Classroom control: Some cybernetic comments on the possible and the impossible

The application of basic cybernetic laws and information processing principles to the classroom situation suggests that traditional and modern teaching methods, regarded as control systems, are equivalent in terms of efficiency. As control structures, they embody different principles and are not decomposable. Examination of these principles reveals that the two methods are radically incompatible, in the sense that techniques developed in the one cannot be transferred to the other without dislocation of the system as a whole. Attempts to modernize the traditional method, or to formalize the modern method are ill-conceived. Such mixed methods violate basic laws of information and control, and cannot work. It is suggested that many of the problems underlying the Great Education Debate are a consequence of the impossible state of affairs created by the widespread introduction of mixed methods.     

The relationship between attributes of a children's radio program and its appeal to listeners

An approach was developed to investigate the link between attributes of a children's radio program and children's judgments of appeal. Program tapes were divided into 28 segments and were rated for the presence of 30 attributes. Through multidimensional scaling analysis, attributes were organized into six clusters of Superattributes on the basis of their co-occurrence across the 28 segments. Superattributes were labeled and assigned scores that reflected the degree to which each was present in the 28 segments. A sample of 42 children 8–12 years old listened to the test tapes and provided a written judgment of their interest in the program at each segment. Results revealed that the Superattributes Instruction, Intro Talk, and Jokes were negatively associated with children's interest, while Popular Music was positively correlated with interest. In planning programs and understanding the effects of radio on children, designers and researchers should pay special attention to those formats in radio programming that are familiar to children, especially popular music and instructional material.     

Choosing competency-based,humanistic and self-directed programs: The contribution of personality and reasoning

Fifty-five college women enrolled in competency-based, humanistic or self-directed education programs completed their California Personality Inventory and listed five reasons for selecting their program. CPI results indicated that self-directed students scored lower than other students on the Femininity Scale (p.001). Using Chickering's seven vectors of change as a framework, the study found competency-based students identifying purpose and competence, humanistic students identifying inter-personal relationships and integrity, and self-directed student identifying autonomy and purpose as reasons for enrolling in their nontraditional programs. The study used these results to question the mythology that adherents to different programs are of different personality types and to argue that differences in perceptions of purpose in education distinguish students in the three programs.     

Infusing humanistic activities into cognitively oriented curriculum

In our current quest for excellence, we often miss the essential nature of it. It is trendy to use such terms as back-to-basics, gifted education, and excellence to describe a new teaching strategy or innovative educational program. It is also true that many of these programs designed for children are really intended to benefit others.Harry Morgan is Chairman of Early Childhood Education at West Georgia College in Carrollton. He is author ofThe Learning Community (Charles Merrill).     

Austrian graduates in education and their jobs: An empirical analysis of the occupational distribution of university graduates

The author reports on an empirical research project which investigated the occupational distribution of Austrian PhD's who graduated in education. Nearly 50% of the graduates interviewed are employed in the occupational fields universities and teachers' training. On the contrary new occupational fields which may be estimated as potential job-areas in consequence of international experience (like social work, further education, special education for the handicapped, vocational traning, etc.) employ a very small number of graduates. No manifest unemployment could be found. However about 20% of the graduates are over-qualified for their jobs ——most of them working in the occupational field schools. The article concludes with some suggestions for the development of the educational graduates' curriculum by emphasizing elements of orientation for the students (concerning their motives for studying and their professional expectations) and application of educational knowledge.     

Using problem solving teaching styles to prepare candidates for the CXC basic proficiency examinations

Two Grade 10 classes in an urban Jamaican High School were taught over a period of one academic year in two problem solving styles: an Explicit Style derived from Charles, and an Implicit Style derived from Isaacs. At the end of the academic year there was no significant difference in their performance on a problem solving test, or on the Problem Solving Profile of the Caribbean Examinations Council's Basic Proficiency papers. The two classes performed much better than the population who sat the Basic papers on the tasks measuring Recall and Algorithmic Thinking but only moderately better than the population on tasks measuring Problem Solving.The teaching project described in this paper was supported in part by grants from the Research and Publications Fund Committee of the University of the West Indies (Mona), and the Wolmers Trust, Kingston. The author wishes to thank the Registrar and the Pro-Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council for permission to use the CXC papers and data in this study. A modified version of this paper was presented at the 63rd Annual Conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics held in San Antonio, Texas in 1985.     

“It's Easier to Be Yourself When You Are Invisible”: Female College Students Discuss Their Online Classroom Experiences

There has been considerable scholarly interest in issues related to gender in the classroom, especially in terms of finding ways in which classrooms might be configured to be more welcoming--and less chilly--to female students. There is some evidence to suggest that the online learning environment may provide educators with opportunities to achieve a more female-friendly classroom, and this study was designed to gather information about that question. 125 female college students who had completed at least one online, college-level class were invited to discuss their experiences learning online. These data show that female college students respond to the online environment in a variety of ways. A small group of students indicated that they did not enjoy learning online, while others expressed mixed feelings. The majority, however, had positive things to say about their online classroom experiences; and of these, a large number identified anonymity as the most important positive aspect of the online learning environment.     

Becoming a mature student: How adult appplicants weigh the advantages and disadvantages of higher education

The data presented in this paper is taken fromthe results of two much larger studies ofmature student decision-making and HigherEducation (HE), which considerprocesses of agency from initial considerationof the possibility of becoming a studentto eventually becoming one. In thispaper, six categories of applicant to HE arediscussed: `Delayed traditional students', `Late starters' who have undergone alife-transforming event e.g. redundancy ordivorce and require `a new start'. `Single parents' `Careerists', who are currently in employment who seek a qualification to make progress in their existing careers, `Escapees' who are currently in employment who want a qualification as a way out of `dead-end' jobs, Finally, the `personal growers', a small number pursuing education for its own sake.These categories of applicants are discussed inlight of the factors that both catalyse andinhibit individuals' decision-making duringapplication to HE.     

New Contents for New Media: Pavia Project Physics

This hypermedial project deals with a historical and conceptual approach to physics. The core of the project is a certain number of case studies, namely problems or phenomena recounted together with their different interpretations. All case studies present two levels of investigation: the first level is devoted to high school students, the second level is devoted to university students and high school teachers. Our project is directed at a new and better understanding and appreciation of scientific culture.Our methodology is a historical methodology: teaching physics and the history of physics are fellow-subjects. We are not interested in adding the history of physics to teaching physics, as an optional subject: the history of physics is inside physics.Since textbooks usually give one and only one explanation of each physical phenomenon – the true explanation – we would like, on the contrary, to present the phenomena together with different interpretations that factually occurred in the history of physics. We offer four different approaches to the subject of the case study: A. Phenomena, B. Textbooks, C. History and D. Maps.The basic unit of the hypermedia is the presentation , namely a coherent set of information endowed with a definite and complete meaning. From the media point of view, a presentation consists of pictures and/or animations, key-words and/or key-sentences and a speaker explanation. Each approach consists of a certain number of presentations.     

Education of the refugee in the United States

Conclusion This historical survey of the educational goals developed on behalf of the immigrant and refugee in America indicates that there has been a complete cycle. The first systematic educational efforts, as we have shown, were aimed at teaching the immigrant the English language so that he would be useful for his tasks in American industry. Then came the period which extended this educational goal by offering instruction in several aspects of acculturation (officially, assimilation, but a concept which has never been put into effect in the history of America's minorities). The post-war period saw the stress on the academic level on the cultural democracy concept; but this ideal has been more academic than practical, and World War II saw no definite evidences of the popular interest in any Americanization program. The recent waves of refugees, bringing in more or less well-educatedindividuals, saw a revival of educational efforts on their behalf; but they differ from the former endeavors in their emphasis on individual education and on instruction in English. The social aspects of acculturation — featuring, in general, the period between World War I and II — have been entirely ignored 1).     

Elaborating the elaboration theory

In this article, the author comments on the preceding article, A Critical Review of Elaboration Theory, by Brent Wilson and Peggy Cole     

Science, Society, and Technology—Three Cultures and Multiple Visions

The article reviews the strikingly divergent viewpoints of intellectuals—scientists and non-scientists—about Science and Technology. It shows that while scientists implicitly accept the difference between Science and Technology, to non-scientists that difference is irrelevant. The most important differences between Science and Technology that lie in their relative scales, outputs and accuracy of predictions are highlighted. The complexity of and difficulty in trying to quantify the contribution of science and technology to economic growth are discussed. Views of science and technology that include their societal perceptions are recommended.     

The curriculum potential of Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Unity and diversity are best reconciled by Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Two major dilemmas related to the study of Evolution are described. The first, concerning pedagogy, can be solved by teaching the topic at an elementary level in the middle school so that the Theory may serve as an advanced oragnizer and returning with in-depth study in the last two years of high school. The second, concerning Faith, is a sensitive issue. Some successful approaches are discussed. The place of Darwin's Theory in the all-elective high school biology curriculum is described as well. The role of the Theory regarding explanations is especially highlighted.     

Take-home video for adult literacy

In the past, it has not been possible to teach oneself to read at home, because learners could not read the books to teach them. Videos and interactive compact discs have changed that situation and challenge current assumptions of the pedagogy of literacy. This article describes an experimental adult literacy project using video technology. The language used is English, but the basic concepts apply to any alphabetic or syllabic writing system. A half-hour cartoon video can help adults and adolescents with learning difficulties. Computer-animated cartoon graphics are attractive to look at, and simplify complex material in a clear, lively way. This video technique is also proving useful for distance learners, children, and learners of English as a second language. Methods and principles are to be extended using interactive compact discs.

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Zusammenfassung In der Vergangenheit war es nicht möglich, sich selbst in Heimarbeit lesen beizubringen, da die Lernenden die Lehrbücher nicht lesen konnten. Videos und interaktive Compact discs haben diese Situation geändert und gegenwärtige Meinungen zur Pädagogik der Alphabetisierung herausgefordert. Dieser Artikel beschreibt ein experimentelles Erwachsenenalphabetisierungsprogramm, das Videotechnologie anwendet. Arbeitssprache ist Englisch, aber das Grundkonzept gilt für jedes alphabetische oder syllabische Schreibsystem. Ein halbstündiges Zeichentrickvideo soll Erwachsenen und Jugendlichen mit Lernschwierigkeiten helfen. Computeranimierte Zeichentrickgraphiken sind attraktive Lernmittel, die komplexes Material klar und lebendig vereinfachen. Diese Videotechnik dient auch Fernlerndenden, Kindern und Lernenden mit Englisch als Zweitsprache. Methoden und Prinzipien müssen durch den Gebrauch von interaktiven Compakt Discs erweitert werden.

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Resumen Durante el pasado, no ha sido posible el autoaprendizaje de la lectura en el hogar, ya que los lectores no estaban en condiciones de leer los libros de enseñanza. Ahora, los videos y los discos compactos interactivos cambiaron esta situación, creando un desafío para los conceptos corrientes de la pedagogía de alfabetización. Este artículo describe un proyecto experimental de alfabetización de adultos mediante el uso de tecnología de video. El lenguaje utilizado es el inglés, pero los conceptos básicos son aplicables para cualquier sistema de escritura alfabética o silábica. Un video de dibujos animados de media hora de duración puede ayudar a los adultos y adolescentes con dificultades de aprendizaje. Las gráficas animadas por computadora son atractivas para el espectador y simplifican materias complejas de un modo claro y ameno. Esta técnica de video también está mostrando su utilidad para el estudio a distancia, para la instrucción de niños y para el aprendizaje del inglés como segunda lengua. Los métodos y los principios también se pueden ampliar mediante la utilización de discos compactos interactivos.

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Résumé Jusqu'à présent, il n'était pas possible d'apprendre à lire seul chez soi, puisque les apprenants ne pouvaient pas lire les manuels d'enseignement. La vidéographie et le disque compact interactif ont modifié cette situation et remettent en cause les principes courants de la pédagogie de l'alphabétisation. L'article décrit un projet expérimental d'alphabétisation des adultes qui exploite la technologie vidéo. La langue utilisée est l'anglais, mais les concepts de base peuvent être appliqués à tout système d'écriture alphabétique ou syllabique. Un dessin animé sur vidéo d'une demi-heure se propose d'aider les adultes et adolescents éprouvant des difficultés. Les graphiques animés par électronique sont agréables à regarder et illustrent de façon claire et vivante les matières complexes. Cette technique vidéo se révèle également utile pour les apprenants à distance, les enfants et pour l'enseignement de l'anglais en seconde langue. Les méthodes et principes d'utilisation de disques compact interactifs restent à développer.

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Equity issues in local resourcing of education: Community financing of primary schools in Bhutan

Community financing is an important source of supplementary funds for education, particularly where governments are unable to meet all the needs of their peoples. While this is widely recognised, little empirical research has been conducted on the topic. This paper analyses patterns in Bhutan. It observes that until the 1990s few resources for education were provided by communities, but that the scale of financing has increased during the present decade. The paper notes that although communities have in general responded positively to government calls for local inputs, local resourcing has some problematic aspects. The paper focuses particularly on issues of regional, rural/urban and socio-economic equity, and shows how discussion of Bhutanese experiences contributes to the international literature.

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Zusammenfassung Finanzierungen über die Gemeinde sind eine wichtige Quelle der Bezuschussung von Bildung, besonders dort, wo Regierungen nicht in der Lage sind, den Bedürfnissen der Bevölkerung gerecht zu werden. Obwohl dies weitreichend bekannt ist, gibt es kaum empirische Studien zu diesem Thema. Dieser Artikel befaßt sich mit der Situation in Bhutan. Es wird festgestellt, daß die Gemeinden bis zu den 90ern kaum Gelder für die Bildung zur Verfügung stellten, daß aber der Rahmen der Finanzierung in diesem Jahrzehnt gestiegen ist. Der Autor beschreibt, daß trotz einer allgemein positiven Antwort seitens der Gemeinden auf Forderungen der Regierung nach lokalen Finanzbeiträgen, Probleme hinsichtlich lokaler Finanzierungen bestehen. Insbesondere befaßt sich der Artikel mit Themen über regionale, ländliche und städtische und sozialökonomische Gleichheit und zeigt, wie die Diskussion über die Erfahrungen in Bhutan zur internationalen Literatur beiträgt.

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Resumen La financiación a través de la comunidad es una fuente importante de recursos adicionales para la educación, particularmente allí donde los gobiernos son incapaces de satisfacer todas las necesidades de sus habitantes. Si bien este es un hecho ampliamente conocido, existen muy pocos estudios empíricos sobre este tema. El trabajo analiza los modelos existentes en Bhután y observa que hasta los años noventa, eran pocos los recursos financieros provistos por las comunidades, mientras que durante la década actual han aumentado estos niveles de financiación. El estudio observa que, a pesar de que las comunidades, en general, han respondido de forma positiva a las llamadas del gobierno a realizar inversiones locales, la creación de recursos locales tiene algunos aspectos problemáticos. El trabajo se concentra particularmente en problemas de equidad regional, rural/urbana y socioeconómica, demostrando cómo la discusión sobre experiencias bhutanesas presta su aporte a la literatura internacional.

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Résumé Le financement communautaire représente une source importante de fonds supplémentaires pour l'éducation, en particulier quand le gouvernement ne peut répondre à tous les besoins de la population. Bien que ce fait soit largement reconnu, il n'existe que peu de recherche empirique sur le sujet. Cet article analyse différents modèles existant au Bhoutan. Il constate tout d'abord que jusque dans les années 90, les communautés ne fournissaient qu'une faible partie des ressources de l'éducation, mais que cette forme de financement a augmenté au cours de la dernière décennie. Il relève également qu'en dépit de la réaction généralement positive de la part des communautés envers l'incitation du gouvernement à un financement local, ce modèle présente néanmoins des difficultés. L'article se concentre d'autre part sur les questions d'équitabilité entre régions, entre villes et provinces et entre niveaux socioéconomiques, et révèle que la discussion sur les expériences du Bhoutan contribue à enrichir la littérature internationale.

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“Anything goes”⋯ connecting children to literature: A personal view

In a recent article in the weekly Times Educational Supplement,Roger Knight attacked some of the various kits and packages which are currently on offer to support teachers and children in preparing for examinations in English literature. Compilers are accused of trivializing the study of literature and distracting teachers and children away from a proper concern with the language of the novel or poem. Some aspects of the compilations are seen by Knight as being akin to party games from a Christmas cracker, and in becoming involved, the teacher for whom literature matters as literature is likely to feel superannuated, disregarded and excluded from the party. Such compilations numb the texts and numb the understanding, Knight continues, and the mentality they so fully express derives partly from the erroneous and fashionable belief that any response to a work of literature is valuable. In this paper, Michael O'Hara offers a personal view on literature teaching in British schools and takes issue with Knight's view that certain approaches to the teaching of literature can be ruled out a priori. He suggests that in the right hands all kinds of approaches are possible. In short, in the teaching of literature, and as long as imagination and judgment prevail, anything goes!Michael O'Hara is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. He has taught in a College of Education in the Republic of Ireland, in a Belfast secondary school, and briefly in Nigeria.     

Course effect vs. teacher effect on students' ratings of teaching competence

The significance of the course effect as well as the teacher effect on the student rating of teaching competence was assessed using analysis of variance. The results show that the significance of the former is quite considerable.     

Introducing micro-computers to micro-learners through play

Computers, once available exclusively to wealthy industries, are now rapidly becoming as familiar in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as block and crayons. Articles making claims such as Learning by Computers at Age 4 and Computers Preparing Preschoolers for Kindergarten now permeate the news media. Increasing numbers of child care centers, attempting to maximize public interest in computers, now readily advertise Computer Tutor in their literature. Computer Tutor is often even listed above other important qualifications such as certified teachers and professional affiliations of centers.Theresa Rubens has had extensive experience working with children in both family day homes and child care centers. Jennifer Poole is the Nursery Director at the First United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX. James L. Hoot is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.     

Reliability and validity in qualitative research within education in Africa

This article discusses the problems of validity and reliability in qualitative research within education and relates this discussion to Africa. A main concern is the posing of the right research questions. The article attempts to bring into focus the voice of Africans, showing that the African researcher knows his/her environment better than any expatriate and will be more likely to ask the right questions provided that s/he is allowed to ask them and is not forced to work with questions of concern to Western donors, and provided that s/he trusts her/his own experiences and uses those to form concepts instead of merely transferring concepts formed in the West and based on experiences in the northern hemisphere. It argues for the need of secondary research to reanalyze from an Afro-centric viewpoint many of the accounts written by Western travellers and anthropologists. It further argues for the use of an autobiographical approach to secure data of high ecological validity. Validity is looked at as a more important concept than reliability and a mixing of qualitative and quantitative methods argued for.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel befaßt sich mit Problemen der Gültigkeit und zuverlässigkeit der Qualitativen Forschung innerhalb der Bildung in Bezug auf Afrika. Ein Hauptanliegen ist die richtige Fragestellung hinsichtlich der Forschung. Der Artikel versucht die Stimme der Afrikaner in den Vordergrund zu stellen und zeigt damit, daß afrikanische ForscherInnen ihr Umfeld besser als irgendein Außenstehender kennen und somit mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit die richtigen Fragen stellen. Dies setzt voraus, daß sie die richtigen Fragen stellen dürfen und nicht gezwungen sind, für westliche Geldgeber richtig erscheinende Fragen zu stellen. Eine weitere Voraussetzung ist, daß sie ihren eigenen Erfahrungen trauen können und sie für die Ausarbeitung von Konzepten nutzen, anstatt im Westen erstellte und auf Erfahrung in der nördlichen Hemisphäre basierende Konzepte weiterzugeben. Der Artikel befürwortet die Notwendigkeit einer zweiten Untersuchung, um vom afrikanischen Standpunkt aus die zahlreichen Berichte neu zu analysieren, die von westlichen Reisenden und Anthropologen geschrieben wurden. Weiterhin wird für die Sicherstellung von Daten hochwertiger ökologischer Gültigkeit die Anwendung eines autobiographischen Ansatzes empfohlen. Gültigkeit wird gegenüber der Zuverlässigkeit als wichtigeres Konzept angesehen und sowohl qualitative als auch quantitative Methoden gemeinsam befürwortet.

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Resumen Este artículo se ocupa de los problemas de la validez y fiabilidad del estudio cualitativo dentro de la educación y relaciona esta discusión con Africa. Uno de los temas principales es el planteamiento de los interrogantes de investigación correctos. El artículo pone su énfasis central en la voz de los africanos, mostrando que el/la investigador/a africano/a conoce mejor su entorno que cualquier otro extranjero o expatriado, y que es más probable que formule las preguntas correctas, siempre que esté autorizado/a a hacerlo y que no se vea obligado/a a trabajar con asuntos que conciernen a los donantes occidentales, y siempre que él o ella confíe en sus propias costumbres y experiencias para formar los conceptos, en lugar de transferir meramente conceptos formados en el mundo occidental y basados en experiencias del hemisferio norte. Aboga por la necesidad de la investigación secundaria a efectos de analizar desde un punto de vista afrocéntrico muchos de los informes escritos por viajeros y antropólogos occidentales. Además, sostiene la aplicación de un enfoque autobiográfico para asegurar datos de alto valor ecológico. El trabajo considera que la validez es un concepto más importante que la fiabilidad, y aboga por la mezcla de métodos cualitativos y cuantitativos.

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Résumé Cet article aborde les problèmes soulevés par la validité et la fiabilité de la recherche qualitative en éducation et remplace la question dans le contexte du continent africain. Un point important concerne la juste formulation des questions qui feront l'objet de recherches. L'auteur tente de faire entendre l'opinion africaine en exposant que le personnel de recherche africain connaît mieux son environnement que toute personne expatriée et qu'il sera plus susceptible de poser les questions appropriées, à la condition qu'on lui permette de les poser et qu'il ne soit pas obligé de travailler sur des questions qui importent aux commanditaires occidentaux, à la condition aussi qu'il se fie à ses propres expériences et les mette á profit pour former des concepts, au lieu de se borner à transférer ceux établis par l'Occident, et qui se fondent sur des expériences vécues dans l'hémisphère nord. Il démontre donc la nécessité d'une recherche secondaire pour procéder à une nouvelle analyse d'un point de vue africain de nombre de récits écrits par des voyageurs ou anthropologues occidentaux. Il plaide également pour le choix d'une approache autobiographique pour protèger des données d'une importante validité écologique. La validité est posée comme concept plus important que celui de la fiabilité, et il est conseillé d'appliquer conjointement des méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives.

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The Changing Debate on Internationalisation of Higher Education

Internationalisation, the growing border-crossing activities between national systems of higher education is losing ground to globalisation, increasing border-crossing activities of blurred national systems which is often employed to depict world-wide trends and growing global competition. This article addresses recent issues of knowledge transfer. It points out tensions between increasing diversity in higher education and efforts to facilitate recognition of prior studies on student mobility. It shows the diversity of steering and management policies with respect to internationalisation and globalisation. Finally, it asks whether globalisation of higher education has to be viewed as a manifestation of turbo-capitalism or could be viewed instead as a move towards global understanding.