A Tale of Two Cities: a comparison of the PGCE Secondary English programmes at the Universities of Bristol and Malta,with particular emphasis on the student teachers' school‐based experience and the role of the mentor

In this article, we compare the Secondary English Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) programme for initial teacher education at the University of Bristol, UK, with that at the University of Malta, with particular attention to the content of the respective programmes and the role of the school‐based mentor. We explore issues raised by the fact that, while Bristol relies on a mentor figure to support all student teachers, the Maltese programme does not yet use this model. Consideration is given to the benefits and challenges of working with mentors and the implications for student teachers and their mentors with the development of the newly‐introduced School Direct programme in England.     

Argument in Reading: what does it involve and how can students become better critical readers?

ABSTRACT

One of the biggest problems in Higher Education, but one which is often not fully recognised by either students or teachers until some way into academic courses, is the problem of reading, perhaps because reading in itself is not assessed. However, the results or output from reading are assessed. Students are often overwhelmed by the quantity of reading required and fail to adequately exploit or benefit from their reading efforts when they themselves write or give presentations. Tutors complain about the lack of critical argument in much student work. This paper takes argument in reading as a central touchstone to academic study, discusses some views of the source of the difficulty and makes some suggestions which have proved to be helpful.     

Multilingual Mix in Hong Kong Advertising,Pre- and Post-1997

The paper examines the historical change in linguistic practice of Hong Kong advertising through the decolonization period and attempts to make sense of it from a local-and-global point of view beyond the conventional national-functionalist perspective. It is found that the prominent patterns of language mixing in the advertising of Hong Kong are not only ‘Standard Written Chinese mixed with English’, but also ‘Standard Written Chinese mixed with both English and Cantonese’. The embedded elements of both English and Cantonese in the Chinese advertisements can take the form of a word, a phrase and/or a full clause and can serve both informational and involving functions. Finally, it is argued that multilingual mix in Hong Kong advertising is a phenomenon constantly emerging in the multicultural process of globalization and that being able to mix different languages or varieties of languages for effective communication should be an aspect of linguistic competence highly valued in the age of globalization and localization.     

The international student experience: three styles of adaptation

The subjective well-being of a sample of 979 international students attending a large metropolitan university in Melbourne, Australia, was investigated. A person-focussed approach was used to determine whether different ways of adapting, based on patterns of well-being, could be discerned. Cluster analysis of responses on 21 measures identified three different patterns: positive and connected (58.8% of students), unconnected and stressed (34.4%), and distressed and risk-taking (6.7%). Tests of the concurrent validity of the typology were significant. Demographic factors were not particularly helpful in distinguishing among the three patterns of well-being. The results provide universities with knowledge pertinent to provision of appropriate international student support.     

Assessment of the practicum in teacher education: advocating for the student teacher and questioning the gatekeepers

This paper reports on research that suggests a new view of assessment of the practicum in teacher education. By transcending the stereotypes of “failing” student teachers who do not achieve traditional benchmarks, this new lens highlights the complexity, diversity and inequality of experiences through listening to the voices of the student teachers and their mentors. By valuing context and focusing on progress and development rather than absolute attainment, teacher educators are challenged to reflect on their own role as mentors and educators through guiding principles of practicum learning. These guiding principles of practicum learning are the result of significant observation in the practicum classroom followed by critical analysis of data provided as narrative. A more humane, trusting and respectful attitude towards assessment is suggested.     

An investigation of sex differences on incidental memory for verbal and pictorial material

Previous research has sometimes claimed a female advantage on tasks of incidental memory. However, it is uncertain whether the sex difference was due to the incidental, or to the heavily verbal, nature of the tasks used, since women are known to have better verbal memory than men. The current study asked whether a female superiority would be found under less verbally-loaded conditions. No sex difference was found on two different pictorial tasks, both of which measured incidental memory for the content of complex scenes. In contrast, a female advantage was observed across both incidental and intentional conditions when easily labeled stimuli were used. This advantage was eliminated on the incidental condition when the effects of intentional verbal memory were controlled for. These findings strongly suggest that previous reports of a female advantage on incidental memory may have been due to the choice of verbalizable stimuli.     

Classroom and Worksheet Activities across the Curriculum

This article shows how teachers can create useful classroom activities to underpin data‐handling methods for pupils aged 7–19. We use the data base of responses from the UK CensusAtSchool project that are available for pupils and teachers.     

Real-time,evidence-based medicine instruction: a randomized controlled trial in a neonatal intensive care unit

Purpose: The study assesses potential for improving residents'' evidence-based medicine searching skills in MEDLINE through real-time librarian instruction.Subjects: Ten residents on a rotation in a neonatal intensive care unit participated.Methodology: Residents were randomized into an instruction and a non-instruction group. Residents generated questions from rounds and searched MEDLINE for answers. Data were collected through observation, search strategy analysis, and surveys. Librarians observed searches and collected data on questions, searching skills, search problems, and the test group''s instruction topics. Participants performed standardized searches before, after, and six-months after intervention and were scored using a search strategy analysis tool (1 representing highest score and 5 representing lowest score). Residents completed pre- and post-intervention surveys to measure opinions about MEDLINE and search satisfaction.Results: Post-intervention, the test group formulated better questions, used limits more effectively, and reported greater confidence in using MEDLINE. The control group expressed less satisfaction with retrieval and demonstrated more errors when limiting. The test and control groups had the following average search scores respectively: 3.0 and 3.5 (pre-intervention), 3.3 and 3.4 (post-intervention), and 2.0 and 3.8 (six-month post-intervention).Conclusion: Data suggest that measurable learning outcomes were achieved. Residents receiving instruction improved and retained searching skills six-months after intervention.     

The Interplay of School Readiness and Teacher Readiness for Educational Technology Integration: A Structural Equation Model

Decades of research have shown that technological change in schools depends on multiple interrelated factors. Structural equation models explaining the interplay of factors often suffer from high complexity and low coherence. To reduce complexity, a more robust structural equation model was built with data from a survey of 349 Swiss primary school teachers. It confirms that educational technology integration is dependent on individual teachers' readiness, which is in turn influenced by school readiness. Teacher readiness to integrate educational technology is based on perceived skills and beliefs. Facets of school readiness include educational technology resources in classrooms, perceived importance of technology integration, goal clarity, head teacher support, as well as formal and informal exchange among teachers.     

CensusAtSchool 2000

This article covers the development of an ambitious Internet‐based project to conduct a simple census of the schoolchildren of England and Wales linked to the 2001 UK National Census.