Performativity,work-related emotions and collective research identities in UK university education departments: an exploratory study

The paper reports the findings of an investigation into academic staff perceptions of a rapidly changing research work environment in UK university education departments. The study sheds light on the emotional landscape of an environment shaped by performance-driven change. Based on an integrated triplex framework of analysis, the study addresses the complex interrelationship between performativity, work-related emotions and collective research identities. The findings highlight concerns about the emotional impact of work intensification and barriers to collective research identities. However, there is also evidence of strong motivation and a performativity that is internally and intrinsically driven. The implications for research leaders are considered, both in terms of leadership strategy and the leadership of staff in building vibrant research cultures at a time of major change in the sector in response to global challenges and opportunities.     

Sex work and students: an exploratory study

Available evidence suggests that changes in the funding of higher education have led to some students entering the sex industry in order to make ends meet. The current study comprises a sample of undergraduates (N = 130) in the south of England, who completed a cross‐sectional survey of their financial circumstances, health, psychological well‐being, substance use and lifestyle. A response rate of 74% was obtained. Data indicated that over 10% of all respondents knew of students engaged in sex work (defined as prostitution, escorting, lap dancing or stripping) in order to support themselves financially. Poor psychological well‐being, drinking problems and financial circumstances were associated with sex work, and although no direct evidence was found linking this to an earlier history of sexual abuse, there was an indirect relationship through the impact of abuse on mental health. A logistic regression model incorporating General Health Questionnaire scores, alcohol problems and hours worked outside of study strongly predicted whether respondents knew of students engaged in sex work. For lap dancing in particular the model was very strong. This study provides further evidence of students' participation in sex work and its association with economic circumstances. Further longitudinal work is required to clarify the nature of these relationships.     

民族学生英语认知能力调查分析

笔者采用问卷调查、访谈等方式,对少数民族院校学生在英语学习中的不可控因素、可控因素、民族学生的语言特性、文化因素等进行了调研,并依据抽查结果分析了民族院校学生英语认知能力的特征及这种能力形成、发展的规律。     

Spatial abilities in an elective course of applied anatomy after a problem‐based learning curriculum

A concern on the level of anatomy knowledge reached after a problem‐based learning curriculum has been documented in the literature. Spatial anatomy, arguably the highest level in anatomy knowledge, has been related to spatial abilities. Our first objective was to test the hypothesis that residents are interested in a course of applied anatomy after a problem‐based learning curriculum. Our second objective was to test the hypothesis that the interest of residents is driven by innate higher spatial abilities. Fifty‐nine residents were invited to take an elective applied anatomy course in a prospective study. Spatial abilities were measured with a redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotations Test in two (MRT A) and three (MRT C) dimensions. A need for a greater knowledge in anatomy was expressed by 25 residents after a problem‐based learning curriculum. MRT A and C scores obtained by those choosing (n = 25) and not choosing (n = 34) applied anatomy was not different (P = 0.46 and P = 0.38, respectively). Percentage of residents in each residency program choosing applied anatomy was different [23 vs. 31 vs. 100 vs. 100% in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Anesthesia, respectively; P < 0.0001]. The interest of residents in applied anatomy was not driven by innate higher spatial abilities. Our applied anatomy course was chosen by many residents because of training needs rather than innate spatial abilities. Future research will need to assess the relationship of individual differences in spatial abilities to learning spatial anatomy. Anat Sci Ed 2:107–112, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Learning activities and interactive videodisc: an exploratory study

This article reports the findings of a small-scale study on pupil use of interactive videodisc. The types of learning activity in which the groups of pupils engaged are identified and the proportion of time spent on each is shown. Patterns in the data are analysed by ability of the pupil group and by the number of sessions in which the videodisc had been used. The discussion focuses on two interesting results: the high proportion of time spent on reading, watching and listening; and the greater statistical differences within groups than between groups of pupils.     

Why and how mathematicians read proofs: an exploratory study

In this paper, we report a study in which nine research mathematicians were interviewed with regard to the goals guiding their reading of published proofs and the type of reasoning they use to reach these goals. Using the data from this study as well as data from a separate study (Weber, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 39:431–459, 2008) and the philosophical literature on mathematical proof, we identify three general strategies that mathematicians employ when reading proofs: appealing to the authority of other mathematicians who read the proof, line-by-line reading, and modular reading. We argue that non-deductive reasoning plays an important role in each of these three strategies.     

浅论英语阅读教学中"研究性学习"思维品质的培养

研究性学习正成为人们关注的热点，在英语阅读教学中蕴藏着组织学生进行研究性学习的丰富素材，通过有效的阅读训练，特别是通过为学生努力创设问题情境、鼓励学生自己提出研究的问题和培养学生的元认知学习策略等多种手段，可以培养学生的“研究性学习”思维品质,形成终身学习英语的观念和习惯。     

Cloze procedure and comprehension: an exploratory study across three languages

This cross-cultural study of cloze procedure and comprehension involved samples of 10- to 11-year-old schoolchildren in Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States. The aim of the study was to explore the nature of what might be called‘cloze comprehension’in relation to overall or‘global comprehension’of a passage; in particular to establish (a) whether cloze procedure measures the same facets of comprehension regardless of what language is being read; and (b) to what extent cloze procedure, in different linguistic areas, measures‘global comprehension', or comprehension of the general ideas contained in a passage, as distinct from literal comprehension. The results of the study indicate that cloze procedure is a valid and reliable measure of certain aspects of reading comprehension in all the linguistic and cultural areas sampled. Furthermore, comprehension as measured by cloze procedure seems to be a necessary, albeit not sufficient, condition for overall or global understanding of the meaning of a passage. The study also shows that the ability measured by cloze procedure is more generalized (i.e., less text specific) than the ability measured by our global comprehension task. One implication of this seems to be that the higher-order skills necessary for global understanding do not always develop automatically once children have mastered the skills necessary for literal comprehension of simple texts. On the contrary, the higher-order skills may have to be taught systematically at an appropriate stage in the children's reading development.     

Bereavement support provision in primary schools: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT

In the UK, approximately 1 in 29 children have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. It is argued that schools are suitably positioned to provide support to bereaved children. However, there is a gap in research exploring bereavement support provision (BSP) in primary schools. This paper presents the qualitative phase of a mixed-methods study which aimed to gain insight into BSP in primary schools in one UK Local Authority. After completing an online questionnaire, 16 school staff took part in semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study highlighted that BSP is characterised by emotional support and other indirect responses. A key finding is that providing emotional support to a bereaved child has a negative impact on the emotional well-being of staff. This study discusses how educational psychologists (EPs) are well placed to provide whole school and targeted bereavement support to children and school staff.     

Antecedents of organizational commitment among faculty: an exploratory study

Faculty are the main asset of a university and determine its success. The attitudes of faculty toward their institution play an especially important role in the academic profession. This study examines the specific antecedents of affective, normative and continuance commitment of faculty to their university. This study is an online survey of 317 faculty of Russian higher education institutions. The results of the regression analysis showed that being an undergraduate inbred (i.e. working at the university from which one graduated) predicted affective and normative commitment toward the university, while having a post at another higher education institution predicted only affective commitment. Faculty who work at several universities have lower levels of emotional attachment to the primary university.     

The teaching profession against the background of educationalisation: an exploratory study

This article focuses on the teaching profession against the background of educationalisation in the Netherlands in the sense that Dutch schools are increasingly regarded as focal points at which to address and solve social issues. Our research project concentrated on the extent to which teachers, being key figures in the school organisation, understand their role as one that embraces a social in addition to an educational mission. It explores teachers’ professional identity and their awareness, task perception and self-efficacy with respect to performing a social mission. The results show that ‘addressing social issues’ can be identified as a dimension of teachers’ professional identity. However, teachers report low self-efficacy as regards carrying out social tasks, irrespective of their task perception and awareness. The phenomenon of educationalisation is occurring in other Western European countries and in the US. The results of this exploratory study raise questions about the feasibility of educationalising social problems.     

Analysing feedback processes in an online teaching and learning environment: an exploratory study

Within the constructivist framework of online distance education the feedback process is considered a key element in teachers’ roles because it can promote the regulation of learning. Therefore, faced with the need to guide and train teachers in the kind of feedback to provide and how to provide it, we establish three aims for this research: identify the presence of feedback according to the regulation of learning required; characterise this feedback according to content (i.e. the meaning of feedback); and, finally, to explore possible relationships between feedback and the results of the teaching and learning process (i.e. students’ satisfaction and final grades). The results for a sample of 186 students, taking nine courses at the Open University of Catalonia, are discussed in the light of feedback, which is considered a central element in university teaching practice in online environments. We conclude that, in general, the presence of feedback is associated with improved levels of performance and higher levels of satisfaction with the general running of the course.     

Cognitive and social help giving in online teaching: an exploratory study

While literature suggests that college students may be less reluctant to seek help in online rather than traditional courses, little is known about how online instructors give help in ways that lead to increased student help seeking and academic success. In this study, we used theories and research on learning assistance and scaffolding, teacher immediacy, social presence, and academic help seeking to explore through a cross-case study design how three online instructors differed in their use of cognitive and social supports and how those differences related to student perceptions of support, help seeking, and performance. Primary data sources included all course postings by the instructors, interviews with the instructors, observational field notes on course discussions, student interviews, and final student grades. Archived course documents and student discussion postings were secondary data sources. Data analysis revealed that while all instructors provided cognitive and social support, they varied in their level of questioning, use of direct instruction, support for task structuring, and attention to group dynamics. This variation in teaching presence related to differences across the courses in student perceptions of support, student help seeking in course discussions, and final course grades. Implications for online teaching and suggestions for further research are offered.

Writing through retellings: an exploratory study of language-impaired and dyslexic populations

This study was designed to examine differences and similarities in the writing of 15 language-impaired, 17 dyslexic and 15 typically developing control subjects matched on chronological age. Subjects ranging in age from 11 to 21 years were required to produce a written language sample using an expository text-retell procedure. The writing of these groups was compared on eight variables across discourse, T-unit, sentence, and word levels. Control subjects performed better than language-impaired and dyslexic subjects on all writing variables. Dyslexic subjects showed better performance than the language-impaired subjects on several variables including, (a) number of T-units, (b) number of ideas, (c) total number of words, and (4) number of different words while showing comparable performance on percentage of spelling and production of grammatically correct sentences. These findings support Bishop and Snowling’s [Psychol. Bull. 130 (2004) 858] position that the differences between these two clinical populations exist in the non-phonological dimensions of language.     

Handwriting automaticity and writing instruction in Australian kindergarten: an exploratory study

Accumulating evidence indicates handwriting automaticity is related to the development of effective writing skills. The present study examined the levels of handwriting automaticity of Australian children at the end of kindergarten and the amount and type of writing instruction they experienced before entering first grade. The current study involved 177 kindergarten children enrolled in 23 classrooms from seven government-funded primary schools in Western Australia. Individual child level data (e.g., handwriting automaticity and word-reading skills) were collected and teachers were asked to complete a survey assessing the amount of time and types of writing activities developed in their classrooms (e.g., teaching basic skills and teaching writing processes). Hierarchical linear models were conducted to examine total variance attributable to child and classroom levels. Results showed a total variance of approximately 20% in children’s handwriting automaticity attributable to differences among classrooms when gender and word-reading skills were controlled for. Large variability was noted in the amount and type of writing instruction reported by a subset of participating teachers. Handwriting automaticity was associated with the teaching of revising strategies but not with the teaching of handwriting. Implications for writing development and writing instruction are discussed.