Community Education and child-care programs

The Community Education Services (CES) division of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) is CTW's community-outreach arm. This article describes how CES works with parents, children, experts, and local groups to develop special multimedia products, four of which are discussed. Two of the products—a fire-safety kit and a natural-hazards packet—were designed to teach young children how to protect themselves in life-threatening emergencies. Two other products—CES'sSesame Street preschool education materials and its3-2-1 Contact andSquare One TV after-school materials—are attempts by CTW to respond to societal changes that have increasingly shifted the burden of child care onto preschool and after-school programs.     

The globalization ofSesame Street: A producer's perspective

Sesame Street, the Children's Television Workshop's pioneering educational television series for preschoolers, has become an international—as well as an American—institution. Licensed versions, adaptations, and coproductions of the series have been seen in approximately 115 countries. Children in 65 countries have viewed the series in its English-language form. In addition, the program has been coproduced in 13 other languages for broadcast in 50 countries. Each local adaptation ofSesame Street is unique, reflecting the varying educational, social, and cultural needs of children from country to country. This article documents the spread ofSesame Street—and the CTW research and development model—abroad, and includes several case studies of different foreign adaptations ofSesame Street.He works withSesame Street coproductions worldwide, providing onsite consultation through all phases of project development and production.     

Integrating Research into Television Production: Square One TV and the case of “Pauline”

Within the field of formative research, there is debate as to whether researchers should collaborate with producers or serve as independent evaluators. The Children's Television Workshop (CTW) produces educational programs through a collaborative process of development that has come to be known as the “CTW Model”. Under the CTW Model, producers, content specialists, and researchers work together throughout the life of a project, from its initial conceptualization through its final production. This paper illustrates the value of the CTW Model via an in‐depth case study of the development and production of a single repeated format within Square One TV, an educational television series about mathematics. In particular, we focus on the multifaceted role played by formative research at all stages of production.     

Does the Brain Have a Place in Educational Psychology?

Byrnes and Fox (1998) present the case for the relevance of cognitive neuroscience in educational psychology, including both logical and empirical arguments. In this commentary, I begin by briefly reviewing the history of the case for including the brain in educational psychology: Early educational psychology—as reflected in Thorndike's (1926) educational psychology textbook—emphasized the neuronal basis of learning; contemporary educational psychology—as reflected in educational publications—tends to ignore the brain; and future educational psychology will need to overcome the pitfalls encountered in previous misuses of brain research. Next, I examine two logical arguments for Byrnes and Fox's case, namely, that including cognitive neuroscience research makes educational psychology more complete and more plausible. Then, I examine the empirical argument of Byrnes and Fox by focusing on the value of cognitive neuroscience research in attention and memory as well as in reading and arithmetic. Finally, I suggest criteria for evaluating the contributions of cognitive neuroscience research in educational psychology, including the need for research on educationally relevant tasks and issues.     

Studying the flute and the orchestra: controlled vs. classroom research on computers

How do you study computers in education and what do you study about them? A theory is presented which distinguishes between cognitive effects with and of computer tools, the former constituting improved performance while an intellectual tool is available, the latter manifesting a subsequent cognitive residue as a result. Two studies are described, providing support for the theory. It is argued, however, that such analytic research fails to capture the multivariate rich classroom environments that the effective use of computers requires and brings about. A classroom history project is described as it evolves around tool use. It is suggested that another research approach — a systemic paradigm — is needed to study such rich and multivariate cases. The complementary relations between the analytic and systemic research approaches are examined.     

Big books: How to make them and use them

Big — bold — beautiful — they're called big books, and preschool teachers are regularly discovering their exciting educational potential. Traditionally, using books with children is a practice that adults have used since they were first developed in the sixteenth century. Indeed, most preschool classrooms include centers which are called by a variety of names — book nook, book corner, book center, storytime center, reading center, or some other title. It's rare to find a child who does not respond to book reading or storytelling, and teachers of young children routinely plan time each day to read a book to their youngsters. Educationally, their use is acceptable practice for children of all ages. Laverne Warner is a professor of early childhood education at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX. This article draws on material published by the author in Texas Child Care Quarterly,(Summer, 1990), 13:4, 3–8.     

Remembering places: Student reliance on place in timed essays

This is the story of a research journey that follows the trail of a novel evaluand—place. I examine place as mentioned by rising juniors in timed exams. Using a hybridized methodology—the qualitative approach of a hermeneutic dialectic process as described by Guba and Lincoln (1989), and the quantitative evidence of place mention—I query student writing to uncover motivations for reliance on place-based experience despite the absence of an explicit mention of place in the writing prompt. Finally, I consider implications for using generative prompts to elicit evidence of student learning.     

Social science, social relevance and the politics of educational development

This article raises some broad questions about the relevance of the current content and teaching methods in undergraduate social science generally. First, it examines critically the general teaching patterns which often stress the teaching of concepts, theory, history and techniques in isolation from current or historical problems. It next argues that our major methods of teaching—notably the lecture—contribute little to achieving the widely advertised pedagogic objectives of independent, critical thinking by students. Thirdly, it argues that we need to inject more relevance into the content of social science courses by shifting the emphasis towards a greater use of contemporary or historical problems or incidents as the starting point for the appreciation of theory and methods. It suggests that the teaching methods best suited to this are the various versions of the ‘case’ or ‘enquiry’ or ‘problem’ approach, which involve a more active participation by students in the process of learning, rather than their current passive role as consumers of teaching. Some illustrations of how this can be done are given. The article concludes by indicating some of the problems which are likely to be encountered in educational development of this kind. These problems are considered to be ‘political’ ones in that they involve a changed use and distribution of resources (of staff, students, times and buildings), which are likely to run counter to current systems of academic and institutional power, social organization, culture and ideology.     

Long-term stability of students' evaluations: A note on Feldman's “consistency and variability among college students in rating their teachers and courses”

Feldman (1977), reviewing research about the reliability of student evaluations, reported that while class average responses were quite reliable (.80s and .90s), single rater reliabilities were typically low (.20s). However, studies he reviewed determined single rater reliability with internal consistency measures which assumed that differences among students in the same class (within-class variance) were completely random—an assumption which Feldman seriously questioned. In the present study, this assumption was tested by collecting evaluations from the same students at the end of each class and again one year after graduation. Single rater reliability based upon an internal consistency approach (agreement among different students in the same class) was similar to that reported by Feldman. However, single rater reliability based upon a stability approach (agreement between end-of-term and follow-up ratings by the same student) was much higher (medianr=.59). These results indicate that individual student evaluations were remarkably stable over time and more reliable than previously assumed. Most important, there was systematic information in individual student ratings—beyond that implied by the class average response—that internal consistency approaches have ignored or assumed to be nonexistent.     

Teacher development in advanced educational technology

Advanced educational technology promises to improve science teaching and learning. To achieve the posited outcomes, however, teachers must have access to, know how to, have the skills to, and want to use the proposed advanced educational technologies in their teaching. In response, for the past eight years with support from the National Science Foundation, BSCS has conductedENLIST Micros — a teacher development to help science teachers improve their use of microcomputers.ENLIST Micros has three phases — Phase one (1984–1986): BSCS designed, tested, and producedENLIST Micros (Ellis and Kuerbis, 1987, 1989) teacher development materials (text, video, and tutorial software) for helping science teachers improve their use of educational technology. Phase two (1986–1989): BSCS designed, developed, tested, and disseminated a staff development model for helping science teachers integrate educational technology into instruction. Phase three (1989–1992): BSCS established Teacher Development Centers to implement theENLIST Micros teacher development materials and staff development model with science teachers throughout the United States.ENLIST Micros has served more than 1500 science teachers in 15 states. Teachers who have participated in the program have improved their knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy about computer usage and have improved their use of microcomputers in their science courses. Furthermore, as part of the project, BSCS has described the implementation process and has developed recommendations to support improvements in the use of educational technology in science programs.     

A Chat Room—Educational Psychologists but No Curriculum Methodologists?

Although educational psychologists once were tied in with teachers in solving instructional problems, the progression of the science of psychology has led them away from the practical aspects of teaching. Instead, educational psychologists find themselves talking about theories—in their own language—to each other, and not to their colleagues in the curriculum areas. To this end they are not a continuing source of productive information for solving practical problems in classroom practice. Suggestions are made for improving communication between educational psychologists and on-line educators.     

Educational choice (vouchers) and social mobility

A quantitative approach to study the impact of vouchers is thought to yield more meaningful results than theoretical arguments. This paper makes use of a model of the behavior of young people and schools to simulate the effects of vouchers of varying sizes on students in different income categories, living in three communities — poor, average and wealthy — under two assumptions about how public schools spend their resources. The first assumption is that public schools minimize their offerings to individual students (i.e. maximize their surplus) in order to further objectives not valued by students. The second assumption is that public schools act as competitive firms, maximizing their educational offerings to individual students.Findings from the simulation are neither uniformly positive nor negative. They do not support the argument that poor young people will be better off with a voucher system. Even in the most favorable case — when public schools maximize surplus — a systemic choice system would not come close to equalizing educational opportunity across income groups.     

Research on education in the developing countries

Developing countries are in a major educational crisis. Educational opportunity has expanded but quality has been sacrificed. In some instances the quality of education has become so low that one might do well to question whether the costs of expansion do not outweigh the benefits. Research on education has not prepared the developing countries to meet the crisis at hand. The article mentions three examples—in pedagogy, in curriculum and in ‘deschooling’ theory—where educational research has not been helpful. On the other hand, the article points to several areas where there has been useful work, and where new work might make a substantial contribution in the years ahead.     

The landscape of educational technology viewed from the ETR&D journal

The purpose of this study was to conduct a citation network analysis of Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) to examine the trends and issues of the educational technology field's scholarly community that have evolved in the past two decades. The distinctive features of citation network analysis used in this study derive from a social network analysis approach to see relational and network patterns in the citation data. From this citation network analysis, we obtained the following results: (1) the ETR&D network revealed structural attributes that help us understand the features regarding how the field has developed and how scholarly works have interacted; (2) the most influential papers and scholars in the field were identified; (3) frequently co‐cited papers were recognized as having a strong relationship by a few researchers and (4) five cohesive subgroups (factions) generated key research themes in the field including: instructional design, learning environments, the role of technology, educational technology research and psychological foundations. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed for future research.     

Is politics the problem and markets the answer? An essay review of Politics, Markets, and America's Schools

Politics, Markets, and America's Schools is an ambitious book that draws eclectically on concepts from political science, the sociology of organizations and educational learning theory. Chubb and Moe employ an extensive array of data seeking to link the mechanisms that control school operations to student achievement. They conclude that a total restructuring of the governance system of American education — from democratic to market control — is necessary. Our review scrutinizes a set of critical decisions made by Chubb and Moe in defining their key concepts and in the analytical models employed in this research. We argue that many of these decisions are not justified on either theoretical or methodological grounds. Moreover, the cumulative effect of the decision tends to tilt the empirical evidence toward supporting the authors' a priori beliefs. As a result, we conclude that Politics, Markets, and America's Schools is best viewed as a policy argument, where extensive, but not always solid empirical evidence has been artfully employed to advance the authors' preconceived notions about American schooling.     

Increasing student participation in the learning process

This paper is about increasing student participation in the teaching and learning process. It describes a methodology designed and implemented by the author for an Industrial Analysis unit in 1990–91 and emphasises the underlying educational philosophy. Industrial Analysis is a second year subject within the course Industrial and Business Systems, Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering in De Montfort University (former Leicester Polytechnic).The test of educational quality is assumed to be — What students are able to do on their own after exams. The programme aimed to train second year engineering undergraduates for industrial placement in the third year and, more generally, to bridge the gap between Institutes of Technology and industries.The subject — Industrial Analysis — is compared to the rest of the course — Industrial and Business Systems. The purpose is to assess how second year students perceive learning. With such knowledge a teaching approach could be devised to improve learning outcomes.The student-centred teaching approach is based on three pillars: explanation of theory, instruction on research methods, industrial applications. A total of 111 students form 25 teams and research 18 industries. The focus is on Research capability and Group interaction.Helpful guidelines emerge from student performance — how to avoid common pitfalls in research, such as unclear objectives, wide scope, vague approach, excessive data, superfluous technicalities and digressions. Advantages of early focusing are illustrated. Factor analysis is applied in order to find out how concepts are integrated by students.Sharing of experiences and team-working routines in class is used to bring down psychological barriers to learning. Individual and team levels of learning are examined through successive exposures and cycles.     

School Security Solutions: Bringing Corporate Safety to Schools and Colleges with EasyLobbyTM Software

This paper describes software for Electronic Visitor Management (EVM), EasyLobby^TM, currently in use in thousands of federal and corporate installations throughout the world and its application for school and campus environments. Protecting the physical safety as well as providing security safeguards regarding internet access of students, faculty, and teachers—K–12 or at the college level—has, unfortunately, become a necessity, especially in the United States at day care centers, schools, hospitals, and campus facilities. This paper describes the technology and its features which allow schools and campuses to use EasyLobby^TM software to (1) replace the visitor log; (2) capture and store visitor data electronically, including the purpose of their visit; and (3) provide badges that quickly allow anyone in the school to recognize authorized strangers. EasyLobby^TM, defined Electronic Visitor Management, has won major awards for innovation and achievement from the security industry and is quite inexpensive. Its web address is www.EasyLobby.com. Documented benefits to the corporate and government world can provide security for educational institutions as well.     

Cognitive Neuroscience Perspectives on Motivation and Learning: Revisiting Self‐Determination Theory

The Self‐Determination Theory of motivation (SDT) has significantly guided educational policy and research. It maintains that learning succeeds when brought about by autonomous rather than controlled motivation, and that extrinsic reward motivation cannot engender effective learning. We present an alternative approach, rooted in recent insights from the neurobiology of memory. In exploring environments to reap rewards, people pursue interrogative goals, accompanied by dopamine‐based hippocampus activation, leading to the formation of rich relational memories. In contrast, seeking to avoid punishment or loss involves imperative goals, with amygdala activation driving the perirhinal cortex to form disjoint item memories. We suggest that structuring learning and evaluation to diminish failure and increase repeated opportunities for successful performance, as in gamification, may engender effective learning incorporating broad perspectives and rich associations. This may occur even in the absence of intrinsic motivation to master a particular subject. Employing this insight in instructional design may benefit many educational frameworks.     

Discursive practices, genealogies, and emotional rules: A poststructuralist view on emotion and identity in teaching

This paper invokes a poststructuralist lens—and, in particular, Foucauldian ideas—in conceptualizing teacher emotions as discursive practices. It is also argued that within this theoretical framework, teacher identity is theorized as constantly becoming in a context embedded in power relations, ideology, and culture. In terms of the methodology used when studying teacher identity and emotion through this lens, it is shown that long-term ethnographic investigations offer important advantages. This is shown through an ethnographic study of the emotions of teaching with one teacher over three years (1997–1999) and a semester long follow-up study with the same teacher four years later (spring 2003). The contribution of this study in what is presently known about teacher emotions in educational settings consists in the following three ideas: first, that emotional rules in teaching are historically contingent; second, that a teacher plays a part in her own emotional control; and third, that a teacher's identity is constituted in relation to the emotional rules in the context in which she/he teaches. The contribution of a poststructuralist perspective in research on teacher emotion is discussed and analyzed.     

Reflections on the prospects of the evolution of the structure of education systems

In 1965, Raymond Poignant published in Paris, on the initiative of the European Institute of University Studies, a work entitledEnseignement dans les Pays du Marché Commun. This work, which was subsequently translated and published in English and German has become a classic of its kind. The initial idea was to compare the structures and relative degrees of development of the educational systems in the European Economic Community (EEC) countries, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R., in order to see how school and university systems in the EEC countries were adapting to the most pressing human, social, democratic and economic requirements of the modern world. This idea originated in the apprehension that, because of the strength of their long educational traditions, the EEC countries might find it more difficult than others to make the necessary adjustments. The conclusions of this initial work in many respects confirmed this apprehension and contributed, at the time, to the development taking place in European educational systems.Under an agreement between IIEP and the European Cultural Foundation, Raymond Poignant is to publish a new work entitledL'Enseignement dans les Pays Industrialisés (Education in the Industrialized Countries), which to some extent carries on from the first but is motivated by other preoccupations.In this second work, which is set in the general context of the studies undertaken by the European Cultural Foundation on European education in the year 2000, the point is not so much to emphasize the quantitative and qualitative differences still encountered in the educational systems of the eleven countries under consideration—Japan and Sweden having been added to the original sample—as to show up some of the most characteristic trends common to their development during the last two decades or the trends of development in the most advanced countries, trends which, by the year 2000, a date so distant and yet so close at hand, may or should develop more rapidly or indeed become general.The author takes the changes noted since 1950 in the eleven countries considered, which he sees as being of some indicative value for the future, and outlines, in conclusion, the directions in which he feels they should continue in the three decades between now and the year 2000. He points out the forces of resistance of every kind which, in the short term, slow down the transformation of educational structures in the various European countries. He also emphasizes the decisive influence which the trend towards a levelling-out in the attitudes of different social groups towards secondary and higher education is likely to have on the dynamics of the development of European educational systems, of which he describes both the uncertainties and the most likely prospects.The European Cultural Foundation and the Nijhoff Publishing House have kindly given their permission for publication in the reviewProspects of a long extract from the conclusions of this work, which concerns future changes in the structure of European educational systems.Maître des requêtesin the Conseil d'État. Rapporteur of the Commission for Educational Planning for the Third and then the Fourth Plan in France (1957–61; 1962–65). Main publications: Education and Development in Western Europe, the United States and the U.S.S.R. (1969); Les Plans de Développement et la Planification Économique et Sociale (1967); Educational planning in the U.S.S.R. (co-author; 1968).