Prior degree and student assessment performance: how can evidence guide decisions on assessment policy?

This study aimed to provide evidence to guide decisions on the type and timing of assessments in a graduate medical programme, by identifying whether students from particular degree backgrounds face greater difficulty in satisfying the current assessment requirements. We examined the performance rank of students in three types of assessments and also calculated the relative risk of failure in the summative assessments for four cohorts over all four years of a four‐year graduate medical programme. Our findings suggest that early summative assessment may disadvantage the very students who create the diversity that the faculty values, particularly if methods such as Single Best Answer questions are used, unless students are provided with additional support in bridging their knowledge gap. Use of assessment methods such as Modified Essay Questions and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations appears to be more justifiable on educational grounds.     

Studying children’s social learning experimentally “in the wild”

Diffusion studies are taking us a step closer to understanding social learning and cultural transmission in young children. The first half of this article presents a review that focuses on four main cultural issues addressed by diffusion studies: (1) horizontal transmission, including child-to-child learning; (2) learning in children’s everyday environments (“in the wild”); (3) the experience of multiple demonstrations and attempts at mastering new tasks; and (4) the iterative process of learning across multiple cultural “generations.” The second half of the article introduces an open-diffusion experiment. After an initial asocial-learning phase in which children had the chance to discover two possible solutions to a puzzle box, the box was brought into the children’s playgroup, thus allowing observational learning. Although variation of method use occurred in the asocial-learning phase, by the end of the second day of the open diffusion, the group had converged on a single method. The open-diffusion approach allowed the documentation of social interactions not seen in the dyadic studies typical of the field, including both coaction and scrounging, the significance of which for cultural transmission is discussed.     

Improving children's working memory and classroom performance

Previous research has demonstrated close relationships between working memory and children's scholastic attainment. The aim of the present study was to explore a method of improving working memory, using memory strategy training. Two hundred and fifty‐four children aged five to eight years were tested on measures of the phonological loop, visuo‐spatial sketchpad and central executive components of the multiple component model of working memory. Subgroups of children also completed tasks of following instructions and mental arithmetic in the classroom, and standardised tests of reading, arithmetic and mathematics. Half of the children then used Memory Booster, a computer game that teaches memory strategies, over a period of six to eight weeks. All the children were then retested on the memory and ability measures. The standardised tests were also administered five months later. The results revealed that working memory strategy training resulted in significant improvements in tasks assessing the phonological loop and central executive components of working memory, and tasks assessing following instructions and mental arithmetic in the classroom. However, no improvements were observed on standardised tests of reading, arithmetic or mathematics, either immediately following training or five months later. The results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice.     

Normative cruelties and gender deviants: The performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school

Since the 1990s the educational community has witnessed a proliferation of ‘bullying’ discourses, primarily within the field of educational developmental social psychology. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative interview data of primary and secondary school girls and boys, this article argues that the discourse ‘bullying’ operates to simplify and individualise complex gendered/classed/sexualised/racialised power relations embedded in children's school‐based cultures. Using a feminist post‐structural approach, this article critically traces the discursive production of how the signifiers ‘bully’ and ‘victim’ are implicated in the ‘normative cruelties’ of performing and policing ‘intelligible’ heteronormative masculinities and femininities. It shows how these everyday gender performances are frequently passed over by staff and pupils as ‘natural’. The analysis also illustrates how bully discourses operate in complex racialised and classed ways that mark children out as either gender deviants, or as not adequately performing normative ideals of masculinity and femininity. In conclusion, it is argued that bully discourses offer few symbolic resources and/or practical tools for addressing and coping with everyday school‐based gender violence, and some new research directions are suggested.     

Invisible experiences: Understanding the choices and needs of university students with dependent children

This paper analyses the results of a research project on the experiences and learning needs of students with dependent children in a 1960s university. The findings are based on semi‐structured interviews with university services and academic staff, as well as a questionnaire survey among students with dependent children and follow‐up in‐depth interviews with a sample of 18 of these students. The paper shows that, for those surveyed, future employment opportunities and being a role model for their children were the main motivations for entering higher education and that their choice of university was highly spatially restricted by their caring responsibilities. It also discusses the main issues students faced once at university, including time and timing, finance, childcare, confidence, sense of belonging and skills. The paper highlights how gender and other biographical characteristics influence parents' experiences and includes suggestions for lessening the barriers they face while at university.     

Preparing for principalship from the crucible of experience: reflecting on theory,practice and research

This paper examines the theories of organisation that have informed our understanding of schools as complex social worlds and the practice of school leadership that seems to be required in such environments. This understanding has, in turn, determined the research approach we have adopted for investigating principals’ work and for ascertaining the utility of existing approaches to their initial preparation. The paper argues that the extent to which preparation processes align with principals’ professional needs will depend on the extent to which they are able to connect with the realities of workplaces found in schools as well as the environments in which they are located. For this purpose, it is desirable to pursue the kind of enquiry that is capable of revealing what schools leaders know and brings them to a new stage in their thinking about practice.     

Can changes in resistance exercise workload influence internal load,countermovement jump performance and the endocrine response?

This study examined the influence of differing volume load and intensity (%1 repetition maximum[%1RM]) resistance exercise workouts on session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) countermovement jump (CMJ) performance and endocrine responses. Twelve participants performed a workout comprising four exercises (bench press, back squat, deadlift and prone bench pull) in randomised order as either power (POW); 3 sets × 6 repetitions at 45%1RM × 3 min inter-set rest, strength (ST); 3 sets × 3 repetitions at 90%1RM × 3 min inter-set rest, or hypertrophy (HYP); 3 sets × 10 repetitions at 70%1RM × 1 min inter-set rest in a randomised-crossover design. CMJ performance and endocrine responses were measured immediately pre-, post-, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h post-exercise. POW sRPE (3.0 ± 1.0) was lower than ST (4.5 ± 1.0) (P = 0.01), and both were lower than HYP (8.5 ± 1.0) (P = 0.01). Duration of CMJ decrement was longer (P ≤ 0.05) for HYP (72 h) compared to POW (12 h) and ST (24 h). Testosterone concentration was greater (P ≤ 0.05) immediately post-exercise in HYP compared to POW and ST. In conclusion, less inter-set rest, greater volume load and intensity (%1RM) may increase sRPE, duration of CMJ performance decrement and testosterone responses in resistance exercise.     

Leading Developmental Peer Observation of Teaching in Higher Education: Perspectives from Australia and England

Whilst peer observation of teaching is well established as a practice that can enhance teaching quality, the challenge to fully embed this practice in universities remains unresolved. This article analyses the perspectives of 18 university leaders (nine Australian and nine English) drawn from a range of school-based leaders to senior leaders of learning and teaching. Our study indicates that some of the challenges associated with leading such schemes can be mitigated through approaches to educational leadership that enact a respectful and collegiate ethos. This we suggest can support developmental academic engagement in peer observation for positive and lasting change.