Research groups as communities of practice—a case study of four high-performing research groups

As the number of globally mobile students has expanded, governments are assumed to be consistently and intentionally competing for talent, in what has been called a “great brain race”. While the notion of competition has become dominant, there is little evidence on long-term policy dynamics in this field, not only across jurisdictions but also over time. We seek to address this gap in this paper through a longitudinal analysis of the politics and public policies impacting international students in four major recruiting countries—Australia, Canada, England and the USA. Through this comparative analysis of the period 2000 to 2016, we demonstrate that international student numbers across the jurisdictions have grown steadily but that this appears to be decoupled from political and policy changes. We also discuss how “internationalization” initiatives provide an insufficient policy umbrella for policy action on the recruitment and retention of international students. Public policy impacting international students spans multiple government agencies or ministries, encompassing different policy fields. This requires greater policy coordination, which remains elusive for the most part.     

The role of structured cooperative learning groups for enhancing Chinese primary students’ reading comprehension

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two types of cooperative learning groups used in reciprocal teaching (RT) classes (i.e. high-structured vs. low-structured groups) for enhancing students’ reading comprehension. The participants were 235 Hong Kong Chinese Grade 6 students in nine classes. Reading comprehension tests and questionnaires were used to investigate students’ reading comprehension, teachers’ cognitive support and perceptions of cooperative learning. The findings indicate that high achievers from the low-structured RT group significantly outperformed high achievers from the high-structured RT group in post-test reading comprehension, whereas low achievers from the high-structured RT group significantly outperformed low achievers from the low-structured RT group in follow-up reading comprehension. Students from the high-structured RT group reported higher scores for their perceptions of cooperative learning than students from the low-structured RT group.     

Genes and Lives

Peoples appearance (外貌)depends on the things called genes (基因).Genes are found in the cells(细胞)of peoples bodies,and they arepassed on from parents to children.Here are some facts abouteyes.Many Europeans and Am ericans canhave blue, green or brown eyes. But abrown-eyed person,for exam ple,m ay alsocarry genes for another colour in his or herbody. So tw o brow n-eyed or green-eyedparents m ay not have a child w ith thesam e eyes.Ifa child s father and m other both have brown eyes,the c…     

No science today—the demise of primary science

In this second article on the theory of ‘ground rules for talk’ I extend a debate between myself and Professor Neil Mercer over the introduction of ‘ground rules’ into classrooms. I critique ground rules through the use of sociological theory and argue that advocates of the ground rules perspective need to recognise the ideological nature of their theoretical position. In making this article a clear extension of my previous argument I introduce the work of Bernstein and Fairclough to support my new arguments. I use Bernstein's theory of pedagogy as cultural relay and Fairclough's appropriateness model of language variation to critique ‘ground rules perspectives’. In doing so, I draw out the political nature of educational theory and curriculum within the context of a specific socio-economic society.     

personality个性:就要与众不同

20世纪五六十年代出生的人,最怕自己有什么地方与众不同;可八十年代出生的人,却最怕自己没什么与众不同。他们希望表现的是自己独特的个性与魅力。这种个性并不是做作的、煽情的,也不是在舞台上加以修饰的,而是原生态的、真实的个性。这种真情流露的个性,宛若一缕清风,牢牢抓住了观众的眼球。超级女声所表现的个性是全方位的。选手有个性,“薰衣草”女孩李宇春,有着高挑的个头、男孩般的帅气和满洒的台风,虽然她的唱功常常被评委苛责,但她却以淡淡的笑容赢得了无数观众的支持;精灵般的周笔畅,永远戴着黑框眼镜,笑容纯净,形象卡通,她以自己独…     

School Climate — monitoring staff opinion in a primary school

A paper instrument has been developed, and tested, which a headteacher of a primary school can use to identify management issues meriting attention. We judge it to be appropriate for sounding out staff opinion in schools where there is an ethos of collegiality. It could be followed up by the investigative and reflective processes of action research.     

Conversations of family and primary school groups at robotic dinosaur exhibits in a museum: what do they talk about?

The story which a natural history museum wishes to tell to its self-guided visitors is presented through a number of different components, such as type of exhibit. However, this story from the museum may not be 'read' by visitors, who come with their own knowledge and understanding and read a different story in the animals. Increasingly robotic models are being used in natural history museums, science centres and zoos to attract visitors and tell some kind of story. To what extent are they successful in this and does the quality and context of the animatronics matter? What do the visitors actually talk about when looking at such robotic animals? This article focuses on primary school groups and families. Do they talk about similar things at the same exhibits even though the schools visit for educational purposes and the families visit of their own free choice in their leisure time. Furthermore, within school groups do different sub groups respond in a different way, gauged by the content of their conversations, to similar robotics? This article is a study of the responses of the conversational content of primary school and family groups to two different robotics dinosaur exhibits in the Natural History Museum, London. These verbal responses were analysed through using a systemic network. Results indicate that the animatronics have a simple, well thought out, story line which is 'read' by both the family and school visitors and hence increases their understanding of the topic of the exhibit.     

Does sibling gender affect personality traits?

This paper studies whether sibling gender affects personality traits. We use the idea that if parents decide to have a second child, it is random whether they will have a boy or a girl. Therefore, the relationship between the second-born sibling's gender and the first sibling's personality traits is causal. We employ longitudinal data from a large British cohort which is followed from birth onwards. The dataset includes personality traits at age 10 and 16. Our main result is that oldest boys in a household are more agreeable if their next-born sibling is a girl. This effect is robust across age (10 and 16), when controlling for among others family size, and when applying corrections for multiple hypothesis tests. Agreeableness is an important trait in life as it has been shown to correlate positively among others with being employed, having a skilled job, savings, and life satisfaction.     

Electron transfer in chemistry and biology — The primary events in photosynthesis

One of the most important chemical reactions is electron transfer from one atomic/molecular unit to another. This reaction, accompanied by proton and hydrogen atom transfers, occurs in a cascade in many biological processes, including photosynthesis. The key chemical steps involved in photosynthesis and the many unsolved mysteries are described in this article.     

Learning by doing—The influence of students’ experience in community television production on personality variables

The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of students’ experience in community television production, i.e. “learning by doing”, on their self-image. The research population included 157 subjects who underwent a set of tests for evaluating their self-image (personal, moral and social) and motivation. All the subjects took part in the production of a film and experienced the production roles according to their personal choice (director, editor, photographer, actor). At the end of the learning process and the production of the film the subjects took the same set of tests again in order to determine the change that took place following the process. Sixty-one subjects also participated in an interview that examined their attitudes and feelings towards the process they had undergone. The results indicate that students who experienced learning via community television production roles improved their personal, moral, social and self-image. An open experience system can thus create a common framework in which each person contributes towards a completed product, and can help develop the student’s self-image and motivation.     

The myth of objective assessment — An analysis in relation to primary education

This article focuses on the recent growth and development of the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in England and discusses the issue of ‘quality’ in relation to the diversity of provision on which these developments are based. In particular the article discusses the ways in which cultural constructions of childhood and the theories of child development and learning espoused by stakeholders impact on assessments of ‘quality’.     

Learning from older citizens’ research groups

ABSTRACT

This article adds to an ongoing conversation in gerontology about the importance of training and involving older people in research. Currently, the literature rarely distinguishes between the one-off involvement of older citizens in research projects and the development of research groups led by older people that sustain over time as well as the nature of educational initiatives that support their development. This article presents a case-study based on evaluative data from the WhyNot! Older Citizens’ Research Group that has been running independently for nearly eight years. Members’ evaluations of, and reflections on, the impact of the training program explore from their perspective: Why older people want to get involved in research training and research groups, what they value most in the training, and the types of impact their involvement has had. Creating an educational environment where participants were able to contribute their knowledge in a new context as well learn new skills through group-work based experiential learning were key. Regular role-modeling provided by inputs from successful established citizen research groups was also important. Of the many benefits members gained from being part of a research group, emphasis was given to the relational aspects of the experience. Likewise the benefits members’ accorded to taking part in training and research transcended individual benefits encompassing benefits to the collective and the wider community. Linking health, social care and educational policies is important in providing coherence and opportunity for older people’s voices to shape research, policy, and practice.     

Students’ educational use of Facebook groups

The aim of the article is to explore educational use of student-managed Facebook groups in upper secondary education (in Denmark). Much research on educational potentials of Facebook has studied groups managed by teachers. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on Facebook groups managed by students and without participation from teachers. As this study shows, students’ use of student-managed groups differs from their use of teacher-managed tools such as learning management systems (LMSs). The article presents an empirical study based partly on a content analysis of 3139 posts and 15,018 replies within five Facebook groups, and partly on a questionnaire answered by 1463 students and 148 teachers. The results of the study show that whereas LMSs were seen by students primarily as institutional systems of the teacher, Facebook groups have an educational potential to be used by students for peer-to-peer learning.     

Linking learning environments through agricultural experience — enhancing the learning process in rural primary schools

Research, underpinned by the concept of contextualisation of teaching and learning, was undertaken in Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India and Ethiopia. It examined the way in which teachers in rural primary schools link the formal school curriculum with the life experience of their pupils, particularly in relation to agriculture. Curriculum constraints, efforts by teachers, a supportive environment and linking the school and community were the main issues identified as critical for improving school effectiveness. Based on the findings, a series of action points relating to contextualisation of learning in rural primary schools are suggested for policy makers and researchers.     

Team building with Hispanic groups – Some considerations

The present case study describes and seeks to understand a Hispanic group from the orientation of the insider. The use of culture specific information when assessing and intervening with diverse groups can be of assistance to practitioners as they think of approaches to consultation and counselling with clients as well as provide a framework for learning culture specific information and techniques. The case study follows an action research paradigm in the assessment and problem solving pertaining the client's situation. The findings are discussed in the light of multiculturalism.     

Student teachers’ indirect complaining in learning groups

This article focuses on indirect complaining in teacher education. The phenomenon of complaining in educational situations has not been examined as a process before. In this study complaining was examined in naturally occurring learning group sessions, which were videotaped and analysed through Conversation Analysis (CA). The purpose of this study is to describe the beginning of complaints and find ways to handle situations including complaining. The data comprise 26 pedagogically focused discussions that included indirect complaining. These were categorized into four classes: discussions which produced accounts, advice‐giving discussions, discussions expressing different viewpoints, and discussions mainly expressing affiliation. Discussions in the first three categories can be seen as investigative: in these discussions student teachers produced explanations or new interpretations of complained situations, or gave advice to correct the complained situation. Hence, although complaining is defined as having at least two negative elements (there must be something wrong in the complained‐of situation, and the stance of the complainer towards it must be negative), there was also something positive in the processes of the discussions that included complaining, namely investigation. When the second turns of the discussions including indirect complaining were studied, it was observed that invitations to define the complained‐of situation seemed to engender investigative discussions, whereas like‐mindedness or further complaint as the second turn seemed to engender discussions expressing affiliation. An invitation to define the complained‐of situation is suggested as a tool for developing complaints into investigative discussions.