Quality Judgements and Quality Improvement

This paper considers the quality movement in English higher education through an examination of four quality techniques, those of Total Quality Management, assurance of systems, assessment and audit. A heuristic device is used to further understanding through examination of judgements concerning association of the four techniques with a range of purposes, criteria and methods of evaluation. An emphasis throughout is the connections between improvement and evaluation; teaching and learning are the focus of the discussion. Some of the conclusions are linked to possible ways forward for the next phase of assessment, including the need to reduce emphasis on external evaluation and measurement and facilitate the development of a culture more aligned to improvement.     

Making Meaningful: Intention in Children's Art Making

Children's art work has often been the subject of study by researchers seeking to gain insight into the role of art making in children's learning and development. However, rarely are children's own explanations of their art making used to inform these studies. Children's perceptions of their own art making are important for research and practice in art education, because their artistic experiences and motivations determine how they will engage in and respond to art making activities. This study used ethnographic methods to learn about the art making that took place over the course of one year in an elementary school art room, and to gain insight into the students' experiences and perceptions of art‐making activity. Data were analysed using a socio‐cultural framework. By asking children why they made art and exploring children's own explanations of their art making, this study reveals some of the important intentions that children bring to their artistic activity, and some of the ways that children make meaning through art making.     

A history of morphine-induced taste aversion learning fails to affect morphine-induced place preference conditioning in rats

Drugs of abuse have both rewarding and aversive effects, as indexed by the fact that they support place preferences and taste aversions, respectively. In the present study, we explored whether having a history with the aversive effects of morphine (via taste aversion conditioning) impacted the subsequent rewarding effects of morphine, as measured in the place preference design. In Experiment 1, rats were exposed to a taste aversion procedure in which saccharin was followed by morphine. Place preference conditioning was then initiated in which animals were injected with morphine and placed on one side of a two-chambered apparatus. Animals with a taste aversion history acquired place preferences to the same degree as controls without such a history, suggesting that morphine’s affective properties condition multiple effects, dependent on the specific stimuli present during conditioning. To determine whether these results were a reflection of processes operating in traditional associative conditioning, in a modified blocking procedure, place preference conditioning was attempted in the presence of a taste previously associated with morphine (Exp. 2). Under these conditions, animals still acquired morphine-induced place preferences comparable to those of animals without a morphine or conditioning history. These results are consistent with the position that drugs of abuse have multiple stimulus effects (positive and negative) that are differentially associated with specific stimuli (environmental and taste) that drive different behavioral responses (approach and avoidance).     

Improvement in Generic Problem-Solving Abilities of Students by Use of Tutor-less Problem-Based Learning in a Large Classroom Setting

Problem-based learning (PBL) was originally introduced in medical education programs as a form of small-group learning, but its use has now spread to large undergraduate classrooms in various other disciplines. Introduction of new teaching techniques, including PBL-based methods, needs to be justified by demonstrating the benefits of such techniques over classical teaching styles. Previously, we demonstrated that introduction of tutor-less PBL in a large third-year biochemistry undergraduate class increased student satisfaction and attendance. The current study assessed the generic problem-solving abilities of students from the same class at the beginning and end of the term, and compared student scores with similar data obtained in three classes not using PBL. Two generic problem-solving tests of equal difficulty were administered such that students took different tests at the beginning and the end of the term. Blinded marking showed a statistically significant 13% increase in the test scores of the biochemistry students exposed to PBL, while no trend toward significant change in scores was observed in any of the control groups not using PBL. Our study is among the first to demonstrate that use of tutor-less PBL in a large classroom leads to statistically significant improvement in generic problem-solving skills of students.     

The LINDSAY Virtual Human Project: An immersive approach to anatomy and physiology

The increasing number of digital anatomy teaching software packages challenges anatomy educators on how to best integrate these tools for teaching and learning. Realistically, there exists a complex interplay of design, implementation, politics, and learning needs in the development and integration of software for education, each of which may be further amplified by the somewhat siloed roles of programmers, faculty, and students. LINDSAY Presenter is newly designed software that permits faculty and students to model and manipulate three‐dimensional anatomy presentations and images, while including embedded quizzes, links, and text‐based content. A validated tool measuring impact across pedagogy, resources, interactivity, freedom, granularity, and factors outside the immediate learning event was used in conjunction with observation, field notes, and focus groups to critically examine the impact of attitudes and perceptions of all stakeholders in the early implementation of LINDSAY Presenter before and after a three‐week trial period with the software. Results demonstrate that external, personal media usage, along with students' awareness of the need to apply anatomy to clinical professional situations drove expectations of LINDSAY Presenter. A focus on the software over learning, which can be expected during initial orientation, surprisingly remained after three weeks of use. The time‐intensive investment required to create learning content is a detractor from user‐generated content and may reflect the consumption nature of other forms of digital learning. Early excitement over new technologies needs to be tempered with clear understanding of what learning is afforded, and how these constructively support future application and integration into professional practice. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Prospective teachers’ learning to provide instructional explanations: how does it look and what might it take?

Several studies have documented prospective teachers’ (PSTs) difficulties in offering instructional explanations. However, less is known about PSTs’ learning to provide explanations. To address this gap, we trace changes in the explanations offered by a purposeful sample of PSTs before and after a mathematics content/methods course sequence. Consistent with prior research, our study reveals the limitations in PSTs’ explanations at their entrance to the course sequence. It also documents PSTs’ progress in providing explanations, thus providing existence proof that this practice is learnable. Using evidence from multiple sources, we also propose a component entailed in this learning—learning how to unpack one’s thinking through the use of representations as explanatory tools—and four factors associated with it, including PSTs’ subject-matter knowledge, active and deliberate reflection on practice, productive images for engaging in this work, and productive dispositions about engaging in this practice. We discuss the implications of our findings for teacher education and offer directions for future research.     

Women,know your limits: cultural sexism in academia

Despite the considerable advances of the feminist movement across Western societies, in Universities women are less likely to be promoted, or paid as much as their male colleagues, or even get jobs in the first place. One way in which we can start to reflect on why this might be the case is through hearing the experiences of women academics themselves. Using feminist methodology, this article attempts to unpack and explore just some examples of ‘cultural sexism’ which characterises the working lives of many women in British academia. This article uses qualitative methods to describe and make sense of some of those experiences. In so doing, the argument is made that the activity of academia is profoundly gendered and this explicit acknowledgement may contribute to our understanding of the under-representation of women in senior positions.     

Youth exposure to violence prevention programs in a national sample

This paper assesses how many children and youth have had exposure to programs aimed at preventing various kinds of violence perpetration and victimization. Based on a national sample of children 5–17, 65% had ever been exposed to a violence prevention program, 55% in the past year. Most respondents (71%) rated the programs as very or somewhat helpful. Younger children (5–9) who had been exposed to higher quality prevention programs had lower levels of peer victimization and perpetration. But the association did not apply to older youth or youth exposed to lower quality programs. Disclosure to authorities was also more common for children with higher quality program exposure who had experienced peer victimizations or conventional crime victimizations. The findings are consistent with possible benefits from violence prevention education programs. However, they also suggest that too few programs currently include efficacious components.