Reflection and theory: conceptualising the gap between teaching experience and teacher expertise

Arising from an inductive reflection on the teaching of an INSET course for rural teachers, this article develops a largely conceptual argument about the role of theoretical knowledge in teacher development. Teachers' experiences – and practical knowledge derived from it – are not sufficient to develop teacher expertise. Theoretical reflection in turn produces qualitatively different insights about teaching and learning, which can provide teachers with conceptual tools to establish new links between what they know and what they do. However, there is very little research evidence about the way experienced yet poorly qualified teachers use theoretical knowledge to reflect about their work     

In pursuit of the elusive relationship between selected cognitive abilities and learning

The present research consists of two experiments that attempt to produce differential learning-ability relationships on the basis of selected learning task variations. In the first experiment, 120 5th-graders performed a cued recall task under one of three instructional conditions. In the second, 144 10th-graders recalled items of high and low meaningfulness under constrained or free conditions of recall. Although the task variations produced mean performance differences, the expected patterns of covariation between learning and the ability markers of reasoning, spatial ability, and digit span did not materialize. These results, taken with those of previous investigations, suggest that the nonreplicability characteristic of this domain may be traced to the relatively impure sources of individual differences variance associated with psychometric abilities.     

Value change in Japan

This study explores the relationship between socioeconomic change and value change. The general assumptions of unidimensionality of modern and traditional values and their exclusive character is questioned on the basis of available data from surveys carried out in Japan and in the West. Traditional values in Japan obviously change in some respect, but remain stable in other aspects. The process of changing values seems to cause internal conflicts for certain subgroups such as women and adolescents. A comparative analysis can demonstrate that some Japanese values seem “modern” or “post-materialist” for the West, but they are part of the traditional Japanese value system. Such “modern” values fulfill different functions in different cultures. A theoretical framework for the study of social change and changing values is proposed, focusing on macro- and microlevel processes of change.     

Impacts of government incentives towards industrial innovation: An analysis of the federal programme funding R&D personnel in the Federal Republic of Germany

Against a background of deteriorating national and international economic conditions, increasing importance is being attached by political administrations to the innovative capacities of small and medium-sized firms with respect to the employment situation and to international competitiveness. Consequently, government support of research, development and innovation in these companies has taken a marked upward turn since the late seventies, both in the Federal Republic of Germany and in other industrialized Western countries.The actual impacts of some of these programmes are at present under study by the Fraunhofer-Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung (ISI). This paper is an outline of the results of a study of the largest current programme funding R&D and innovation in small and medium-sized firms by offering grants towards the costs of R&D personnel. The impact analysis is being conducted in two rounds: the first round of studies, which is the subject of this report, took place in 1980/1981 and was designed to examine the discernible short-term effects and characteristics of the programme. The second round is planned for 1983/1984 as a summary of the impacts of the programme over the first five years of its term of effect.The subjects of investigation are the quantitative and qualitative changes in R&D activities caused by the programme in the firms under study and the contribution the programme can make to strengthen innovative and competitive capabilities. The conditions underlying the programme are reviewed critically, especially in order to see whether the barriers to innovation and the weak spots assumed did in fact exist in the firms examined. The administrative management, “free rider”-effects, and factors restricting impacts are investigated along with such questions as whether firms located in peripheral regions were reached by the programme to the same extent as firms in conurbation areas. Furthermore, the reasons for non-participation of firms are analyzed.The example of the federal programme funding R&D personnel thus is used in this impact analysis in an attempt to provide empirical data on the significance, the range, and the limits of such a government instrument promoting R&D and innovation in small and medium-sized firms.     

The I3E model for embedding education for sustainability within higher education institutions

This paper presents an evidence-based model (the I3E model) for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) within a higher education institution. This model emerged from a doctoral research that examined organisational learning and change processes at the University of Southampton to build EfS into the university curriculum. The researcher aimed to learn from real practice through acting as a facilitator for curriculum development in EfS within an interdisciplinary group of academic staff members. A critical friend position was also acquired within a community of practice to implement a programme which attempted to embed sustainability within the student experience. The I3E model identifies four overarching components that can support universities in their aim to embed EfS within the undergraduate curriculum. These integrated components are: Inform the university community about sustainability; Engage the different university stakeholders in the change process towards sustainability; Empower individuals and groups to make change happen within their sphere of influence and action; and Embed sustainability within existing university structures.     

Isolated Obesity Is Not Enough to Impair Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Metabolically Healthy Men

Purpose: To evaluate whether excess body mass influences the heart rate variability (HRV) indexes at rest, and to correlate adiposity indicators and the aerobic fitness with cardiac autonomic variables in metabolically healthy young adults. Method: In all, 41 untrained males (M_age = 21.80, SD = 2.14 years), 14 normal weight (M_BMI = 22.28, SD = 1.86 kg?m^?2), 11 overweight (M_BMI = 26.95, SD = 1.43 kg?m^?2), and 16 obese (M_BMI = 33.58, SD = 3.06 kg?m^?2) metabolically healthy (normal values of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol), underwent evaluations of the HRV at rest and of the peak oxygen consumption (VO₂ peak) during maximal exercise on a cycle ergometer. Results: Blood pressure, heart rate, HRV indexes, casual blood glucose, oxidative stress, and antioxidant activity did not differ among the groups. The VO₂ peak (mL?kg^?1?min^?1) was lower in the obese group compared with the normal weight and overweight groups. The body mass (r = ?.40 to ?.45) and abdominal circumference (r = ?.39 to ?.52) were slightly to moderately correlated with SD1, SD2, RMSSD, SDNN, pNN50, LF, and HF indexes and total power. The VO₂ peak (mL?kg^?1?min^?1) was slightly to moderately correlated (r = .48 to .51) with SD2, SDNN, and LF indexes in the individuals with excess body mass. Conclusion: Cardiac autonomic modulation at rest was preserved in metabolically healthy obese young men. However, the indicators of adiposity, as well as the aerobic fitness were correlated with cardiac autonomic modulation in the individuals with excess body mass.