Towards culturally inclusive global engineering?

Engineering is now, more than ever before, a global profession. The context in which engineering design problems must be framed is increasingly a global one, and global sustainability needs to be taken up as an important design criterion. Engineers are finding employment in multinational companies in greater numbers, and their work takes them to every corner of the world. But engineering is still far from culturally inclusive. There has been a worrying tendency for the global reach and impact of engineering to be based essentially on North American or European perspectives. I argue that we need to reclaim the term globalization as implying the celebration of rich diversity, not as a recipe for an essentially neo-colonial domination by a perspective drawn from one or two regions, however powerful they may be. The extent to which multicultural as well as international issues should be taken into account in engineering practice raises questions about the extent to which cultural issues permeate the whole of engineering education. However, it is far from clear that developments in higher education in general are necessarily supportive of a variety of perspectives. Indeed, a group of forces and ideas promoting a two-tier global market for education seems to be increasingly influential in national and international discussions. Traditional universities, even as they extend their international reach, may increasingly be maintained only for élite groups, while a bargain basement type of training emerges for the masses at the local level. I offer some reasons why this arrangement would be both socially disastrous and professionally damaging to engineers. Australians may be able to offer a useful contribution to the development of a broader perspective on engineering. The engineering context in which our students and academics work has allowed us, in a range of innovative approaches, to experience and give voice to cultural diversity. This variety includes some approaches that my own university has adopted in order to incorporate international issues and awareness in our programmes. I offer some ideas about how we should be preparing engineering students to think through global issues so that, as individuals, they are culturally sensitive and inclusive and can take justifiable pride in their profession's international role.     

An Interview Study of Gender Difference in Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Children’s Play

The aim of this study was to investigate, identify and describe different ways that female and male preschool teachers conceive, understand and experience play. The research questions addressed are: What perspectives do female and male preschool teachers have on play? Are there differences in play experiences related to gender? The interview study is inspired by phenomenographical research. The sample consisted of ten female and ten male preschool teachers’. The results show differences between female and male preschool teachers’ play willingness. This study found that male preschool teachers contribute with more playfulness, and this is something that both female and male preschool teachers noticed. Female preschool teachers tend to value calm play and emphasize the importance of social development while male preschool teachers accentuate the significance of physical development. All preschool teachers in the study emphasized that it is important to create inspiring environments for play and outdoor play.     

Variation in clinical placement supervisors’ conceptions of and approaches to supervision in a veterinary internship programme

Good teaching that supports final year students’ learning in clinical placements is critical for students’ successful transition from an academic environment to professional practice. Final year internship programmes are designed to encourage student-centred approaches to teaching and deep approaches to learning, but the extent to which clinical supervisors adopt a student-centred teaching approach is unknown. Survey data (n?=?117) from veterinary supervisors were analysed using phenomenography. The results revealed qualitative differences in supervisors’ conceptions of and approaches to supervision. Quantitative statistical analysis was used to investigate relationships between supervisors’ conceptions and approaches. These analyses identified the types of supervisor experiences more likely to encourage students to participate in clinical practice in ways that will help them transition successfully to independent professional practice. The results have value for clinical educators and administrators seeking to improve the quality of placement supervision in a range of professional education programmes.     

Analyzing teaching quality in Botswana and South Africa

This study focuses on quantifying the quality of mathematics teaching in 183 randomly selected sixth grade classrooms: 100 from the North West province of South Africa and 83 from South East Botswana. The teaching quality is measured by coding videotaped lessons for three different components: mathematical proficiency, level of cognitive demand, and observed teacher knowledge. Results suggest that the overall teaching quality is about the same in both regions. Some variation was observed at the level of each component. For example, in the South Africa sample the students engage more in tasks that just involve “memorization” and less in tasks that involve “procedures without connections” in comparison with the Botswana students. Teachers in Botswana implement the official curriculum more faithfully than do those in North West. In both countries most of the learners engaged only in low-level tasks (very little activity involved “procedures with connections”) and teachers demonstrated a lack of knowledge about how to integrate mathematical content with effective pedagogical techniques.     

Disorganized Behavior in Adolescent–Parent Interaction: Relations to Attachment State of Mind,Partner Abuse,and Psychopathology

Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role‐confused attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood, but have not been assessed in adolescence. A total of 120 low‐income late adolescents (aged 18–23 years) and parents were assessed in a conflict‐resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal‐Corrected Partnership in Adolescence Coding Scales. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the three disorganized constructs (punitive, caregiving, and disoriented interaction) were best represented as distinct factors and were separable from a fourth factor for collaboration. The four factors were then assessed in relation to measures of attachment disorganization, partner abuse, and psychopathology. Results indicate that forms of disorganized behavior first described in early childhood can also be reliably assessed in adolescence and are associated with maladaptive outcomes across multiple domains.     

FAST-Future Academic Scholars in Teaching: A High-Engagement Development Program for Future STEM Faculty

Doctoral granting institutions prepare future faculty members for academic positions at institutions of higher education across the nation. Growing concerns about whether these institutions are adequately preparing students to meet the demands of a changing academic environment have prompted several reform efforts. We describe a professional development model designed to prepare the future faculty to integrate the multiple components of academic careers. The program emphasizes the study and application of effective teaching practices centered on student learning and assessment and expectations for faculty careers. We describe the impact of the program on its participants.     

German Language Media Publications

Bibliography of Austrian Mass Communication Literature, 1945-1975 by Benno Signitzer, et al. (bliss. Verlagsbuchhandlung, Wolfgang Neugebauer, Postfach 64, A 5033 Salzburg, Austria—DM 28)

Einfuhrunq in die Publizistikwissenschaft. Fragestellungen, Theoriean- Sitze, Forschungstechniken (Introduction to Mass Communication Research: Issues, Theories, Methodologies), by Heinz Purer (Verlag Olschlager, Amalienstrasse 81, D-8000 Munich 40, Federal Republic of Germany— DM14.80 or about $7.50, 160 pp.)

Journalistenausbildunq. Modelle, Erfahrungen Analysen (Journalism Education: Models, Experiences, Analyses), edited by Walter Homberg (Munich: same publisher and address as book just above, 1978—DM 39.00 or about $20.00, 245 pp.)

Science Writing: Annotated Selected Bibliography by Erich and Ingrid Geretschlaeger (Department of Mass Communication, University of Salzburg, Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 18/iii, A-5020 Salzburg—$4.00, 104 pp.)

Medieninformation and Medienkritik in Osterreich (Media Information and Media Criticism in Austria), by Margarethe Eichinger et al. (Austrian Society of Communications, Bankgasse 8, A-1010 Vienna—90.00 Austrian Schillings or about $7.00, 100 pp.)

Katholische Publizistik in den Niederlanden (Catholic Media in the Netherlands), edited by Joan Hemels and Michael Schaolke (Verlag Ferdinand SchOningh, Jahenplatz 1, D-4790 Paderborn, FRG—DM 18.00 or about $9.00, 124 pp.)

Einfahrung in die Pressekonzentrationsforschunq (Introduction to Research on Press Concentration) by Manfred Knoche (Volker Spiess Verlag, Box 147, D-1000 Berlin 66—DM60.00 or about $30.00)

Kommunikationspolitische and Kommunikationswissenschaftliche Forschungsprojekte der Bundesregierung (1974-1978) (Research Projects on Communication Policy and Research by the Federal Government of the FRG) compiled by Walter J. Schutz (Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Welcker Strasse, D-5300 Bonn—-price not given)     

Development of an alexithymia instrument to measure the diminished communication of affect

Although scholars recognize the importance of the communication of affect to the study of communication, no valid operationalization of the motivation and / or ability to communicate affect exists. This study describes alexithymia—an individual variable reflecting the reticence to communicate affect—and reports the reliability and validity of an instrument to measure alexithymia.     

The role of parents in special education: the notion of partnership revised

ABSTRACT

While parents' role in schools has attracted growing attention in educational research, very few researchers have directed any interest to the role of parents in special education. In this paper, we focus upon the concept of partnership, relating our analyses of interviews with classroom teachers and parents to the notion of partnership as described and explored by different researchers. Our main focus is on how teachers describe and perceive their relation to parents, and how parents experience their relation to the school. Our analysis shows that the relationship between teachers and parents seems to contain some other features than those reflected in the existing literature on parents’ role in education. To extract some of these features based on our data, we construct two roles: parents as ‘implementers’ and parents as ‘clients’, which we believe better captures the distinctive feature of the role of parents in special education. ‘Implementer’ implies parents being given responsibility for following up aims and measures set by the school, with very little possibility to influence how things are being done. ‘Clients’ occur when teachers see parents as part of their child's problem. Both roles place parents in a subordinate and powerless relationship with the school, as a result of a strong inequality of power between parents and schools. This inequality is caused, among other factors, by the socially defined power relationship between laypersons and professionals, and the stigma attached to special education which restrains parents from forming any collective resistance.