Learning about the educational uses of the internet by producing an educational web site in an interdisciplinary and virtual team

ABSTRACT

In this paper we describe the use of an interactive software package designed to raise issues and questions about the role of information technology within the primary classroom and to highlight the partnership aspects inherent within a teacher tutor/mentor approach to the supervision of school placements. Data were collected from a variety of people concerned in the exercise: teacher tutors, university liaison tutors and student teachers. These data concerned not only the efficacy of the materials themselves, but also the effect or impact of the exercise upon the school placement experience. A number of issues emerged from our exploration into this exercise revealing attitudes towards information technology in education. These concerned ownership of learning and questions of expertise, access to partnership and co‐professionality, staff and student attitudes towards information technology and towards partnership and implications for the future. Our data suggest that learning becomes powerful when the learner takes ownership. Information technology can enable the shift towards creator and is a powerful means of achieving that.     

STUDENT NEEDS IN AN ERA OF MASS HIGHER EDUCATION 1

The article gives an overview of higher education in Europe and North America from the student revolts of 1968 to the present, stressing its massification and its diversification. Economic insecurity, the author suggests, has made students forgo the radicalism of the late 1960's; however, the poor conditions in which students must study should serve as a warning to the public authorities. The growing complexity of the educational process, including the links between education and future employment and employability, are such that the services of student advisors and counsellors are needed at all levels. Their services will become as important as those provided by the teachers themselves.

     

Perception,communication and educational research: A transactional view

Summary We have not presented a transactional theory, since, so far as we know, there is no one such theory to present. Instead, we have outlined some transactional viewpoints which we consider potentially useful in audiovisual communication, learning resources development, and research in these areas. We have suggested some implications and advantages of transactional assumptions.     

Acupuncture for treating polycystic ovary syndrome: guidance for future randomized controlled trials

Objective

To provide guidance for future randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on a review concerning acupuncture for treating polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was conducted in October 2015 using MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCISEARCH, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group trials register, Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Wanfang databases. RCTs comparing either acupuncture with no/sham/pharmacological intervention or a combination of acupuncture and conventional therapy with conventional therapy in the treatment of PCOS were included in this review. A quality evaluation was performed for each of the included studies.

Results

Thirty-one RCTs were included in the review and were divided into four categories according to the type of intervention used in the comparator or control group. Menstrual frequency, hormones, anthropometrics, insulin sensitivity, blood lipids, and fertility were used as the main measurements to assess the effects of acupuncture on the patients with PCOS. Thirty trials, except for one, showed an improvement in at least one of the indicators of PCOS after acupuncture treatment. However, normalizing the methodological and reporting format remains an issue.

Conclusions

Based upon this review of current clinical trials concerning acupuncture for treating PCOS, we provide guidelines for better clinical trial design in the future.

     

Functional Assessment to Predict Capacity for Work in a Population of School‐leavers with Disabilities

This study reports on an assessment system for school‐leavers with disabilities to identify their capacity for work and the type of transition‐to‐work programme best suited to each person. Participants were 1,556 high school students in four cohorts who left school between 1999 and 2002. Each school‐leaver was assessed by rehabilitation counsellors for functional ability and capacity for work. In a supplementary study, the 2002 cohort was assessed by special transition teachers using a short screening tool. The results demonstrate that there is a predictable hierarchy of functional acquisition among school‐leavers with disabilities and that the single best predictor of future capacity for work and need for transition‐to‐work programmes among this group of young people is the capacity to manage activities of daily living. The results also demonstrate that a short screen used by teachers, together with a behavioural assessment, is sufficient to stream school‐leavers with a disability into a range of transition‐to‐work programmes.     

In‐school Experience Designed to Meet Individual Needs

Current policies at both the state and national levels emphasise the need for increased attention to teaching children with special needs and more extensive school‐based experience in teacher education courses. This paper reports an in‐school experience which was an integral part of an on‐campus subject that focused upon teaching children with special needs. It also addressed a range of issues currently of concern in pre‐service teacher education, including the nature of the in‐school experience, managing the needs of children with learning difficulties in an integrated classroom, overcoming the socialising effect of block practice teaching, reinforcing the relevance of campus‐based subjects, maintaining a balance between the formal teaching expectations and the nurturing roles of teachers, providing teacher educators with recent and relevant in‐school experience, and producing reflective teachers with an understanding and appreciation of the ‘art’ and the ‘science’ of teaching.     

Occupational Outcomes for Bachelor of Science Graduates in Australia and Implications for Undergraduate Science Curricula

Recent national reports have highlighted the contribution that the sciences make to the Australian economy. Many developed economies report perceived shortages of STEM qualified workers, and at the same time, many science graduates have difficulty in finding work, especially work in their discipline. Rational education design dictates that science curricula at all levels should be based on a realistic representation of the actual practice of science graduates. So where do Australian science graduates go postgraduation? Using the Australian national census data set, we present a focussed investigation into the occupational status of Australian science bachelor graduates, how this status varies with graduate age and gender, how this status varies between science degree specialisms and how this status compares to a range of other disciplines. We consider the implications of these findings for undergraduate science degree curriculum design. We find that Australian science bachelor graduates work in a wide range of occupations, and even immediately postgraduation, only a minority of science bachelor graduates are working in traditional science occupations. Occupational outcomes vary significantly between science degree specialisms. For a contemporary undergraduate science curriculum to reflect the occupational outcomes of science bachelor graduates, there is a balance required to ensure adequate technical preparation for those students who pursue a career in their discipline as science professionals and to also address the broader knowledge, skills and attitudes that will equip the majority of graduates from Australian science programs for successful employment, further education and active participation in their communities, using their science knowledge.