Spoon Feeding Leads to Regurgitation: a better diet can result in more digestible learning outcomes

It is common to hear teachers claim that their students expect to be spoon fed and are only capable of regurgitating information they have been fed. Their curricula reflect this belief and the outcome is a self‐fulfilling prophecy—the students dutifully regurgitate to the best of their ability to fulfill assessment requirements. We present a case study of a course based upon this belief, but provide evidence to show that the assumption was not true at all. When an alternative curriculum stressing independent learning and student‐centred approaches was developed, the students were not only capable of more meaningful learning approaches, they actually preferred them—even if they did at times work harder. We discuss the aspects of course design which contributed to encouraging students to use a deep approach to learning.     

“亚元区”建立初探

最优货币区理论为“欧元区”的建立提供了理论依据,欧元的流通对世界经济产生了深远影响。而亚洲是世界人口最多的洲,也是世界经济增长最快的区域之一。分析了当前在亚洲建立“亚元区”的可能性以及存在的各种障碍,并据此对今后亚洲各国金融合作发展思路进行了初步的探讨。     

Understanding the influence of teachers’ cognitive and affective responses upon school inspection feedback acceptance

Despite the developmental perspective of school inspections, teachers in inspected schools are not always willing to accept the school inspection’s feedback for their further improvement of teaching and learning processes. Literature distinguishes several aspects of feedback that stimulate or hinder the acceptance of feedback, such as recipient’s cognitive and affective responses to feedback. This study investigates teachers’ cognitive and affective responses to school inspection feedback in relation to feedback acceptance. It draws on data from 21 in-depth interviews with teachers in eight primary schools. We found that positive perceptions of the inspectors’ credibility enhance teachers’ feedback acceptance. This is also the case for positive, clear feedback. Under these circumstances, emotions of joy, happiness and relief are expressed. Conversely, respondents tend to reject feedback when inspectors are perceived to be inadequately informed, arrogant or disrespectful. When negative feedback is rated as unfair, negative emotions, such as anger and sadness, interfere with feedback acceptance. In essence, we conclude that both feedback content and feedback source characteristics are decisive in the acceptance of process. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest there is a need to build on supportive relationships between teachers and school inspectors.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part I

Abstract

This issue is the first of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. It is inspired by the “Regional Faculty Workshop on REU Issues” in 2013 and the Joint Mathematics Meeting 2015 Mathematical Association of America’s “Themed Session on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research.” This issue consists of seven papers focusing on the larger issues involved in creating, running, and sustaining an undergraduate research program in mathematics.     

Diversity in language: Outdoor terminology in the Czech Republic and Britain

This paper reviews literature related to outdoor terminology as it is used within the languages of British English and Czech. It provides the background to the outdoors in the Czech Republic where terminology has adopted and adapted many English language outdoor terms. The paper analyses the differences and similarities between terms and deals with the problems associated with defining and explaining outdoor terms and translating the British English terms into Czech and vice versa. Semi structured interviews were conducted with British and Czech academic experts. The findings suggest that as the outdoor field develops there is a need for more understanding of the cultural, historical, and geographical differences between concepts and terminology used in both English and non-English speaking countries, for example, the specific indigenous nature of the Czech turistika activities.     

Implementing Godly Play in educational settings: a cautionary tale

At the heart of all curriculum decision-making is the learner. Contemporary early childhood education theory and practice emphasises young children’s agency and voice in their learning paying particular attention to valuing each child’s sociocultural contexts. As learners, children are considered capable and active participants rather than as deficit and passive recipients. How does the implementation of godly play in prior-to-school and school early years settings sit within a contemporary view of childhood? To what extent does this programme align with early childhood theory and practice? This paper seeks to evaluate the presence and place of godly play (which is not a curriculum and nor does it claim to be a curriculum) in the religiously affiliated early childhood education context in either prior-to-school or school settings. It is to be emphasised that this paper is not evaluating the presence and place of godly play in the faith community of the local parish where all who participate are believers coming together to share that faith and to have that faith strengthened. However, its presence and place in formal educational settings outside of parish faith communities is questionable and requires closer critique.     

Empirical evidence of the impact of lesson study on students’ achievement,teachers’ professional learning and on institutional and system evolution

In this article we review the evidence of the impact of lesson study on student learning, teacher development, teaching materials, curriculum, professional learning and system enhancement. We argue for lesson study to be treated holistically as a vehicle for development and improvement at classroom, school and system levels rather than as a curricular or pedagogical intervention. We illustrate the need for this approach to evaluating lesson study through a complex case exemplar which used Research Lesson Study (a form of lesson study popular in the UK and Europe) to develop learning, teaching, curriculum and local improvement capacity across schools initially involved in a two‐year mathematics curriculum development project that later evolved into three self‐sustaining, voluntary lesson study school hubs in London. We discuss resulting changes in culture, practice, belief, expectation and student learning. We argue as a result for greater policy level understanding of this expanded conception of lesson study as a vehicle in classroom, school and system transformation.     

Third-grader's think-aloud protocols: Types of reading activities in reading an expository text

In the present study, we examined the reading activities of young readers, while reading an expository text. A total of 24 third-graders was administered a think-aloud task on two occasions. Their protocols were analysed by a coding system that captured two levels of the reading process: the word identification level and the reading comprehension level. Three indices reflecting three different types of reading activities were discerned: reading errors, reproduction, and activities referring to reading strategies. Correlational analyses showed the reading strategy index to be related to reading comprehension as measured by standardized tests. The think-aloud task constitutes a valuable instrument for examining strategic reading among young readers.