Case‐based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry in the Philippines

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for using case‐based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry into the teaching and learning of elementary science. The context for this study was the elementary science teacher preparation program at West Visayas State University on the the island of Panay in Iloilo City, the Philippines. In this context, triple linguistic conventions involving the interactions of the local Ilonggo dialect, the national language of Philipino (predominantly Tagalog) and English create unique challenges for science teachers. Participants in the study included six elementary student teachers, their respective critic teachers and a research team composed of four Filipino and two U.S. science teacher educators. Two teacher‐generated case narratives serve as the centerpiece for deliberation, around which we highlight key tensions that reflect both the struggles and positive aspects of teacher learning that took place. Theoretical perspectives drawn from assumptions underlying the use of case‐based pedagogy and scholarship surrounding the community metaphor as a referent for science education curriculum inquiry influenced our understanding of tensions at the intersection of re‐presentation of science, authority of knowledge, and professional practice, at the intersection of not shared language, explicit moral codes, and indigenization, and at the intersection of identity and dilemmas in science teaching. Implications of this study are discussed with respect to the building of science teacher learning communities in both local and global contexts of reform. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 502–528, 2001     

High Quality Preschool Programs: What Would Vygotsky Say?

The paper considers the definition of high quality preschool from a Vygotskian perspective. Similarities and differences in the issues faced in Russia and those in the United States are discussed as background. Three major ideas are considered from the work of Vygotsky and of his students/colleagues, Daniel Elkonin and Alexander Zaporozhets. The first is the Cultural Historical paradigm as the basis for defining development, which emphasizes the importance of underlying cognitive and social-emotional competencies. The second is the idea of "Leading Activity" with dramatic play defined as the leading activity for preschool. The third is the idea of "amplification" or enrichment rather than acceleration of learning. The article ends with a definition of quality based on these three constructs.     

The Phoenix Rising: Emergent models of instructional design

The blurring of distinctions between online and distance education in many parts of the developed world has led to reflections on the strategies and processes by which we create effective online learning environments for the distance education learner. In this article we argue that the foundational models of instructional design that typically inform the design, development, and delivery of online environments do not always support the epistemology and pedagogy that embodies the online environment. Through an analysis of current approaches to instructional design we present a case for adopting principles of emergence theory as a means to best harness the power and potential of design and development for online distance education. Using a prototype three‐phase design model that embodies emergent principles we advocate that to achieve the full potential of interaction and community networks through online communications requires a repositioning of roles and processes associated with “instructional design.”     

Campus commons: Lessons from an outdoor classroom

Deborah Mixson‐Brookshire shares an experience that opened her mind to the transformative nature of her ropes course work with students and reminded her why she does it.     

What is the use of theory? A psychoanalytic discussion

Freud asking whether psychoanalysis could be taught in the university, and then whether it could be learned, provides an occasion for asking about the emotional uses of theory. The paper draws from literature, clinical writing and pedagogy to build a psychoanalytic discussion of teaching and learning that takes seriously phantasies of knowledge made from the creation, conveyance and reception of theory. This learning complex involves symptoms in education: resistance to theory, fear of theory, fear of words, and writing inhibitions. Freud’s third model of psychoanalysis, ‘working through’, suggests a new approach to the use of theory in university.     

Information-seeking behavior and the use of online resources: a snapshot of current health sciences faculty

Objective:

The research assesses the information-seeking behaviors of health sciences faculty, including their use of online databases, journals, and social media.

Methodology:

A survey was designed and distributed via email to 754 health sciences faculty at a large urban research university with 6 health sciences colleges.

Results:

Twenty-six percent (198) of faculty responded. MEDLINE was the primary database utilized, with 78.5% respondents indicating they use the database at least once a week. Compared to MEDLINE, Google was utilized more often on a daily basis. Other databases showed much lower usage.

Conclusions:

Low use of online databases other than MEDLINE, link-out tools to online journals, and online social media and collaboration tools demonstrates a need for meaningful promotion of online resources and informatics literacy instruction for faculty.

Implications:

Library resources are plentiful and perhaps somewhat overwhelming. Librarians need to help faculty discover and utilize the resources and tools that libraries have to offer.     

The Effect of Executive Function on Biological Reasoning in Young Children: An Individual Differences Study

There is substantial variance in the age at which children construct and deploy their first explicit theory of biology. This study tests the hypothesis that this variance is due, at least in part, to individual differences in their executive function (EF) abilities. A group of 79 boys and girls aged 5–7 years (with a mean age of 6½ years) were presented with two test batteries: (a) a biology battery that probed their understanding of life, death, and body functions and (b) an EF battery that tested working memory, inhibition, and set‐shifting skills. Individuals' EF scores significantly predict their biology scores, even after controlling for age and verbal IQ.     

Cuba’s “Yes,I Can” mass adult literacy campaign model in Timor-Leste and Aboriginal Australia: A comparative study

In the field of international adult education, mass literacy campaigns enjoyed wide support in the 20th century, when they were seen as a way to increase the participation of previously marginalised and excluded populations in national development. Cuba’s 1961 campaign achieved iconic status, but was only one of many successful campaigns in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In the 1990s, while mass literacy campaigns continued in many countries, scholarly interest in them declined under the influence of World Bank empirical critiques of their effectiveness and increasing postmodern scepticism towards the socialist “grand narrative” of liberation which underpinned some of the more famous examples. Recently, the mass campaign model has gained new impetus through Cuba’s international literacy missions, which use an approach known by its Spanish name, Yo, Sí Puedo [Yes, I Can]. This paper reports on the deployment of this model in two very different settings, one being a national literacy campaign in Timor-Leste, a newly-independent island nation in the Asia–Pacific; and the other a pilot campaign in an Aboriginal community in Australia. The authors have utilised participatory action research methods to evaluate the model in both countries, and locate their comparative analysis in the theoretical tradition of popular education.     

Enhancing preschool children's vocabulary: Effects of teacher talk before,during and after shared reading

This observational study analyzed patterns of teacher extratextual talk as it occurs before, during, and after reading books to children, and the frequency and duration of teacher questioning by type (label, define, associate) on preschoolers’ receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Over the course of 18 weeks, 13 teachers and 100 children participated in ninety 20-min small-group sessions of teacher-guided shared reading instruction. Teachers’ reading instruction was examined through videotaped observations using the Multi-Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES™; Tapp, Wehby, & Ellis, 1995). Two findings, in particular, yielded relevant educational and theoretical implications. First, time spent after reading was significantly related to expressive vocabulary. However, question timing did not seem to matter in terms of receptive vocabulary outcomes. Second, duration of teacher association questioning was significantly related to receptive vocabulary outcomes while both frequency and duration of teacher vocabulary-related association-level questioning were related to expressive vocabulary. For receptive vocabulary, both vocabulary- and comprehension-related association-level questioning mattered. These findings complement the body of work demonstrating that engaging children in interactive shared reading that elicits their active participation is related to meaningful gains in children's language and literacy growth. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.