Teacher perceptions of the mathematical potential of students in special education in the Netherlands

Research has shown that high expectations of teachers about their students’ academic development have a positive influence on how these students actually develop. Therefore, when aiming to improve students’ learning results it is essential to know how teachers think about their students’ abilities. The present study was meant to investigate what perceptions primary school teachers in special education have of their students’ potential in mathematics and what possibilities they see to reveal this potential. Data were collected through an online questionnaire. Surprisingly, the responses showed that, although the teachers teach students with low achievement scores in mathematics, most of the teachers were positive about the mathematical potential of their students. The teachers often attributed unused potential to causes outside the student and they underpinned this view with observations from school practice. The article concludes with discussing the consequences of these findings for the professional development of teachers.     

Learning from texts: activation of information from previous texts during reading

Learning often involves integration of information from multiple texts. The aim of the current study was to determine whether relevant information from previously read texts is spontaneously activated during reading, allowing for integration between texts (experiment 1 and 2), and whether this process is related to the representation of the texts (experiment 2). In both experiments, texts with inconsistent target sentences were preceded by texts that either did or did not contain explanations that resolved the inconsistencies. In experiment 1, the reading times of the target sentences introducing inconsistencies were faster if the preceding text contained an explanation for the inconsistency than if it did not. This result demonstrates that relevant information from a prior text is spontaneously activated when the target sentence is read. In experiment 2 free recall was used to gain insight into the representation after reading. The reading time results for experiment 2 replicated the reading time results for experiment 1. However, the effects on reading times did not translate to measurable differences in text representations after reading. This research extends our knowledge about the processes involved in multiple text comprehension: Prior text information is spontaneously activated during reading, thereby enabling integration between different texts.     

How Dutch employees experience freedom of learning for work

This article focuses on the perceived freedom of Dutch employees to embark on workplace learning in terms of whether they feel it is “voluntary” or “compulsory”. The paper is based on the findings of a large international explorative survey carried out by the Workplace Learning (WPL) Research Network (RN2) of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Lifelong Learning (LLL) Research Hub. The comparative study focused on employees’ quest for “freedom of learning for work”. This paper reports on the Dutch part of the research, the quantitative results of which seem to indicate that the freedom of learning for work is not as important to Dutch employees as might be expected. In a second phase, to investigate employees’ experiences of work-related learning in more depth, the Dutch researchers added a follow-up qualitative study, involving one-on-one interviews. In order to triangulate the results of the quantitative and qualitative research phases, the authors then added a mixed-methods sequential explanatory analysis. They assessed the quality of the collected data in both distinct phases by identifying converging results, which are useful for refining our understanding of learning for work. The paper draws both on rich insights into workplace learning based on this research as well as on theoretical literature which refers to concepts like motivation, subjectivity, work identity and agency in connection with the quest for freedom of learning.     

Analysis of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Children Highlights the Role of Genotype × Environment Interaction

This study tested for Genotype × Environment (G × E) interaction on behavioral and emotional problems in children using new methods that do not require identification of candidate genes or environments, can distinguish between interaction with shared and unique environment, and are insensitive to scale effects. Parental ratings of problem behavior from 14,755 twin pairs (5.3 years, SD = 0.22) indicated G × E interaction on emotional liability, social isolation, aggression, attention problems, dependency, anxiety, and physical coordination. Environmental influences increased in children who were genetically more predisposed to problem behavior, with ~20% of the variance due to G × E interaction (8% for anxiety to 37% for attention problems). Ignoring G × E interaction does not greatly bias heritability estimates, but it does offer a comprehensive model of the etiology for childhood problems.     

Situating relational ontology and transformative activist stance within the ‘everyday’ practice of coteaching and cogenerative dialogue

This paper attempts to advance the thinking in Stetsenko’s paper by situating the concepts of relational ontology and transformative activist stance in the context of coteaching and cogenerative dialogue. In so doing, we hope to make Stetsenko’s ideas more operational in terms of access and application by researchers, teachers, policy makers and other stakeholders in education. Stetsenko argues that moving from relational ontology to a transformative activist stance can be considered as moving from participation to contribution. When this model was applied to coteaching and cogenerative dialogue, it was apparent that the coteaching and cogenerative dialogue moved further, from contribution to shared contribution, adding even greater potential for transformation. The paper also discusses the use of cultural historical activity theory in articulating the relationships, dynamics and interpretations of coteaching and cogenerative dialogue in relation to the wider context of their application.

Novice supervisors’ practices and dilemmatic space in supervision of student research projects

Growing interest in student research projects in higher education has led to an emphasis on research supervision. We focus in this study on novice supervisors’ approaches to research supervision as they explore their practices and experience difficulties supervising medicalstudents. Teacher noticing was used as a sensitising concept and relations with teacher dilemmas were explored in the research supervision context. To provide in-depth insights into supervisors’ practices and pedagogical choices, twelve stimulated recall interviews with supervisors were analysed. The supervisors were involved in individual undergraduate or master degree student research projects at a research-intensive university. Analysis revealed four kinds of dilemmas which may influence research supervision practices, namely questions regarding regulation, student needs, the student-supervisor relationship and supervisors’ professional identity. We explain the relationship between novice supervisors’ practices and dilemmas in detail. Implications are given to enhance initiatives for professional development of supervisors.     

Development and Challenges of the Credit Point System in Dutch Higher Education

This article will focus on the credit point system and especially on the Dutch system. In many countries such a system has a long history, but in others it is a relatively new phenomenon. In the first section, the objectives of credit point systems will be introduced. In the second section the emergence and characteristics of the credit point system in the Netherlands will be presented. In the third section, some results of student behaviour in the first year in Higher education will be shown for different groups of students, such as how many credit points on average they earned and how many hours per week on average they studied. The findings demonstrate how empirical results from student behaviour, combined with the norms of the credit point system, can be used to evaluate the accountability of the academic programmes. In the last section, some challenges for the use of credit point systems in the nearby future will be discussed. Recently, one can see a rapid change from the traditional ways of testing to the assessment of competencies of students and student portfolios.     

Explaining different types of computer use among primary school teachers

In order to identify differences in determinants of supportive and class use of computers, path modelling was applied in a sample of 468 primary school teachers. Independent variables were categorised in three levels: demographics (age and gender), computer experience (computer training, computer experience expressed over time, intensity of computer use), and attitude measures (general computer attitudes, attitudes toward computers in education, and technological innovativeness). Supportive and class use of computers are not related to the same set of variables. Supportive computer use was mainly predicted by computer experience variables and general computer attitudes. Strongest predictors of class use were technological innovativeness and gender. Yet, the degree of explained variance for class use of computer was considerably lower compared to supportive computer use. These results indicate the limitations of explaining complex forms of professional computer use on the basis of both individual determinants and quantitative models. The article concludes with some practical implications and recommendations for further research.     

Bodyline,the British World and the Evolution of an Australian National Identity

This article contributes to the historiographical debate concerning the nature and evolution of an Australian national identity. It does so through the case study of cricket and, in particular, cricketing relations with Britain. It argues that the movement of cultural traffic – that is the two-way transmission of people, ideas and sports – between metropole and colony was central to the formation, definition and evolution of an Australian cricketing identity. Furthermore, it suggests that this sporting national identity acted as a rehearsal for a broader Australian identity.     

A Surgical View of Anatomy: Perspectives from Students and Instructors

As curricular emphasis on anatomy in undergraduate medical education continues to evolve, new approaches to anatomical education are urgently needed to prepare medical students for residency. A surgical anatomy class was designed for third- and fourth-year medical students to explore important anatomical relationships by performing realistic surgical procedures on anatomical donors. Under the guidance of both surgeons and anatomists, students in this month-long elective course explored key anatomical relationships through performing surgical approaches, with the secondary benefit of practicing basic surgical techniques. Procedures, such as left nephrectomy, first rib resection for thoracic outlet syndrome, and carotid endarterectomy, were adapted from those used clinically by multiple surgical subspecialties. This viewpoint commentary highlights perspectives from students and instructors that suggest the value of a surgical approach to anatomical education for medical students preparing for procedure-oriented residencies, with the goals of: (1) describing the elective at the authors' institution, (2) promoting similar efforts across different institutions, and (3) encouraging future qualitative and quantitative studies of similar pedagogic efforts.