Sociocultural frameworks of conceptual change: implications for teaching and learning in museums

This article presents a metalogue discussion about the two focus articles and the six associated review essays on the topic of conceptual change as it applies to research, and science teaching and learning in museum settings. Through the lenses of a sociocultural perspectives of learning we examine the applicability of the ideas presented in the forum for museums and museum educators. First we reflect on the role that emotions can play in concept development; second, we reflect on the role of language, talk, and gestures to concept development and conceptual change in the short-lived nature of experiences and conversations in museums; and third, we consider the nature of objects as representations of science content in museum settings.

Researcher intersubjectivity: a methodology for jointly building an interactive electronic early childhood quality involvement/rating scale

Researching quality in early childhood settings has been operationalized in many ways, within and across countries. Nevertheless, despite some consensus on what might constitute a universally recognized view of what is considered essential for young children’s development, there are strong indicators that locally developed assessment tools are likely to give more contextually relevant results. Yet, little appears to be known about how to develop localized tools for assessing quality, especially in culturally diverse research contexts. Further, it would seem that not much is understood about the ways researchers and research participants have worked together to achieve reciprocal outcomes. In drawing upon cultural-historical theory, this paper goes beyond the traditional binary of an emic–etic perspective and instead describes a dialectical model for creating conditions for generating research intersubjectivity. An example of how researchers and participants worked together to develop an interactive e-quality rating scale in Vietnam is presented with the research exchange methods of Dialogue through the technology, Capturing moments of localized quality, Community walk, and Research selfies. These methods together acted to underpin the methodology that foregrounds what we have termed research intersubjectivity.     

On fractions and non-standard representations: Pre-service teachers' concepts

The present study examined the reasoning strategies and arguments given by pre-service school teachers as they solved two problems regarding fractions in different symbolic representations. In the first problem, the pre-service school teachers were asked to compare between two different fractions having the same numerical representation, and in the second problem, they were asked to compare between different notational representations of the same fraction. Numeration systems in bases other than ten were used to generate various representations of fractions. All students were asked to provide justifications to their responses. Strategies and arguments relative to pre-service teachers' concepts of fractions and place value were identified and analyzed based on results of 38 individual clinical interviews, and written responses of 124 students. It was found that the majority of students believe that fractions change their numerical value under different symbolic representations.     

Teachers,schools and using evidence: Considerations of preparedness

Despite assessment being viewed as integral to practice, there are questions about schools’ preparedness to engage in this process. Data from three studies conducted in New Zealand primary schools explore whether use of student achievement data is part of the professional canon or skill set. (1) When implementing new literacy materials, evidence of need did not necessarily inform choice nor was achievement data used to make decisions about effectiveness of materials or use. (2) When a classroom initiative designed to achieve literacy goals was implemented, few schools collected evidence adequate for its evaluation. In both cases, practitioners appeared to hold a theory about acceptable evidence at variance with current policy expectations. Further, they may have lacked necessary skills. (3) Teachers, with practice, learned to interpret data accurately but this skill did not relate to student progress. A high level of pedagogical content knowledge may be needed to relate achievement information to teaching practice.     

Videomail — a personalised approach to providing feedback on assessment to distance learners

Videomail involves lecturers providing feedback on learners’ assignments by making a short videotape as an alternative to written comments alone. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of videomail with a small sample of lecturers and distance learners in university programmes. In addition the authors were interested in establishing some principles for the use of videomail from the lecturer's perspective. Using approaches based on Grounded Theory and action research, reactions by lecturers and learners were collected. Videomail was felt to be an extremely valuable and personalised method of obtaining feedback by learners. Lecturers were able to use a wide variety of communication techniques such as self‐disclosure and reflection, for example, not available to them using written feedback only. It is concluded that written feedback can be enhanced by videomail and that videomail provides an additional vehicle for student learning and a means of establishing personal contact with learners at a distance.     

Commemorating a whole story of woman suffrage

ABSTRACT

To tell the whole story of the struggle for woman suffrage, we need to begin the story well before 1848 and continue it long after 1920. For those teaching about woman suffrage, this essay offers resources that enable you to situate the 19th Amendment within a richer narrative of woman suffrage.     

Digital portfolios in pre-service teacher education

With the pre-service student portfolio process and product well in hand in a paper-based format, in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) (B.Ed. Primary) at University of Western Sydney (UWS), new horizons have presented themselves. These new possibilities are facilitated but not driven by developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The impetus for this study comes from the changing context in which the students will work and from the rapidly evolving mediums of communication employed by the society these future teachers will serve. With new technologies being developed the use of digital portfolios could give an extra dimension to student learning as well as giving choice and variety to the reporting and presenting of that learning. This paper aims to report on the process of the development of digital portfolios as an alternative method of reporting and presenting student learning, as opposed to the current paper-based portfolios used in Pre-service Teacher Education at UWS. A study of the processes employed by nine students who elected to develop their portfolios digitally was carried out over a three-semester period. This resulted in a procedure that assisted students in using ICT to showcase their learning. The advantages and limitations of the use of such technology and the results of this process during its initial implementation are discussed.     

Mobile learning and student cognition: A systematic review of PK-12 research using Bloom’s Taxonomy

The rise of mobile learning in schools during the past decade has led to promises about the power of mobile learning to extend and enhance student cognitive engagement. The purpose of this study was to examine trends to determine the cognitive level students are involved in within mobile learning activities. This systematic review involved an aggregated and configurative synthesis of PK-12 mobile learning studies from 2010 to 16 and used Bloom’s Taxonomy as a theoretical framework for categorizing the cognitive level of student activities. Major new findings include that students are involved in activities at all six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study shows that over 60% of researchers are developing activities that require high levels of cognitive processing, a large increase from past studies. Nonetheless, 40% are integrating mobile devices in ways that keep students working with minimal cognitive processing. In both elementary and secondary studies, there was a 40/60% split in the use of lower versus high level thinking opportunities. New findings show that mobile devices were integrated into science, mathematics, social studies, literacy, art and special education. Studies in science settings were the majority of the studies (40%), followed by literacy (24%).     

Developing ecological literacy in a forest garden: children’s perspectives

Today, cities become more dense, green spaces disappear and children spend less time outdoors. Research suggests that these conditions create health problems and lack of ecological literacy. To reverse such trends, localities are creating urban green spaces for children to visit during school time. Drawing on ideas in ecological literacy, this study investigates school children’s perspectives on a forest garden, a type of outdoor educational setting previously only scarcely researched. Data were collected through walk-and-talk conversations and informal interviews with 28 children aged 7 to 9. Many children in the study expressed strong positive feelings about the forest garden, the organized and spontaneous activities there, and caring for the organisms living there. We observed three aspects of learning in the data, potentially beneficial for the development of children’s ecological literacy: practical competence, learning how to co-exist and care, and biological knowledge and ecological understanding.