Adding value to learning and development through CILIP accreditation: The NHS knowledge for healthcare learning academy

NHS knowledge and library staff are a highly specialist workforce delivering an economic benefit of £77 million per annum to the health service in England. To achieve their full potential and meet the changing needs of the NHS, it is vital that the workforce remains up to date through the continuing development of their skills, knowledge, and behaviours. This article outlines the work of Health Education England to gain Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP—The Library and Information Association) quality accreditation for the short course offers delivered through the NHS Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy. It summarises the benefits of this accreditation for Health Education England, for employers, and for knowledge and library staff participating in the short courses. Learning points from the experience of the accreditation process are described and shared.     

Political Participation and Ideological News Online: “Differential Gains” and “Differential Losses” in a Presidential Election Cycle

Observations of the contemporary news media environment often revolve around the topics of ideological polarization and blurred boundaries between mass and interpersonal communication. This study explores these topics through a focus on the association between ideologically oriented online news use, commenting on online news, and political participation. We hypothesize that both ideological online news use generally and proattitudinal online news use are positively related to political participation and that online news commenting creates “differential gains” by augmenting these relationships. Yet we also hypothesize that counterattitudinal online news use is negatively related to political participation and that online news commenting creates “differential losses” by exacerbating this relationship. Analyses of two independently collected and nationally representative surveys found that frequent ideological online news use, proattitudinal online news use, and commenting are all positively related to political participation. We found no evidence for differential gains as a result of online commenting but only for differential losses—counterattitudinal online news use interacts with commenting to create a negative relationship with political participation.     

Understanding the Idea of Chemical Elements and Their Periodic Classification in Spanish Students Aged 16–18 Years

The work reported here involved a comparative study regarding the understanding that high school students (16–18 years) have of the concept of chemical elements and their periodic classification. More specifically, the level of knowledge on this topic was compared before and after the completion of baccalaureate studies in a sample of Spanish students. In order to achieve this goal, a questionnaire was developed that included 14 items in an open format, through which various aspects of the students’ understanding of the idea of chemical element and their periodic classification were assessed. In addition, the application of this knowledge to interpret and predict the behaviour and properties of elements and to carry out calculations on the atomic composition of the elements was evaluated. Aspects concerning the acquisition of scientific knowledge, the application of knowledge to different contexts and situations, and the use of scientific evidence to draw conclusions and knowledge about the nature and history of science were evaluated. The questionnaire was previously validated with a large group of students. The results of this study show that improvements occur primarily in addressing higher level cognitive questions (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) in comparison to the lower level tasks (capacity for retention, understanding or direct application of learning). In addition, students who start high school have a very limited understanding of the ideas behind the Periodic Table of the chemical elements and that their lack of understanding, to a large extent, remains upon completion of the baccalaureate. These results suggest that there are real difficulties in understanding this topic and show the limited influence of the studies completed in high school.     

PISA as a Political Tool in Spain: Assessment Instrument,Academic Discourse and Political Reform

This study examines to what extent there is a sort of “political appropiation” by political parties when they seek to set a discourse about the Spanish PISA outcomes. We have consistently found that programs for assessing the competencies of students, especially PISA, have become tools of rationalization and the legitimization of education policies in both the national and territorial contexts. Furthermore, each regional government focuses its discourse on what it feels to be its strong points, that is, a clear “self-justifying reading” of PISA outcomes.     

Emerging Trends in Mathematics Education for People with Down Syndrome: Current Research and Future Directions

ABSTRACT

In September 2017, a group of researchers met for the first conference devoted to the singular purpose of exploring a neglected field – the learning of mathematics by individuals with Down syndrome. This special issue is a result of that first meeting and identifies three emerging trends in the mathematics education of learners with Down syndrome: the goals, content, and pedagogy. Education is central to the goal of improving an individual’s quality of life and only recently has the impact of mathematics been fully comprehended. Many researchers continue to explore the development of the concept of number and there is still much to learn. As a new development, we see that interest is now expanding to explore other areas of mathematics. We still have a long way to go to understand how best to open the doors of mathematics to all learners with Down syndrome. We conclude by offering six areas requiring immediate future research in the field of mathematics and Down syndrome.     

The pedagogical limitations of inclusive education

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to a better conceptual and practical delimitation of inclusive education. A pedagogy that reacts to the need to face the dilemmas of difference. An interpretive and critical methodology with a documentary basis and a normative-pedagogical perspective is used. The results show a tension between theoretical approaches and the practical achievements of inclusive education. The article concludes by considering the position that if the most basic definition of education is essentially inherently inclusive, as it aims to foster the maximum development of everyone, then for the same reason it must also essentially be differentiating. This is precisely because the limits of inclusive education are in recognising and promoting excellence in difference, while the limits of differentiated education lie in recognising and promoting inclusion.