Mental Calculation Methods Used By 11-Year-Olds in Different Attainment Bands: a reanalysis of data from the 1987 APU survey in the UK

This paper describes thereanalysis of data obtained in 1987 on themental calculation strategies used by asample of 11-year-olds in the course of anational survey of schools in England,Wales and Northern Ireland. The mentalskills test was administered to pupils in aone-to-one situation and the reanalysismade use of classifications of mentalstrategies developed in the past decade ininternational research. These pupils werea subsample of the main sample of about 10000 who took a written test of mathematicsin the survey, 247 taking both tests. Thescores on the written test were used todistribute these pupils into three bands ofattainment in order to compare thefrequency and effectiveness of thestrategies used by pupils of differentlevels of attainment. Eight of thereanalysed questions are discussed, each ofthem involving one of the four basicarithmetic operations. Some are purelynumerical and in others the numbers are ina context. Top band pupils mostly preferredsequential strategies which leave one ofthe numbers in the calculation complete,while the Bottom band generally preferredto split complete numbers and operateseparately on the components of the numbersthus partitioned. The most popularstrategy for Middle band pupils in severalquestions was the standard algorithm usedmentally. Complete number strategies werethe most successful for pupils in all threebands. Possible implications for theNational Numeracy Strategy in Britain arediscussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Creative Arts Personal Pedagogy vs Marketised Higher Education: A battle between values

The ongoing marketisation of higher education in England can be understood both conceptually – in terms of its ideological commitment to competition and accountability; and practically – in terms of the way that it has altered higher education structurally in a variety of ways. Methods of standardisation and quantification offer validation and reward to institutions through criteria aligned with marketised principles, leading to institutions shaping their operations to suit these forms of justification. Historically, many arts subjects have operated conceptually and organisationally outside the traditional higher education paradigm, and pedagogic approaches and values that are attributable to this subject area could clash with marketised understandings of education, which are becoming more prevalent and influential. This article presents analysis of reflections from creative arts educational practitioners working within higher education institutions in England on explorations of an ontology of the creative arts, as well as experiences of the marketisation process. A series of values relating to the concept of ‘the personal’, inherent to the creative arts are discussed and an exploration of how these principles clash with the priorities of the marketised educational economy are articulated. The values and principles that are inherent to educators and practitioners working in the creative arts are competing with ‘marketised’ motives imposed on them by the institutions in which they work.     

The effect of changes in item sequence on student performance in a multiple-choice chemistry test

It is standard practice to arrange items in objective tests in order of increasing difficulty, on the assumption that such an arrangement increases student motivation and produces more reliable tests. The validity of this assumption was investigated in the context of a multiplechoice chemistry test. Fifty items were arranged in three sequences of difficulty: random (R), easy-to-hard (E-H) and hard-to-easy (H-E). The mean test score was significantly higher for the test sequenced E-H than for the test sequenced H-E. Item difficulty index was raised by placement of the easier items toward the beginning of the test and lowered by placement of these items toward the end of the test. Test reliability was largely independent of item sequence.     

Finding Diego: A Bilingual Student Integrates School,Language, and Identity

This article presents a mixed-methods case study of Diego, a bilingual teen who completed public school in Florida. During adolescence, Diego negotiated multiple identities: successful student, Mexican American, bilingual, and typical U.S. teenager. Diego provided interviews and bilingual (English/Spanish) writing (narrative/expository) in 2008 (at age 12, Grade 6) and in 2012 (at age 16, Grade 10). A qualitative analysis of his interviews and a quantitative linguistic analysis of his writing reveal central elements of Diego’s language development as related to academic English and identity. Educational implications for working with bilingual adolescents are discussed.     

Two worlds,one site: leading practices and transitions to school

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an account of a cross-sectorial study investigating whether shared understandings of practices might enhance continuity during transitions to school. Applying an ontological lens to cross-sectorial leading practices, the paper sheds light on the contextualised realities of transitions to school as a site specific lived experience. The paper begins with an overview of the ways transitions to school practices are understood, including emerging perspectives of transitions as continuity practices. Then, cross-sectorial concepts of leadership and leading are presented to highlight fundamental differences in the ways these practices are enacted across the sectors. The paper presents empirical evidence of the ways leading practices can work to establish shared understandings of transitions to school practices and policies. Given ‘little research has been done on the direct effects of leadership on transitions’ (OECD. [2017]. Starting Strong V: Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary School. Paris: OECD Publications, 95) the paper contributes to emerging discourses that construct transitions to school as continuities.     

The story of Samantha: the teaching performances and inauthenticities of an early career human geography lecturer

ABSTRACT

This paper offers an autoethnographic account of my first academic year as a Human Geography lecturer at a ‘new’ public university in the North West of England. This research is timely and much needed, since teaching at universities in England has recently come under increasing scrutiny. The Teaching Excellence Framework is a new scheme, which aims to recognise and reward excellence in teaching, learning, and outcomes, and helps to inform student choice. This paper is theoretically framed by drawing on notions of theatrical performance, and performativity. This paper offers insight into the coping strategies, in respect of teaching, that I deployed as a new university lecturer. Findings are discussed around the themes of: performing teaching identities, and inauthenticity. With regard to performing teaching identities, this paper discusses the need for identity to be multiple and shifting, and how, as a young female, I undertook identity work, in order to perform competence. I also bring to the fore feelings of inauthenticity; that is, how I did not feel as if I was a genuine academic, and how I fabricated / falsified aspects of my academic identity in order to ‘fit in’ with the expectations of both students and staff. As the voice of a new lecturer in her first year of teaching, this paper makes a useful contribution to the scholarship on early career academics and teaching development. This paper concludes with recommendations for change in practice-based settings, in order to assist new lecturers to settle into the job role, and enhance and enrich teaching practice.     

Predicting students' epistemological orientation from demographic,ability, and learning style variables

Although college students' epistemological orientation largely determines how they approach, interpret, and learn in higher educational contexts, little is known about the student characteristics which reliably predict the orientation. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the relative potency of different student characteristics potentially salient to differentiating epistemological view. The student variables evaluated were demographic (major and sex), verbal ability, and learning style (four scales from the Inventory of Learning Processes). Results of correlational and multiple regression analyses reveal that only students verbal skill accounted for a significant percent of the variance in epistemological orientation. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of the orientation, its relevance to practitioners, and implications for further investigation.