Interaction and interpersonality in online discussion forums

This longitudinal study evaluated the amount and type of interaction and interpersonal content in messages posted by online graduate students in small group asynchronous forums. It also assessed the relationship between interpersonality and interactivity. To achieve this, a new coding scheme was developed to categorize the content of online forums. The results suggest that cultivating interpersonality online leads to increased participation and expands the depth of discussion, thus facilitating online collective knowledge building. Finally, regulating the complexity of interactions and fostering the development of a cohesive group of participants through increased interpersonal exchanges may render more controlled patterns of interactive online behavior and improve collective learning.     

A theoretical note on concepts and the need for Cyclic Concept Maps

This article examines concepts and propositions from a theoretical perspective, and establishes the need for and develops an extension to Concept Maps (CMaps), called Cyclic Concept Maps (Cyclic CMaps). Cyclic CMaps are considered to be an appropriate tool for representing knowledge of functional or dynamical relationships between concepts. CMaps, on the other hand, are viewed as an appropriate tool for representing hierarchic or static knowledge. The two maps complement each other and collectively capture a larger domain of knowledge, thus forming a more effective knowledge representation tool. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 741–766, 2005     

Edulabs AGIRE project – evaluation of ICT integration in teaching strategies

The AGIRE project, under the Edulab concept, aims to promote the adoption of innovative teaching practices. This paper reports the support strategies used to evaluate the teacher practices at the end of a teacher training course (TTC) and analyse its impact on teacher technology integration, using a design-based methodology. Teachers’ initial perception was gathered using an online questionnaire comprising ICT personal and professional competencies. The questionnaire results and the classroom observations showed that the majority of teachers were at the level of ICT adoption, before attending the TTC, reaching the adaptation level of integration of ICT, after the TTC. A variety of teaching strategies (flipped classroom, collaborative work, …) and technologies (interactive white boards, tablets, videos, …) were explored. The results sustain the thesis that, with proper support, ICT can be integrated in educational contexts in an innovative way and contribute to the development of teachers’ digital literacy.     

The robed baron: The academic profession in the Italian university

The Italian academic profession is subject to complex bureaucratic structures and many strains as the result of rapid academic expansion but very limited resources. The ladder up the academic profession is both complicated and very difficult. Norms of professionalism are in conflict with the traditional patron system. This paper analyzes the current situation of the academic profession in Italian universities, and stresses a discussion of the career ladder and how it works in the academic system.Data for this paper have been collected as part of a research grant no. 73.00982.09 from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.     

A specific benefit of retrieval-based concept mapping to enhance learning from texts

Instructional Science - Research has shown that retrieval activities, that is, actively recalling previously studied information, may substantially contribute to learning from complex educational...     

Expanding and enacting transformative meanings of equity,diversity and social justice in science education

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In this paper, we provide a conceptual critique of the various constructs often used to justify policies and/or research to promote equity, diversity and...     

The distinction of excellent students in the Portuguese state school as a strategy of educational marketing accountability

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - The mechanisms of academic distinction of the best students, such as the Honours Boards of Excellence and Value, emerge in Portuguese state...     

The institution of institutionalism: difference,universalism and the legacies of Institutional Critique

This text analyses the relationship between institutionalism, context and cultural criticism. Its main objective is to identify how universalism has permeated the different waves of Institutional Critique, conditioning the subversive potential conferred to creative practices and locating radical, alternative institutionalism within the narrow geo-cultural landscape of mainstream biennials. Taking as point of departure Cildo Meireles’s participatory public intervention in documenta 11, I consider how representational concerns are privileged vis-à-vis visual practices related to coloniality and difference. From that position, the article argues that only by challenging the assumed universality of the debates on cultural institutionalism will we be able to stress the relevance of critique in addressing cultural policies and non-representational practices. This implies confronting the troublesome relationship between Institutional Critique and modernity from a ‘geographically-informed’ position capable of recognising institutionalism as a heterogeneous body of practices that are being globally transformed.     

A multilevel approach for the damage assessment of Historic masonry towers

In the paper some case studies of damaged towers in Italy are presented: the Tower Masserano of Palace Ferrero - La Marmora at Biella, the bell tower of the Collegiata of San Vittore at Arcisate, and three medieval towers in Alba. A methodology is put forward for combining laboratory and nondestructive testing methods with monitoring systems in order to reach the goal of evaluating the state of conservation of historic towers and its evolution in time.