Sunshine Dialogue II

Abstract

The ideal of bildung as a goal for higher education and research (HER) in European Union member states is losing ground to more pragmatic goals such as innovation and growth. This shift in the policy perspective about the role of science in society has given rise to a system of multi layered governance which in turn is progressively giving rise to the emergence of a new normative regime for the HER sector. This normative regime involves the blurring of boundaries between the public and the private and the introduction of social accountability as a criterion for evaluating scientific knowledge. The paper concludes that the elision of the boundary between private and public disguises real problems about defining who owns what particularly in the light of the increasing commercialisation of public funded science. Further, the limitation of social accountability to select groups of actors who can afford to pay for influencing research raises questions about the ability of the new governance regime for HER to achieve the democratic aims that it purports to pursue.     

Understanding outcome-based education changes in teacher education: evaluation of a new instrument with preliminary findings

Outcome-based education (OBE) is a current initiative in Hong Kong universities, with widespread backing by governments and standards bodies. However, study of students’ perceptions of OBE and validation of understanding these perceptions are lacking. This paper reports on the validation of an OBE-specific instrument and resulting preliminary findings. Instrument responses (n = 89) were analysed using Rasch and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses. Both approaches identified two dimensions (i.e. evaluation and comparison). Challenges and modifications to the instrument items and their relationships to constructs are discussed. Preliminary findings suggest students did not perceive significant differences between OBE and traditionally organised courses. Lack of explicit discussion of OBE with the students may have denied students the ability to make fully informed evaluations of OBE innovations. Implications for instrument validation and evaluation of initiatives in an OBE context are discussed as is the broader issue of transparency in teacher education curriculum design and implementation.     

Bridging the Gap Between Degree Programme Curricula and Employability Through Implementation of Work-related Learning

This article investigates the gap between employers' requirements of graduates and the skills which graduates are furnished with through degree programmes in the higher education (HE) sector in the UK. A survey of 88 subject review reports prepared by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for environmentally related units in the UK showed little emphasis on employability issues. Surveys of first destination statistics of a cohort of graduates from two biological degrees and from national data showed that a significant proportion of graduates were in non-science-based activities. The non-knowledge-based learning outcomes from one degree were investigated, and showed that employability aspects were partially covered in the programme, but were not always associated with secure assessments. The concept of work-related learning is defined and a conceptual framework for HE practitioners is presented that could be used when designing curricula to better map programme learning outcomes onto graduate employment.     

Alternative Models for Doctoral Mentor Organisation and Research Supervision

The design and delivery of a professionally-oriented, management, doctoral programme introduces new criteria for the selection and training of mentors and supervisors. An internationally dispersed student body of mobile, senior business and academic professionals compounds the problems. This article considers alternative models for delivery and exemplifies course design issues through a development in a major management college. Issues of semi-remote and remote mentoring and supervision are illustrated with examples from a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme, showing the need for disaggregation and reconstitution of the mentoring and supervisory roles and their sensitive application, given the international mobility of most of the students.     

The Intergenerational Transmission of Inspiration: Reflections on the Origin of a Peer-Mentoring Project

The author gives a personal account of his relationship with his graduate mentor, Allan Schnaiberg. He also describes a mentoring project that he created with a colleague. The mentoring project emerges as both a vehicle for and a window onto the intergenerational transmission of the mentoring disposition of Schnaiberg. It stands as but one of many branches of the expanding influence of Schnaiberg’s life as a scholar, professor, graduate mentor and man. The importance of holistic mentoring is explored, with particular attention to the critical value of its central, affective dimension. Mentoring is particularly important today for non-traditional students, who have a heightened need to feel that they belong in the academic setting. It is suggested that mentoring serves as the guidance function associated with the process by which any being goes through the challenging transition from one cycle, or level of experience, to the next.     

A journey of self‐discovery: an intervention involving massage,yoga and relaxation for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties attending primary schools

This study reports on an intervention involving massage, yoga and relaxation delivered to young children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children (n = 126) were invited to participate in the Self‐discovery Programme (SDP) with parental consent. A total of 107 children aged 8–11 years completed the SDP and all measures. Children were allocated to a Control (n = 54) or Intervention (n = 53) group. The results indicate that children in the Intervention group showed improvements in self‐confidence, social confidence, communication and contributions in class. Children in the Intervention group were noted by teachers to use skills learned on the SDP during the school day.     

The construction of a questionnaire to evaluate the science orientedness of students' identities as learners from a cognitive perspective

Forming a science-oriented identity is considered a process underlying both interest and achievement in science education. A questionnaire is developed for describing “identities as learners” and evaluating their science orientedness. The instrument (k = 65) focuses on cognitive aspects. An internal coherence of .88 was found. Five subscales were defined that proved interrelated yet distinguishable. A pilot amongst 40 students from Dutch general secondary education showed that preferring science over non-science subjects and relatively high grades for sciences subjects were strongly correlated to science orientedness of the learner identity (r_s  = .65; p < .001). The results support the reliability and validity of the questionnaire but also point to the importance of identity as a central concept in studying science education. It is concluded that we made a promising step in constructing an instrument for monitoring the development of cognitive aspects of science-oriented identities during (innovative) science education.     

An investigation of student teachers' study strategies with respect to certain variables

This study aimed to determine the study strategies of student teachers attending vocational education faculties and whether these habits are affected by certain variables (department, year of study, positive perception of university and lecturer, time spent studying). The study sample consisted of a total of 746 student teachers from 5 departments, 380 of whom were freshman students and 366 of whom were senior students. The results revealed that student teachers' study strategies were at a moderate level. Additionally, it was observed that study strategies scores were higher for freshman students than for senior students, for students with a positive perception of university than for those with a negative perception, and for students who studied more than 5 hr weekly than for those who studied 3 hr or less.     

How small-scale cattle keepers manage agricultural information in a village in Mauritius: the value of OPI for extension programming

Abstract

An OPI approach (Naidoo and Rolls, 2000) was used to understand how small-scale cattle keepers in a village in Mauritius managed information content. Grounded theory emerged from the study to show that management of information is basically an interaction between working knowledge and information from sources influenced by personal characteristics. The cattle keepers manage information through nine structures of information at the cognitive level. The OPI method has implications for future extension work.