Design and implementation issues in surveying the views of young children in ethnolinguistically diverse developing country contexts

This paper discusses issues in the development of a methodology appropriate for eliciting sound quantitative data from primary school children in the complex contexts of ethnolinguistically diverse developing countries. Although these issues often occur in field-based surveys, the large extent and compound effects of their occurrence in ethnolinguistically diverse developing countries, particularly in research with young children, means that they combine to be imperative for project viability in these contexts. At the same time, the scale of the challenges often also means that they are regarded as unsurmountable and are disregarded at the very time when the need is highest to provide sound quantitative data on which to base education policy. The paper provides a framework of these interlocking issues relating to a survey's overall approach, instruments, the sampling scheme, and implementation. This is illustrated in detail via a large-scale cross-national study carried out with children in each grade level of Years 1–6 in three Pacific Island countries of Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Solomon Islands.     

The Prediction of Educational Failure

This paper investigates the possibility of an ‘early warning system’ for identifying children ‘At Risk’ of educational failure. Using data from the National Child Development Study, a national, longitudinal survey of about 16 000 children in Britain, we examined what characteristics could be used to predict at earlier stages children whose experience of the educational system would lead to their being classified as relative failures (as identified at 16 years). The paper uses, to this end, the technique of analysis of variance, and we reach the conclusion that relatively effective prediction of those ‘At Risk’ could be accomplished using quite simple criteria. The ones found in this study to be the most effective in predicting educational failure were in fact educational criteria themselves.     

A web-based tool for dissertation writing Rosanne Strachan, Rowena Murray and Hilary Grierson

Online web tools are becoming an important and accessible means of supporting learning in higher education. Student writing is central to teaching and learning ( Lillis, 2001 ). This paper describes an online tool designed to support dissertation writing. By combining three types of online space—instructional material, a writing space and planning templates—this tool aimed to provide a holistic approach to writing and writing development. This paper demonstrates how the tool was used in an academic course in order to address certain teaching and learning problems identified by the course tutor. Student feedback suggests that while further development is needed, the tool was still useful. This paper raises awareness of the complex array of issues involved in dissertation writing and provides insights into solutions to writing problems. While we designed what we considered to be a web‐based tool for dissertation writing, we argue that the writing space and planning templates go some way towards creating an environment for the development of learning ( Häkkinen, 2002 ).     

Sonification of numerical data for education

ABSTRACT

Sonification is the use of non-speech audio to convey information. In this article, sonifications are representations of plots aimed at improving the accessibility of teaching materials. The electronic nature of sonifications means that they can be deployed to students via teaching interfaces such as virtual learning environments. We describe a two-phase study that explores sonifications of plots as a teaching tool in the context of distance learning in STEM. The overall objective of these two phases was to begin to assess the suitability of audio versions of graphs as a teaching tool for non-sighted and sighted students. In the first phase the effectiveness of sonifications within a small group of participants who took part in activities like those encountered in a distance learning setting was explored. We found that even though sonifications were new to them, participants were able to use them to gain impressions of the corresponding plots. The second phase deployed sonifications to all students on an Open University (OU) module. Although many of the students who chose to respond did so negatively, some found the sonifications an interesting augmentation of the plot. Overall, we demonstrate that for a subset of students, information in a plot can be communicated using sonifications.     

Teachers talking: the role of collaboration in secondary schools in Bangladesh

Teacher collaboration and support given from one teacher to another, focused on improving teaching and learning in the classroom, are notable by their absence in secondary schools in Bangladesh. This article identifies a number of constraints to developing a collaborative culture including the difficulty of the curriculum, the perceived low ability of many students, the teachers' own educational background and contextual factors which influence teachers' motivation. It suggests that informal collaboration for mutual support has the potential to increase teacher motivation but that this will only be achieved through building more collaborative ways of working through formal programmes grounded in classroom observation. It questions the validity for Bangladesh teachers of the model of teacher development programmes focused on teacher collaboration which emphasise teaching the ‘perfect’ lesson and suggests that without attention to student learning such programmes are unlikely to lead to increased collaboration or improved teacher practice in schools.     

Caring and Critical Thinking in the Teaching of Young Adolescents

In this article, I consider what Noddings’ ideas about the critical lessons schools should teach might suggest for social education and critical thinking at the middle school level. Giving particular consideration to Noddings’ calls to engage young people in self-understanding and allow students to pursue their interests, this article explores how the middle school years present an especially rich opportunity to engage students in an examination of the period of young adolescence, allow them to enter the debates about schooling for the middle grades, and use students’ interests as a springboard for examining complex social issues. Considering Noddings’ (2015, p. 1) urging for us to engage in the mission of “producing better adults,” I argue that the critical middle school years offer a generative time in young people’s lives to advance this important work.     

Evidence-Based Acquisition: A Real Life Account of Managing the Program Within The Orbis Cascade Alliance

In 2015 the Orbis Cascade Alliance investigated a consortium wide evidence-based acquisition (EBA) model to incorporate into its established eBook program, and began a pilot of Wiley’s Usage Based Collection Management Model. EBA is an acquisition model that grants library patrons access to a title list over an agreed-upon time period for a pre-negotiated amount of money, and titles from that list are then selected for purchase based on the evidence of usage from the initial access period. This article shares the consortium’s experiences evaluating usage, managing titles and records, controlling duplication, predicting costs, and the inclusion of MARC records to enhance discoverability.     

Learning experiences in a giant interactive environment: insights from The Cube

In November 2012, Queensland University of Technology in Australia launched a giant interactive learning environment known as The Cube. This article reports a phenomenographic investigation into visitors’ different experiences of learning in The Cube. At present very little is known about people’s learning experience in spaces featuring large interactive screens. We observed many visitors to The Cube and interviewed 26 people. Our analysis identified critical variation across the visitors’ experience of learning in The Cube. The findings are discussed as the learning strategy (in terms of absorption, exploration, isolation and collaboration) and the content learned (in terms of technology, skills and topics). Other findings presented here are dimensions of the learning strategy and the content learned, with differing perspectives on each dimension. These outcomes provide early insights into the potential of giant interactive environments to enhance learning approaches and guide the design of innovative learning spaces in higher education.     

Women planning to major in computer science: Who are they and what makes them unique?

Despite the current growing popularity of the computer science (CS) major, women remain sorely underrepresented in the field, continuing to earn only 18% of bachelor’s degrees. Understanding women’s low rates of participation in CS is important given that the demand for individuals with CS training has grown sharply in recent years. Attracting and retaining more women to high-paying fields like CS may also help narrow the gender pay gap. Further, it is important that women participate in developing new technology so that technology advances serve the needs of both women and men. This paper explores the background characteristics, career aspirations, and self-perceptions of 1636 female first-year college students in the United States who intend to major in CS and compares them with 4402 male CS aspirants as well as with 26,642 women planning to major in other STEM sub-fields. The findings reveal a unique profile of women who pursue the CS major and notes many significant differences between men and women in CS and between women in CS and those in other STEM fields. For instance, women in CS tend to earn lower high school grades than women in other STEM fields, but earn higher SAT verbal scores. They also rate themselves higher than men in CS and women in other STEM fields on measures of their artistic ability, but rate themselves lower on other self-ratings, including academic and leadership ability. Further, women in CS are more likely to be undecided in their career plans than men in CS and women in other STEM fields. Understanding the unique characteristics of women in CS will help inform policies and recruitment programs designed to address the gender gap in computing.     

Supporting business students’ transition into higher education: the case of marketing downloads

This paper discusses a student-centred learning and teaching approach, ‘Marketing Downloads’, designed to support students in transition into Higher Education. The move from secondary to tertiary education can be stressful for students and it impacts on their academic performance, their social life and general sense of well-being. Marketing Downloads was designed with transition in mind and involves students initiating their own research to demonstrate the link between theory and real-world business practice, presenting their work and instigating a debate. Evaluation of data from five focus groups suggests that the social nature, the secure environment, the student-centred aspect and the links with the outside world help students understand the difference between secondary and tertiary education and ultimately contribute to a smooth transition. Recommendations for learning and teaching initiatives focus on these four aspects: a safe classroom environment, social networks, student-centred exercises and creating links to the outside world.