Learning environment associated with use of mixed mode delivery model among secondary business studies students in Singapore

At many teacher education institutes around the world, preservice teachers are empowered to use pedagogical tools and strategies that engage their students. We used a modified version of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) to evaluate the effectiveness of a pedagogical model known as the Mixed Mode Delivery (MMD) model in terms of the CLES’s five scales of personal relevance, uncertainty, critical voice, shared control and negotiation. Comparisons were made between 2,216 secondary school students taught by the preservice teachers in an MMD group and 991 students in a control group in terms of the relative magnitudes of the gap between the actual and preferred learning environment in students’ school classrooms. The findings supported the positive impact of using MMD in terms of students’ perceptions of their classroom environments for all CLES scales.     

TEACHER TRAINING AND SCHOOL PRACTICE

In their previous article (Educational Research, 13, 1) the authors discussed the attitudes of 1,000 pupils in selective secondary schools towards literature generally and towards GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations. In that article they explored pupils’ expressed likes and dislikes of texts prescribed by GCE examining boards; they now consider these same pupils’ preferences in their leisure reading, and conclude that present methods of teaching English often fail to take into account ‘consumer’ response, particularly in poetry and drama reading.     

Recent experimental strategies for prejudice reduction in American schools and classrooms

Through an analysis of policy documents, archival material, interviews and journal articles, this paper attempts to map those discourses which have become an important part of the meanings and practices that make up the physical education curriculum in New South Wales, Australia, from 1880 to 1980. It uses a feminist perspective to argue that the dominance of a masculine agenda, built around organized sport and the human movement sciences, has marginalized other pedagogies and other forms of physical activity, such as gymnastics and dance, which are more likely to be associated with women. Physical education possesses characteristics which make it a particularly potent site within education for discourses about the body. When organized sports dominate the curriculum, the valuing of individual achievement through aggressive competition, within a context of male dominance, becomes the normative standard. This typically works against women's and girls’ participation in physical education and physical activity; it also contributes to the (re)production of notions of women being ‘weaker’ and ‘lacking’ in relation to male superior strength and skill. There has been a marked and continuing absence of oppositional discourses in Australian physical education to contest the dominance of the masculine tradition. Contestation has been framed primarily within liberal feminist or ‘equal opportunity’ discourses which rarely challenge the dominant forms of physical education. Further analyses using feminist perspectives are required to challenge existing curricula.     

Anxiety in Science Classrooms: its measurement and relationship to classroom environment

This paper considers the role of a new vocational science qualification in the UK (Intermediate General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) science) and how it relates to science-based employment. Studies into employers' requirements are reviewed and found to indicate that an ability to understand and evaluate scientific evidence is valued highly. This part of science is not currently taught explicitly either in GNVQ or elsewhere in the science curriculum. The authors report the results of a small intervention study in which ideas about evidence were explicitly taught within Intermediate GNVQ science. The findings suggest that it is feasible to incorporate such teaching into the qualification but that, if it is not part of the formal assessment process, the teaching tends to be undervalued by the students. By contrast, the teaching staff involved in the project recognised that these ideas fill a gap in the qualification and valued the teaching materials developed for this purpose. A means of incorporating the assessment of such understanding into the current assessment procedures is put forward. Such a modification to the assessment process would add rigour to the qualification and provide a better preparation for employment in science-based industry.     

Australasian academic developers' conceptions of the profession

Seventy-one professionals working in the field of academic/educational/teaching development were surveyed on issues relating to the profession. From that sample, 22 developers were interviewed on a range of related issues pertaining to their perceptions of the profession. The interviewees referred to the profession using different terminology for quite specific and often historical reasons. Different and sometimes diametrically opposed conceptionsof the profession were held by different individuals. In this paper I report on the divergent conceptions of the profession which were reported in those interviews.     

Australasian 1 academic developers: Entry into the profession and our own professional development

Abstract

In academic/educational/teaching development circles, at least in the United Kingdom, North America and Australasia, there is increasing debate as to the credibility of professionals in the field. Coinciding with the recent discussions about the value and need to accredit university teachers and teaching, questions are being asked about the need to accredit academic developers. Academic developers themselves are asking questions such as: do we need to have studied specific disciplines?; do we need to be accredited by a national or an international body?; and in what ongoing professional development do we need to engage in order to keep up to date? To begin to collect background data relevant to these issues, I surveyed 71 developers from a wide range of Australasian institutions. From that sample I interviewed 22 developers. In this paper I report on issues of career paths, qualifications and the professional development of academic developers.

     

White children's empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior toward White and Black children

Relations among White (non-Latinx) children's empathy-related responding, prosocial behaviors, and racial attitudes toward White and Black peers were examined. In 2017, 190 (54% boys) White 5- to 9-year-old children (M = 7.09 years, SD = 0.94) watched a series of videos that depicted social rejection of either a White or Black child. Empathy-related responses, prosocial behaviors, and racial attitudes were measured using multiple methods. Results showed that younger children showed less facial concern toward Black than White peers and greater increases with age in concern and prosocial behaviors (sharing a desirable prize) for Black, compared to White, targets. Children's facial anger increased with age for White but not Black targets. The findings can extend our understanding children's anti-racism development.     

A model for principals' STEM leadership capability

In this paper we develop a model for the capabilities required by principals for effective Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) leadership. The model underpinned a large national cross-sectional research and development project across Australian states in both primary and secondary schools. This model is developed via synthesis of research literature across leadership and STEM education. The model consists of five dimensions of principals' STEM capability: (1) STEM discipline-specific and integrated knowledge and practices; (2) contexts; (3) dispositions; (4) tools; and (5) critical orientation. These dimensions represent distinct, but interrelated, capacities required by principals to establish and maintain positive STEM learning cultures within schools. Elaborations have been provided, in the form of capabilities, for each of these dimensions. The model has the potential for shaping principals' STEM leadership development trajectories and structuring targeted professional learning programmes for principals, teachers and other members of the school community.     

Supporting mature-aged students from a low socioeconomic background

The aim of the current study was to examine mature-aged student perceptions of university support services and barriers to study. Using a mixed methods approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted with mature-aged students to identify barriers to study, knowledge and use of current student support services, and suggestions to improve upon these services. From these data and an audit of university support services, an online survey was created to examine study barriers and patterns of support service use, as well as, perceptions of proposed support services not currently offered by the university within a larger sample of mature-aged students. Analysis of survey data indicated distinct patterns of barriers and support service use according to socioeconomic status as well as other demographic factors such as, age and enrolment status. Study findings are discussed in terms of generating support services for the retention of mature-aged students of low socioeconomic status and for the retention of mature-aged students in general.