The Effect of Increasing Conceptual Challenge in Primary Science Lessons on Pupils' Achievement and Engagement

This paper reports research into the effect on 11‐year‐old pupils of introducing more cognitively challenging, practical, and interactive science lessons. Our hypothesis was that such lessons would increase the children's enthusiasm for science and their engagement with the scientific process, thereby improving educational performance. Schools in England are under pressure to raise achievement, as measured by the results of national tests. This has an impact on teaching, where revision of subject knowledge often dominates and can be particularly detrimental to more able pupils. The research was a controlled trial which took place in thirty‐two English primary schools as part of a project “Conceptual Challenge in Primary Science”. Teachers from 16 intervention schools participated in continuing professional development (CPD) and developed science lessons that had more practical work, more discussion, more thinking and less (but more focused) writing. The proportion of pupils achieving the highest level (level 5) in the national science tests at age 11 was compared in the matched‐school pairs before and after the intervention. Focus group interviews were also held with a group of pupils in each intervention school. There was a 10% (95% Confidence Interval 2–17%) increase in the proportion of children achieving the top score in the intervention schools. The pupils and teachers reported greater engagement and motivation. These findings suggest that moving from rote revision to cognitively challenging, interactive science could help improve science education. They merit replication in other international settings to test their generalisability.     

Health education for Somali Bantu refugees via home visits

Background: Somali Bantu refugees, with unique health information needs, created challenges for health and social service providers. Objectives: A service innovation was developed (i) to raise awareness, especially among local health and social service providers, about the Bantu refugees’ presence in the community, their culture, and their information needs and (ii) to deliver needed health information, emphasizing child health, to the Bantu mothers in their homes. Methods: The project consisted of: (i) a community conference targeting local health and social service providers, describing the refugees’ presence in the community, their culture, and information needs. (ii) Focus groups conducted with members of the Bantu population elicited additional information needs. (iii) Curriculum was developed based on identified needs, and (iv) the curriculum was delivered to the refugees in their homes. A clinical informationist and MP3 technology enhanced the project. Findings: Conference attendees’ evaluation responses indicated improved understanding of Bantu culture. Focus groups’ identification of health information needs provided a framework for the health education curriculum. A project website made educational materials available to other healthcare providers. Conclusions: The project raised awareness of the Bantus’ presence, culture, and information needs. Identification of other unmet needs demonstrated that additional support for refugees is required.     

Forward view: advancing health library and knowledge services in England

This article is the fourth in a series on New Directions. The National Health Service is under pressure, challenged to meet the needs of an ageing population, whilst striving to improve standards and ensure decision making is underpinned by evidence. Health Education England is steering a new course for NHS library and knowledge services in England to ensure access to knowledge and evidence for all decision makers. Knowledge for Healthcare calls for service transformation, role redesign, greater coordination and collaboration. To meet user expectations, health libraries must achieve sustainable, affordable access to digital content. Traditional tasks will progressively become mechanised. Alongside supporting learners, NHS librarians and knowledge specialists will take a greater role as knowledge brokers, delivering business critical services. They will support the NHS workforce to signpost patients and the public to high‐quality information. There is a need for greater efficiency and effectiveness through greater co‐operation and service mergers. Evaluation of service quality will focus more on outcomes, less on counting. These changes require an agile workforce, fit for the future. There is a bright future in which librarians’ expertise is used to mobilise evidence, manage and share knowledge, support patients, carers and families, optimise technology and social media and provide a keystone for improved patient care and safety.     

You can’t ignore us: what role does family play in student engagement and alienation in a Ghanaian university?

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support.     

Investigating the Role of Problem Severity and Channel Publicness on the Sophistication of Support-Seeking Messages on Social Network Sites: A Replication Study

Oh and LaRose (2016) contended that problem severity and channel publicness shape support seekers’ goals, time spent composing messages, and the sophistication of those messages. The current study seeks to replicate and extend Oh and LaRose’s study to produce a more accurate understanding of the factors that influence the sophistication of support-seeking messages online. Support seekers’ goals varied according to the severity of a stressor and the publicness of a channel, and the amount of time people spent composing a message influenced its sophistication. We extend the original study by examining associations that were not initially tested. Time spent composing messages mediated the influence of problem severity on the quality of people’s messages, and this effect was moderated by channel publicness.     

Getting ‘What Works’ working: building blocks for the integration of experimental and improvement science

ABSTRACT

As a systemic approach to improving educational practice through research, ‘What Works’ has come under repeated challenge from alternative approaches, most recently that of improvement science. While ‘What Works’ remains a dominant paradigm for centralized knowledge-building efforts, there is need to understand why this alternative has gained support, and what it can contribute. I set out how the core elements of experimental and improvement science can be combined into a strategy to raise educational achievement with the support of evidence from randomized experiments. Central to this combined effort is a focus on identifying and testing mechanisms for improving teaching and learning, as applications of principles from the learning sciences. This article builds on current efforts to strengthen approaches to evidence-based practice and policy in a range of international contexts. It provides a foundation for those who aim to avoid another paradigm war and to accelerate international discussions on the design of systemic education research infrastructure and funding.