Make a drawing. Effects of strategic knowledge,drawing accuracy,and type of drawing on students’ mathematical modelling performance

Drawing strategies are widely used as a powerful tool for promoting students’ learning and problem solving. In this article, we report the results of an inferential mediation analysis that was applied to investigate the roles that strategic knowledge about drawing and the accuracy of different types of drawings play in mathematical modelling performance. Sixty-one students were asked to create a drawing of the situation described in a task (situational drawing) and a drawing of the mathematical model described in the task (mathematical drawing) before solving modelling problems. A path analysis showed that strategic knowledge about drawing was positively related to students’ modelling performance. This relation was mediated by the type and accuracy of the drawings that were generated. The accuracy of situational drawing was related only indirectly to performance. The accuracy of mathematical drawings, however, was strongly related to students’ performance. We complemented the quantitative approach with a qualitative in-depth analysis of students’ drawings in order to explain the relations found in our study. Implications for teaching practices and future research are discussed.     

Enhancing the written medium for culturally diverse learners via reciprocal interaction

A positive view of culturally diverse learners is advocated. The written medium can serve as an opportunity for self-expression and empowerment. A reciprocal interaction model that allows for student control and capitalizes on student interest is far more culturally responsive than current deficit models.     

International Approaches in Human Rights Education

This paper was presented at a working group on Human Rights Education (HRE), organised by Volker Lenhart and Christel Adick, as part of the biennial conference of the German Society for Educational Research (DGfE), held in 2000 in Göttingen. In the spirit of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995–2004) it contributes to the global discourse about HRE by summarising its foundations in international declarations and conventions, by discussing some examples for diverse approaches and conceptions of HRE and, finally by introducing some major obstacles or problems. The paper is part of the author's PhD project in the field of HRE and presents only an interim résumé of her recent work.     

Multi-Method Evaluation of Instruction in Engineering Classes

Student evaluation of instruction in college and university courses has been a routine and mandatory part of undergraduate and graduate education for some time. A major shortcoming of the process is that it often relies exclusively on the opinions or qualitative judgments of students rather than the learning or transfer of knowledge that takes place in the classroom. To develop a more objective system of assessment, this research focused on a learning-centered approach to course work and teaching evaluation. Standardized testing tools were developed suitable for measuring the content knowledge of students in a representative group of undergraduate courses. Course evaluations were conducted using two systems of assessment: the traditional student questionnaire feedback system and one based on the learning-centered approach using a computer-based question bank and on-line testing. Significant performance differences were evident in pretest/posttest comparisons of student learning. Favorable ratings of instruction are reflected in opinions on student questionnaires. No relationship was demonstrated between learning and traditional course evaluation outcomes. Our hypothesis that the learning-centered approach provides information that is not available using the traditional student feedback system was supported.Support for this research was provided in part by Grant No. P116B981224-00 from the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Programs awarded to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Education, and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

A Constructivist Model of Mentoring,Coaching, and Facilitating Online Discussions

This case study of an online graduate course determines the message characteristics of the instructor, volunteer teaching assistants, and students in online discussions, and proposes a mentoring, coaching, and facilitating model for online discussions. The researchers developed a coding system based on the literature of mentoring, coaching, and facilitating to identify the characteristics of conference discussion messages. The instructor fostered the development of volunteer teaching assistants into coaches and of student discussion facilitators into facilitators of learning. The proposed constructivist model fosters active learning, provides scaffolding for students to become facilitators of learning, and suggests creative ways for online instructors to manage different types of teaching responsibilities. Recommendations for further research are included.     

The Development of Implicit Memory From Infancy to Childhood: On Average Performance Levels and Interindividual Differences

The present multimethod longitudinal study aimed at investigating development and stability of implicit memory during infancy and early childhood. A total of 134 children were followed longitudinally from 3 months to 3 years of life assessing different age‐appropriate measures of implicit memory. Results from structural equation modeling give further evidence that implicit memory is stable from 9 months of life on, with earlier performance predicting later performance. Second, it was found that implicit memory is present from early on, and no age‐related improvements are found from 3 months on. Results are discussed with respect to the basic brain structures implicit memory builds on, as well as methodological issues.     

Liquid subjects: news media and public political pedagogy

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between news media and political education within consumer society. We argue that political education today needs to be understood as part of consumerism and media culture, in which individuals selectively expose themselves to and scrutinize various media representations not only of political issues, but also of political subjectivity and action. Individuals learn about how they might become political and act politically through their engagements with the news, in the context of the characteristics of liquid modernity, namely consumer culture, individualization, and choice. When examined through a lens of public pedagogy, political education becomes intertwined with consumer culture and the role of media in the education and socialization of political subjectivity. In this paper, we look at one example of the relationship between news and the education of political subjectivity by drawing from a larger research study, which examined the role of mainstream and alternative media in citizens’ political mobilization on climate change. We argue that news consumption is part of a public political pedagogy through which individuals negotiate becoming liquid subjects, that is, citizens who take a critical, monitorial, and individualistic consumer approach to becoming political and taking part in social change.     

International networking for sexuality education: a politically sensitive subject

In 2007, six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) commenced work on a project to harmonise public policy on school sexuality education (SE) and the prevention of HIV. Inter-sectoral management committees for SE involving ministries of education, ministries of health and civil society were established, national policies and work plans were formulated and implemented, and SE/HIV prevention activities were carried out. The strengths and weaknesses of implementation were assessed. After this, the beginnings of a community of practice were created, with national focal points. This paper analyses the above process using qualitative data generated through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews, with a focus on the perceived contribution of regional collaboration to the development of national policies, national curricula and implementation. Overall, the initiative reached 83,000 teachers and 1,500,000 pupils. Training materials and national curricula and policies were developed, introduced and implemented. Regional collaboration improved political institutionalisation, information exchange, inter-sectoral collaboration, civil society participation, programme legitimacy and the perception of SE as a young person's right. The initiative offers a model for other countries, with regional collaboration helping to establish the case for SE both normatively and institutionally at the political level, mitigate obstacles in the context of such a politically sensitive topic as SE and provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of information which in turn helped legitimise and operationalise national SE policies.     

The relation between preschool children’s false-belief understanding and domain-general experimentation skills

The focus of the present study is on the developmental antecedents of domain-general experimentation skills. We hypothesized that false-belief understanding would predict the ability to distinguish a conclusive from an inconclusive experiment. We conducted a longitudinal study with two assessment points (t1 and t2) to investigate this hypothesis. As language, executive functioning, working memory, and intelligence have been discussed as potential influencing factors in theory of mind and scientific reasoning development, we included measures of these abilities as control variables. We recruited 161 preschool children (73 girls and 88 boys); we administered a false-belief task, an experimentation task, and the control variables at t1 when the children were 4 years old. We repeated the false-belief and experimentation tasks at t2 when the children were 5 years old. Our results show that children who solved the false-belief task correctly at age 4 were more likely to solve the experimentation task correctly at age 5, but not vice versa, even after controlling for the influence of language, executive functioning, working memory, and intelligence. The implications of these results on theories about the development of scientific reasoning and for science education concepts for young children are briefly discussed.     

A case study: the evolution of a ��facilitator model�� liaison program in an academic medical library

Question:

What type of liaison program would best utilize both librarians and other library staff to effectively promote library services and resources to campus departments?

Setting:

The case is an academic medical center library serving a large, diverse campus.

Methods:

The library implemented a “facilitator model” program to provide personalized service to targeted clients that allowed for maximum staff participation with limited subject familiarity. To determine success, details of liaison-contact interactions and results of liaison and department surveys were reviewed.

Results:

Liaisons successfully recorded 595 interactions during the program''s first 10 months of existence. A significant majority of departmental contact persons (82.5%) indicated they were aware of the liaison program, and 75% indicated they preferred email communication.

Conclusion:

The “facilitator model” provides a well-defined structure for assigning liaisons to departments or groups; however, training is essential to ensure that liaisons are able to communicate effectively with their clients.