Computer support for the development of writing abilities

This paper discusses children's development of writing abilities and suggests ways in which children can be helped to develop their writing abilities by exploring the patterns, constraints and possibilities of language and by developing an awareness of the processes of written composition. The paper describes Boxes, a program to explore patterns in language and reports a small study of the program in use with children aged 9 to 10.     

Durkheim and Sociological Method: Historical Sociology,Sports History,and the Role of Comparison

This paper provides sociological reflections on the use of research methods in the history of sport. In light of the convergence of social scientific approaches and social research methods in recent years, it draws upon Durkheim’s reflections on the principles of sociology to explore the potential of the discipline to provide a distinctive methodological orientation to the study of sport. It subsequently uses this framework to assess the tendency in sports history to present interview data in non-anonymized form, and to advocate the value of particular kinds of comparative analysis for forwarding our understanding of the social world.     

Inside research,inside ourselves: teacher educators take stock of their research practice

This paper tells the story of how a group of teacher educators in a university education department used action research to examine their research situation, and what conclusions they reached. Some recent historical background puts the study in context, identifying tensions between university expectations and time‐heavy teaching demands that operated as obstacles to research activity. This context is shared by many academics who provide training for practitioners in UK universities that seek substantial funding through their performance in national research quality assessments. The project was initially organised in Spring 2007 by new research staff who had investigated staff perceptions of and interests in research through semi‐formal interviews, observations and documentation. An invited group turned to action research as a possible way forward. They asked the question ‘What kind of research culture do we want, and how can we get it?’ Over a year, all participants gathered at semi‐formal meetings for collaborative reflection and discussion, engaged in a diversity of micro‐researches that experimented with ways of researching around the barriers, and wrote a collaborative paper about what they had learned. This gave rise to a series of national and international conference presentations that drew several of the group members into the wider research community. The group members grew to realise that the kind of research that they perceived the institution to value was not necessarily a kind that was readily built into their identities as teacher educators. But this realisation itself was empowering, exposing previously opaque assumptions that had left a felt irreconcilability that had been difficult to articulate.     

Professional learning through the collaborative design of problem-solving lessons

This article analyses lesson study as a mode of professional learning, focused on the development of mathematical problem solving processes, using the lens of cultural-historical activity theory. In particular, we draw attention to two activity systems, the classroom system and the lesson-study system, and the importance of making artefacts instrumental in both. We conceptualise the lesson plan as a boundary object and use this to illustrate how professional learning takes place through the introduction of carefully designed artefacts that draw on teachers’ professional knowledge of potential student approaches, and to the nature of progression in problem-solving processes. We identify the roles of instrumentalisation and instrumentation in supporting professional learning as these artefacts are prepared for use before a lesson and as they are again used as catalysts for reflection in post-lesson discussions. These artefacts are seen to effectively facilitate the socially situated learning of all participants. We conclude that the design of artefacts as boundary objects that support teaching and professional learning in their respective activity systems may be fundamental to the success of lesson study as a collaborative venture.     

Improving Preservice Middle Grades Science Teachers’ Understanding of the Nature of Science Using Three Instructional Approaches

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in preservice teachers’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as a result of four activity-based interventions that represent three instructional approaches used in a middle grades science methods course. Ten participants’ understanding of NOS and their perceptions about the activity-based interventions were investigated. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews before and after the interventions. Written artifacts and recorded group discussions were collected during the interventions. The results of this study showed that inclusion of various approaches to teaching NOS can contribute to developing preservice teachers’ understanding of NOS. The activities complemented each other in the teaching of the NOS components. In addition, the preservice teachers perceived that the four interventions were helpful in improving their understanding of NOS and in preparing them for future teaching.