Telematics and development

Abstract

Developed countries are rapidly evolving into information economies, and given the increasing internationalization of trade and interdependence, developing countries will also have to become information economies if they are to achieve higher economic growth rates. The essence of the information economy is that information is now the main capital input into manufacturing industry and as such is the key input to economic development. The activities of enquiring, communicating, evaluating, and deciding have become the activities absorbing the major proportion of national resources, with the need to know of the business decision‐maker as the main driving force. In developed information economies, industrial firms have become learning systems and a new division of labor in the economic productive system has evolved. The government‐controlled primary information sector is the source of much of the information input and the provider of the means of information transfer. Developing countries must develop their own primary information sectors as an integrated part of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The problems of developing countries are highlighted in the isolation on the one hand of their information generating sectors from the productive sector and on the other of the native small firm sector from all sectors of information. Telematics, as the integration of computing, communication, and information services offers the means to integrate national resources with international and supply the required inputs to local agricultural and industrial development.     

Enhancing Teacher Preparation and Improving Faculty Teaching Skills: Lessons Learned from Implementing “Science That Matters” a Standards Based Interdisciplinary Science Course Sequence

In a highly collaborative process we developed an introductory science course sequence to improve science literacy especially among future elementary and middle school education majors. The materials and course features were designed using the results of research on teaching and learning to provide a rigorous, relevant and engaging, standard based science experience. More than ten years of combined planning, development, implementation and assessment of this college science course sequence for nonmajors/future teachers has provided significant insights and success in achieving our goal. This paper describes the history and iterative nature of our ongoing improvements, changes in faculty instructional practice, strategies used to overcome student resistance, significant student learning outcomes, support structures for faculty, and the essential and informative role of assessment in improving the outcomes. Our experience with diverse institutions, students and faculty provides the basis for the lessons we have learned and should be of help to others involved in advancing science education.     

Managing Change in Higher Education: Assessing Staff Perceptions of the Impact of Semesterization

The background to the radical reform of higher education in the United Kingdom since the mid-1980s is given with stress on the idea that a motivating factor has been a misunderstanding of classical economics on the part of neo-liberal higher education administrators. Among the reforms that have been imposed, for the most part, from above have been modularization of the course structure and the semesterization of the academic year. Using a Likert-scale format, the authors have polled a sampling of faculty members at a given UK university. Their preliminary set of results, based on what they admit is a small sampling, indicates widespread faculty disapproval at the way modularization and semesterization were imposed at this university.     

Engaging student teachers in meaningful reflective practice

This paper examines the use of peer-videoing in the classroom as a tool to promote reflective practice among student teachers. Twenty pre-service teachers from a variety of subject disciplines participating in a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme in an Irish university participated in the study. The practice of encouraging student teachers working in the same school to participate in structured video analysis avoids the impact of external observers whose role is largely evaluative and endorses a collaborative model that promotes dialogue and shared learning. This practice promotes a culture of observation and critical dialogue in a profession which has traditionally been characterised by isolation, while at the same time fostering and validating the voice and experience of the student teacher. Locating the discussion within the framework of the theoretical literature on reflective practice, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the international debate over best practice in supporting, encouraging and scaffolding reflective practice. It comments on the implications of reflective dialogue for the modernisation of teacher education and offers guidelines on how best to scaffold and promote reflectivity.     

The Experiences of International and Local Students at Three Australian Universities

In 1992 international fee‐paying and local students currently enrolled at the three tertiary institutions in South Australia were surveyed by a common questionnaire on students’ study‐related and personal experiences, and issues related to students’ choice and subsequent evaluation of their institution. The breadth of the student sample and the comparative data the questionnaire generated present an overarching view of the experiences and evaluations of a diverse range of university students.

The results of the survey show that while international students experience more problems, and experience them to a more serious degree than their Australian counterparts, the nature of the issues which are of most concern are generally shared. These are concerns about financial issues such as access to Austudy for local students, and the level of fees for international students and the ability to find part‐time work for both groups. The other broad group of issues of concern was study related: workload, fear of failure, loss of motivation, doubts about academic ability, nervousness and tension. Notably, in spite of the differences ‐between the three institutions – the University of Adelaide representing a ‘traditional’ university, Flinders University of South Australia, a ‘1960s’ university and the University of South Australia a ‘post‐1987’ university – the student responses across the three institutions were remarkably similar.

In terms of student evaluations of the quality of the education and services provided, Australian students were consistently more likely to rate aspects of teaching more positively than their international counterparts, but for both groups it was evident, particularly in their comments, that aspects of teaching such as the quality of lectures, accessibility of staff, availability of resources and staff: student ratios were of major concern.

The findings lead to the recommendations that universities could improve both local and international student experience by providing clear information about courses and course expectations, by the provision of effective feedback on assignments, by embedding the teaching of academic skills within courses, by increasing course flexibility to enable students to balance study and earning demands, and by ensuring that student support services are adequately resourced.     

Bullying in 25 secondary schools: incidence,impact and intervention

This paper outlines an investigation of the incidence and impact of physical, verbal and property-violation bullying in 25 secondary schools within a partnership operating with Keele University. The investigation also considers the impact of antisocial behaviour on pupils and the effectiveness of intervention to secure improved behaviour patterns. Evidence shows that in any year 75 per cent of pupils are bullied but that severe and repeated bullying is likely to be perpetrated and suffered by about seven per cent of pupils. Four behaviour patterns can be identified: bullies, bullies who are also victims, victims and non-participants, and the link between behaviour and factors in developing self-esteem is explored. Successful intervention requires a change of attitude on the part of both pupils and the community, a willingness to report events, and an understanding of respect for personal space.     

Children's Thinking about Air Pollution: a systems theory analysis

A methodology for probing systems thinking was developed and used to investigate the way children think about the natural environment. Thirty five primary school children (aged 8 and 11 years) participated in semi‐structured interviews about air pollution. The analytical framework consisted of cycles (of inputs, processes and outputs), interventions, outcomes and links. Differences between the groups were found for the numbers of complete cycles, inputs, outputs and longest chain of linked cycles about which the children could talk. Although more of the older children showed evidence of a high level of systemic thinking — cycles with interventions and their likely outcomes — than the younger children, a large proportion of the 8‐year‐olds demonstrated that they were capable of this kind of thinking. The results suggest that children can engage in systemic thinking earlier than predicted by traditional developmental research.     

Talking about teaching in non-crisis situations: learning from a teacher support project

Facilitating schools to develop more collaborative cultures is seen as one of the major challenges in promoting teachers’ continuing professional development. This article recounts how a fifteen-month project designed to promote greater collegial learning and professional development emerged and developed within one school. Evidence suggests that a model that is voluntary and that involves teachers observing each other's classrooms and sharing insights is both effective and sustainable. Trust, supportive school leadership and external facilitation are also identified as important components in the realization of this model of teacher development.     

A key leadership issue of the twenty-first century: Religion in schools in England,Wales and the Republic of Ireland

This article argues that engagement with religion is a key challenge for all leaders of schools in twenty-first-century multifaith societies. It outlines the historic and current context of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and national and European policies that prioritise community cohesion in education. The functional and substantive roles of religion are considered as reflected in education, where they adjudicate power and shape values and behaviours. The article analyses data from nine schools in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland to provide a snapshot of a range of leaders’ philosophies, policies and practice in relation to religion. The preferential attention and resources given to the dominant community are evident in some cases. It is argued that, irrespective of whether a school is affiliated to a specific religion or not, school leaders have some freedom in positioning religion. Their influence significantly shapes how religion and/or secular values are understood and enacted. The article concludes by suggesting that policy at national and European level that emphasises shared identities and community cohesion masks the differential power and struggles between communities that cannot be resolved by anodyne exhortation. Rather, leaders need to be selected, trained and supported to recognise the centrality of belief in the lives of many of their learners and their families and to engage with the inevitability of ongoing disagreement and struggle.