Presidential Address: BERA. Who are we? How did we get here? Where are we going?

As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), Vivienne Baumfield's inaugural presidential address reflects on who we are, how we got here and where we are going. On one level the answer to these questions is straightforward. BERA is a learned society established in 1974 to support educational research by building capacity, advancing quality and promoting engagement with a strategic plan identifying priority activities over the next 5 years. So far, so good, but does this tell us what we need to know? Delivered at the BERA Conference 2022, the address explores through these questions some implications of belonging to BERA as a ‘learned society’ in the twenty-first century.     

阅读教学的起点探测——以《在那颗星子下》的教学实践为例

对于阅读教学来说,探明学生的起点状况,并据此设计和实践课堂教学,乃是一个非常重要的教学原则。以《在那颗星子下》的教学实践为例,通过对两个预初班级学生提问状况和8份教学设计的统计分析,我们发现:教师与学生的问题聚焦点各有侧重;教师"使知"与学生"想知"之间存在较大差距;学生的问题既能反映其"想知"的内容,又能暴露其在阅读理解、阅读策略等方面存在的问题。在教学实践中,教师应注意把握学生的问题聚焦点和兴趣点,调整预估行为以尽量准确地探测学情,并根据学情,有针对性地设计和实施教学。     

Role of Task-related Factors in Assessing Young Children's Logical Ability in Class Inclusion

One of the ways in which we assess children's logical competence is to ask them questions. This is based on two rather weak assumptions – first, that they understand these questions in the same way adults do and secondly, that logical operations are required to answer these questions. However, since at the start, the child does not know the intentions behind our question, he has to consider the form in which the question is posed and use whatever contextual cues or clues are available to make a correct inference. Relevant information may or may not be contained in the question or the external context. Sometimes, both question and context contain these information, and variation in either can lead to a correct or incorrect answer, independent of the logical abilities theoretically being assessed.     

Beginning by Living Like Primitive People

Mr. Pang I-lu, principal of Wu-hsi Kai-yuan Elementary School came to help us establish the Third Central Elementary School and lived with us for six days. On the eve of his departure, I asked him how he felt about life at the experimental rural normal school. He said, "Your life here is simply rudimentary; it is not a farmer's life." I said: It cannot be called rudimentary, but it is certainly the life of primitive people in some ways. Our education here begins with a primitive life and aspires to achieve the happiest possible world." Although the discussion was just so many words, it can illustrate a truth about education at Hsiao-chuang. Farmers' lives under the feudal system were very unprogressive. They lived from day to day like completely unquestioning human beings. Although rural education is intended to make farmers prosperous, it is very doubtful that this can be achieved if we begin from the realities of farmers' lives. Therefore, we must summon our courage and force the pendulum of rural education to swing toward the life of primitive people. The lives of primitive people are very rich with questioning. The real questions of life confront us one by one, commanding us to think, demanding that we solve them. These questions are extremely urgent and pressing. They do not allow us to be careless or lazy. If we do not have the proper spirit, if we are hesitant and do not seize the opportunity, the difficulty will be unbearable, and we might not even survive. If wolves appear on the mountain, we must learn to hunt. If there are snakes on the ground, we must learn to cure their venomous bites. When mosquitoes swarm, making a noise like thunder, we must learn methods for eliminating them. We have attained a very intimate understanding of various problems relating to clothing, food, and shelter while trying to live like primitive people.     

Is underestimation less detrimental than overestimation? The impact of experts’ beliefs about a layperson’s knowledge on learning and question asking

Although prior research has shown that experts tend to overestimate or underestimate what laypersons actually know, little is known about the specific consequences of biased estimations for communication. To investigate the impact of biased estimations of a layperson’s knowledge on the effectiveness of experts’ explanations, we conducted a web-based dialog experiment with 45 pairs of experts and laypersons. We manipulated the experts’ mental model of the layperson by presenting them either valid information about the layperson’s knowledge or information that was biased towards overestimation or underestimation. Results showed that the experts adopted the biased estimations and adapted their explanations accordingly. Consequently, the laypersons’ learning from the experts’ explanations was impaired when the experts overestimated or underestimated the layperson’s knowledge. In addition, laypersons whose knowledge was overestimated more often generated questions that reflected comprehension problems. Laypersons whose knowledge was underestimated asked mainly for additional information previously not addressed in the explanations. The results suggest that underestimating a learner during the instructional dialog is as detrimental to learning as is the overestimation of a learner’s knowledge. Thus, the provision of effective explanations presupposes an accurate mental model of the learner’s knowledge prerequisites.     

中高级留学生汉语反问句习得情况考察

为了了解留学生对反问句的习得情况,我们对中级和高级学生进行了调查,调查的项目是四大类十四小类带有形式标记的反问句。对调查所得数据的分析表明：中高级水平的学生在反问句运用能力上有显著差异,而在理解能力上并没有显著差异;学生对反问句的理解能力和运用能力存在显著相关。为此,我们提出了反问句的教学建议：一是在教材编写方面,在反问句的课文设计时少用文化背景因素复杂的情景;二是在教师教学方面,课堂教学的重点应放在操练上,让学生在练习中纠正有偏误的反问句。     

The Absence of Knowledge in Australian Curriculum Reforms

This article draws on a study of Australian curriculum shifts between 1975 and 2005 to take up two themes of this special issue: the question about what conceptions of knowledge are now at work; and the consideration of global influences and national specificities in the reformulations of curriculum. It discusses two important approaches to curriculum in Australia in recent times, the 'Statements and Profiles' activity of the early 1990s, and the 'Essential Learnings' formulations of the past decade. The global tendencies we see at work in these two major approaches are, first, an increasing emphasis on externally managing and auditing student progress as a key driver of how curriculum policies are being constructed; and, secondly, a growing emphasis on approaching curriculum aims in terms of what students should be able to do rather than what they should know. We argue that in the contexts we discuss here, these approaches offered a way of marrying 1970s progressive views on child development and knowledge-as-process (views widely held by influential curriculum professionals in Australia) with late 20^th century technologies of micro-management and instrumental agendas favoured by politicians — but that many questions about knowledge were left off the agenda.     

Using Technology to Enhance Higher Education

Whether our students are sitting in the room with us as we teach, sitting in their home listening, participating by video-conference, or answering discussion questions on an online platform, technology can play a pivotal role in student learning. In this article we discuss technology in higher education, specifically its role in hybrid or online formats. As Renard (2005) so eloquently stated, "No generation has ever had to wait so little time for so much information" (p. 44). Presented here is a discussion of the types of students who benefit from distance learning, the factors that prompt instructors to engage in distance learning, and what instructors should know about distance education before they begin teaching with this kind of delivery.     

行动导向：“技术文化教育”的教学理念——基于黄冈职院推行“行动导向”教学法的再认识

戴仕弘教授在黄冈职院的学术讲座,引起理论与实践的争议,实质是认识问题,理解问题。本文试图从高职教育文化分类上,回答为什么要推行“行动导向”、“行动导向”是什么以及推行“行动导向”有什么困难三个方面的问题,以对我院技术文化建设和行动导向教学法的推行提供参考。     

K-16 Computationally Rich Science Education: A Ten-Year Review of the Journal of Science Education and Technology (1998–2008)

Computing is anticipated to have an increasingly expansive impact on the sciences overall, becoming the third, crucial component of a “golden triangle” that includes mathematics and experimental and theoretical science. However, even more true with computing than with math and science, we are not preparing our students for this new reality. It is appropriate and compelling therefore to consider how computer science can be fundamentally integrated into science education. This study is a ten-year review (1998–2008) of the Journal of Science Education and Technology, with the following research questions in mind: What are the intersections at the K-16 level between science and computing? What do K-16 science educators already know about the newly emerged field, computational science?     

Professional learning communities as drivers of educational change: The case of learning rounds

Many researchers claim that there is a compelling weight of evidence for the effectiveness of PLCs in promoting teachers’ learning and pupil achievement. However, others raise fundamental questions about their nature and purpose. Some of the uncertainties about the nature and purpose of PLCs relate to the ways in which the macro-context of neo-liberalism has shaped the practices of PLCs in particular ways. The fundamental questions raised about PLCs relate to the type of change they are intended to produce, the model of community they are based on and whether the right conditions and skills are in place for them to contribute to change. Some researchers argue that we need to pay more attention to shortcomings within existing PLCs and their internal dynamics. Others argue that little research focuses on the specific interactions of teachers inside PLCs. The research reported here goes ‘inside the teacher community’ of Learning Rounds to explore what the shortcomings of some examples of this model in practice add to what we know about how to assist PLCs to produce change in education.     

The Future of Teacher Education: Framing the questions that matter

As we enter the new century, there are multiple debates about what teachers need to know, who should provide education for teachers, how teachers should be certified and licensed, and what role (if any) university-based teacher preparation should play in school improvement. The author argues that the future of teacher education in the United States depends to a great extent on the ways three fundamental questions are framed: the knowledge question, the learning question, and the outcomes question. To a great extent, the ways these questions are framed and their larger agendas for the purposes and consequences of schooling will determine the future of the field.     

Teaching Experience and Educational Psychologists' Credibility with Teachers: An empirical investigation

The extent to which educational psychologists' credibility with teachers relies on their own teaching experience is an issue that has been hotly debated in the profession for more than 30 years. It is widely perceived as a key reason for retaining qualified teaching experience as a requirement for training as an educational psychologist (EP). The studies reported in this paper investigate whether teachers know that educational psychologists have been teachers (a logical pre-requisite to affording them high credibility on this basis). The studies also examine the regard in which EPs are held by teachers who know, and teachers who do not know, that EPs have been teachers. Results indicate that teaching experience cannot be regarded as necessary to EPs' credibility with teachers. However, a positive relationship between teaching experience and credibility with teachers, among primary school teachers, raises questions about ways of broadening EPs' pre-course experience.     

Hopes and challenges in using action research: the outcome of attempting to help in‐service teachers learn how to design,evaluate and use reading comprehension questions collaboratively

The research was conducted at Haramaya University with a group of in‐service teacher trainees in the Department of English with the aim of helping the trainees learn about the construction of reading comprehension questions. The data for the study were collected from the trainees’ reading comprehension exercises and their analyses of the cognitive categories of the questions collaboratively designed in the classroom. A reflective diary was kept to record events and to reflect on them. The study resulted in three major findings. The first is that trainees develop better understanding of the pedagogical values of reading comprehension questions when they have the chance to design, evaluate and use hierarchically ordered questions themselves. The second major finding is related to the use of small‐group learning as a strategy to promote collaborative learning. The study found that a community of learning does not happen just by putting trainees together into a group. Thirdly, the study demonstrated that action research should not be conducted with a predetermined problem in mind, but flexibly, to address issues that arise through the action research itself. The experience recounted here suggests that action research is much more than the technical things we do in classrooms; it also helps generate new knowledge.     

A Brief Analysis of the Strategy to Improve the Listening Comprehension Part in SCET-3

As we know,SECT-3 is an important means to test the English language ability of a student who is not an English major in the vocational schools in Sichuan province.Of all the parts in the SCET-3,the majority of students think that the listening comprehension part is the most difficult one.There are some ways to tackle these problems in the listening part.By comparison and analysis of these questions appeared in the past few years,some regular patterns can be found.Different strategies can be used to solve different questions of each section in the listening comprehension part,so that students will feel easier in passing the SCET-3.     

Black holes in our universe

Current technologies have enabled glimpses at the many facets of black holes, which we know to be plentiful in our cosmos. A panoramic view of the evidence for them is presented here across the large range of masses that they span.     

Setting Common Examination Papers that Differentiate

Many GCSE syllabuses are examined with examinations in which all candidates take the same papers. The setting of such papers is problematic because of the wide range of abilities and achievements of pupils at the age of 16, together with the requirement that appropriate differentiation should be provided (i.e. opportunities for candidates to show what they know, understand and can do must be given). This paper considers a number of issues relevant to the setting of such examinations. These include how differentiation may be provided; the wording of questions; and how marks should be allocated. It highlights a number of potential pitfalls and concludes that although papers, which are accessible to all candidates and discriminate appropriately, can be set, common papers will not always provide adequate opportunities for the most able and least able candidates to show what they know, understand and can do.     

Towards a pragmatic science in schools

This paper contrasts naive beliefs about the nature of science, with science as it appears from sociological and philosophical study, feminist critique and insights from multicultural education. I draw implications from these informed views to suggest how school science might be modified to project a pragmatic view of science to its students that allows students to know science and its relationships to themselves and society in multi-faceted ways. From these perspectives, pragmatic school science is situated within a values framework that questions how we know. Pragmatic school science also requires that the naive inductivist views that permeate school science inquiry methods at present be modified to recognise that observations and inquiry are guided by prior knowledge and values; that new knowledge is tentative; that some knowledge has high status, as it has been constructed consensually over a long period; but that even high status knowledge can be challenged. For implementation of these reforms, yet still to embrace the need for some students to appropriate understanding of discipline knowledge required for advanced science education, a broad set of aims is required.     

Only Familiar Information is a “Curse”: Children’s Ability to Predict What Their Peers Know

The ability to make inferences about what one’s peers know is critical for social interaction and communication. Three experiments (n = 309) examined the curse of knowledge, the tendency to be biased by one’s knowledge when reasoning about others’ knowledge, in children’s estimates of their peers’ knowledge. Four- to 7-year-olds were taught the answers to factual questions and estimated how many peers would know the answers. When children learned familiar answers, they showed a curse of knowledge in their peer estimates. But, when children learned unfamiliar answers to the same questions, they did not show a curse of knowledge. These data shed light on the mechanisms underlying perspective taking, supporting a fluency misattribution account of the curse of knowledge.     

Perceptions of Inequality: primary school children's discourse on social class

This paper is concerned with the role of education in promoting social justice. It deals specifically with the development of children's understanding of social class, not because this particular form of inequality is considered more important than any other, but because of the inadequacies of extant research. It is argued that unless we know how children think about social class differentiation, we will not be able to engage effectively with their misconceptions. One hundred and sixty‐one children drawn from across the social class spectrum and aged between 6 and 11 were asked various questions and presented with a number of moral dilemmas pertaining to social class inequality. Age‐related trends in their responses are identified and the policy implications discussed.