Enriching children's recall of picture-dictionary definitions with interrogation and elaborated pictures

Preschool-age children were presented four picture-dictionary definitions to leam. Definitions were accompanied either by pictures detailing all the attributes of the definition referent (elaborated pictures) or simpler, less complete illustrations (nonelaborated pictures). After one presentation, the definition was repeated either as a series of questions to which the child responded, or as simple declarative restatements. Total recall of information stated in the definitions was improved by the elaborated pictures. The presence of elaborated pictures also resulted in greater recall congruent with the defined concept, but not present in the definition as stated (i.e., inferences). Questioning produced a higher percentage of paraphrased recall (i.e., nonverbatim recall of information stated in the definitions). These latter two findings are consistent with the interpretation that both elaborated pictures and questions lead preschoolers to process more extensively information provided in definitions.     

Employability through the curriculum

Abstract

Employability, it is argued, can be embedded in any academic subject in higher education without compromising core academic freedoms. A strategy for curriculum change is described, which is sensitive to both governmental expectations and traditional academic values ‐ and is relatively easy to use. The strategy provides a way of preserving legitimate diversity in response to the homogenising tendencies of the human capital policies that are influential in many advanced economies.     

Developmental changes in the understanding of implied motion in two-dimensional pictures.

The power of various pictorial movement cues in eliciting a reading of movement was studied to determine the relationship between the ease with which a picture is interpreted and the degree to which the picture retains the structure of reality. Movement was indicated in 2 ways: pictorial conventions indicated movement by lines, blurs, and vibration marks; and pictorial postures indicated movement by figures which were isomorphic with the postures involved in real movement. Preschoolers, first graders, sixth graders, and college students were asked to label and sort pictures of human figures as "moving" or "still". Members of the 2 young groups did not classify pictures with conventional cues as "moving" as often as they did pictures with postural cues. Members of the 2 older groups classified both types of pictures as "moving". Since postural cues for movement are recognized at an earlier age than conventional cues, those that are more similar to reality may be easier to understand.     

Defining curriculum policy through slogans

This article explores the upper secondary (or post‐16) school market. The study on which it is based, funded by the Swedish Research Council, was entitled ‘Upper‐secondary education as a market’. Empirical data include official statistics, policy documents, school publications, company reports and school visits. Printed and other news media were also scrutinised to identify how the marketisation of education is represented in public discourse. A number of themes emerged from the study which included mapping the expansion of the school market, chains of ownership and influence, marketing strategies, choice and the school market and issues raised in the media. These imply that there is a new market discourse which represents a clear break with previous social democratic education policies primarily aimed at enhancing citizenship and wider democratic values within an inclusive public school. However, critiques have also emerged including a call for strengthened regulations of and control over independent schools and concern about an education market equated more with shares and profits rather than pedagogy and student citizenship.     

In practice: Enriching the student learning experience through community service learning

Cecil D. Bradfield and R. Ann Myers are professors of sociology and social work at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where they cofounded the JMU Center for Service-Learning. The Center is noteworthy in its dedication to (and success in) serving equally the academic learning needs of students and the needs of the community. Here Bradfield and Myers describe the Center and at the same time examine what makes service learning different from community service.     

用传播学思想丰富高校民主管理策略

高校是一种复杂的信息传播组织，传统的高校管理利用会议、书面媒体、电话等进行信息传播，不能形成很好的信息反馈机制。充分利用网络可以克服人际传播和传统媒介传播的负面影响，实现高校管理科学化、民主化，促进现代大学制度的建立。     

Negotiating authority through jointly constructing the course curriculum

Understanding how authority is negotiated in teacher education classrooms can inform efforts to foster democratic teacher education practices and prepare future teachers to teach democratically. We know very little, however, about how authority is negotiated in different classroom contexts, particularly in teacher education settings. This qualitative study examined how authority was negotiated in an undergraduate teacher education course in which I – as the teacher of the course – involved students in actively determining the content, method, and assessment of the course through jointly constructing the course curriculum. Using self-study methodology to understand more deeply the problems embedded in my practice as a beginning teacher-educator, I generated themes from the data using the constant comparative method. The findings suggest that deriving legitimacy from mutually recognized sources, working from shared purposes, and confronting students’ deeply rooted familiarity with authoritarian teaching practices present potential frameworks for negotiating authority in teacher education – while illuminating the challenges of teaching democratically in authoritarian contexts. Such insights are important for helping future teachers experience alternatives to conventional teaching while accounting for the complexity of learning to bring democratic values to life in classrooms at all levels.     

Differentiating the curriculum through the use of problem solving

This is a report of the approaches of two classroom science teachers, supported by a research group, to understanding the consequences of a classroom change implemented in response to a perceived problem. The deficiencies of the normal curriculum in providing for the needs of all students became the focus for the teachers of curriculum development in Year 7. This resulted in the design of activities that required students to consolidate and apply their knowledge to the changes in state of water. The challenge was to create accessible yet demanding problem-solving tasks for all students. In this article, the focus is on the consequences of using these tasks. Student interviews were conducted through the period of using the tasks, students made written comments at the end of the sequence, and records were kept of relevant classroom observations. Our concern that students would recognise that the tasks were graded in difficulty, and hence their own ability as science students determined, proved groundless. There were some interesting yet unexpected outcomes, particularly for student learning about aspects of the ways science proceeds. Anne Symons deceased in 1998.