Conditions that enable effective feedback

ABSTRACT

Despite an increasing focus on assessment feedback, educators continue to find that simply replicating an effective feedback practice from one context does not guarantee success in the next. There is a growing recognition that the contextual factors surrounding successful practices need to be considered. This article reports on a large-scale mixed methods project and proposes 12 conditions that enable successful feedback in higher education. The conditions were distilled from seven rich case studies through multiple stages of thematic analysis, case comparison and reliability checking. The conditions were also evaluated by surveying senior leaders of Australian universities. These conditions highlight the importance of carefully designing feedback processes, along with the need for addressing capacity and culture for feedback. This helps to explain why there are such variances in effective feedback across contexts, and offers insight into how it may be achieved.     

Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Family Involvement: Implications for Teacher Education

Teacher educators have long recognized the importance of adequately preparing preservice teachers for their work with families. Preservice teachers express many concerns that they believe may impact the development of comfortable and collaborative relationships with members of children's families. In a previous study, the authors found that preservice teachers expressed concerns about the quality of the teacher–family relationship, meeting children's basic needs in school, and the role of parents in education. These concerns, along with some recommendations for incorporating family involvement across the teacher education curriculum, are the focus of this article.     

Bullies and victims in schools in central and southern Italy

Anonymous questionnaires assessing the amount and nature of bullying/victimization were given to 1379 primary and middle school pupils (8–11; 11–14yrs) in two towns of Central and Southern Italy, Florence and Cosenza. The questionnaire closely followed the design of Olweus (1991) and Whitney and Smith (1993). Results were analysed in terms of percentages of bullying others and being bullied, types of bullying behaviour, where it occurred and who were the perpretators. Bullying was reported in both Italian areas at a more substantial level than found in other countries, including Norway, England, Spain and Japan, although it presented similar structural features to those reported elsewhere: being bullied decreased in older pupils, bullying others was most likely to be admitted by boys, the perpetretators were in the same class as the victims. Considering direct and indirect forms of bullying, year and gender differences are discussed for the two Italian areas and in cross-national perspective.     

Domestic, Virtuous Women: Examining Women's Place in a Public Environmental Debate along Louisiana's Cancer Corridor

Focusing on an environmental debate that took place in southeastern Louisiana, this study analyzes the experiences of several women who were identified as the debate's domestic, virtuous women: nurturing caretakers who entered public space to speak out as conservators of home and family. While acknowledging how powerful this public stance can be, this study also highlights the limitations of an identity that enables women to access political spheres traditionally closed to them but ultimately dismisses these voices when decisions about the environment must be made.     

Interactive effects of guilt and moral disengagement on bullying,defending and outsider behavior

We examined the moderating effect of guilt on the associations between moral disengagement and bullying, defending and outsider behaviors in a sample of 404 students (203 boys; M_age = 11.09 years; SD = 1.48). Bullying, defending and outsider behavior were assessed through peer nominations, whereas guilt and moral disengagement were assessed by self-reports. Results showed that moral disengagement was associated with high levels of bullying and low levels of defending. Guilt was negatively associated with bullying and positively with defending. A moderating effect for guilt was also found: increasing levels of moral disengagement contributed to more bullying and outsider behavior, and to less defending, among students with low levels of guilt. The current research broadens the extant literature, showing the combined effects of guilt and moral disengagement on bullying-related behaviors.     

Algorithmic culture,networked learning and the technological horizon of theory

ABSTRACT

Going via Bernard Stiegler’s theorisation of technology, and his response to Chris Anderson’s claim that the era of hyper-networked, algorithmically driven digital technologies signals the end of theory, this paper aims to place the educational practice of networked learning as a space to think the edge, excess or limit of this proposed algorithmic dominance. The author discusses how networked learning can negotiate the border between educational theory, the practice of teaching and learning, and the processes and systems of educational technology, but suggests that to do this it must engage these disciplines through a thinking of technology which does not decide upon its status in advance. He argues that affirming this particular relation to technology is increasingly urgent given we are at a moment in which educational institutions are asking how to prepare our students for an age of continuing technological disruption.     

Adaptation and Pilot Testing of a Sexual Health Intervention for Female Survivors of Violence

Experiences of violence and behaviors that increase the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection are high among women in the United States, and they often intersect (Meyer, Springer, &; Altice, 2011 Meyer, J. P., Springer, S. A., &; Altice, F. L. (2011). Substance abuse, violence, and HIV in women: A literature review of the syndemic. Journal of Women's Health (2002), 20(7), 991–1006. doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2328[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Montgomery et al., 2015 Montgomery, B., Rompalo, A., Hughes, J., Wang, J., Haley, D., Soto-Torres, L., &; Hodder, S. (2015). Violence against women in selected areas of the united states.e1-e11. Am J Public Health, 105(10), 2156–2166 [Google Scholar]; World Health Organization (WHO), 2010 World Health Organization (WHO). (2010). Addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS: What works?. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. [Google Scholar]). However, there are few evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions that address the special needs and challenges faced by female survivors of violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), 2017a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017a). Compendium of evidence-based interventions and best practices for HIV prevention. Atlanta, GA: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexual Transmitted Diseases and Tuberculosis Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/research/interventionresearch/compendium/rr/index.html [Google Scholar]). To address this gap, we adapted and pilot-tested an existing evidence-based women-focused sexual risk-reduction intervention (The Future Is Ours) with 23 self-identified female survivors of violence. The intervention comprised eight-weekly, two-hour cognitive behavioral group sessions focusing on reducing sexual-risk and improving trauma-based coping skills. Using mixed-methods analyses, the adapted intervention was determined feasible and acceptable to participants, and preliminary results suggest that participation could reduce risk factors for sexually transmitted infections. Therefore, testing on a larger scale is warranted.     

Learning online,offline, and in-between: comparing student academic outcomes and course satisfaction in face-to-face,online, and blended teaching modalities

The purpose of this study was to conduct a three-way comparison of face-to-face, online, and blended teaching modalities in an undergraduate Child Development course to determine if there were differences in student academic outcomes and course satisfaction across modalities. Student academic outcomes were measured by three examinations, one research paper assignment, and the overall course total grade. Course satisfaction was measured by administering the Student Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) across the three teaching modalities and the Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey (COLLES) to online and blended modalities. Results indicated that students performed equally well on all three examinations, research paper, and the overall course total grade across three teaching modalities, allaying traditional reservations about online and blended teaching efficacy. The SOQ and COLLES analysis found students from the three modalities were equally satisfied with their learning experiences. A Two-Factor Model identifying Face-to-Face Interaction and Learn on Demand (Flexibility) as factors determining student academic outcomes was proposed. Implications, limitations, and future research direction were discussed.     

Exploring the relationship between certification sources,experience levels,and classroom management orientations of classroom teachers

Teachers continue to report that classroom management is one of their greatest challenges in the classroom. Classroom management involves teacher's efforts to oversee classroom activities such as learning, social interaction, and student behavior. In this study, we examined the relationship between sources of teachers’ certification (traditional or alternative), teachers’ experience levels (experienced or novice), and teachers’ classroom management orientations (interventionist, non-interventionist, or interactionalist). We discovered that neither source of certification nor experience level alone impacts a teachers’ classroom management orientation. However, teachers with traditional certification and many years of experience exert significantly less control over classroom activities and students’ behaviors than do their colleagues with other educational and experimental backgrounds. Potential causes and ramifications of these findings are discussed.     

Multipoint Desktop Video Conferencing in Teacher Education: Preliminaries,problems and progress

Members of this research team are investigating the use of multipoint desktop video conferencing (MDVC) technology in Singapore to enhance the National Institute of Education's schools practicum partnership model. The project builds on the Singapore ONE ATM island-wide network and the high-speed ADSL line access provided by Singtel Magix. This infrastructure provides state-of-the-art support for the White Pine CU-SeeMe Meeting Point server and client software that enables students on teaching practice to conference with each other and their university-based supervisors. A typical conference involves four of five students at different schools and one staff member at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. These conferences provide opportunities for professional sharing between staff and students without the limits of time and space which are traditional constraints on conventional teaching practice.