Primary assessment activity and learner perceptions of attitude change in four MOOCs

This study seeks to examine perceptions of attitudinal change in relation to the primary assessment activity within four Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that were designed for attitudinal learning. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we sought to understand if by focusing on assessing cognitive learning (quizzes) as opposed to behavioral learning (personal projects), the courses would result in greater reported attitude change in the respective areas. The second component of the study examined whether learners who identified cognitive learning (quizzes) as opposed to behavioral learning (personal projects) as the most impactful learning activity (or vice versa) reported stronger learning in the respective attitudinal component. Using an author-created survey that included learner reported attitudinal learning, perceptions of attitude change were collected. Results revealed that learners who utilized assessment activities focusing on behavioral learning did not report higher perceptions of behavioral learning. In contrast, learners utilizing assessment activities that focused on cognitive learning did report higher perceptions of cognitive learning. We conclude with a discussion of instructional design and facilitation of learning in MOOCs, as well as instruction for attitudinal learning within open-learning environments.     

Teacher Talk and Pupil Thought

Classroom activities were observed and audiotaped in four schools for pupils with moderate learning difficulties. Teacher talk which encouraged reflection by pupils was identified and categorised. Characteristic teacher styles emerged which differed mainly in the extent to which they encouraged pupils to reflect, by justification, explanation and metacognition, for example. Teacher styles in classroom interaction were related to their views on the nature and source of their pupils’ learning difficulties and on the role of cognitive challenge in helping their school achievement.     

The best laid plans: Educational innovation in elementary teacher generated integrated STEM lesson plans

ABSTRACT

Students need to be prepared for the 21st century by developing the literacy skills necessary for participating in the age of synthesis—an age that requires a progressive set of skills and knowledge. The authors identified nine educational innovations that are perceived to be effective for preparing students for the 21st century age of synthesis society. They coded a collection of 39 teacher-generated Grade 3–5 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lesson plans to document the extent to which the teachers included these nine educational innovations their STEM lesson planning. The authors found practices such as project-based and student-centered learning (which are common established approaches to teaching STEM) to be strongly represented in the plans, whereas practices such as family involvement and place-based learning (which have not been traditionally used in STEM instruction) were less evident in the plans. In their discussion they explore the implications for STEM teaching, and potential directions for future research.     

The growth of community education in the United Kingdom

There is considerable confusion over the terms community and community education. This paper explores these concepts, traces the growth of different models of community education in the United Kingdom, and highlights some of the issues, weaknesses and problems arising from its development. Two separate movements, evolutionary and revolutionary, are identified — school-based and community-based respectively — though in recent years the difference in practice has become blurred. Trends discernible in the development of community education include its increasing application to urban and high-density residential areas and the accompanying growth in the size of the institutions — and in the range of facilities offered. There is also the tendency to label a school/college community simply because it provides extra facilities although there is no modification of management structures or of the curriculum. Unresolved as yet is the change in the relationship between school and community effected by community education, one element of which is the reaction on pupils and staff of sharing institutional facilities with the community. Additionally, the larger an institution grows and the more complex the administrative structure it requires, so also the more impersonal does it become and the less able to express or create a real sense of community. What is needed if community education is to fulfil its purpose is community participation in management and decision-making — with adequate structures to facilitate this lay involvement, community control over part at least of the funds, appropriate training of teachers and community workers for their wider roles, and above all, consideration and articulation of the particular needs of each individual community.

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Zusammenfassung Über die Begriffe Gemeinwesen und Sozialerziehung herrscht beträchtliche Unklarheit. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die beiden Begriffe, skizziert das Werden verschiedener Modelle von Sozialerziehung in Großbritannien und hebt einige der aus ihrer Entwicklung sich ergebenden Tatsachen, Schwächen und Probleme hervor. Zwei unterschiedliche Bewegungen, eine evolutionäre und eine revolutionäre, werden festgestellt — jeweils auf der Schule und auf dem Gemeinwesen beruhend — wenn sich auch in den letzten Jahren in der Praxis der Unterschied verwischt hat. Zu den in der Entwicklung der Sozialerziehung erkennbaren Tendenzen gehört ihre zunehmende Verwirklichung in städtischen und sonstigen Ballungsgebieten und die entsprechende Ausweitung der Institutionen — und des Sprektrums ihrer Einrichtungen. Es besteht auch die Neigung, eine Schule oder ein College als Gemeinwesen zu bezeichnen, nur weil sie zusätzliche Möglichkeiten bieten, obwohl in den Strukturen der Verwaltung und im Curriculum nichts geändert wurde. Ungeklärt ist bisher der durch Sozialerziehung bewirkte Wandel in der Beziehung zwischen Schule und Gemeinwesen; dazu gehört die Auswirkung auf Schüler und Lehrer, wenn sie schulische Einrichtungen mit dem Gemeinwesen teilen. Außerdem wird eine solche Schule, je größer sie sich entwickelt und je vielfältiger die erforderliche Verwaltungsstruktur wird, auch immer unpersönlicher und weniger fähig, einen wirklichen Sinn für Gemeinsamkeit zum Ausdruck zu bringen oder zu wecken. Soll Sozialerziehung ihren Zweck erfüllen, ist es notwendig, daß sich das Gemeinwesen an der Leitung und Beschlußfassung beteiligt — mit geeigneten Strukturen zur Erleichterung einer derartigen Einbeziehung von Laien; dazu bedarf es eines wenigstens teilweisen Mitspracherechts des Gemeinwesens bei der Verteilung der finanziellen Mittel, entsprechender Ausbildung der Lehrer und Sozialarbeiter für ihre erweiterten Aufgaben und vor allen Dingen der Äusserung und Berücksichtigung der Sonderbedürfnisse aller Beteiligten.

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Résumé Une grande confusion entoure les termes de collectivité et d'éducation communautaire. Cet article explore ces concepts, suit le développement des différents modèles d'éducation communautaire au Royaume-Uni et met en lumière quelques unes des questions, des faiblesses et des difficultés qui en découlent. Deux mouvements distincts peuvent être identifiés: le mouvement révolutionnaire et le mouvement évolutif, respectivement centrés sur l'école et sur la collectivité, bien que ces dernières années la différence se soit estompée dans la pratique. On discerne certaines tendances dans le développement de l'éducation communautaire: son application accrue aux zones urbaines et à forte densité de population, les dimensions croissantes concomitante des institutions et la variété grandissante des facilités offertes, la tendance à désigner une école par le terme de collectivité simplement parce qu'elle offre des possibilités supplémentaires, bien qu'il n'y ait aucune modification des structures de la gestion ou du curriculum. Par ailleurs, une question toujours pendante est celle du changement des relations entre l'école et la collectivité dans l'éducation communautaire, dont un des éléments est la réaction des élèves et du personnel devant le partage des facilités institutionnelles avec la collectivité. En outre, plus une institution se développe et plus sa structure administrative se complique, plus cette institution devient impersonnelle et plus il lui est difficile d'exprimer ou de susciter un sentiment réel de collectivité. Ce qu'il faut, si l'éducation communautaire doit répondre à son but, c'est la participation de la collectivité à la gestion et à la prise de décisions — à l'intérieur de structures adéquates pour faciliter cette participation des profanes; c'est le contrôle exercé par la collectivité sur une partie au moins des fonds; c'est la formation appropriée des enseignants et des assistants sociaux pour leurs rôles élargis; c'est surtout l'examen réfléchi et l'articulation des besoins particuliers de chaque collectivité individuelle.

     

Predictors of Depressive Symptomatology Among Hispanic First‐Year College Students

The authors examined whether perceptions of self‐esteem, coping self‐efficacy, and emotional intelligence could significantly predict the presence of depressive symptomatology among a sample of 146 Hispanic first‐year college students (53 men, 93 women). The results of a sequential multiple linear regression analysis indicated the 3 predictor variables contributed 43.3% of the variance noted in students’ reporting of depression symptoms through their Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (Spitzer et al., 1999) scores. The authors discuss implications for future research and provide recommendations for college counseling practice.     

The recruitment of religious as teachers: a case study from 1960s Australia

Historical expositions on the teaching religious in Catholic schools can be seen as constituting models aimed at promoting reflection on the possibility that teaching can be influenced by discourses of ‘vocation’ and ‘the giving of service’, every bit as much as it can be by ‘industrial’ and ‘labour’ perspectives. This paper is offered as one contribution to opening up debate on the matter. It provides an overview of the work of the teaching religious in the English‐speaking world from the middle of the 1850s to the latter half of the twentieth century. Particular practices adopted by the Church aimed at recruiting young males and females to join the ranks of the teaching religious are then outlined. Finally, a film entitled Profession in Christ, which was produced by the (Irish) Christian Brothers Order in Australia in the early 1960s for use by their special ‘recruiting agents’ as they traveled around Catholic schools ‘questing’ for recruits, is analysed.     

Towards practical reflexivity in online discussion groups

This paper continues the discussion about student-driven, interactive learning activities in higher education. Using object-oriented activity theory, the article explores the relational aspects of reflexive practice as demonstrated in five online discussions groups to develop students’ conceptual understanding. The purpose of the research is to describe both the process of reflection during online interaction and how practical engagement with the discipline is supported through pedagogical guidance. The students wrote short texts on the practice of health promotion ethics and discussed their perspectives in relation to theory and research. The analysis proved the importance of structural design in learning assignments to enable the cohesive and dialogic nature of interaction. Practical reflexivity is a necessary condition for enhancing the ability of professionals to question and justify critical aspects of their organisational relationships.