Connecting Video Segments to Collaborative Learning Activities

Abstract

The article discusses how sections of a video can best be used in the instructional process by activating the minds of students and using their reactions to viewing to produce intellectual action. It gives some suggested schemes for this activity and shows how technological forces can become energies of change.     

Assessing Aspects of Undergraduate Research Through Journaling

Abstract

It is necessary while mentoring students in undergraduate research to conduct assessments in order to determine how well the research experience is progressing. It may also be necessary to assign a grade to a student’s performance at the conclusion of such a venture. Journaling may be used both as a formative assessment tool and as a summative assessment tool. This paper discusses the process of introducing journals into a mentoring relationship and using them to inform interactions with students.     

School Effectiveness Research and Educational Policy

This paper discusses a series of recent critiques of school effectiveness (SE) research from within the academic community and the responses to them by SE researchers. It uses these as a basis to explore the nature of current SE research and its relationship with government policy. It is argued that much SE research has been too closely concerned with specific government policies as well as having weak theoretical and empirical support. The general response of the SE community to these criticisms is judged to be inadequate and recommendations for future directions are made.     

Digital Video for Multimedia: Two Approaches (MPEG)

Abstract

This article discusses the application of digital video to multimedia, and looks at the pros and cons of two different approaches. It also considers the standards of equipment for various uses.     

The school meals service: a necessity or a luxury good?

This article looks at the school meals service and argues that it is an important topic which lies at the interface of educational and social policy. It reviews the history of the service as one of changing ideas and emphases, particularly, but not exclusively, influenced at various times by changing knowledge about the relationship between nutrition and health. It discusses when, and under what circumstances, school meals are seen as a legitimate part of social and educational policy. It discusses the impact of current policies in relation to nutrition and health, with particular reference to changing modes of provision. Finally, using a small piece of empirical research done in Yorkshire, it discusses the impact on the domestic economy of family households of policy since the 1980 Act.     

Some attitudinal aspects of foreign language learning in northern Ireland: Focus on gender and religious affiliation

Abstract

This paper discusses some aspects of foreign language learning within the divided school system of Northern Ireland. It is argued that an improvement of foreign language learning must be seen in a socio‐cultural context whereby a change in attitudes to languages in general, including Irish, may lead not only to a balanced interest among girls and boys in the language classroom, but also to a more tolerant approach to the cultural differences among the Catholic and Protestant communities.     

Rethinking higher agricultural education in a time of globalization and rural restructuring

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of globalization and rapid rural restructuring for our institutions of higher agricultural learning. It is essential for these institutions to make fundamental choices. This process of priority setting should not only be based on a continuous survey of the labour market but also on what the institutions themselves consider as challenging areas of activities. The paper discusses a number of necessary changes in the areas of targets and contents, institutional management, professionalization and strategy of higher agricultural education.     

Swedish Teacher Education at the Crossroads

This paper discusses recent moves to modernise teacher education in Sweden. It first considers reasons why teacher education has received increased attention in different countries in recent years, and then goes on to explore what implications this has had for Sweden The approach taken in Sweden to the so-called crisis of schooling in Beck's risk society has been to attempt to raise the status of teacher educators by proposing increased research possibilities and a new discipline utbildningsvetenskap . The paper discusses the likely response of teacher educators to these new conditions and their overall implications for the Swedish state.     

‘It didn’t really change my opinion’: exploring what works,what doesn’t and why in a school science,technology, engineering and mathematics careers intervention

Background: It is widely agreed that more needs to be done to improve participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Despite considerable investment in interventions, it has been difficult to discern their effectiveness and/or impact on participation.

Purpose: This paper discusses findings from a six-week pilot STEM careers intervention that was designed and overseen by a teacher from one London girls’ school. We reflect on the challenges for those attempting such interventions and the problems associated with evaluating them.

Sample: Data were collected from Year 9 students (girls aged 13–14 years) at the school.

Design and methods: Pre- and post-intervention surveys of 68 students, classroom observations of intervention activities, three post-intervention discussion groups (five or six girls per group) and a post-intervention interview with the lead teacher were conducted.

Results: Although the intervention did not significantly change students’ aspirations or views of science, it did appear to have a positive effect on broadening students’ understanding of the range of jobs that science can lead to or be useful for.

Conclusions: Student aspirations may be extremely resistant to change and intervention, but students’ understanding of ‘where science can lead’ may be more amenable to intervention. Implications are discussed, including the need to promote the message that science is useful for careers in and beyond science, at degree and technical levels.     

Adventures in Flipping College Algebra

Abstract

This paper outlines the experience of a university professor who implemented flipped learning in two sections of college algebra courses for two semesters. It details how the courses were flipped, what technology was used, advantages, challenges, and results. It explains what students do outside of class, what they do inside class, and discusses what students thought of the course based on surveys and course evaluations. It also compares results on a similar final exam to those of a control group.     

Content Analysis in Computer-Mediated Communication: Analyzing Models for Assessing Critical Thinking Through the Lens of Social Constructivism

Abstact

This article reviews content analysis studies aimed to assess critical thinking in computer-mediated communication. It also discusses theories and content analysis models that encourage critical thinking skills in asynchronous learning environments and reviews theories and factors that may foster critical thinking skills and new knowledge construction.     

Preparing for the real world: A prelude to a fieldwork experience

This article discusses the challenges of self-directed learning and the benefits of thorough preparation of undergraduate students for an internship experience. It describes a course offered at a unit of the State University of New York that prepares students in criminal justice and human services for their required fieldwork experience, focusing on the component activities of the course and their educational rationale.     

Divine Intervention

This paper focuses on teacher education policy in Portugal and Brazil over the last decade, and it discusses its implications for teacher professionalisation and professionalism. It identifies the emergence of competing discourses arising from policy texts and other formal documents related to teacher education, both initial and in-service, issued in both countries. It is argued that the intertwined concepts of professionalisation and professionalism, which play a central role in most recent policy documents, entail different meanings in different contexts. Although similar orientations can be identified, particularly in regard to a new rhetoric emerging in the educational field, it is also evident that different ways of operationalising the concepts of professionalisation and professionalism have been put into place.     

Communities in the making: Pedagogic explorations using oral history

This article discusses two projects supported by the Higher Education Active Community Fund, which involved student and staff volunteers in working with local communities and community-based organisations in two London boroughs. Oral history methods were used to investigate and represent the experiences of elderly people living in Borough A and young people who have been in foster care in Borough B and their carers. Both projects involved collecting detailed life stories on video and editing these for exhibition in the public domain. The video for Borough A was to form part of the Council's website, the older people's portal. The video for Borough B was to be used to train people providing professional services to young people in foster care and to involve the young people in filming, editing and producing a soundtrack. The article discusses the aims and context of the two projects and critically reviews the learning experiences involved. It analyses issues raised by volunteering, working with local communities, and attempting to represent marginalised experience. It reflects critically on notions of community and community development and discusses relations between oral history projects and community definition, higher education and society.     

Staff appraisal: Lessons from United Kingdom industry?

Abstract

This paper examines staff appraisal and development in industrial and commercial organizations in the United Kingdom and discusses the extent to which the educational system can learn from them.

The appraisal and development programmes in three large organizations in the East Midlands region of England are reviewed and the extent to which the sort of models found in business might be applied to education is considered.

It is argued that industrial/commercial models of staff appraisal can be applied effectively in the educational context as long as they are tied in with the staff development process. A tenative list of recommendations felt to be applicable to the introduction of appraisal in education, and particularly further education, is provided.     

On the necessary co-existence of special and inclusive education

ABSTRACT

While many distinctions between ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education have been made and continue to be forcefully debated, the two concepts remain strongly evident in policy and practice in many countries. This paper discusses the interrelated history of these concepts. It explores how conceptualisations of them have changed since Salamanca and reflects on whether inclusive education has, can or should replace special education. It considers the extent to which ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education are understood as the same or different today. The paper argues for a clear a distinction to be made between how special educators can work in support of inclusive education and the task of inclusive education which addresses the barriers to participation faced by members of marginalised groups.     

Public policy failure and fiasco in education: perspectives on the British examinations crises of 2000–2002 and other episodes since 1975

Abstract

This article is the first part of a debate with David Hargreaves about the ideas expressed in his article ‘Diversity and choice in school education: a modified libertarian approach’. It discusses the difficulties of using cost‐benefit analysis in education, examines in detail some of the documents on which Hargreaves's argument is based and traces the development of policy on school choice. It is argued that policy on choice must be understood within a consideration of the wider social and political context in which that policy has arisen. The article then documents the various new forms of selection that have accompanied increased choice and considers problems of social segregation. The article concludes with suggestions on how the system might be reformed.     

Exploring a World of Number: a case study of the use of CD‐ROM in schools

ABSTRACT

This paper contains a case study of the use of a CD‐ROM in a Sheffield secondary school. Nine groups of students tackled a mathematical investigation presented through a video clip on the CD‐ROM The World of Number. The paper outlines three stages within the process of mathematical investigation and discusses the contribution of the CD‐ROM material to each stage of the students’ thinking. It concludes that the CD‐ROM successfully oriented students by engaging their attention and by illustrating the object of the investigation. The paper argues that The World of Number materials are most likely to be used in a self access setting even if this was not the specific intention of the designers. It discusses ways in which the materials could be made more suitable for self access work and argues that the role of the teacher is critical within self access learning. Finally, it is suggested that future CD‐ROM materials might contain a mix of expository material, games and additional resources such as text and statistical data.     

Tensions and challenges in China’s education policy borrowing

Abstract

Background: This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices.

Sources of evidence: The main sources of evidence that form the basis of the analysis for this article were research data from an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews conducted with 166 school principals, vice-principals and teachers from China between 2013 and 2015.

Main argument: It is argued that the NCR has borrowed selective ideas and practices from elsewhere, such as a school-based curriculum, student-centred pedagogy and formative assessment. It is further suggested that the borrowed policies are mediated and moderated by the ideological attitude of the Chinese educational stakeholders, stemming from the notion of ‘theory-ladenness’ within an exam-oriented paradigm.

Conclusions: The example of China illustrates the effects of an ideological attitude on educational policy borrowing that challenges the notion of universally appropriate ways of teaching, learning and reforming an educational system.     

Involving History Students

Abstract

This article discusses the use of text messaging as an effective way for faculty to communicate with students in between class meetings or within an online course. The benefits of text messaging will be discussed, as well as the tools one faculty member has used when texting students or groups of students. Text messaging can be used to give student “nudges” to increase the likelihood students will act in accordance with what the faculty member expects (i.e., read textbook prior to class, attend tutoring sessions, submit homework on time). It can also be used to streamline group work.