Social issues in high school biology textbooks: 1963– 1983

Twenty-two high school biology textbooks published between 1963 and 1983 were analyzed for their treatment of social issues. Textbooks were selected from among those used most frequently by teachers and/or having the highest sales. The textbooks were read in random order and the amount of space, to the nearest tenth of a page, devoted to each social issue was expressed as a percentage of total length of text. The results showed that attention to social issues decreased between 1963 and 1983 in the textbooks studied. The implications of these results for biology education in the 1980s are discussed.     

Design-based research: is this a suitable methodology for short-term projects?

This article reports on a design-based methodology of a thesis in which a fully face-to-face contact module was converted into a blended learning course. The purpose of the article is to report on how design-based phases, in the form of micro-, meso- and macro-cycles were applied to improve practice and to generate design principles. Design-based research traditionally is associated with multiple iterations of design, development and revision over a long period of time. This challenges the idea of design-based research being an appropriate methodology for a short-term thesis or dissertation. We argue that graduate students who are limited by time constraints can also conduct educational design-based research as long as the relevant phases are followed, which can produce significant, appropriate and effective design principles. This article suggests that the scope of design-based research should not be limited to long-term projects only, which restricts the value of implementing this methodology to improve practice.     

The Chain and Post-Stratification Methods for Observed-Score Equating: Their Relationship to Population Invariance

The Non-Equivalent-groups Anchor Test (NEAT) design has been in wide use since at least the early 1940s. It involves two populations of test takers, P and Q, and makes use of an anchor test to link them. Two linking methods used for NEAT designs are those (a) based on chain equating and (b) that use the anchor test to post-stratify the distributions of the two operational test scores to a common population (i.e., Tucker equating and frequency estimation). We show that, under different sets of assumptions, both methods are observed score equating methods and we give conditions under which the methods give identical results. In addition, we develop analogues of the Dorans and Holland (2000) RMSD measures of population invariance of equating methods for the NEAT design for both chain and post-stratification equating methods.     

Teachers and ICT: current use and future needs

In Scotland, ICT is clearly integral to the existing curriculum in primary and secondary education, see, for example, the 5–14 Development Programme or Higher Still in which information technology is identified as one of the core skills areas (HSDU, 1998). In light of current UK-wide developments such as the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) and the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) funded training in ICT for teachers and librarians, it is all the more important to understand teachers' ICT skills and knowledge needs, to discover their priorities for future development and to establish what will encourage teachers to adopt ICT where appropriate in their professional lives as classroom practitioners, as planners and managers and as learners. An investigation of the ICT skills and knowledge needs of teachers working in Scotland was therefore commissioned by the Scottish Office and completed by the authors. This paper reports on that study indicating relatively low use of ICT and a number of key issues which have implications for teacher training and development. The full report is available on the Scottish Executive website (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/).     

Social processes and creative collaboration in children

Although there is an extensive body of literature that investigates the process and outcomes of children’s collaboration on scientific reasoning tasks, very little work has focussed on the nature and quality of children’s collaboration on creative tasks. One study reported here used a questionnaire to music teachers to ask about their typical design of musical tasks in the classroom and the factors that influenced these decisions. A further study reported here investigated the effects of friendship, gender and previous musical experience upon the interactional processes and musical outcome of children’s collaborative compositions. The design included comparison between friendship pairs and non-friendship pairs and also between males and females, with 11–12 year old children at an English middle school. All pairs consisted of one child with previous musical experience and one child without. All compositional sessions were video taped and the musical and verbal elements were coded with reference to the proportion of transactive and non-transactive elements present. Results demonstrated that the communication (both verbal and musical) between the friendship pairs was qualitatively different from the communication in the non-friendship pairs. Specifically, the friendship pairs showed more transactive communication and, when a teacher rated the final compositions, the friendship pairs scored significantly higher. Multiple regression analysis highlighted that the amount of transactive communication was a significant predicator of the quality of the children’s composition. The results are discussed with reference to the nature of communication, the impact of friendship and the assessment of creative work.