Evaluating the impact of early years educational reform in Wales to age seven: the potential use of the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Early years education has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly as a result of longitudinal studies that demonstrate the importance of the first few years in a child’s development and educational experience. In 2004, a new approach to early years education, the Foundation Phase, was introduced in Wales. This is a major flagship policy of the recently devolved Welsh Government, and marks a radical departure from the more assessment-driven competency-based approaches to early childhood education that existed prior to the Foundation Phase. Studying approximately 2000 children in Wales who are part of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), all born in 2000–2001 we investigate the potential impact of the Foundation Phase pilot on a range of key academic and well-being outcome measures. Compared with other children, those attending a Foundation Phase pilot school tended to have lower scores in a number of academic assessments at age seven and lower subjective well-being, in terms of their attitudes to learning and well-being at school. We consider these surprising, yet concerning, results in the context of the methodological limitations to this analysis and propose how the MCS can be further used to substantiate these findings.     

Geoscience education: an overview

Geoscience educational publications are reviewed in seven areas to identify future directions for curriculum development, professional development and research. The review shows that: effective teaching methods encompassing broad geoscience study still need extensive research; whilst some valuable materials have been developed for the teaching of systems approaches to geoscience, these need to be evaluated in different curriculum contexts; different methodologies for teaching spatial awareness in geoscience need to be more widely applied and researched; approaches for the effective teaching of geological time should be further developed and tested; there is much scope for the development and evaluation of approaches to geoscience fieldwork; geoscience misconceptions are widespread and need further identification and review; and studies of the effectiveness of professional development in geoscience education should be implemented more widely, including their impact in the classroom. The review indicates that geoscience education will progress most effectively through: extending geoscience learning to all children; educating teachers in effective implementation of new curriculum initiatives; evaluating the progress of the initiatives and using the results to refine them; and researching the whole process to demonstrate its effectiveness and to ensure wide dissemination on the basis of well‐founded research findings.     

Towards the improvement of the student experience of assessment and feedback in construction management education

It is widely accepted across Higher Education that assessment practices have a link with learning and a key factor in this link is formative assessment. Formative assessment is generally defined as taking place during a module/programme with the express purpose of improving and enhancing student learning. It is important to understand how lecturers in construction engineering education perceive their own roles and the roles of their students in using effective assessment strategies. An investigation into lecturers’ perceptions of their roles and their conceptions related to the assessment process of students in those programmes is reported. An on-line survey was conducted with over 30 Irish academics involved in the area of construction management. Discussion is focused on a critical evaluation of the findings of the study and how it relates to the current literature on the roles of academics in the formative assessment process. Recommendations are made on how lecturers/teachers might better formulate appropriate assessment strategies that will encourage deep and effective learning.     

Biodiversity Education: A teacher's perspective

Reduction in biodiversity has been established as a global environmental issue, mainly over the last 10 years. However, there is disagreement amongst experts whether it is a natural phenomenon or strongly influenced by human activity. This article considers biodiversity as a controversial issue in the education of students of 11-18 years of age in schools, particularly in relation to science education. It includes a study of teachers' attitudes and approaches to biodiversity education in the UK and was undertaken using participatory appraisal methods with 'focus' groups of teachers. It was shown that the teachers in the study were frequently well informed, they considered biodiversity to be an important issue and although the formal science curriculum had a contribution to make it was also a matter that the whole institution could address. Suggestions for evaluating the possible indicators and outcomes of effective biodiversity education were made. In conclusion it was shown that while programmes included many of the essential components of knowledge for biodiversity education there was usually little attempt to ensure that students achieved a more coherent understanding of the complex issue or how to deal with matters that are truly controversial. The methodology provided a useful model for reflection on practice and professional development in many possible contexts.     

Taiwanese International Students: Acculturation Level and Vocational Identity

This study explored the relationship between acculturation level and vocational identity among 112 graduate and undergraduate Taiwanese international students attending two midwestern universities. The results revealed that Taiwanese international students who were older and who had a shorter length of U.S. residency were more likely to identify themselves as Asian. The results also indicated that Taiwanese international students who were older and who had a lower acculturation level had higher vocational identity.     

Audience‐perceived anxiety patterns of public speakers

Gray's neurological theory of anxiety (1982, 1990; Gray & McNaughton, 2000) predicts that state anxiety will decrease with continuous exposure to a fear arousing stimulus. Previous studies of psychological and physiological state anxiety patterns during public speaking have reported a pattern of progressively decreasing anxiety levels consistent with this phenomenon, known as habituation. In the current report, the extent to which the state anxiety behaviors of speakers conform to the habituation pattern is examined. In the first of two studies, 30 novice speakers presented informative speeches to audiences of 18 to 20 fellow students. These speeches were videotaped and replayed in their entirety for observers (N=30) who rated the severity of each performer's speech anxiety behaviors. In the second study, each videotaped presentation was divided into one‐minute segments and presented in random order to a new set of observers (N=25). Procedures in the second study were designed to control for rater expectations that state anxiety would decline over time. Overall, behavioral measures of public speaking state anxiety displayed a continually declining pattern associated with habituation.     

‘This is the beginning of my life educationally’: older (50+ years) working class adults’ participation in higher education in Scotland,through the lens of critical educational gerontology

This paper reports on original research where the primary objective was to critically explore the learning experiences of older (50+ years) working class adults in the context of a new university. Semi‐structured interviews with 10 older learners engaged in a range of study in a new university in the west of Scotland were utilised. This methodology was adopted to bring their voices to the fore, in recognition that these have been under‐represented in educational research to date. A main outcome of the study was that theorising of widening participation practice and pedagogy as it relates to older learners may be significantly developed from insights afforded by critical educational gerontology (CEG) (older adult education) and its central concern with empowerment of marginalised older adults. It is concluded that CEG’s theoretical perspectives and pedagogic practices—critical gerogogy—may inform and shape more responsive widening participation practices that aim to support under‐represented groups. This is particularly evident for older working class students whose formative educational experiences were predominantly characterised by severely limited choice and opportunity. CEG has significant implications for widening participation practice in offering a distinctive, holistic educational philosophy and creative pedagogical approach.     

Improving the quality and effectiveness of computer-mediated instruction through usability evaluations

Brigham Young University's Center for Instructional Design (CID) creates online courses and multimedia instructional applications for university faculty. This paper asserts that including usability testing as a part of evaluation improves the quality and effectiveness of computer‐mediated instruction. The paper describes the fundamental purpose and functions of usability testing, and also distinguishes between different forms of evaluation: accessibility, quality assurance (QA), usability and implementation. Through a detailed case study, we describe how usability testing improved the quality of a computer‐based chemistry course and facilitated a clearer analysis of the learning effectiveness of this course.     

International researcher mobility and knowledge transfer in the social sciences and humanities

ABSTRACT

This article explores knowledge outcomes of international researcher mobility in the social sciences and humanities. Looking in particular at international experiences of longer durations in the careers of European PhD graduates, it proposes a threefold analytical typology for understanding the links between the modes, durations, and outcomes of this mobility in terms of the exchange of codified knowledge; the sharing of more tacit knowledge practices; and the development of a cosmopolitan identity. The findings suggest that, under the right conditions, there can be an important and transformative value to longer stays, which can lead to enduring outcomes in terms of knowledge production and innovation and the spatially distributed networks that sustain it.