Internet‐based Science Learning: A review of journal publications

Internet‐based science learning has been advocated by many science educators for more than a decade. This review examines relevant research on this topic. Sixty‐five papers are included in the review. The review consists of the following two major categories: (1) the role of demographics and learners' characteristics in Internet‐based science learning, such as demographic background, prior knowledge, and self‐efficacy; and (2) the learning outcomes derived from Internet‐based science learning, such as attitude, motivation, conceptual understanding, and conceptual change. Some important conclusions are drawn from the review. For example, Internet‐based science learning is equally favorable, or in some cases more so, to learning for female students compared to male students. The learner's control is essential for enhancing students' attitudes and motivation toward learning in Internet‐based science learning environments. Nevertheless, appropriate guidance from teachers, moderators, or the Internet‐based learning environment itself is still quite crucial in Internet‐based science learning. Recommendations for future research related to the effects of Internet‐based science learning on students' metacognitive reflections, epistemological development, and worldviews are suggested.     

Impediments to Partnership: A literature review of school‐university links

Partnership innovations between teacher educators on school and university sites have become ubiquitous. Calls for bridging the theory/practice gap have been answered with reappraisal and restructuring of programs. The literature on the rationale and implementation of a partnership approach has grown steadily since the early 1980s. Praise for measures that promote increased and meaningful interaction between the key players is now almost universal. Ironically, simultaneously, this documentation reveals the challenges as well as the promises of partnership. Clear impediments to the creation and nurturing of partnership have emerged. This paper takes as its principal focus an exploration of the literature that examines the range of barriers encountered by teachers of future teachers.     

Why go modular? A review of modular A‐level Mathematics

Modular A‐level courses, indeed modular forms of assessment in many areas of education, have gained in popularity over the past few years. This research looked at data collected as part of the ALIS (A‐level Information System) project. In particular, the attitudes, future academic intentions and attainment of students gaining a grade in A‐level Mathematics were compared, by gender, between those who followed a modular course and those who were assessed at the end of two years of study. The two groups were found to have a similar average GCSE grade, but overall, the final A‐level grades of those assessed modularly were half a grade higher than their linearly assessed contemporaries. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. The types of teaching style employed in modular and non‐modular A‐level courses were compared. Initial findings suggest that modularly assessed courses are relying even more on a didactic approach.     

Adult learning: ‘A Key for the Twenty‐first Century’: Reflections on the UNESCO fifth international conference 1997

Experiential learning is part of the canon of the theory and practice of adult learning. However, most of the writing on this subject tends to be normative, i.e. arguing whether or not experiential learning is a ‘good’ thing, or mechanical, i.e. how it occurs and how it can be facilitated. Less has been said about why or how this ‘progressive’ educational idea has become important in educational/training discourse in a period of ‘new right’ government. Drawing on the debates surrounding the notion of postmodernism and, more specifically, the sociology of postmodernism, I suggest that experiential learning offers a space in which the conflicting assumptions and values of the ‘new right’ and ‘new middle class’ (the burgeoning cultural producers and intermediaries) compete for ascendancy, as part of the construction of a ‘common sense’. In general, support from the government for practices that recognize and develop experiential learning have been met with positively by adult educators/trainers, as giving recognition and status to our work. It is suggested that the support for these measures has more to do with the government's desire to restore (self‐)discipline within the social formation. It is argued that experiential learning is integral to postmodernism and, therefore, as adult educators/trainers, in order to understand our own practices better, we need to understand and engage in debates about postmodernism.     

Group communication and problem‐solving effectiveness I: A critical review of inconsistent findings

A review of the existing research literature indicates that, for the most part, researchers have generally failed to identify consistent and meaningful relationships between group interaction and group performance. This has led to a growing concern among small group scholars that unless a suitable explanation can be advanced to account for such failure, it may be necessary to re‐examine the widely held assumption that group interaction plays an important role in effective group performance. This paper attempts to explain why previous research has failed to identify consistent and meaningful relationships between group interaction behaviors and group performance outcomes. In addition, it offers an alternative approach to investigating the possible relationships between group interaction and group performance.     

Introducing a fifth pedagogy: experience‐based strategies for facilitating learning in natural environments

Educators have identified four categories of ‘productive pedagogies’ that are considered to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. This study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, in particular, through the programmes of Queensland environmental education centres. In‐depth interview and observation data were collected from students, classroom teachers and centre teachers who had participated in 12 environmental education programmes across Queensland, in order to identify the strategies that are most effective in facilitating learning in the natural environment. A fifth productive pedagogy category, ‘experience‐based learning’, is proposed. Experience‐based learning is particularly important in addressing students’ environmental attitudes and actions. The implications for the delivery of environmental education programmes both within and outside the classroom are discussed.     

Teachers as collaborative learners in clinical supervision: a state‐of‐the‐art review 1

While there is an abundance of rhetoric in the educational literature that exhorts teachers to be more critical and reflective of their teaching, that same body of literature is desperately short on practical advice. This paper specifically addresses a tried and tested process of peer or colleague consultation as a way of enabling teachers to develop the kind of collaborative relationship conducive to interclass visitation, observation and discussion. Accordingly, ‘clinical supervision’ is proposed as a framework within which teachers can begin the difficult task of uncovering the layers of meaning in their teaching, by engaging in ‘frequent, continuous and increasingly concrete and precise talk about their teaching.’

     

Anger Management Using a Cognitive‐behavioural Approach for Children with Special Education Needs: A literature review and meta‐analysis

This review examines the use of a cognitive‐behavioural approach to anger management in children with special needs in community settings. Eighteen experimental studies involving a total of 408 children were located. The participants were mainly of high school age, with an IQ above 80, and with behavioural or emotional disorders. A moderate effect was observed for improvement in the three dimensions of anger: behaviour, cognition and emotion – although conclusions need to be very tentative. The interventions employed varied greatly in their characteristics and there were concerns about the quality of many studies. Further research is needed to investigate the interaction between intervention features and participant characteristics.     

The education of children with special needs: a cross‐cultural perspective

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses issues attendant on the practice of identifying pupils with special educational needs in advanced educational systems. Current practices in Australia and Scotland are described and attention is drawn to the problems generated by the abandonment of a category‐based approach to children with special educational needs, the variability of practice between authorities and the absence of reliable data on incidence of special educational needs. Placement outcome data derived from a Scottish study are presented and discussed. The paper concludes with discussion of Australian and Scottish practice set against United States’ experience in the light of Public Law 94‐142 and identifies areas for future research.     

WISC‐IV and low IQ: review and comparison with the WAIS‐III

The WISC‐IV is likely to be in common use for the assessment of children with low intellectual ability for the next 10–12 years. There are several concerns about its uses with these children. Some children may not understand the instructions on some subtests, notably for letter‐number sequencing. There may be an unacknowledged floor effect that will result in an overestimate of intellectual ability. The percentile ratings given in the manual are inaccurate for percentiles below 1%. Evidence is presented that the WISC‐IV may systematically give lower IQ scores than the WAIS‐III when assessing low IQ.     

An Investigation of the Potential of Interactive Simulations for Developing System Thinking Skills in Elementary School: A case study with fifth‐graders and sixth‐graders

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a simulation‐based learning environment on elementary school students’ (11–12 years old) development of system thinking skills. The learning environment included interactive simulations using the Stagecast Creator software to simulate the ecosystem of a marsh. Simulations are an important tool in any effort to develop system thinking, because they have the potential to highlight the dynamic nature of systems. Before the implementation of the learning environment (over a period of five 90‐min lessons) two written tests were administered to the students, investigating the development of seven aspects of system thinking. The same tests were administered after the implementation. Specifically, four of the tasks included in each test were associated with skills concerning the structure and the elements of a system and three were associated with the processes and interactions taking place within a system. The findings indicated that elementary school students have the potential to develop system thinking skills. The proposed learning environment provoked considerable improvements in some system thinking skills during a relatively brief learning process. However, the learning environment was not successful in promoting feedback thinking. We interpret these results in view of the difficulties encountered by the students. We also discuss the implications of our findings for the design of learning environments.     

Anti‐sexist/Anti‐racist Education: A Possible Dilemma

Abstract

This paper sketches a mood of indecision which can affect persons of goodwill in a multiethnic educational context when confronted by apparently conflicting demands for an education which satisfies the requirement for equal opportunities for women and the due recognition of the special status accorded to the moral education of women in some cultures. It concludes that the dilemma arises from a mistaken attribution of rights to entities other than individuals, and urges teachers to adopt a positive attitude towards the protection of individual freedoms.     

Prospects and pitfalls: A review of post‐apartheid education policy research and analysis in South Africa

The 10‐year anniversary of the first democratic elections in South Africa in 2004 provoked much reflection and fuelled new policy debates on both the progress and failures of educational reform. While a myriad of achievements have been touted and are well‐known to international audiences, a swelling critique from inside South Africa shows that much work remains to be done. By glancing backward as a way to understand how to move forward, we review several important recently published books on post‐apartheid education policy to learn how policies were conceived, what went well and what went seriously wrong. In engaging this extended analysis we provide a glimpse into the unique set of circumstances and challenges faced by the South African government over the last 15 years (namely the tensions between equity and redress and global competitiveness), while offering a sustained critique of the resulting policy outcomes through a social justice lens.     

Core‐explore‐more: A structure for planning enrichment activities

A framework for planning enrichment activities within a self‐contained classroom is described through the structure of Core‐Explore‐More. At the Core level, activities systematically introduce students to concepts, generalizations and basic skills related to an important curriculum theme. Explore activities allow follow‐up experiences for those students who have been excited and motivated by what they have done at the core level. More activities require greater commitment and individual student initiative because of their specialization.     

Professional development schools and special education: A promising partnership?

Abstract

Professional development schools (PDSs) have become an important component of preservice teacher preparation. Researchers investigating the effect of the PDS model on the principal stakeholders (preservice teachers, classroom teachers, students, and university faculty) have reported many positive effects. The role of the PDS in special education teacher preparation, however, appears to be less well defined. This article focuses on PDS participation of special education teacher preparation programs and addresses the apparent reluctance to embrace the PDS model.