The Management Charter Initiative: an interim assessment

The background to the Management Charter Initiative (MCI) and its relationship to National Vocational Qualifications are described. An assessment is made of the MCI approach and the author's experience of a Certificate in Management course.     

Analyzing Suitability: Are Adult Web Resources on Physical Activity Clear and Useful?

ABSTRACT

Education is central to promoting healthy, active lifestyles, but most educational materials may be less than suitable for public dissemination. Related kinesiology studies have mainly focused on the reading grade level of print materials. Suitability encompasses more qualities than that and also concerns digital media. This study had two purposes: (a) critically appraise the suitability of free web articles focused on physical activity promotion that lay adults would locate via the Internet, and (b) determine if the suitability level of web articles was associated with their source of production. An adapted Suitability Assessment of Materials protocol was used. A sample of 139 web articles was obtained (mean publication year = 2015.97, ±2.42). The sample aggregate suitability level was satisfactory, but most were unsatisfactory on eight subdomains. Production source was associated with suitability level for two subdomains. The implications of our findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented.     

Relationship Between Adjustment and Support Types: Young and Mature-aged Local and International First Year University Students

First year university is an important transition context for students. The present study examined the relationship between adjustment and support types, sources and levels of support, and satisfaction with levels of support, for first year students in an Australian university. Comparisons were made between young (17–21 year olds) and mature-aged students and local and international students. Findings indicate that well-adjusted students reported higher levels of social companionship support than the less adjusted group. Many students would have liked more support overall. In comparison to the local group, international students would have liked to receive more emotional, practical and informational support. The implications for service provision and university strategies are discussed.     

The Role of Content Knowledge and Problem Features on Preservice Teachers’ Appraisal of Elementary Mathematics Tasks

The objective of this study was to examine the nature of preservice teachers’ evaluations of elementary mathematics problems using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (MTF), a model designed to discriminate among tasks according to their cognitive complexity. We also tested the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and problem length on the preservice teachers’ evaluations. Twenty-six undergraduate students enrolled in an elementary mathematics methods course at a large urban university were introduced to the MTF and cognitive complexity during a class lecture and were subsequently required to sort 32 mathematics problems according to the framework. Results demonstrated that overall, the preservice teachers had more difficulty accurately classifying problems considered to represent high levels of cognitive complexity compared to problems that were less complex. Those with strong mathematics content knowledge, as measured by a standardized test, were able to sort the problems more accurately than those with weaker content knowledge. Two open-ended items assessing content knowledge were not related to sorting performance. Finally, the preservice teachers were influenced by the surface characteristic of task length; the data indicated that the teachers tended to label short problems as less cognitively demanding and long problems as more so. Implications for preservice professional development include an increased emphasis on mathematics content knowledge as well as expert modeling of the identification of deep conceptual principles at the heart of the mathematics curriculum.     

Adolescents' mobility histories and present social adjustment

This study compared three groups of high school students: frequent movers (6 to 13 relocations), moderate movers (3 to 5 relocations), and nonmovers on depression, appraised social support, and participation in extracurricular activities. The sample was examined further according to the primary reason for relocation, the timing (before or after the seventh grade), and whether student shyness, socioeconomic status (SES), and family cohesion influenced any potential effects. Despite methodological improvements over past research including the exclusion of students who recently moved or reported other current stressors, few significant effects were obtained. Findings did reveal that students whose families relocated because of divorce and those who experienced early life relocations had lower levels of participation in extracurricular activities. Students reported less negative effects of relocation than did their mothers. Further, mothers' negative attitudes toward relocation were significantly correlated with student depression. It is concluded that there is little current or prior research evidence that high rates of social mobility are associated with long‐term social adjustment problems for adolescents. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Early Indications of Resilience and Their Relation to Experiences in the Home Environments of Low Birthweight, Premature Children Living in Poverty

The caregiving environment experienced by 243 premature, low birthweight (LBW) children living in poverty was examined to determine whether the quality of care such children receive affords them some measure of protection from the generally deleterious consequences of poverty and prematurity. Only 26 children were identified as functioning in the normal range for cognitive, social/adaptive, health, and growth parameters at age 3. These children, who showed early signs of resiliency, differed from nonresilient children in that they were receiving more responsive, accepting, stimulating, and organized care. They were also living in safer, less crowded homes. 6 "protective" aspects of caregiving were identified and used as part of a cumulative protection index. Children with less than 3 protective aspects of caregiving present at age 1 had only a 2% probability of being resilient, and only a 6% probability if fewer than 3 were present at age 3. Overall, premature LBW children born into conditions of poverty have a very poor prognosis of functioning within normal ranges across all the dimensions of health and development assessed. However, those raised in a setting with 3 or more protective factors were more likely to show early signs of resiliency.     

Web‐Based Project and Key Skills Work

Pupils in England and Wales are increasingly being asked to undertake investigative‐type work, be it the new compulsory projects in data handling for GCSE Mathematics (age 14–16) (see Browne 2002 ) or the Key Skills topic application of number. This article shows how teachers can generate realistic project scenarios using real data and produce indicative model solutions from the same data. The projects range from simple presentational problems for data, through hypothesis testing to complex modelling scenarios.     

A Practical Introduction to Authoring for Computer Assisted Instruction. Part 2: PILOT

PILOT is a CAI author language that is available on a wide variety of computer systems. This paper presents an overview of the language in terms of its structure and mode of operation. Some experiments designed to assess the usefulness of this authoring system are then described.     

Priorities in educational research

This article emphasizes the need for a coordinative agency to survey, project, and direct funding for educational research. Studies are recommended on characteristics of children in the learning encounter; educational readiness for the very young child from various social settings; and the exploration of programs to meet children's needs across the total school range. The teacher, his personal qualities and behavior in the teaching act, will be a primary focus in research. Adequate means of evaluating school programs, particularly innovative programs must be devised. Researchers must reveal means whereby the teacher can become more effective on an individual basis with both child and parent.

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Résumé Cet article insiste sur le besoin d'une agence coordinative qui étudiera et dirigera les dépenses pour la recherche éducationelle. Les auteurs suggèrent des études concernant le comportement des enfants dans les rencontres éducatives; l'aptitude à apprendre de l'enfant très jeune de différents milieux sociaux; et la recherche des programmes qui réponderaient aux besoins des enfants à tous les niveaux. Les recherches se concentreront sur le professeur, ses qualités personnelles, et sa façon d'agir quand il enseigne. Des moyens appropriés d'évaluer des programmes scolaires, en particulier des programmes innovateurs, devront être recherchés. Les chercheurs devront découvrir les moyens par lesquels l'enseignant pourra devenir plus compétent dans ses contacts avec enfant et parent.