What do we know and where do we go? Formative assessment in developing student teachers’ professional learning of teaching science

In the context of teacher education, it could well be suggested that assessment activities that build on formative interactions between student teachers and teacher educators might offer new windows into better understanding teaching and learning. This paper presents findings from a study into a primary science teacher education initiative that seeks to build the foundations on which 24 primary science student teachers, through the use of formative assessment of their science teaching and learning, can begin developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the project, formative assessment consists of activities used by teacher educators to stimulate interactions, self- and peer-assessment in order to provide insights into how student teachers develop their PCK during a semester. Content Representations (CoRes), were used as a tool to unpack the student teachers’ approach to teaching a science topic and the reasons for that approach. The results indicate that the use of CoRes, together with subsequent self-assessment and formative interactions with teacher educators and peers, do have the potential for PCK development for student teachers. The results further highlight the need for developing reliable and valid tools for capturing and assessing student teachers’ PCK in pre-service teacher education.     

Mathematics teacher educator knowledge: What do we know and where to from here?

The knowledge that mathematics teacher educators need has attracted limited but increasing attention in recent years. The papers in this special issue build on emerging themes from that work and raise additional questions that contribute towards a future research agenda in the field. Several of the articles develop conceptualisations of teacher knowledge to apply to mathematics teacher educators, introducing new aspects and drawing attention to unique characteristics of mathematics teacher educators in the process. To some extent the questions these papers raise reflect similar questions in mathematics education more generally but for which the implications for mathematics teacher educators warrant attention. In this paper we review the articles in this special issue and use them as a springboard to examine contemporary developments in the field and posit ways forward for research on mathematics teacher educators’ knowledge.     

Methodology-21: what do we do in the afterward?

This paper asks “after what” and situates qualitative research in the present moment in the midst of various “deaths” and “returns.” With a focus on fleshing out post-qualitative research, it first sketches efforts to discipline qualitative research via standards and rubrics as a part of neoliberal govenmentality and then elaborates what post-qualitative might mean via four exemplars. The first is from Sweden, a focus on relational entangled data analysis in the feminist classroom; the next two exemplars are collaborative studies from Australia at the intersection of Western and Aboriginal knowledge systems; the final exemplar is from Egypt, a feminist post-colonial study of the women’s mosque movement. The paper concludes with a call to “imagine forward” out of troubling a narrow scientificity and enacting an “after” of neoliberalism.     

Business graduate employability – where are we going wrong?

Persistent gaps in certain non-technical skills in business graduates continue to impact on organisational performance and global competitiveness. Despite business schools' best efforts in developing non-technical skills, widely acknowledged as fundamental to graduate employability, there has been considerably less attention to measuring skill outcomes and even less on their subsequent transfer to the workplace. It appears stakeholders are assuming transfer occurs automatically in graduates, neglecting the influence of learning program, learner and workplace characteristics on this complex process and its potential impact on graduate employability. This paper unpacks the concept of transfer and proposes a model of graduate employability that incorporates the process. Measures for empirical analysis are discussed. Testing the model would indicate the extent to which transfer occurs and highlight collaborative strategies for employers, universities and graduates in nurturing learning and workplace environments in which transfer may flourish, taking us one step closer to the elusive ‘work-ready’ graduate.     

Lifelong learning in Singapore: where are we now?

The term lifelong learning has been used in different contexts and in policy application for a wide variety of purposes and initiatives. Singapore’s approach to lifelong learning is pragmatic and rational. It is one of the economic drivers used by policy makers to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness and is viewed as an antidote against unemployment. With the emergence of a more integrated and interdependent global economy, the premium placed on ideas and continuous learning becomes critical to an individual, organization and the country. This paper offers a snapshot of some of the current responses to the challenges and the perceived issues from the perspective of the government, organizations and individuals. The discussion would also cover a number of policy implications that may overlap and interconnect in practice.     

School leadership models: what do we know?

The growth in the importance of school leadership has been accompanied by theory development, with new models emerging and established approaches being redefined and further developed. The purpose of this paper is to review current and recent writing on leadership models. The paper examines theoretical literature, to see how leadership is conceptualised, and empirical literature, to demonstrate whether and how the research evidence supports these concepts. The paper shows that leadership models are subject to fashion but often serve to reflect, and to inform, changes in school leadership practice.     

Adolescent childbearing. Whose problem? What can we do?

There are a number of options that help adolescents make appropriate choices about sexual activity, pregnancy, and childbearing. Comprehensive sex education programs are a deterrent to unwanted pregnancy and early sexual activity. Educational attitudes must be changed to reflect a recognition that sexual behavior is not deviant, but a normal part of human development during the transition to adulthood. Programs to prevent unplanned pregnancies must focus on educational expectations, educational achievement, and career preparation. Provision of child care options will help adolescents stay in school. Program focus must be applicable to two groups: older and younger adolescents. Solutions offered by Claire Brindis, based on program evaluations, suggest broad guidelines and local community-specific prevention plans. The responsible expression of sexuality needs greater emphasis than has occurred in many programs, particularly those where sex education is controversial or is confined to a small amount of time. Schools have been the most responsible vehicle for provision of sex education. In addition to sexuality education and pregnancy prevention programs, programs which instill a desire for greater formal education have resulted in delayed sexual activity and childbearing. Schools can play an important role in socializing adolescents for the appropriate transition to adulthood. Schools have become less and less meaningful to adolescents. German apprenticeship programs have been successful in orienting students to jobs in real settings. The Public Service Academy in Washington, D.C., has provided similar opportunities for part-time work or internships in government. Abortion among adolescents is still a politically charged issue in the US. Many have recommended the Maryland example of designating the physician or mental health provider, instead of a judge, as the individual responsible for determining the maturity and best interests of the child in choosing abortion. Pliner and Yates have recommended parental notification laws only for adolescents aged under 15 years. Adoption, as a solution to an unwanted birth, has remained stable at about 1% among Black adolescents and has declined from 19% to 3% among White adolescents over the past 20 years. More research is needed on how to best handle the sense of abandonment and loss or feelings of irresponsibility due to the decision to put an unwanted baby up for adoption.     

What sort of science education do we really need?

The research aims to explore the role of science for employees in science-based industries and for members of the public interacting with science in their everyday lives. Case studies were carried out in a small sample of industries, in community action groups and in personal decision making. The methodology, informed by a tentative model of science, included scrutiny of available relevant documentation and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that procedural understanding was essential in the higher levels of industry and in interacting effectively with everyday issues, while conceptual understanding was so specific that it was acquired in a need-to-know way. The implications for science education hinge on a substantial reduction in the conceptual content and the explicit teaching of the nature of evidence (procedural understanding). The authors suggest building on primary pupils' enthusiasm for investigative work at UK Key Stage 3 (11-14 years) and developing an issues-based curriculum at Key Stage 4 (14-16 years).     

Estimating the relation between health and education: What do we know and what do we need to know?

The empirical link between education and health is firmly established. Numerous studies document that higher levels of education are positively associated with longer life and better health throughout the lifespan.But measuring the causal links between education and health is a more challenging task. Aside from the typical econometric concerns about measurement error, functional form, and sampling properties, measuring the causal impact of education on health is confounded by the likely causal effect of health on education, and vice versa. Concerns about ‘missing’ variables that affect both the accumulation of human capital and the health capital - such as measures of individual discount rates - also make causality difficult to measure.Despite the difficulties, there has been a marked surge over the last decade in the number of empirical studies attempting to estimate the causal links between education and health. This survey reviews recent empirical evidence on the topic. Following the bifurcation in the literature, we split the survey into two pieces. First, we review the evidence of the effect of education on health. The vast majority of work in this area focuses on schooling up through college and its effect on adult health, including longevity. Second, we review the evidence of the effect of health on education, including health shocks in the womb and their effects on educational attainment. Rather than attempting a comprehensive review, our focus is to highlight relatively recent research.     

Memory strategy development: do we need yet another deficiency?

Recent discussions of strategy development have included the introduction of the concept of utilization deficiency. The present analysis examines the definition of utilization deficiency vis-à-vis the older contrasts between mediation and production deficiency and assesses the logical clarity of the current definition. Further, because utilization deficiency focuses on the transition from initial to proficient strategy use, the present analysis considers all of the possible types of strategy inefficiencies and evaluates whether the current definition of utilization deficiency precludes consideration of important strategy inefficiencies that have been documented in the existing literature and are likely to form the bulk of yet-to-be discovered inefficiencies. Although the emphasis on strategy inefficiencies is welcomed, the current analysis concludes that there are serious problems with the current definition of utilization deficiency, problems that both obscure important theoretical distinctions of the past and limit the investigation of strategy inefficiencies that are likely to play an important role in our understanding of the development of strategy use. Furthermore, the linear developmental model that frames utilization deficiencies from no benefit to sophisticated strategy use ignores the heterogeneity in strategy development that has been recently documented.