Rural Education As Rural Development: Understanding the Rural School–Community Well-Being Linkage in a 21st-Century Policy Context

Despite the significant proportions of rural Americans, schools, and public school students situated in the geographic peripheries of an increasingly urbanizing country, rural education in the United States has consistently occupied both scholarly and policy peripheries. This is to the detriment of rural America, especially to the extent that public policy and educational practice may work at cross-purposes with the vitality and well-being of rural communities. This paper examines these issues and, more specifically, considers the relationship between rural education and rural community development. I argue that rethinking the purposes of education, particularly within rural contexts, may help not only to more clearly articulate a sensible rural education policy, but, in the process, more clearly articulate broader rural development policy.     

Urban–Rural Excellence Gaps: Features,Factors, and Implications

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of excellence gaps (i.e., differences between subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement) in a sample of 563 students nominated as gifted by their teachers in urban, semi-urban, and rural settings in Spain. In general, the results suggested the existence of excellence gaps between urban and rural students, with urban students outperforming rural students in verbal and numerical reasoning, as well as in all divergent thinking dimensions (i.e., fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration). Differences across geographic locations were likely to be attributed to the limited opportunities available to high-achieving students to develop their talents and achieve excellence in rural schools. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and educational implications of the study are provided.     

Reviewing the Family Unit as a Stakeholder in Talent Development: Is It Undervalued?

As elite youth sport becomes more organized and professionalized, the role of the family is increasingly acknowledged as being significant in the development of young talent. High-profile examples across a range of professional sports, both positive and negative, have drawn attention toward this important stakeholder. Accordingly, this review first examines the key issues in relation to family involvement in talent development in relation to what is perceived as good and bad practice on behalf of the family. Next the key theoretical underpinning is considered, Family Systems Theory, and how it may be integrated within elite youth sport. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of where the current literature leaves us and where we can progress from here. Two possible inputs are suggested that could benefit the effectiveness of family involvement: a focus on the family holistically and a second on the role different family members can play.     

What Is Construed as Relevant Knowledge in Physics Teaching? Similarities and Differences in How Knowledge and Power Are Staged in Three Lower Secondary Classrooms

Research in Science Education - The content that is privileged in teaching has consequences for what the students are given the opportunity to learn and can thus be regarded as an aspect of power....     

Mapping Changes in Science Teachers’ Content Knowledge: Concept Maps and Authentic Professional Development

Two studies were conducted to examine content knowledge changes following 2 weeks of professional development that included scientific research with university scientists. Engaging teachers in scientific research is considered to be an effective way of encouraging knowledge of both inquiry pedagogy and content knowledge. We used concept maps with two cohorts of teachers to assess changes in science teacher knowledge. In study 1, 34 teachers developed pre- and post-concept maps in one of the nine different content areas. A repeated measures analysis of six quantitative scores showed statistically significant increases in knowledge representation. Quantitative and qualitative scoring methods indicate that concept maps are effective for assessing teacher knowledge gains from professional development. Study 2 replicated the results with 24 teachers and provided further information about how knowledge changes.     

The Loss of Biodiversity as a Challenge for Sustainable Development: How Do Pupils in Chile and Germany Perceive Resource Dilemmas?

The topic of biodiversity is of high value for education for sustainable development as it reflects the interaction of ecological, economic and social issues particularly well. Especially in so-called biodiversity hotspots, among them Chile, natural resources are often depleted for economic interest which, in many cases, is required income. Therefore, economic and social aspects must be considered in order to fully understand biodiversity loss. Being such an important issue, it is surprising that little is known thus far about learning prerequisites concerning biodiversity. This paper presents a qualitative interview study that investigated 16 to 18-year-old Chilean and German learners’ perception of biodiversity and its loss (n?=?24). Firstly, the pupils’ cognitive frameworks were analysed. Secondly, subjective theories about biodiversity loss due to resource dilemmas were explored. Three subjective theories that emerged from the data reflected the notion that most pupils focused on either ecological or economic aspects of biodiversity loss. Pupils who concentrated on ecological aspects often referred to incorrect ecological facts. Moreover, these pupils showed difficulties in developing empathy and solidarity with impoverished people, who depend economically on plants in a resource dilemma. A smaller group of pupils succeeded in integrating the ecological, economic, and social aspects. Regarding the two samples, Chilean pupils seemed to have greater difficulties in recognising the social aspects of biodiversity loss, while German pupils were largely unaware of biodiversity loss on a local level. Implications for biodiversity education and future research will be outlined and discussed.     

Development and Validation of a Rubric for Diagnosing Students’ Experimental Design Knowledge and Difficulties

It is essential to teach students about experimental design, as this facilitates their deeper understanding of how most biological knowledge was generated and gives them tools to perform their own investigations. Despite the importance of this area, surprisingly little is known about what students actually learn from designing biological experiments. In this paper, we describe a rubric for experimental design (RED) that can be used to measure knowledge of and diagnose difficulties with experimental design. The development and validation of the RED was informed by a literature review and empirical analysis of undergraduate biology students’ responses to three published assessments. Five areas of difficulty with experimental design were identified: the variable properties of an experimental subject; the manipulated variables; measurement of outcomes; accounting for variability; and the scope of inference appropriate for experimental findings. Our findings revealed that some difficulties, documented some 50 yr ago, still exist among our undergraduate students, while others remain poorly investigated. The RED shows great promise for diagnosing students’ experimental design knowledge in lecture settings, laboratory courses, research internships, and course-based undergraduate research experiences. It also shows potential for guiding the development and selection of assessment and instructional activities that foster experimental design.     

Knowledge acquisition and environmental values in a microplastic learning module: Does the learning environment matter?

Microplastic pollution is a growing issue of concern requiring appropriate classroom instruction. Educational initiatives within this context are supposed to provide relevant background knowledge, raise awareness, and ideally lead to sustainable behavior. We implemented an identical educational module within two different learning environments: formal (in-school) and informal (out-of-school). In both settings, 444 primary school students self-reliably completed hands-on activities at workstations. We monitored students' short-term (directly after the module) and long-term (after six weeks) cognitive achievement. Additionally, when examining the participants' environmental values (Preservation, Utilization) and the Appreciation of Nature, the program similarly appealed to all students independent of the environmental values' intensity. Preservation, Utilization, and the Study Group predicted knowledge levels after program participation; Appreciation did not. While Preservation positively influenced knowledge, Utilization did the contrary. Subsequent implications on learning strategies based on our results are discussed.     

Institutional Expenditures and Student Engagement: a Role for Financial Resources in Enhancing Student Learning and Development?

The concept of student engagement is receiving increased attention from researchers, higher education leaders, and the general public in recent years. This increased attention represents a shift from the more traditional resource and reputation model of academic quality to a model that emphasizes institutional best practices and student experiences that enhance student learning and development. At the same time, institutions face rising operating costs and the public faces rising costs of attendance. However, relatively little effort has been made to explore the potential relationship between these two important research and policy areas. This study examined the relationship between institutional expenditures and student engagement based on data from 142 colleges and universities. The results of an OLS multiple regression model, including a factor for student engagement as the dependent variable, suggest that administrative expenditures are negatively related to student engagement. These results support further exploration of potential complex causal links between expenditures and engagement and may provide support for initiatives to reverse historical trends and adjust institutional spending.I would like to thank Ms. Cathy Statham for assistance in obtaining data for this study.     

Continuous Professional Development: What Role and Who Benefits? Reflections on Teacher Development in Uganda

Continuous professional development has assumed a central role in organisational development in recent years. In the teaching profession, initial training is no longer seen as enough due to rapid changes in technology, social structures, ideologies and the increasing diversity of the classrooms. While acknowledging the empowering aspect of CPD, this article draws on both literature sources and on an ongoing empirical study on teacher professional integrity to analyse the challenges and opportunities of CPD programmes in Uganda. It also demonstrates a new approach to CPD based on research experiences with the teachers in one school in Uganda.     

Medicine as a calling among male and female medical students in Israel: Does it make a difference?

This study focused on the perception of medicine as a calling and its associations with medical training satisfaction, career certainty, career satisfaction, career commitment, and well-being among 176 Israeli medical students. Participants replied to an online questionnaire including the Brief Calling Scale (Duffy and Sedlacek in Career Dev Q 59:27–41, 2010) and measures related to medical training, a medical career, and well-being. Calling was positively associated with all outcome measures, and gender moderated these associations, which were stronger for female medical students in comparison with male medical students. The importance of taking these gender differences regarding calling under consideration for career counseling is discussed.     

Accountability and professionalism: a contradiction in terms?

Declining trust in public services has led to increasing calls for higher education to be ‘accountable’ for the quality of its teaching and learning provision. However, increasing levels of quality evaluation have led academics to feel that their professionalism is under attack. Reflecting on this history and various dimensions of accountability, this paper seeks to interpret accountability by addressing two questions: What is accountability in higher education? How can it be related to academic professionalism? The paper argues that professionalism and accountability appear to be contradictory terms, but can exist simultaneously. If academics' moral and social responsibility becomes requisite to an enhanced social accounting for the quality of university teaching and learning, there could be less perceived tension between academic professionalism and accountability.     

Global Ambitions: Internationalization and China’s Rise as Knowledge Hub

The four decades since reform and opening up have seen dramatic changes in China’s higher education system. Focusing on international dimensions, the analysis supports the view that reform and opening up was not merely an economic and political reform, but an opening of the mind to the outside world, after the disaster of the Cultural Revolution. But it is important to be reminded that China’s relations with the outside world have a much longer history, with the spread of Confucian ideas to East and Southeast Asia, and the importation of Buddhism from ancient India; both during the Tang dynasty. The article points to key ongoing debates in China about the extent to which it can incorporate ideas from outside, while still retaining a Chinese essence. The rise of China as a knowledge hub and destination for international students is also charted, and the prospects for further development are assessed.     

Curricula and pedagogic potentials when educating diverse students in higher education: students’ Funds of Knowledge as a bridge to disciplinary learning

With the massification of higher education in a knowledge-driven economy, Western universities have struggled to keep pace with the cultural, linguistic, educational and economic diversity of university students and the complex realities of their lifeworlds. This has generated systemic inequities for diverse or ‘non-traditional’ students, and left academics with pedagogic uncertainty. This paper reports on action research that examined curricular and pedagogic practices that made elite academic codes explicit, and utilised students’ Funds of Knowledge as assets for disciplinary learning, in an Australian university. The action research confirmed the potential of creating bridges between the cultural practices and literacies of diverse students and the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, facilitating their negotiation of multiple literacies and the successful participation of all students. Institutional arrangements – governed by economic, cultural and socio-political conditions – that enabled and constrained these potentials were highlighted, suggesting areas for negotiation for the pedagogies’ ongoing and wider use.     

Prekindergarten Interactive Book Reading Quality and Children’s Language and Literacy Development: Classroom Organization as a Moderator

Research Findings: This study examined the association between interactive book reading quality and prekindergarten children’s gains in language and literacy skills over the course of an academic year for 96 teachers and 417 children across multiple locations in the United States. Two moderators were examined, namely, children’s initial skill level and teachers’ classroom organization during an interactive read-aloud session. In keeping with prior research, interactive book reading quality, measured by examination of teachers’ extratextual talk, was positively and significantly related to children’s development of both language and literacy skills. Interactive book reading quality was not significantly moderated by children’s initial skills, with the exception that interactive book reading quality appeared most beneficial to children’s print knowledge for children entering prekindergarten with relatively low skill. The unique contribution of this study is that the association between interactive book reading quality and children’s expressive vocabulary was dependent on an organized classroom during the book reading session. Practice or Policy: The quality of teachers’ talk during interactive book reading may matter for children’s vocabulary development only when reading sessions are characterized by relatively high classroom organization. Classroom organization should be an important consideration while planning for interactive book reading sessions.     

The Flipped Classroom in Training and Development: Fad or the Future?

This article provides an overview of the characteristics of the flipped classroom, discusses the foundations of this innovative instructional model, and analyzes the possibility of adoption and application to corporate learning platforms. The article assesses whether the flipped classroom is simply a temporary trend in education and learning or has the potential to truly revolutionize instructional design and delivery in the realm of training and development.