Student' Strategic Actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) can be a powerful tool in creating learning communities in which students have a chance to construct knowledge collaboratively and to develop explanations of the subject to be studied. It is obvious, however, that collaborative inquiry is a cognitively-challenging task for an individual student. More evidence on the nature and quality of students' actions and strategic processes in CSCL is needed to make these models more applicable in different domains of classroom learning. The aim of this study was to analyse students' strategic actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. Eighteen secondary school students, ages 13–14 years, participated in CSCL inquiries in their literature class. The networked technology environment used was CSILE. The students had three inquiry-based CSCL projects, each lasting for six weeks. The data-collection procedures used were questionnaires, students' written computer notes and repeated process-oriented interviews. The results show the dominance of a superficial approach toward inquiry. This is evidenced by the students' fact-oriented computer notes and their self-reported, surface-level strategic actions. However, the results show a growing amount of collaborative discussion in the networked database. Collaborative networked discussions manifest an increase in deeper-level cognitive strategies and progressive student inquiries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Parental Mediation of Children's Viewing in a Changing Television Environment

For 25 years, Israeli television operated as a virtual monopoly, with one single channel shared by Educational TV and the Public Broadcasting Authority. Young viewers were exposed to non‐commercial quality programs primarily geared for children. The introduction of cable television challenges the ways parents control their children's viewing and fills the role of mediators between television and the child. This study is based on two surveys among parents of Israeli children aged 2‐8. The first was conducted with 537 parents in 1989, prior to the introduction of cable TV, and the second with 552 parents who had cable in 1993, when cable TV penetrated half of all Israeli homes. The results indicate that the introduction of cable TV changed strategies of parental control and mediation and parents’ assessment of television's influence on children. Active parental mediation was closely related to the attribution of learning values to children's viewing and to gratifications attributed to educational television broadcasts. Loosening of control and allowance for independent children's viewing was closely related to the attribution of entertainment value to children's viewing and to viewing of cable television.     

PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN POLISH HIGHER EDUCATION

The article analyses the progress in the participation of women in Polish higher education, with respect to different fields of study and their position in graduate studies, as well as in professional life, where she underlines the dangers of the feminization of certain professions

Mrs. Jablonska‐Skinder is scientific secretary of the Institute of Science Policy, Technological Progress and Higher Education, Warsaw, Poland     

Deconstructing Rattan: Morphology of Biogenic Silica in Rattan and Its Impact on Preservation of Southeast Asian Art and Artifacts Made of Rattan

Rattan, a climbing palm of the tropical region of Southeast Asia (SEA), supplied material for objects of myriad purposes including ceremonial, religious, utilitarian, and artistic as exemplified by the collections at the National Museum of Singapore, Asian Civilization Museum, and the Singapore Art Museum. The aim of this analysis of rattan is to further the understanding of rattan, in particular its surface, and to propose a protocol-enabling positive identification of rattan in artifacts, thus guiding conservation decisions. The rattan surface defines an artifacts esthetic appearance and stability, and understanding its characteristics is essential to the development of an informed preservation strategy. Rattan epidermis morphology, topography, and cellular structure were characterized by a multi-scale and a multi-sensory approach using optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The chemical composition was analyzed with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and macro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (m-XRF) and indicated the presence of a siliceous compound, biogenic silica, in the epidermis and phytoliths in vascular tissue. A parallel analytical protocol was applied to samples extracted from museum artifacts (nineteenth-twentieth century) and contemporary objects acquired during field studies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Cambodia. The methods of processing rattan have a direct impact on the siliceous layer thus leading to a better understanding of surface patterns found on artifacts. An attempt to find correlations between the percentage of silica and thickness of the siliceous layer did not produce conclusive results; both varied greatly in all studied examples. Darkening of rattan was clearly associated with aging but did not indicate any distinct effect on the chemical composition of the outer layer. The chemical analysis of the biogenic silica layer combined with recording methods of processing rattan observed during field studies in SEA provide a basis for a better understanding of rattan collections in the museum context.     

A University Program with “The Whole World as a Focus”: An Icelandic Response to Globalization

The International Studies in Education program at the University of Iceland illustrates how one university is responding to global trends in higher education. Through a case study we examined the significance of an innovative B.A. program, which is taught in English, aligned with values affirmed in critical multiculturalist scholarship, and designed to respond to demographic changes including a sharp increase in Iceland’s immigrant population. The experience of students, teachers, and administrators raises important questions about institutional responsibilities, both local and global; about the role of English in an international studies program; about de facto segregation of students; and about the significance of local context in global trends in higher education.     

Pupil perceptions of national tests in science: perceived importance, invested effort, and test anxiety

Although large-scale national tests have been used for many years in Swedish compulsory schools, very little is known about how pupils actually react to these tests. The question is relevant, however, as pupil reactions in the test situation may affect test performance as well as future attitudes towards assessment. The question is relevant also in light of the changing assessment culture in Sweden and other European countries. The main purpose of the present study was to explore how a sample of grade 9 pupils perceived their first encounter with national tests in science, mainly in terms of perceived importance of the test, reported invested effort, and feelings of test anxiety, and how these aspects were related to test performance. Results show that a majority of the pupils seemed to perceive the test as rather important and claimed that they spent effort on the test. There was, however, also a fair group of students who did not perceive the test as very important. Ratings of perceived importance and invested effort and motivation were positively related to performance, particularly for the boys. Many students also reported that they felt anxious before and during the test, but the relationship between test anxiety and test performance was rather weak. Findings illuminate how pupils may perceive and behave in the assessment situation, and point to the need of further studies investigating the psychology of test-taking.