Synthesising Research in Education: a case‐study of getting it wrong,Part 2

Syntheses of research are influential in regard to subsequent research, policy and practice. They provide the empirical bases for applications for research grants, for higher‐degree dissertations and theses, and for individual and institutional research. They are used by policy makers in designing strategies for development, and they are used to guide practitioners in the enhancement of professional activity. They provide the contents of highly regarded publications in handbooks, encyclopaedias, and textbooks, and become the best‐known statements of the state of knowledge on the topics to which they are addressed. The processes by which syntheses of research are disseminated are equally important, because they determine which syntheses are available publicly for the above purposes. If the authors of the original sources are wrong in announcing their findings, if the synthesisers of that research do not identify the errors, if the referees of the syntheses submitted for publication are lax, if the editors of the reports of those referees are not on guard, then a potentially damaging synthesis can be released. As a result, whole programmes of misguided research, policy and practice can eventuate. The likelihood that a poor synthesis would survive the rigorous refereeing process employed by prestigious scholarly journals must be very small. Nevertheless, the consequences of such a mistake warrant contemplation. It could happen! Indeed, it appears to have happened! In what follows I will give further demonstration that it has happened. In the first part of this case study (Dunkin, 1995), I reported an evaluation of that part of Kagan's (1992) synthesis of research on teachers’ professional growth that concerned preservice teachers. In this paper, I will focus on the synthesis of research on first‐year and beginning teachers.     

篮球裁判员临场心理变化原因及对策研究

篮球比赛过程中临场情况的变化,对临场裁判员心理状态产生不同的影响,出现错、漏判现象,有可能造成比赛失控,使比赛难以正常进行。本文分析了篮球比赛中裁判员临场出现不良心理变化的原因,并提出了相应的对策。     

A Factor Analysis of the Role of the State Director of Guidance Service

A review of the literature reveals that no research had been conducted on the role of the State Director of Guidance Services. A questionnaire sent to 280 state directors and state supervisors of guidance services in the 50 states was the instrument used to gather the data. By grouping the 15 factors yielded into three major categories—Service, Administration, and Non-service—a priori observations were confirmed mathematically which lent themselves to a more detailed interpretation. Since the results of this study have been extracted from data supplied by a contemporary group of state directors and state supervisors of guidance services, and since roles change with time, this role study cannot be construed to be final or complete. However, it should serve as a basis for future similar studies.     

基于无线传感网络的机器人竞赛裁判系统设计

设计了一种基于无线传感网络的机器人竞赛裁判系统。开发了机器人击打感应道具、全场定位系统、WiFi无线数传网络。实现了比赛中各机器人和比赛道具状态通过无线方式与裁判系统实时通信,显示比分和自动判罚的功能。能够实时感知场上所有机器人的状态、位置信息,并记录、统计、显示双方机器人的得分情况,减少人工裁判的误判、漏判现象,有效提高比赛的公平性与观赏性。     

市场经济条件下编辑的角色提升

在传统的出版业中,编辑主要担负着对作品进行组织、审读、整理、加工的角色。而在市场经济条件下,编辑的工作范围需进一步向前后延伸,编辑角色需在原有定位的基础上进行提升,需承担策划人、文化创新者、营销人等角色。     

Significance,Effect Sizes,Stepwise Methods,and Other Issues: Strong Arguments Move the Field

The author asserts that editors should publicly declare their expectations and expose the rationales for editorial policies to public scrutiny. He argues that editorial policies ought to require effect size reporting, as those at 17 journals now do. He also argues (a) that score reliabilities should be reported; (b) that stepwise methods should not be used; (c) that structure coefficients should be interpreted; and (d) that if used wisely, confidence intervals differ from hypothesis tests in important ways. The use of noncentral t and F distributions to create confidence intervals about effect sizes also is appealing.     

Team performance improvement: Mediating roles of employee job autonomy and quality of team leader–member relations in supportive organizations in the Korean business context

The purpose of this research was to examine the mediating roles of job autonomy and the quality of the leader–member relationship to explain the impact of organizational support on team performance. A total of 228 cases collected from Korean business organizations were used for data analysis. Hierarchical multiple regression, Type 1 SS‐based general linear modeling, and structural equation modeling were used for analyses. All results were compared to examine the magnitude of the interactions of two mediating variables—job autonomy and leader–member relation quality—to predict the influence of organizational support on team performance. Results include (1) two mediating variables played partial mediating roles; (2) between the mediating variables, leader–member relations maximized the magnitude of job autonomy; (3) organizational support was the commanding predictor for team performance, while it was found to be a statistically nonsignificant factor, which did not directly influence team performance. Conclusions are described, followed by limitations and future research recommendations.     

Engineering,Ethics and Professionalism

This paper addresses the changing role of engineers in industry and society with specific reference to the increasing environmental pressures on industry. Sustainable development, as discussed widely since the Brundtland Report in 1987, provides a broad framework for environmental activities in industry. The intended move—worldwide—towards sustainable development involves engineering in the key role of designing and managing ‘Clean Technology’, i.e. of technological systems which are less harmful, more efficient and socially as well as environmentally acceptable. The paper examines the extent to which professional engineers can work and achieve sustainable development within their professional roles and considers their roles and responsibilities involved in such a move. Special emphasis is given to the role of creativity, ethics and the demand for professionalism in the changing roles of engineers. The examination of the ethical and professional issues identified is used together with the observed changes in industrial systems and engineering roles to determine new educational needs of those engineers driving future developments in industry.     

对广西高校体育专业学生篮球裁判员培养问题的探讨

广西高等学校篮球运动的快速发展,需要一支相匹配的裁判队伍,目前广西高校中的体育专业学生裁判人员较少,水平偏低,因此在高校体育专业学生中培养具有一定专业水平的学生等级裁判员,对推动广西高校篮球运动的正常开展,是非常必要的。在高校体育专业学生中进行篮球裁判的培养是一条发挥体育的多元功能,达到素质教育的行之有效的途径,它不仅能够在一定程度上解决因高校连年扩招,学校竞赛工作人力不足的问题,并且能够有效提高学生专业素质及组织、管理能力,从而达到提高学生的综合素质的目的。     

实现编辑工作"多位一体"的思考

现代期刊编辑集编辑、加工、录入、校对等多角色于一身,实现编辑工作"多位一体",可以提高期刊社的工作效率,减少许多不必要的浪费。期刊编辑对编、校工作已不陌生,要实现"多位一体",必须解决编辑录入等方面的技术困难,构建良好的心理环境。     

Performative Technology Intensity and Teacher Subjectivities

Critical educational literature suggests that an increased reliance upon neoliberally inspired management technologies transforms the very foundations from which images of the ideal teacher are constructed. The purpose of this paper is to add to this literature by (i) identifying and analysing a number of theoretical qualities associated with performative technologies, and (ii) discussing how such qualities contribute to the emergence of performative teacher subjectivities. Drawing upon the findings from a qualitative interview study into the extensive use of performative technologies in a Swedish upper-secondary school, we discuss four key roles of performative technologies—referred to as territorializing, mediating, adjudicating, and subjectivizing—and the intensity by which they play out such roles. A key conclusion is that the intensity by which performative technologies territorialize, mediate, and adjudicate educational practices affects self-reflection and internalization among teachers and, hence, is important for understanding the subjectivizing role of performative technologies.     

Popular Media Portrayals of Inequity and School Reform in The Wire and Waiting for “Superman”

Two popular media forms are examined—the documentary film Waiting for “Superman” and the HBO television series, The Wire—that present distinct, and at times conflicting, depictions of how to address educational inequity. Qualitative media content analysis was used to analyze the two media documents and to situate them within broader popular media representations of school failure. Waiting for “Superman” depicted school choice and dismantling unions as one way to address school failure. The Wire, in contrast, suggested a more complex and uncomfortable portrayal of school failure where blame is not directed at teachers and schools exclusively, but instead encompasses a complex web of inequity due to bureaucracy, economics, culture, politics, and media coverage. The analysis suggests that media sources such as film and television can play a role informing the public on issues of school reform and should be critically examined as pieces of the larger puzzle of improving schools and addressing school inequity.     

Distinguishing Polemic From Commentary in Science: Some Guidelines Illustrated With the Case of Sage and Burgio (2017)

Exposure to nonionizing radiation used in wireless communication remains a contentious topic in the public mind—while the overwhelming scientific evidence to date suggests that microwave and radio frequencies used in modern communications are safe, public apprehension remains considerable. A recent article in Child Development has caused concern by alleging a causative connection between nonionizing radiation and a host of conditions, including autism and cancer. This commentary outlines why these claims are devoid of merit, and why they should not have been given a scientific veneer of legitimacy. The commentary also outlines some hallmarks of potentially dubious science, with the hope that authors, reviewers, and editors might be better able to avoid suspect scientific claims.     

国外外语教学中的需求分析研究综述

回顾了影响深远的两种经典的外语需求分析途径—John Munby的以语言为中心的交际需求处理及HutchinsonWaters的目标情景需求和学习需求分析。还介绍了外语需求分析的新进展:任务被作为需求分析单位、需求分析的数据来源和一些新的需求分析实证研究成果及其研究方法。     

Gender Composition of Editors and Editorial Boards in Seven Top Criminal Justice and Criminology Journals from 1985 to 2017

This paper examines the gender composition of editors and editorial board members of seven top criminal justice and criminology (CCJ) journals from 1985 through 2017. The findings indicate that women have historically been, and continue to be, underrepresented in these positions. From 1985 through 2017, women comprised 14% of all Editors-in-Chief, 27% of all Associate Editors, and 22% of all Editorial Board members. While there was a period during the early 2000s when Justice Quarterly and Criminology achieved gender parity in representation across all of the editorial roles, this equality was short lived. The other journals have never achieved gender parity, and, on average, women have comprised 3.8% to 35.2% of the editorial positions at each of the journals. The implications of this imbalance for women’s scholarship and professional success are discussed, and recommendations for changes to CCJ journal policies and practices to ensure more equity are provided.     

学术类科技期刊编辑社会角色定位的再探讨

中国期刊编辑的社会角色定位问题,近30年经历过“无定位”、“杂家”、“学者化”和多元定位等继起的发展阶段.编辑劳动的创造性和服务性,是当今多元化定位角色的共同属性,本文将编辑的众多社会角色统一定位于“社会服务者”的立体角色上.相对而言,选择、加工文稿以及“标准化”等技术层面的要求,都是派生于“社会服务者”定位的编辑工作职能体现.     

The curse of knowledge when teaching statistics

When teaching statistics, educators sometimes overestimate their students' knowledge and abilities. This is due to the curse of knowledge, a cognitive bias that causes people—especially experts—to overestimate how likely others are to know and understand the same things as them. This can lead to various issues, including struggling to communicate with students, and making students feel less comfortable in the classroom. To address this, educators should first identify situations where this bias can affect their teaching. In doing so, they should consider relevant risk factors, and potentially also solicit feedback from relevant individuals. Then, educators can reduce this bias and its impact on their teaching by using techniques such as keeping the curse of knowledge and their audience in mind, assessing students' knowledge, assuming lack of knowledge unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, and avoiding saying that things are obvious.     

A study of cross-national collaborative research: reflecting on experience in Pakistan

This paper seeks to offer insights into the complexities involved in cross-national collaborative research. It identifies and provides an account of the various issues running through the research process, whilst at the same time derives principles upon which such work should be based. Key narratives were identified by highlighting a number of critical incidents. These narratives were related to issues of ownership, trust, and power, whilst in the course of theorising the research process itself, the metaphors of voice and crossing borders were found to be profoundly empowering and transformative. The complexities of working cross-nationally in the research group, understanding roles, clarifying professional frames and ethical values, at the same time as creating and maintaining a context for effective partnership and participation, made managing and sustaining the research process challenging.     

The Procedurally Directive Approach to Teaching Controversial Issues

Recent articles on teaching controversial topics in schools have employed Michael Hand's distinction between “directive teaching,” in which teachers attempt to persuade students of correct positions on topics that are not rationally controversial, and “nondirective teaching,” in which teachers avoid persuading students on topics that are rationally controversial. However, the four methods of directive teaching discussed in the literature — explicit directive teaching, “steering,” “soft‐directive teaching,” and “school ethos endorsement” — make rational persuasion problematic, if not self‐defeating. In this essay, Maughn Rollins Gregory argues that “procedurally directive teaching” offers an alternative to such approaches because it derives from the intention to guide inquiry rather than to persuade. He demonstrates that the conceptual frameworks of perfectionism and antiperfectionism, which have been proposed for directive teaching on same‐sex marriage, can instead be used to generate open questions for student inquiry, as can a third, civil rights framework. Given these considerations, Gregory maintains that pedagogical guidance on this topic should be procedurally directive rather than substantively directive. Further, the fact that legal, political, and ethics scholars disagree about which framework is more appropriate to the issue of same‐sex marriage indicates that such arguments cannot be dispositive of the pedagogical issue of how to frame classroom discussions about it. Rather, students should inquire into this meta‐level framing dispute for themselves.