A democratic and student-centred approach to facilitating teamwork learning among first-year engineering students: a learning and teaching case study

This work examines an innovative and evolving approach to facilitating teamwork learning in a generic first-year mechanical engineering course. Principles of inclusive, student-active and democratic pedagogy were utilised to engage students on both the social and personal planes. Learner opportunities to facilitate, direct and lead the learning direction were emphasised. This emphasis encouraged a rich learning process and motivated students dismissive of the need to examine their communication skills and those who initially perceived the topic as a personal intrusion. Through a sharing of curriculum decisions, a climate of trust, ownership and shared value arose. Students chose from a range of tools across personality-type indicators, learning style indicators and hierarchies of human needs, to assist their capacity to express and discuss engineering designs and concepts. Peer teaching and collaborative exercises were incorporated to provide an authentic learning context and to further the student's sense of ownership.     

The journey through college of seven gifted females: Influences on their career related decisions

Using a multiple‐case study design, this research explored influences on choice of major and career related decisions of seven gifted female students from the end of high school through college over a five‐year period. Major findings suggested that academic preparation opportunities that could limit ability to achieve prominence in chosen careers by limiting access to academic programs and institutions were disappearing for females; future orientation that included dual career marriage and family expectations were consistently expressed over time, and changes in choice of major and institution, as well as career indecision were experienced. Career guidance interventions may have facilitated the career decision making efforts of these gifted females and deficits in career development may be a major barrier to career attainment for gifted females.     

X ECUMENICAL EDUCATION FOR SECOND GRADERS

Its roots are in the experience of World War II. The burgeoning military establishment and associated industries fuel it. Anti‐Communism provides the climate which nurtures it. “It” is a “new American militarism.” General Shoup, a hero of the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, who rose to become Commandant of the United States Marine Corps for four years until his retirement in December, 1963, doesn't like it. He has written this essay in collaboration with another retired Marine officer, Colonel James A. Donovan.

     

Communications

CONGLOMERATES AND THE MEDIA by Erik Barnouw, et al. (New York: The New Press, 1998‐$23.00, ISBN 1–56584–386‐X, 190 pp., photos, notes)

THE MEDIA IN QUESTION: POPULAR CULTURES AND PUBLIC INTERESTS by Kees Brants, Joke Hermes, and Liesbet van Zoonen (London: Sage, 1998‐$26.50, paper, ISBN 0–7619–5723–5, 184 pp., references, index)

POLITICS IN WIRED NATIONS: SELECTED WRITINGS OF ITHIEL DE SOLA POOL edited by Lloyd S. Etheredge (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1998‐$44.95, ISBN 1–56000–344–8, 395 pp., tables, figures, notes, bibliography of Pool's works, index)

FREE EXPRESSION AND CENSORSHIP IN AMERICA: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA by Herbert N. Foerstel (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997‐$65.00, ISBN 0–313–29231–0, 260 pp., table of cases, bibliography, index)

BANNED IN THE MEDIA: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO CENSORSHIP IN THE PRESS, MOTION PICTURES, BROADCASTING, AND THE INTERNET by Herbert N. Foerstel (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998‐price not given, ISBN 0–313–30245–6, 252 pp., notes, appendices, bibliography, index)

MEDIAMAKING: MASS MEDIA IN A POPULAR CULTURE by Lawrence Grossberg, Ellen Wartella, and D. Charles Whitney (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998‐$31.95, ISBN 0–7619–1177–4, paper, 442 pp., diagrams, boxed features, references, index)

SEMINAR ON INTELLIGENCE, COMMAND, AND CONTROL: GUEST PRESENTATIONS, SPRING 1997 (Incidental paper 1–98–2, April 1998, ISBN 1–879716–47‐X, 220 pp.)

AT THE HEART OF EVOLVING LITERACY: A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION by Morris L. Ernst (Publication P‐97–3, December 1997, ISBN 1–879716–44–5, 115 pp.)

STANDARDS FOR PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES by David J. Goodman (Publication P‐98–1, April 1998, ISBN 1–879716–46–1, 64 pp.)

CONTEXT FOR DECISIONS: GLOBAL AND LOCAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ISSUES by Anthony Oettinger (Incidental Paper I‐98–1, January 1998, ISBN 1–879716–3, 23 pp.)

PLUNKETT'S ENTERTAINMENT & MEDIA INDUSTRY ALMANAC by Jack W. Plunkett (Houston, TX: Plunkett Research, 1998‐$149.99, ISBN 0–9638268–6‐7, 626 pp., tables, index)

MEDIA LITERACY by W. James Potter (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998‐price not given, paper, ISBN 0–7619–0925–7, 406 pp., tables, boxed features, references, annotated chapter guides to further reading, index)

MEDIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW edited by Charles Warner (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997‐$39.50/22.50, ISBN 0–8058–1787–5 hard, 0–8058–1788–3 paper; 197 pp., tables, notes, index)     

What have we learned so far? The development and application of an organisational learning narrative

The use of narratives and stories has been growing in popularity in the field of knowledge management. Narratives may be used as useful vehicles for several knowledge-based activities within organisational (and other) contexts. These include acquiring and sharing knowledge in the form of personal experiences; the storage of explicit knowledge; and significantly, the development of personal knowledge and understanding through the use of narratives for sense-making. This paper presents research into the development and application of a method for the construction of a ‘learning narrative’: an organisational narrative developed for the specific purpose of sharing experiential knowledge. The paper presents a rationale for the use of narratives within knowledge management; details a methodological approach for the development of learning narratives; and highlights a number of benefits of the use of learning narratives, notably their use in sustaining and enhancing the quality of project-based work.     

Addressing the Needs of Students with Autism and Other Disabilities in China: Perspectives from the Field

Autism is a developmental disability that has gained increasing attention during the past several decades in China. The two case studies presented in this article examined the perspectives of two school leaders on educating students with autism in China. Two school principals, one from a public school and one from a private school, were interviewed during this study using 10 open-ended questions. Responses generated the following areas of discussion: teacher recruitment and training, curriculum and teaching methodology, parental involvement, and factors that contribute to success and present challenges. This study provides the readers with an update from the perspectives of two school leaders on the school system in China for children with disabilities, particularly for students with autism. Implications of the study and further suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Strategies,systems and services: a Northern Ireland early years policy perspective

Following a lengthy consultation process across Northern Ireland (NI), 2013 saw the publication of Learning to Learn: A Framework for Early Years Education and Learning [DE (Department of Education). 2013. “Learning to Learn: A Framework for Early Years Education and Learning.” Accessed July 15, 2014. http://www.deni.gov.uk/english_a_framework_for_ey_education_and_learning_oct_13_tagged.pdf]. This document has major implications for change in regard to children's services in the province. For this paper we have employed a critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology (Ozga, J. [2000]. Policy Research in Educational Settings. Buckingham: Open University Press) in order to explore the relationships between language and power in the shaping of the policy discourse illustrated by Learning to Learn. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the language and assumptions made in the document, particularly in relation to the issues of quality and workforce qualifications. Attention is drawn to the message of the framework document that early years professionals must provide consistently high quality services to children and families through a process involving effective collaboration. However, the persistent ‘split system’ of statutory and voluntary sectors within the field of early childhood provision in NI plays a key role in the creation and legitimation of dominant discourses and accepted norms. Through this CDA process we demonstrate the ‘emancipatory potential’ of CDA for analysis of early years policy by both academics and practitioners.