Embodied Pathways and Ethical Trails: Studying Learning in and through Relational Histories

Studies of embodied cognition offer powerful accounts of the semiotic resources people use as they think together within different domains. Yet this research does not typically foreground the history of relationships within focal interactions—a history we have found to be consequential to the ways embodied actions unfold. Through ethnographic and interactional analysis of the assistance students received in a tinkering afterschool program and the forms of assistance they enacted over time, we show how children supported one another using embodied movements that were embedded in relational histories and imbued with pedagogical and ethical values. We substantiate these findings by introducing the range of embodied movements identified within the setting, followed by a detailed analysis of three cases spanning distinct time-scales (5 minutes, 1 week, 3 years). The cases help establish the construct of embodied pathways, which we define as courses of possible action involving participants’ bodies and voices that model particular relations. We argue that the experience of receiving embodied assistance creates resources for mediation in the future, as seen in subsequent acts of guidance and solidarity across children. More broadly, we argue for greater attention to how people learn to be in relation within research on embodied learning.     

Internet Resources for Middle School Science: Golden Opportunity or “Silicon Snake Oil”?

This study examines the experiences of six teachers at three schools in learning about and beginning to implement or enhance project-based learning in their middle school science classrooms using a variety of resources available through the Internet. Data were gathered over a one-year period ending in March, 1996. As a result of their experience, teachers became aware of the possibilities and the problems created by both the nearly unlimited quantity of information available on the Internet and the limited quality and relevance of much of that information. Positive and negative experiences described by teachers and the variety of issues and concerns which they reflect are compared and contrasted, including: unreliability of network connections; potential availability to students of inappropriate resources; consistency of classroom organization structures necessary to facilitate Internet access with normally preferred teaching methods; the dependence of the efficiency and motivational value of project-based units on students' appreciation of the nature and power of the technology; conflict between curriculum space devoted to teaching about technology and that devoted to substantively using the technology to teach about science and related subjects; the on call convenience of the Internet; the up-to-date nature of much of the scientific information available on the Internet; Internet-based information (versus textbook information) as authoritative yet not impersonal.     

Education and the Hong Kong umbrella movement

Abstract

This special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory considers the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement as an educational event, which has impacted attitudes and outlooks and conceptions of young people’s role, of education, and of society. This essay serves as an introduction to the more substantive pieces that follow. It describes two alternative perspectives on youth civic engagement in Hong Kong historically; and in so doing, it addresses some of the challenges related to free academic expression that hinder scholarly research and publishing on the area of Hong Kong-China relations looking into the future. It concludes with a brief glimpse of the contributions that follow.     

Appraisal, social support, and life events: predicting outcome behavior in school-age children

To examine the relation between social support and appraisal of life events in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior in 265 school-age children, child-report on both a global and a significant other measure of social support was used. Life event scores were separated into events endorsed as negative and events endorsed as positive by the child. Using hierarchical regression analyses, the present study tested two models: main effects and moderator models of the relation between life events, social support, and behavioral outcome. Support was found for global social support and positive life events in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior. Gender differences were also found. Support was found for both the main effects and moderator models of the association between life events and global social support. Appraisal of life events as positive appears to compensate for lower levels of global social support. Appraisal is discussed as a possible protective factor from maladjustment after exposure to major life events.     

Promises and Pitfalls of Adapting Utility Value Interventions for Online Math Courses

A growing body of research suggests that interventions promoting students’ utility value for a subject can improve their academic outcomes. However, numerous questions remain regarding how much to adapt prior intervention materials to promote utility value in new educational contexts and how implementation constraints of an educational context may impact the success of these interventions. In this study, using a design-based process we developed and tested three utility value interventions in a new educational context (online high school math). We found that one of the interventions increased utility value compared to control conditions, but we also encountered constraints on intervention implementation that limited the effectiveness of our intervention and the conclusions we could draw from this work. We use our experience as a case study to illustrate the costs and benefits of making certain implementation choices when partnering with practitioners to administer utility value interventions in new contexts.     

Modelling graduate skill transfer from university to the workplace

This study explores skill transfer in graduates as they transition from university to the workplace. Graduate employability continues to dominate higher education agendas yet the transfer of acquired skills is often assumed. The study is prompted by documented concern with graduate performance in certain employability skills, and prevalent skill gaps across developed economies. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM), it models skill transfer in 674 business graduates from 39 different Australian universities. Findings support extant literature with the three areas of learner, learning programme and workplace characteristics influencing transfer. The model highlights the need for a more process-oriented, rather than outcomes-focused, approach to the acquisition and transfer of skills in graduates and the shared responsibility of transfer among stakeholder groups. There is a lack of variation among different graduate groups which suggests a generic model of skill transfer and intervention strategies for educators and employers may be implemented as bestpractice. Ultimately, graduate employers will enhance their investment return on new recruits; educators are more likely to achieve goals of work readiness; and individuals will benefit from career progression and intangible rewards associated with improved performance.