Students’ Independent Use of Screencasts and Simulations to Construct Understanding of Solubility Concepts

As students increasingly use online chemistry animations and simulations, it is becoming more important to understand how students independently engage with such materials and to develop a set of best practices for students’ use of these resources outside of the classroom. Most of the literature examining students’ use of animations and simulations has focused on classroom use with some studies suggesting that better outcomes are obtained when students use simulations with minimal guidance while others indicate the need for appropriate scaffolding. This study examined differences with respect to (1) student understanding of the concept of dissolution of ionic and covalent compounds in water and (2) student use of electronic resources when students were asked to complete an assignment either by manipulating a simulation on their own or by watching a screencast in which an expert manipulated the same simulation. Comparison of students’ pre- and posttest scores, answers to assignment questions, near-transfer follow-up questions, and eye-tracking analysis suggested that students who viewed the screencast gained a better understanding of the dissolving process, including interactions with water at the particulate level, particularly for covalent compounds. Additionally, the eye tracking indicated that there were significant differences in the ways that the different treatment groups (screencast or simulation) used the electronic resources.     

Developing Place‐Based Pedagogies to Challenge Institutional Authority

This article discusses a current research project being undertaken by Tate Liverpool with a local university. The study is exploring the impact of a school‐in‐residence programme on children, teachers and the gallery. The invitation to schools to undertake these residencies fits with current agendas within the museum and galleries sector where institutions internationally have increasing ambitions towards handing over to their audiences, encouraging them to take ownership of their physical and intellectual spaces. However, the power dynamics at play, in terms of who makes the invitation and on what terms, have ethical implications that make taking up this offer challenging and potentially limiting. This article will begin to explore the possibilities of Place‐Based Education and its pedagogy as a practice to challenge these positions for both the teacher and gallery.     

Invention in the city: Increasing returns to patenting as a scaling function of metropolitan size

We investigate the relationship between patenting activity and the population size of metropolitan areas in the United States over the last two decades (1980-2001). We find a clear superlinear effect, whereby new patents are granted disproportionately in larger urban centers, thus showing increasing returns in inventing activity with respect to population size. We characterize this relation quantitatively as a power law with an exponent larger than unity. This phenomenon is commensurate with the presence of larger numbers of inventors in larger metropolitan areas, which we find follows a quantitatively similar superlinear relationship to population, while the productivity of individual inventors stays essentially constant across metropolitan areas. We also find that structural measures of the patent co-authorship network although weakly correlated to increasing rates of patenting, are not enough to explain them. Finally, we show that R&D establishments and employment in other creative professions also follow superlinear scaling relations to metropolitan population size, albeit possibly with different exponents.     

Systematic review of young children's writing on screen: what do we know and what do we need to know

Writing is part and parcel of children's active meaning‐making on and with screens, but it has been relatively neglected in the literature focused on children's digital literacies. This study synthesises existing empirical evidence focused on young children's (aged between 2 and 8 years) writing on screen and identifies the relationships between dominant themes in published literature and contemporary theories of children's technology use. A systematic literature review that included studies from diverse disciplines yielded 21 papers. Constant comparative analysis generated five themes that indicate four key directions for future research. We call attention to researchers' theoretical framing to supplement mono‐disciplinary approaches and single levels of analysis. We suggest that future research should provide greater specification of the purpose of children's writing on screen and the different types of tools and applications supporting the activity. We also highlight the need for interdisciplinary approaches that would capture the composing stages involved in the writing process with and around screens. Finally, we point out possible age‐related differences in documenting and reporting the composing process in classrooms. Overall, limitations in the current evidence base highlight the need for research conducted from a critical perspective and focused more directly on multimodality.     

Are they paying attention? Students’ lack of motivation and attention potentially threaten the utility of course evaluations

Student evaluations are a common source of information used by instructors and administrators, but their utility depends on students’ motivation and attention. This paper presents evidence from two studies indicating that insufficient effort responding and lack of motivation may be problems in course evaluations. In the first study, approximately one in four students responded in an improbable way to ‘catch items’ embedded in actual course evaluation instruments, suggesting a lack of attention. In the second study, students’ responses to an online survey indicated that they doubted that their responses to course evaluations would be used by instructors or administrators. The majority of students admitted to only occasionally putting sufficient effort into their responses. Potential means for identifying insufficient effort responding and mechanisms for increasing student attention and motivation during the course evaluation process are discussed.     

Planning for Equity at the University of South Australia

This paper details the approachtaken by one of Australia's newer universitiesto ensure institution-wide commitment to theUniversity's mission to provide educationalopportunities ... to meet the needs of groupswithin the community ... [who] have suffereddisadvantages in education ...'The paper places the University's approachwithin the context of a national policyframework for equity and access in highereducation which aims `to change the balance ofthe student body to reflect more closely thestructure and composition of the society as awhole' (DEET 1990, p. 2). This framework hasrequired all federal government-fundeduniversities to prepare annual equity plans. The allocation of federal equity funding hasbeen tied to these plans.The University of South Australia's approachhas embedded planning for equity and accesswithin the University's comprehensive annualplanning and review processes, to the extentthat each academic school and administrativeunit is required to address equityconsiderations in its annual and medium-termplan.     

Thresholds of Quality: Implications for the Social Development of Children in Center-based Child Care

We assessed the quality of center child care relationships with adults and peers for 414 children (ages 14 to 54 months). Classrooms were classified by ratio and group size provisions of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) and by the Early Childhood and Infant and Toddler Environmental Rating Scales. Children cared for in classrooms meeting FIDCR ratios were more likely to be in classrooms rated as good or very good in caregiving and activities. Children in classrooms rated as good or very good in caregiving were more likely to be securely attached to teachers. Securely attached children were more competent with peers. Children cared for in classrooms meeting FIDCR group size were more likely to be in classrooms rated higher in activities. Children in classrooms rated high in activities were likely to orient to both adults and peers. Children with social orientations to adults and peers were more competent with peers.     

CAKES (Cultural Awareness and Knowledge Exchange Scheme): a holistic and inclusive approach to supporting international students

Transition support for international students has traditionally adopted deficit models which attempt to ‘fix’ assumed academic literacy problems. This study explores a more culturally inclusive initiative which supported international students at a UK university in a holistic and developmental way. The initiative was delivered across an academic year and a mix of focus groups and semi-structured interviews were undertaken for evaluation purposes. Although small-scale, the initiative emerged as a lively learning community which was highly successful in facilitating both academic and sociocultural transition. Qualitative data illuminate a number of fruitful methodological foci, including informality of the learning space and exploration of intercultural learning and teaching practices. Findings indicate that these cultural explorations were instrumental in helping students navigate the new learning and teaching system and forge a stronger sense of academic and social belonging. These outcomes were cultivated within an ethos that valued and enhanced the diverse skills, identities and attributes that students brought, rather than one that suppressed their previous learning practices. Findings thus demonstrate how transition and academic success can be facilitated in ways that do not problematize international students and highlight the need for more holistic and inclusive ways of supporting them.     

An appreciative exploration of how schools create a sense of belonging to facilitate the successful transition to a new school for pupils involved in a managed move

Much of the current guidance on managed moves focuses on the benefits of the ‘fresh start’ provided. This paper describes an appreciative inquiry to explore how schools in one local authority create a sense of belonging to facilitate a fresh start for pupils involved in a managed move to a new school. Six deputy head teachers with pastoral responsibility took part in a focus group using an appreciative inquiry (Ai) 4-D cycle. The discovery, dream and design phases sought to build on the current practice and identify the improvements to practice. Thematic analysis of the data identified many aspects of belonging, which are in line with those identified in the literature such as creating a school identity, developing partnerships and specific activities such as inter-form competitions and family assemblies. Generating school identity and home-school-pupil partnerships were also identified in relation to managed moves. In the destiny stage, themes were fed back and discussed with a wider Deputy Head Group and Good Practice Guidance to facilitate the successful transition to a new school for pupils involved in a managed move that was produced and circulated across the LA. The importance of empathising with the potential challenges of changing school and forming and maintaining new relationships for pupils engaging in a managed move is highlighted and the Good Practice Guidance illustrates how transition, induction and ongoing support plans can take this into account.