Design and documentation: The state of the art

Conclusion As designers contemplate methods for improving their practice over time, the thoughts expressed here, inspired by work in other creative design fields, may help us to choose which path will lead to the greatest benefit. With our visions growing rapidly because of improved tools, improved theory, and the new freedoms they give us, it is unhappy to think that new principles, ideas, and experiences may fail to emerge or be slow to benefit our students because we had no way to capture, examine, and share them and accomplish the assurance of their quality.     

The documentation of distance education: a personal view

Following a brief account of the work of the Open University International Documentation Centre on Distance Learning, different forms of documentation in distance education: books, materials produced in connection with distance teaching programmes, journals and journal articles, and report literature, are identified and described. The central focus of the article is a critique of the treatment of the literature of distance education by two ERIC international bibliographical services. Proposals are made to survey existing bibliographical provision worldwide.     

这个时代有点儿怪

历史长河中,矛盾充斥在我们的周遭:楼房变高了,人的性情却急躁了;道路变宽了,人的思想却狭隘了。我们花费的多了,拥有的却少了;我们购买的多了,享受的却少了。我们拥有的房子更大了,家庭却小了;条件更便利了,时间却少了。学位多了,却缺少见识;知识增了,却缺乏判断力。专家多了,问题     

The globalization of learning: Paradigm or paradox?

‘Globalization of Learning’ is one of the most recent of the buzz-words and phrases which have gained currency in educational discourse, resembling in this sense, ‘development’, ‘accountability’, ‘education as cultural imperialism’, ‘curriculum renewal’ and ‘paradigm shift’. Like these, ‘globalization of learning’ is a relatively easily understood and accepted notion. It is also a ‘large’ concept that temptingly invites academic trend-followers to identify a range of its manifestations in one or more societies. The purpose of the present paper is to subject the whole notion of the globalization of learning to sceptical enquiry. The paper begins, by attempting to clarify the concepts involved in ‘the globalization of learning’. It proceeds in a roughly Hegelian way, attempting to identify, as part of a thesis, the arguments adduced to establish that the globalization of learning exists and has importance. An antithesis emerges from the identification of suspect arguments. In an effort to reach conclusions about whether globalization of learning is an accurate and valuable modern paradigm or, instead, a contradiction in terms, evidence is presented, the combined effect of which is to cast doubt on the extent and importance of globalization of learning. The paper tentatively concludes with a set of alternatives to the globalization of learning, principally by advancing the claims of the individuation of understanding.     

Definition and documentation: theory, measurement, and the courts

Definition of terms and the selection criteria for operationalizing the standard of disability are critical to accessing accommodations. The purpose of this article was to examine the research surrounding definitiorns and selection criteria for learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder at the postsecondary level. Implications from and for the courts follow a critical analysis of the professional literature. The need for researchers to utilize theory-based models to investigate the multivariate relationships between and within constructs underlying current definitions and eligibility criteria is also disscussed.     

The paradox of virtue: (re)thinking deviance,anorexia and schooling

In this paper we posit a radical retheorization of anorexia as a form of deviance. We examine how the disciplinary practices and moral technologies typical of contemporary secondary schooling signify and enter into the articulation of three ‘virtue discourses’ (discipline, achievement and healthism), and tease out how these ‘virtue discourses’ play into the formation of the ‘anorexic’ subject. Informed by Foucauldian theory, our analysis draws on our life history interview study with teenage girls diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and their parents. We argue that anorexia can be understood not as a form of deviance but as a ‘paradox of virtue’ involving zealous compliance with and taking up of socially and culturally sanctioned ‘virtue discourses’ that are immanent in schooling and wider society.     

The motivational paradox of feedback: teacher and student perceptions

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of ‘closing the gap’. Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessment for learning echoes these sentiments. This paper examines the feedback strategies employed by two experienced literacy practitioners in England. Using data gathered from field observations, interviews and documentary sources, the paper presents evidence of espoused practice associated with feedback, demonstrating that whilst teachers may claim that they make effective use of some feedback strategies to support pupils’ learning and motivation, that this is not supported by empirical data. The paper also identifies that whilst some teachers aim to mark every piece of pupils’ written work for perceived motivational benefits; such a strategy can undermine pupils’ intrinsic motivation and lead to a culture of over-dependency, whereby the locus of control with regard to feedback lies solely with the teacher. The paper concludes by exploring some possible implications for practice with regard to the provision of written feedback in particular.     

吉布斯佯谬的热力学解释

对气体扩散过程进行分析，证明吉布斯佯谬是由于错误的假设形成的。     

People,process, and paradox: qualitative research as journey 1

Qualitative researchers have made some provocative assertions about ethnography: [a] in research on dynamic processes, questions change, and therefore research tools change; [b] in ethnography, the researcher is the instrument; and [c] ethographic research is characterized by researcher “self‐doubt.” This article reflects on the nature of ethnographic research in light of experiences I gained while investigating the role of literacy in the lives of Hmong refugees in Philadelphia. By discussing three people that I came to know, I explore each of the assertions and examine my own shifts in perspective during the research process. Finally, I reflect on the idea of self‐doubt and suggest that it may characterize not only the research process but also the lasting consequences of inquiry. The paper illustrates the paradox that the dangers and discomforts contribute to the power of the ethnographic enterprise.

     

Interrogating conceptions of leadership: school principals,policy and paradox

Currently educational research literature demonstrates wide discussion and endorsement of ‘distributed’ leadership while concurrently traditional, hegemonic forms prevail in practice. This article investigates understandings about educational leadership held by Australian school principals. The article describes the contradictory conceptions about educational leadership currently in circulation. It interrogates underlying assumptions and questions how both hegemonic and newer leadership conceptions and assumptions serve educational leaders. Data from principals around the country and across education systems reinforced the predominance of un-theorised or under-theorised notions about leadership, with similar assumptions found in important policy artefacts and practices. This article emerges from interviews with 100 principals focusing on their professional learning needs, which revealed interesting ideas, issues and dilemmas concerning ‘leadership’. It fills a gap in research on distributed leadership by exploring contradictions inherent in policy, practice and understandings in this area. The article is structured into four sections. First, extant literature on this topic and the research are explained. Second, the article focuses on principals' conceptions about leadership and those inherent within important policy and practical artefacts. A discussion of the findings focuses on the discrepancy between theory and policy endorsement and the views of practitioners. Finally, the article canvasses the implications of the research.     

Equity and Quality in Private Education: The Haitian paradox

Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has a unique education system. The overwhelming majority of children are enrolled in private schools. In the absence of a functioning system of public schools, religious communities and private operators have become the main providers of educational services. This situation raises the question of the fairness of a system in which the quality of the education children receive is directly related to the level of tuition their families can afford. This paper assesses whether private education is playing an appropriate role in a poor country like Haiti in terms of providing quality education and promoting equity. It also reviews strategies which could allow the government to use its limited financial resources in a more cost-effective and equitable manner.     

The immigrant paradox and math self-concept: An SES-of-origin-country hypothesis

The immigrant paradox is the phenomenon where recent immigrants have better outcomes than individuals from native-born families. Although limited past research has shown the paradox to exist for math self-concept, neither its exact nature nor a theoretical explanation for its existence have been reported. Using Australian cohort data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 (N = 12,551) and 2012 (N = 14,481), we first establish that immigrant students have higher math self-concepts than native students, controlling for gender and absolute parental socioeconomic status (SES), and show that it is similar to—albeit weaker than—the expectation-achievement gap. We then provide an SES-of-origin-country hypothesis as a contextual explanation for this effect; we show that the immigrant paradox for both math self-concept and educational expectations substantially reduces when accounting for parents' SES relative to their country-of-origin. Our findings suggest that the paradox for math self-concept and educational expectations may partly result from immigrant parents’ socioeconomic advantage in their home countries.