Chemistry inside an epistemological community box! Discursive exclusions and inclusions in Swedish National tests in Chemistry

This study examined the Swedish national tests in chemistry for implicit and explicit values. The chemistry subject is understudied compared to biology and physics and students view chemistry as their least interesting science subject. The Swedish national science assessments aim to support equitable and fair evaluation of students, to concretize the goals in the chemistry syllabus and to increase student achievement. Discourse and multimodal analyses, based on feminist and critical didactic theories, were used to examine the test’s norms and values. The results revealed that the chemistry discourse presented in the tests showed a traditional view of science from the topics discussed (for example, oil and metal), in the way women, men and youth are portrayed, and how their science interests are highlighted or neglected. An elitist view of science emerges from the test, with distinct gender and age biases. Students could interpret these biases as a message that only “the right type” of person may come into the chemistry epistemological community, that is, into this special sociocultural group that harbours a common view about this knowledge. This perspective may have an impact on students’ achievement and thereby prevent support for an equitable and fair evaluation. Understanding the underlying evaluative meanings that come with science teaching is a question of democracy since it may affect students’ feelings of inclusion or exclusion. The norms and values harboured in the tests will also affect teaching since the teachers are given examples of how the goals in the syllabus can be concretized.     

Policy development and educational research: The Hungarian experience

Conclusions The interaction between research and politics is weakly structured in Hungarian higher education. Functions and roles are unclear, persons participating often change or combine different roles. The emergence of modern higher education politics in Hungary catalyzes the differentiation, professionalization and institutionalization of experts, advisers and consultants. National reform commissions provide a good framework to work out these roles. The small size of the country and the limitations of its academic resources, however, make this progress gradual and controversial.     

Avoiding communication barriers in the classroom: the APEINTA project

Education is a fundamental human right, however unfortunately not everybody has the same learning opportunities. For instance, if a student has hearing impairments, s/he could face communications barriers in the classroom, which could affect his/her learning process. APEINTA is a Spanish educational project that aims for inclusive education for all. This project proposes two main accessible initiatives: (1) real-time captioning and text-to-speech (TTS) services in the classroom and (2) accessible Web-learning platform out of the classroom with accessible digital resources. This paper presents the inclusive initiatives of APEINTA. Also an evaluation of the into-the-classroom initiative (real-time captioning and TTS services) is presented. This evaluation has been conducted during a regular undergraduate course at a university and during a seminar at an integration school for deaf children. Forty-five hearing students, 1 foreign student, 3 experts in captioning, usability and accessibility, and 20 students with hearing impairments evaluated these services in the classroom. Evaluation results show that these initiatives are adequate to be used in the classroom and that students are satisfied with them.     

Who benefits from dyadic teacher–student interactions in whole-class settings?

To what extent can teacher–student dyadic interactions modify the hierarchy of student performances within a single class? To answer this insufficiently researched question, the authors conducted two parallel studies involving 33 Grade 5 classes in France (759 students) and 15 Grade 5 classes in Luxembourg (243 students). Interactions were observed during whole-class lessons. Posttest scores were analyzed using multilevel models controlling for five level-1 variables and two level-2 variables. The authors did not find any effect of dyadic interactions on relative student performance in mathematics or in language (French or German), in France or in Luxembourg. This result is interpreted in terms of both the public character of dyadic interactions in whole-class settings and the class management functions of these interactions.     

Towards learning analytics adoption: A mixed methods study of data-related practices and policies in Latin American universities

In Latin American universities, Learning Analytics (LA) has been perceived as a promising opportunity to leverage data to meet the needs of a diverse student cohort. Although universities have been collecting educational data for years, the adoption of LA in this region is still limited due to the lack of expertise and policies for processing and using educational data. In order to get a better picture of how existing data-related practices and policies might affect the incorporation of LA in Latin American institutions, we conducted a mixed methods study in four Latin American universities (two Chilean and two Ecuadorian). In this paper, the qualitative data were based on 37 interviews with managers and 16 focus groups with 51 teaching staff and 45 students; the quantitative data were collected through two surveys answered by 1884 students and 368 teachers, respectively. The findings reveal opportunities to incorporate LA services into existing data practices in the four case studies. However, the lack of reliable information systems and policies to regulate the use of data imposes challenges that need to be overcome for future LA adoption.     

Mapping psychology students’ perspective on group peer-tutoring in statistics

Students in psychology generally have difficulties to successfully accomplish mandatory courses in statistics. Group peer-tutoring is a pedagogical strategy to support them with a peer that has already successfully mastered the content of such a course. In order to specifically tailor group peer-tutoring to the needs of students and to sustain tutees’ participation, it is important to understand how they conceptualize tutoring. The aim of this study was to provide an empirical investigation of psychology students’ conceptualization regarding cross-year group peer-tutoring in statistics. A multivariate concept mapping analysis generated a relevant three-cluster structure (Tutoring setup, Tutor knowledge, interpersonal skills, and relational dynamics and Student role and commitment to the course) that underlies students’ cognitive structure regarding group peer-tutoring. The implications of the results for selecting and training peer-tutors are discussed.     

Healing Images and Narratives: Undocumented Chicana/Latina Pedagogies of Resistance

This article draws from a longitudinal study of 38 in-depth testimonio interviews with 10 undocumented Chicanas/Latinas from 2008 to 2014, first as college students and then as professionals. A Chicana feminist theoretical perspective in education was utilized to explore how undocumented Chicana/Latina ways of knowing emerged in the ways they worked with and for immigrant communities as professionals. The study found that participants drew from their multiple identities, social locations, and life experiences as undocumented Chicana/Latina women to engage in pedagogies of resistance—everyday forms of teaching and learning that challenge the subjugation of undocumented communities, and are shaped by personal and collective experiences, knowledge, and identities. The study found that participants utilized mestiza consciousness, convivencia, and bodymindspirit to employ these pedagogies of resistance in their professional work with and for immigrant communities.     

Educational Research in a Meritocratic Society

Educational research deserving the name is bound to be closely related not only to the pressing problems of the practitioners in the field, but to the burning issues which policy makers try to come to grips with as well. Even though (Husén & Kogan, Eds., 1984) – and rightly so – researchers, as true academics, often emphasize the importance of tackling fundamental problems, they cannot avoid being affected by the priorities set by the policy makers. These priorities are reflected in how research funds are allocated to various fields. To be sure, researchers are like other human beings: they are not insensitive to money. Like bees they tend to flock to the flowers where the most attractive nectar is to be found.