Policy transfer,sustainable development and the contexts of education

As comparative and international researchers in education we are especially well placed to contribute to the analysis and understanding of global trends in both education and international development. In times of ever increasing complexity and uncertainty it can also be argued that we have a responsibility to do so, and to do so in rigorous but accessible ways. In this Presidential Address I: (1) consider how we might do this in the light of the BAICE 2018 Conference theme; (2) argue how and why the critical interrogation of the processes of educational policy transfer lie at the heart of this; and (3) draw upon work inspired by BAICE during its first 20 years, along with my own related research in a diversity of contexts worldwide.     

Developing “deliberate analysis” for learning mathematics and for mathematics teacher education: how the enactive approach to cognition frames reflection

We illustrate and exemplify how the idea of reflection is framed by the enactive concept of “deliberate analysis”. In keeping with this frame, we do not attempt to define reflection but rather work on the question of “how do we do reflecting?” within such a frame. We set out our enactivist theoretical stance, in particular pointing to implications for how we can learn from experience and showing the role of “deliberate analysis”. We then describe, drawing on education literature, what is generally seen as the purpose of reflection and review some existing conceptualizations in mathematics education, pointing out where we draw distinctions. To illustrate how we do reflecting, we offer excerpts from two lessons of an expert teacher and the writing of a prospective teacher. We exemplify how reflecting as deliberate analysis leads to a way of working with teachers supporting them in handling multiple views and ambiguity, their actions being contingent upon their students’ actions in learning mathematics.     

Teaching and discussing about risk: seven elements of potential significance for science education

The present paper takes its point of departure in risk being a relevant content for science education, and that there are many different approaches to how to incorporate it. By reviewing the academic literature on the use and definitions of risk from fields such as engineering, linguistics and philosophy, we identified key elements of the risk concept relevant for science education. Risk is a phenomenon of the future that may be conveyed by our activity, it is something that may or may not take place. Hence, at the core of risk we find uncertainty and consequence. Furthermore, the elements of probability and severity are relevant modifiers of the consequence, as well as both subject to uncertainty. Additionally, in framing, understanding and decision-making on risk, as individuals or society, we need to acknowledge that risk has both objective and subjective components, lying in the interface between knowledge and values. In this paper, we describe how these key elements were derived from the literature and derive a schematic model of the risk concept for the purpose of science education. We further discuss how this model may assist in planning, execution and evaluation of teaching activities explicitly or implicitly involving risk issues.     

It ain't just what you do and the way that you do it: why discourse matters in higher education communities of practice

A number of Australian universities have established and sponsored interdisciplinary communities of practice (CoPs) to develop teaching and learning. CoPs are popularly defined as groups of people who share a passion for something and, together, learn how to do it better. Without further specification, this definition is of limited use in understanding intentionally established CoPs in higher education settings. The term CoP is used and applied in a range of ways in higher education and has been accompanied by some scholarly debate about the meaning and relevance of CoPs to academe. The prevalent response to such debate has been to propose typologies. While typology can be useful, epistemology and discourse are also significant in understanding and developing higher education CoPs. In this paper I focus on discourse surrounding CoPs as a conceptual and developmental factor which has been insufficiently considered in the literature on higher education CoPs. I draw on findings from interviews with 33 CoP members and facilitators in three Australian universities. My findings indicate that discourse surrounding CoPs is significant in shaping notions of participatory value. Connecting with the literature, my findings also reveal a ‘big D’ Discourse of collegiality whereby CoPs offer social support and knowledge sharing to build capacity, as well as spaces in which a collegial academic identity can thrive. This coincides in complex and unpredictable ways with a Discourse of managerialism. I conclude that discourse should supplement typology and epistemology in adaptively shaping understandings of contemporary higher education CoPs and their future development.     

What is the best way to achieve broader reach of improved practices in higher education?

This article examines a common problem in higher education – how to create more widespread use of improved practices, often commonly referred to as innovations. I argue that policy models of scale-up are often advocated in higher education but that they have a dubious history in community development and K-12 education and that higher education leaders should shirk policymakers’ push to use a scale-up model of change. These thoughts are conceptual and are based upon a critical review of literature in community development and K-12, but I also draw upon empirical data in reviewing examples of widespread use of innovations in higher education.     

Classroom motivation strategies for prospective teachers

Abstract

National surveys indicate that student motivation is a principal concern of teachers, yet few publications within the teacher education literature directly address how teachers can best apply established motivational principles. Pivotal to mobilizing student motivation is understanding the role of rewards in sustaining productive task engagement. This article examines the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for academic learning, the relative value of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation, the potential compatibility of cognitive and behavioral perspectives of student motivation, and research‐based recommendations for promoting classroom motivation.     

How to measure research efficiency in higher education? Research grants vs. publication output

An ongoing debate in the literature on the efficiency of higher education institutions concerns the indicator for research output for use in empirical analysis. While several studies have chosen to use the number of publications as this indicator, others rely on the amount of research grants. The present study investigates whether both measures lead to a similar assessment of universities. In addition, the number of publications belonging to the 10% and 1% most frequently cited papers in the corresponding subject category and publication year are evaluated. We show that there is a high correlation of efficiency values between the estimations using these indicators. This correlation is slightly higher when the efficiency values result from a data envelopment analysis than when they are determined with a stochastic frontier analysis. The results of this study provide helpful guidelines for researchers evaluating the efficiency of universities and are valueable for decision-makers in science policy.     

Patterns and purposes in the uses and misuses of the term ‘critical thinking’ in the social sciences

This article analyses the uses and representations of the term “critical thinking” in the social science literature, based on a qualitative content analysis of titles, abstracts and keywords retrieved from the SCOPUS database for Germany, France and Russia over the last two decades. Our analysis focuses on how the use of the term “critical thinking” has increased over time, in which contexts the term is used and in which part of article texts it is used. Our findings are counterintuitive on several levels. First, the term “critical thinking” is seldom used in a pluri-disciplinary context. More commonly, it is used within specific discourses—notably education. Second, we found that it is mainly used instrumentally, rather than analytically. Third, most of the articles that use the term do not engage in actual critical analysis. There are also important geographic variation in the use of the term. In articles from Germany and Russia the term is used in similar ways—and differently in France. These nuances are difficult to analyse however, due to the different topics addressed, as well as author preferences. The use of the term “critical thinking” is diverse; indeed, at times weak and paradoxical. Finally, we discuss how editorial policy in academic journals possibly influences the discourse on critical thinking.     

Unsettling boundaries in making a space for research

In engaging in research we draw upon and develop meanings and concepts that help to frame what we do, how we do it and the meaning we make of it. In the process of framing, we exclude other possibilities from our research practices. To do research, then, is to engage in the fashioning of conceptual boundaries. This article explores the dilemmas of boundary‐making in the context of a research project aimed at exploring the border literacy practices of students in UK further education, those boundary‐crossing practices which relate to the everyday and more formal demands of the curriculum. This discussion is related to wider debates in the social sciences on the significance of boundaries and borders and their powerful effects on identities and actions.     

Development of the process conception of function

Our goal in this paper is to make two points. First, college students, even those who have taken a fair number of mathematics courses, do not have much of an understanding of the function concept; and second, an epistemological theory we have been developing points to an instructional treatment, using computers, that results in substantial improvements for many students. They seem to develop a process conception of function and are able to use it to do mathematics. After an introductory section we outline, in Section 2, our theoretical epistemology in general and indicate how it applies to the function concept in particular. In Sections 3, 4, and 5 we provide specific details on this study and describe the development of the function concept that appeared to take place in the students that we are considering. In Section 6 we interpret the results and draw some conclusions.     

Corporate social responsibility in engineering education. A French survey

In this paper, we present and discuss the results of a survey of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is being discussed and taught in engineering education in France. We shall first describe how those questions have been recently tackled in various programmes of higher education in France. We shall also analyse what faculty members have to say about their motivation or reluctance to enhance these new topics in their teaching. While this survey covered various fields of higher education, in this present, we mostly discuss the issues surrounding CSR teaching in engineering education.     

How academic teachers perceive and facilitate creativity

We will present a case study result from a cross-disciplinary education called Medialogy, which is taught in the Technical and Science Faculty at Aalborg University. The aim of Medialogy is to facilitate creativity within technical solutions. The intention of this paper is to answer the following: how do the Medialogy teachers perceive creativity and how do they facilitate it? Many of the answers point to the pedagogical approach used in problem-based learning, which are perceived as an important element for the creative process. In this paper we will also argue the importance of including the social context (both at a macro and at a micro level) in the definition and use of creativity in engineering education.     

Motivation and demotivation of teachers in primary schools: the challenge of change

Motivation is crucial to both individual and organisational performance and even a very able and well-trained member of staff will not perform effectively unless they are motivated to do so. Despite this fact, research into the motivation of teachers is limited both internationally and, more specifically, in relation to the English system of education which has undergone a series of rapid, multiple and systemic changes since the 1988 Education Act which are likely to have affected teachers' motivation and morale. This article reports on research in six primary schools in England which attempted to determine the nature of the issues impacting upon motivation and demotivation at the start of the twenty-first century. The study provides additional insight about how these factors might be affected by ethnographic and demographic characteristics. Findings suggest that the principal motivators for teachers in primary schools are extrinsic motivators, such as positive responses from children and that, conversely, demotivators are poor responses from children and workload factors.     

How Does Motivation Develop and Why Does It Change? Reframing Motivation Research

In this article, we argue for a change in how researchers study motivation to learn. We believe that research can provide better explanations of the origins and outcomes of behavior, and thus be more useful, if we focus on how motivation develops and why it changes. We suggest reframing motivation research in education by extending the current focus on beliefs to studying the transactions among persons engaged in specific classroom activities over time. We present one approach from developmental psychology—Rogoff's three planes—that attempts to account for this transaction. We then present examples of current motivation research to illustrate how this approach has been applied. We believe that using this framework can produce new results that are meaningful for both researchers and practitioners who want to understand and foster motivation in education.     

开放教育学员对多媒体教材的认知、自学兴趣、动机的探究

通过对晋中电大分校开放教育本科 2 0 0 1、 2 0 0 2级各专业的学生进行问卷调查 ,针对开放学员对多媒体教材的认知、自学兴趣、动机进行探究。得出如下结论 :学生的学习动机是健康的 ,追求知识的欲望较强烈 ;学生对多媒体教材应用的认知是正确的、完善的 ;对利用多媒体教材自主学习的网上学习模式的兴趣是浓厚的 ;对利用计算机网络和多媒体技术在数字信号下进行网上教学活动的第三代远程教育是认可的。     

Deweyan Tools for Inquiry and the Epistemological Context of Critical Pedagogy

This article develops the notion of resistance as articulated in the literature of critical pedagogy as being both culturally sponsored and cognitively manifested. To do so, the authors draw upon John Dewey's conception of tools for inquiry. Dewey provides a way to conceptualize student resistance not as a form of willful disputation, but instead as a function of socialization into cultural models of thought that actively truncate inquiry. In other words, resistance can be construed as the cognitive and emotive dimensions of the ongoing failure of institutions to provide ideas that help individuals both recognize social problems and imagine possible solutions. Focusing on Dewey's epistemological framework, specifically tools for inquiry, provides a way to grasp this problem. It also affords some innovative solutions; for instance, it helps conceive of possible links between the regular curriculum and the study of specific social justice issues, a relationship that is often under-examined. The aims of critical pedagogy depend upon students developing dexterity with the conceptual tools they use to make meaning of the evidence they confront; these are background skills that the regular curriculum can be made to serve even outside social justice-focused curricula. Furthermore, the article concludes that because such inquiry involves the exploration and potential revision of students' world-ordering beliefs, developing flexibility in how one thinks may be better achieved within academic subjects and topics that are not so intimately connected to students' current social lives, especially where students may be directly implicated.     

Properties of publications on anatomy in medical education literature

Publications on anatomy in medical education appear to be largely anecdotal. To explore this, we investigated the literature on anatomy in medical education, aiming first to evaluate the contribution of the literature on anatomy in medical education to "best evidence medical education" (BEME) and second to evaluate the development of this literature toward more "best evidence" between 1985 and 2009. Four databases were searched for publications on anatomy in medical education published between 1985 and 2009, resulting in 525 references. Hundred publications were characterized by five variables (journal category, paper subject, paper category, author perspective, and paper perspective). Statements from these publications were characterized by two variables (category and foundation). The publications contained 797 statements that involved the words "anatomy," "anatomical," or "anatomist." Forty-five percent of the publications contained no explicit research question. Forty percent of the statements made were about "teaching methods" and 17% about "teaching content," 8% referred to "practical value," and 10% to "side effects" of anatomy education. Ten percent of the statements were "positional," five percent "traditional," four percent "self-evident," and two percent referred to "quality of care." Fifty-six percent of the statements had no foundation, 17% were founded on empirical data, and 27% by references. These results substantiated the critical comments about the anecdotal nature of the literature. However, it is encouraging to see that between 1985 and 2009 the number of publications is rising that these publications increasingly focus on teaching methods and that an academic writing style is developing. This suggests a growing body of empirical literature about anatomy education.     

Goal Theory Is Not Dead—Not Yet, Anyway: A Reflection on the Special Issue

The author suggests how these papers converge in portraying the nature of motivation, learning, and achievement. That portrayal proceeds from a social—cognitive framework that stresses the centrality of goals in framing whether, when, and how students are likely to approach or avoid academic tasks. He points out, however, that approach and avoidance, although an important aspect of motivation, do not fully encompass a domain that is and has been considered the fitting purview of motivation theory and research. Especially in the realm of education, the quality of engagement that eventuates is of equal if not greater importance relative to choice and direction. However, a primary question raised in these comments relates to the nature of goals and how they operate in framing action, thought, and feelings. Some of the work reflected in the wider goal theory literature as well as in some of these papers, suggests that goals are closely linked to a varying role of self in determining the nature and direction of action, feelings, and thought. Some of the work seems to limit goals to a specific kind of objective under limited circumstances. Finally, questions are raised about whether or how the work presented would define the role of context in determining motivation. Clearly, although work reflected in these papers is truly impressive, it is impressive not just for conclusions reached but also for new questions prompted.     

Riding the information highway—towards a new kind of learning

Adults' motivation to participate in continued education is of immediate interest, as lifelong learning is now considered as the solution to the pressing problems of increased levels of unemployment, not least among unskilled workers. Many theories concerning motivation and adult education maintain that individuals are innately motivated to learn, and conclude that motivation problems result from various dispositional, situational and structural impediments. If such barriers are removed, adults will be naturally motivated to educate themselves. This article argues against these theories and maintains that motivation should not be regarded as something residing within the individual. It is rather a construct of those who see it lacking in others. A critical reading of the literature shows how motivation theory stigmatizes people held ‘unmotivated’ in that the theories ascribe motivation problems to the individual, while assuming the basis upon which the problem is formulated for granted, and making those who formulate the problem invisible. Instead of a problem solver, motivation becomes a euphemism for direction and control. This article suggests that motivation should be seen as a relational concept, rather than as residing within the individual. Adults' motivation, or lack of this, is best understood in relation to those who formulate the problem. Instead of asking what motivates adults to study, research should focus on who states that this is a problem, and why, and the reasons for this conclusion. This approach makes the operations of power visible, and demonstrates how the discourse of lifelong learning, as a necessary political response to economic and technological determinism, constructs adults as inadequate.     

Value creation in the engineering enterprise: an educational perspective

ABSTRACT

This position paper sets out to examine value creation in the engineering enterprise, a process that has mostly been associated with innovation and entrepreneurs. An analysis of the literature on engineering value creation in business studies, engineering and engineering education publications shows that there has been surprisingly little empirical study and thus the means by which most engineers contribute value is unclear in the literature. Analysis of published data and data from studies by the authors in engineering workplaces in Australia, South East Asia and Portugal suggests that the work performed by most engineers has little to do with innovation. Based on these data the authors identify 14 ways in which engineers create value. An important finding is that routine engineering performances by a majority of engineers, not associated with innovation or entrepreneurial activities, not only can be shown to create value, but also to protect accumulated value from inadvertent destruction. The paper outlines the educational implications of these findings and proposes measures that engineering educators can adopt to improve the understanding of engineering graduates about engineering value creation.