How should researchers in Education operationalise on-task behaviours?

On-task and off-task behaviours have been used in educational research either as independent topics of interest or as dependent variables. In clinical research, there is general agreement about what constitutes off-task behaviours but no such agreement exists for on-task behaviours. This paper reviews 54 studies spanning the last 22?years in order to examine how on-task behaviour has been defined in the educational literature. From the 54 studies, 25 different on-task behaviours were identified. The 25 on-task behaviours were assessed to see if they could be allocated to a category. Four categories of behaviours were identified: task-related, teacher-related, social and miscellaneous. Building on the analysis from the identification and categorisation of the behaviours, the paper suggests a checklist of behaviours that differ in degree of how necessary they are to include in research when using on-task behaviours as a dependent measure. The paper concludes by suggesting that, although on-task behaviours can be highly and appropriately idiosyncratic, educational researchers can achieve some systematicity of measurement by using the guidelines presented.     

The Role of Teacher Epistemic Cognition, Epistemic Beliefs, and Calibration in Instruction

This review examines the literature on teacher epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, and calibration to consider the relation between these constructs and instruction that emerged from empirical studies. In considering how this body of literature can enhance understanding of how students become masters of their learning processes, we will briefly review how different theoretical frameworks have conceptualized the relation between epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, calibration and metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning. Implications for research include a more nuanced conceptualization of epistemic beliefs and a theoretical integration of these constructs. Implications for practice regard the reciprocal relations between teachers’ knowledge, experience, epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, and calibration and their effects on pedagogical practices. The role of teachers’ education and professional development is discussed. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Listening to Young People with Physical Disabilities' Experiences of Education

There is a general acceptance that inclusion is morally and ethically the most appropriate form of education. However, more research needs to focus on how best to accommodate and support the educational needs of all students, including those with physical disabilities. Listening to young people with physical disabilities talk about their educational experiences is one way to do this. The aim of this research was to investigate the life stories of a small number of young people with physical disabilities, in particular focusing on their educational experiences. Nine young people, between the ages of 10 and 13 years, who used a manual or powered wheelchair and had the cognitive ability to participate in a series of biographical interviews, were recruited. They collaborated in the writing of their life stories. One theme identified in the analysis of these life stories was their educational experiences. The results highlight that the participants held mixed views about their education. The four who attended a segregated special school were generally positive about their experiences. Participants who had attended a mainstream school talked about positive and negative experiences. Individual and differing perspectives on friendships and the ethos of their school were noted. It is suggested that young people with physical disabilities need to be considered as individuals and that if schools are to achieve the goal of inclusion they need to develop ways to accommodate each individual's needs.     

Ian Serraillier The Silver Sword

Cle invited several classroom teachers to select a novel which regularly goes well with their classes, to analyse its success, and to discuss the ways in which they and their classes have shared the book together.Gill Bullen chose Ian Serraillier'sThe Silver Sword (published in the United States asEscape from Warsaw), which she enjoys teaching to eleven and twelve-year-old children of all abilities. John Hodgson, who has taught in both England and the United States, has found Albert Camus'The Outsider (published in the States asThe Stranger) to be a popular choice with students of fifteen and over.Further contributions from teachers will be published in our next issue.     

Learning from Evaluation at the Open University II. Helping students to learn from audio-visual media

Much of previous media research suggests that there are no significant differences between the teaching effectiveness of different media. As a distance teaching institution, however, the Open University is highly dependent on media to perform functions which in a more conventional context would be handled by live, face-to-face, tuition. Consequently, the University has a keen interest in exploiting the special properties of different media to the full, and in developing students' skills to handle different media. The new technology foundation course, T101 'Living with Technology', attempts both of these aims with some success. The main conclusions drawn from a study of the way audio-visual media are used in the course are that the characteristics of television, radio and audio-cassettes do lend themselves to particular teaching functions but that, in a distance teaching context, a factor of overriding importance is the extent to which any educational medium is accessible and controllable by the learner. The findings also suggest that students can be helped to learn more effectively from audio-visual media, providing a carefully structured approach is taken to the gradual development of learning skills, and the various media are well integrated with each other.