framework for understanding user experience of government documents in these three dimensions: interaction goal, volume of information and ease of understanding. Using a graphical representation to classify user experience provides greater visibility of the current status of information produced by a public organization. Furthermore, by monitoring the user experience of a government document at different times, organizations can understand the effect of their design decisions and improve their service quality by implementing user-centered processes.     

Intercultural communication problems as perceived by Saudi Arabian and American managers

Research on Saudi Arabian communication patterns is inadequate. The present study reviews the literature on Saudi Arabian cultural and communication patterns and reports the results of data collected in Saudi Arabia on the perceived problems of Saudi Arabian businessmen when communicating with Americans. While large differences exist in the perceptions of the communication problems, both the Saudi Arabians and the Americans targeted differences in the patterns for organizing ideas as a major intercultural problem. Implications for intercultural training are provided.     

The Big-fish–little-pond-effect Stands Up to Critical Scrutiny: Implications for Theory, Methodology, and Future Research

The big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts (ASCs) when attending schools where the average ability levels of classmates is high, and higher ASCs when attending schools where the school-average ability is low. BFLPE findings are remarkably robust, generalizing over a wide variety of different individual student and contextual level characteristics, settings, countries, long-term follow-ups, and research designs. Because of the importance of ASC in predicting future achievement, coursework selection, and educational attainment, the results have important implications for the way in which schools are organized (e.g., tracking, ability grouping, academically selective schools, and gifted education programs). In response to Dai and Rinn (Educ. Psychol. Rev., 2008), we summarize the theoretical model underlying the BFLPE, minimal conditions for testing the BFLPE, support for its robust generalizability, its relation to social comparison theory, and recent research extending previous implications, demonstrating that the BFLPE stands up to scrutiny. Quotations (associated page numbers) to the Dai and Rinn (2008) article are based on a prepublication version of the article available to the authors of this article that may have changed during the final preparation for publication. The authors would also like to express thanks to David Dai and Anne Rinn for their encouragement and assistance to us in preparation of our article, whilst still acknowledging that they might not agree will all the views expressed here.     

The Use of Different Translation Devices to Analyze Knowledge-Building in a University Chemistry Classroom

Research in Science Education - This research draws on Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) to understand the epistemic dimension of the higher education classroom discourse of a professor who is well...     

Female science teacher beliefs and attitudes: implications in relation to gender and pedagogical practice

Beliefs and attitudes resulting from the unique life experiences of teachers frame interactions with learners promoting gender equity or inequity and the reproduction of social views about knowledge and power as related to gender. This study examines the enactment of a female science teacher’s pedagogy (Laura), seeking to understand the implications of her beliefs and attitudes, as framed by her interpretations and daily manifestations, as she interacts with students. Distinct influences inform the conceptual framework of this study: (a) the social organization of society at large, governed by understood and unspoken patriarchy, present both academically and socially; (b) the devaluing of women as “knowers” of scientific knowledge as defined by a western and male view of science; (c) the marginalization or “feminization” of education and pedagogical knowledge. The findings reflect tensions between attitudes and beliefs and actual teacher practice suggesting the need for awareness within existing or new teachers about their positions as social agents and the sociological implications related to issues of gender within which we live and work, inclusive of science teaching and learning.     

A longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis of indirect and physical aggression: evidence of two factors over time?

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether indirect aggression was distinct from physical aggression across developmental periods. Participants were 3,089 Canadian children aged 4 to 7 years (Time 1), 6 to 9 years (Time 2), and 8 to 11 years (Time 3). Confirmatory factor analysis using an accelerated longitudinal design confirmed a 2-factor model that was stable across cohorts, time, and sex. The longitudinal predictive links between indirect and physical aggression were also examined in a path analysis. Findings did not support the notion that maturation is associated with changes in the ways children aggress but rather suggest that children are consistent in the type of aggression they use over time, whether it be indirect or physical.     

Early approach to theoretical thinking: gears in primary school

Gears are part of everyday experience from very early childhood. This paper analyses a teaching experiment conducted with 4th graders in the field of experience of gears. The aim is to identify the characteristics which, given a suitable sequence of tasks and proper teacher guidance, have enabled the pupils to approach theoretical thinking, and in particular mathematical theorems. We have focused on the relationships between the epistemological analysis of some pieces of mathematical knowledge brought into play in tasks concerning gears, cognitive analysis of pupil construction of those pieces of mathematical knowledge, and didactic analysis of the teacher's role in designing tasks and in offering cultural mediation. This paper presents the early findings of the teaching experiments, both at the external level of interpersonal classroom processes and at the inner level of individual mental processes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.