Is this the right answer?

Abstract

The idea that practical work in science is aimed at getting the right answer is strongly ingrained in practice and thinking, particularly those of students. While there are several different purposes for doing practical work, and hence several different kinds of practical work, the pressure to get the ‘right answer’ can affect what students, and teachers do. This paper looks at this issue and discusses two views of manipulation of data done by scientists/teachers, one of which is done for fraudulent purposes while the other is done for simplification. The paper also looks at the assumptions made by students and pressures which lead them to fudge their results. We suggest ways of dealing with these problems by looking inwards at the nature of the subject and trying to understand what constitutes good practice, and by looking outwards at the pressures, particularly those of examinations, which influence practice.     

Is contextualised admission the answer to the access challenge?

This article reviews the idea of contextualising applicants to higher education in order to widen access. First, the meaning of contextualised admissions (CAs) is discussed before laying out the rationale for contextualising applicants and the beneficiaries of the policy. The final sections discuss key critiques of CA and conclude by arguing that CA does go some way to addressing the access challenge. To fully realise its potential as a policy intervention though, it is most helpfully part of integrated support for students throughout university and is mindful of the role of universities in wider society to create more equal progression trajectories for young people from a range of backgrounds.     

Competency-based vocational education: Is this the answer?

Recent calls for reform of vocational education and training arrangements in Australia have drawn attention to so called competency-based vocational education (CBVE) and self-paced methods of training. Teachers in Technical and Further Education therefore need to know more about these methods and how they operate. The paper outlines the main features of CBVE and reviews and compares three competency-based programs in operation. The programs are offered by vocational colleges in Canada, United States of America and Australia and the review concentrates on processes and products required to implement the competency-based approach successfully. The review makes it apparent that CBVE has a good deal of potential for training in vocational education as well as in industry. The self-pacing aspects appear to develop characteristics of independence and self-reliance. The review makes it apparent that there are inherent problems and potential pitfalls. These include the need for consistently adequate and updated resources and learning materials as well as for the adequate preparation and on going staff development of teachers.     

Identifying specific learning disability: is responsiveness to intervention the answer?

Responsiveness to intervention (RTI) is being proposed as an alternative model for making decisions about the presence or absence of specific learning disability. I argue that there are many questions about RTI that remain unanswered, and radical changes in proposed regulations are not warranted at this time. Many fundamental issues related to RTI are unresolved, and a better strategy may be to more rigorously implement existing identification criteria (e.g., discrepancy and psychological processing deficits) in a structured psychometric framework. Suggestions on how to modify present procedures are provided.     

The only one who knows the answer

Mother:Why are you home from school so early? Son: I was the only one who could answer a question. Mother: Oh ,really? What was the question ? Son: Who threw the rubber at the headmaster?The only one who knows the answer     

Should Creationism be Taught in the Public Schools?

This article discusses philosophicalarguments relevant to the question of teachingcreationism, especially with regard to developments inthe debate since the early 1990s.Section 1 reviews the newfactions within the creationist movement, and theoverlapping views from young earth to intelligentdesign creationism, as well as non-Christianvarieties. It also considers what are the relevantdifferences for the policy question for private,public schools, and for home schoolers, as well aspossible differences in what it means to teachcreationism. Sections 2 & 3 discuss the main legal argumentsthat have ruled in the public school case, as well asarguments from academic freedom, fairness, censorship,parental rights and majority rule. Section 4 evaluates theepistemological issues regarding competing claims oftruth, and the contention that excluding whatChristians know (Alvin Plantinga) amounts toviewpoint discrimination (Phillip Johnson). Section 5argues that religious protection arguments actuallyfavor excluding creationism more than including it. Section 6 considers the goals of education, especiallyDewey's views on science education, and what theseimply regarding the teaching of a theistic science. In Section 7, I review a new argument of Alvin Plantingabased upon a purported Rawlsian basic right of aparent not to have her children taught anything thatviolates her comprehensive beliefs, and show whyRawlsian agents would reject it.     

The assessment of minority students: Are adaptive behavior scales the answer?

The use of adaptive behavior scales in the assessment of minority children was discussed. Postive and negative characteristics of the scales developed by Mercer and Lambert were identified and discussed. Recommendations included cautions for the use of such scales in the evaluation of culturally different minority children.     

Enhancing diversity in science: is teaching science process skills the answer?

The Biology Fellows Program at the University of Washington aims to enhance diversity in science by helping students succeed in the rigorous introductory biology classes and motivating them to engage in undergraduate research. The composite Scholastic Achievement Test scores and high school grade point averages of the Biology Fellows are comparable to those of students who are not in the program; however, they earn, on average, higher grades in introductory biology classes than non-Biology Fellows. Underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged students in the program also earn higher grades in the introductory biology classes than do their non-Biology Fellows counterparts. Analysis of the performance of Biology Fellows shows that the program assists students who are not proficient in certain science process skills and that students who lack these skills are at risk for failing introductory biology. This evaluation provides insight for designing programs that aim to enhance the performance of beginning students of biology, particularly for underrepresented minorities, who want to obtain a life science degree.     

Can the performance effect be ignored in the attendance policy discussion?

Should universities require students to attend? Academics disagree. One side in the discussion of university attendance policies has tried to dismiss any association between attendance and student performance, insisting that students have a fundamental right to choose what and when to attend. By merging student record data and course attendance data for three cohorts of final year undergraduate students at a London‐based university, we are able to isolate attendance effects for 674 students, giving us a large sample, without the inherent weaknesses of more traditional survey methods. We provide fresh empirical evidence for the positive association between attendance and exam performance, and argue for a more balanced view in the attendance policy discussion. Politicians and Higher Education policies are increasingly focused on employability, student retention and completion indicators. Carefully crafted attendance policies can have positive effects on pass and completion rates, primary policy targets of Higher Education funders and policymakers. Attendance effects therefore cannot simply be ignored.     

Should the Cambridge primary review be wedded to Vygotsky?

The Cambridge Primary Review's (CPR) preference for a Vygotskian model of schools learners and learning rather than a Piagetian is queried. There are weaknesses and uncertainties with major Vygotskian ideas such as the ‘zone of proximal development’, ‘internalisation’, ‘joint construction’, ‘language mediation’ and educational acculturation, relative to the Piagetian, while human scientific research with babies suggesting inherited capability thrust humans forearmed into physical and social worlds gives some succour to Piaget's cause. The Vygotskian and CPR premise that teachers can push learners beyond developmentally set limits is not unadulterated good news, depending on how we judge education's acculturation purposes and depending on the kind of learners we want within our educational system.     

May I be excused? Why teachers leave the profession

Considerable research has been conducted into teacher retention. Less is known of ex-teachers' circumstances: salary, workload, working conditions, “job prestige”. For this study, telephone interviews were used to ask 21 ex-teachers about their journey from teaching, and views on their current working conditions by comparison. This paper focuses on the events surrounding these people's decisions to leave the profession; these ex-teachers are in a privileged position to comment on teaching by comparison with their subsequent work. Few regret their decision to leave the profession. The findings have implications for teacher recruitment, education, provision of working conditions, and for the promotion of teaching.     

What should reading instructional research be the research of?

There have been recent arguments for expanding research on some basic beginning reading skills (i.e, phonemic awareness, word recognition) to the exclusion of other literacy competencies. Moreover, there have also been arguments that certain methodologies should be favored in reading research to the exclusion of others. The case is made in this article that these conceptualizations of reading research are too narrow. Rather, the case made here is that a number of issues in literacy development deserve support, issues that can be addressed well with diverse methodologies.     

Valuing the future: should educational benefits be discounted?

The practice of assigning a lesser value to benefits the further they are into the future, or, in economic terms, discounting, has long played a significant role in shaping public policy. Recently, due to the growing influence of economic modes of thinking on the educational realm, the concept of discounting is also starting to have an influence on the way in which the future is dealt with in educational policymaking. While in other fields, such as health and environmental protection, much has been written about discounting and its far-reaching policy implications, little attention has been given to the subject in the educational domain. The purpose of this article is to discuss critically the role that discounting should play in the educational realm. The article provides a normative stance on the issue by examining the various justifications for discounting and assessing them in light of education’s special characteristics. It concludes that in education we should not rely on a single discount rate, and that certain educational benefits should either not be discounted at all or discounted using a very low rate.     

Can lifelong learning be the post-2015 agenda for the Least Developed Countries?

This paper discusses what approaches to ‘lifelong learning’ should guide the post-2015 education agenda for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which refers to a group of 49 countries that are off-track in achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Education for All goals. Reports prepared by major consultation groups such as the High Level Panel established by the United Nations and Global Thematic Consultation Group have proposed that ‘providing quality education and lifelong learning’ is an overarching post-2015 education agenda. It is an important breakthrough since ‘lifelong learning’ has been recommended; however, it is not clear what understanding(s) of lifelong learning has been articulated in those documents. How have those recommendations addressed the issues and challenges of the LDCs? In this paper, I review literature on lifelong learning and analyse major documents related to the post-2015 education agenda, especially the one prepared by UN High Level Panel. I conclude that unless the LDCs are given a leadership role for setting their goals—according to their contextual realities—the post-2015 millennium initiatives, such as ‘lifelong learning’ as a new educational agenda, will make no sense.     

Should teachers be taught to be rational?1

Programs of teacher education have tried often to make teachers follow a priori models of the rationality. These models fit poorly with the way teachers actually think. Rather than concluding that even more teacher training is required, recent research on teacher thinking has tried to uncover the rationality underlying teachers’ practice. The temptation to demand conformity with the new models of rationality uncovered should be resisted. Instead, research on teacher thinking should be used to make teachers aware of possible modes of thought, to give teacher educators a sense of how their students may change, and to give in‐service educators an idea of how their students may view instruction.

     

Has democracy led to the demise of racism in South Africa? A search for the answer in Gauteng schools

Abstract

The paper interrogates the misplaced belief that at the time of the framing of the South African Constitution a transition to popular democratic representation would miraculously end racism within the country. Would the first post-apartheid generation be free of the prejudices of the previous generations, or would the legacy of the old disposition be too pervasive to shake off? The author argues that the latter part of the question is more applicable since the effects of apartheid, colonialism, and imperialism are deeply entrenched in most people. He validates this argument by researching whether racism still exists in schools 20 years into democratic rule. The research, qualitative in nature, was based on interviews and questionnaires with school principals and educators in four formerly white schools. The findings indicate that racism persists, leading inductively to identifiable causes, warning signals and strategies to combat it.