Taking Comics Seriously: Children’s Periodical Reading in England in the 1990s

Periodicals, that is newspapers, magazines and comics, have always represented a substantial proportion of children’s reading outside school. They have not always been accepted or considered as reading within schools. Martin Coles and Chris Hall here present the results of the most recent survey to shed light on the periodical reading which is actually happening among today’s children. They present some important findings which have the potential to alter significantly the ways teachers see this kind of reading and its possible contribution to the development of literacy.     

Estimation of Gestational Age: Implications for Developmental Research

Recent research in neonatology and obstetrics has challenged the validity of standard gestational age assessment methods. Length of gestation is a central component of research on the development of at-risk infants, yet issues concerning accuracy of this information are rarely addressed by developmental researchers. This article reviews prenatal and postnatal methods of gestational age estimation and evaluates implementation of this information in research. Recommendations concerning the assignment of gestational age in the perinatal period and the use of age correction for preterm infants are offered.     

Evidence for different parent–child strategies while reading

This study examined the strategies parents use naturally to help early readers at difficult points of text or pronunciation. Forty‐two children were videotaped reading to a parent. Results suggest parents are not likely to provide specific instructional feedback when listening to their children read. When given, parental feedback tends to be well tuned to the child's reading ability, with parents of less skilled readers providing richer and more varied feedback than parents of more skilled readers. A tree clustering analysis placed parents in one of three groups: 1) ‘Learner centred’ parents use a variety of feedback strategies; 2) ‘Inactive’ parents allow their children to continue uncorrected; 3) ‘Direct’ parents supply the miscued word. The children of ‘learner centred’ parents did not perform as well as children of ‘inactive’ parents on measures of reading ability, possibly because parents of better readers no longer need to be ‘learner centred’.     

Lessons for co-innovation in agricultural innovation systems: a multiple case study analysis and a conceptual model

Purpose: This paper highlights important lessons for co-innovation drawn from three ex-post case study innovation projects implemented within three sub-sectors of the primary industry sector in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach: The characteristics that fostered co-innovation in each innovation project case study were identified from semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders in each project, iterative discussions to confirm the findings and secondary document analysis. Common themes from the three cases are examined in relation to innovation system structure and function analysis and agricultural innovation system (AIS) literature. This study builds on the literature attempting to overcome methodological challenges in the applied AIS research space.

Findings: The findings have implications for co-innovation in practice; that there needs to be network-level capability and legitimacy, an understanding of priorities between actors, and adequate resources, to ensure proposed outcomes are likely to be attained.

Practical implications: Practically, project leaders need to ensure they embed an appropriate mix of actors in the research program and they also need to create and encourage room for open and honest dialogue between these actors to develop a shared vision of the future.

Theoretical implications: A conceptual model is developed to highlight and simplify lessons that can inform future projects involving co-innovation approaches to create value in the primary industries and AIS more generally. This model is unique to the applied AIS research space and provides new insights on enhancing the potential value of a co-innovation approach.

Originality/value: The paper adds to current scholarly debates and provides insight to key actions stakeholders need to take to foster co-innovation processes for successful outcomes in extension.     

Creative tensions? Creativity and basic skills in recent educational policy

Recently, in response to sustained criticism about the standards driven curriculum, UK government agencies have been promoting creativity in schools. In this article we explore how creativity is being defined in current national educational policy statements; how these definitions relate to other theoretical work on creativity, and the implications for the curriculum and pedagogies.     

Student perceptions of technology and implications for an empowering curriculum

Growing interest in technology education in 1988 led the Curriculum Development Division of the then New Zealand Department of Education to seek a survey of students' perceptions of technology using the internationally trialled Pupils' Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) questionnaire. Early in 1989 a national sample of 1,469 form 3 students completed the questionnaire and responded to an open question about the nature of technology. Results indicated that students have generally positive attitudes towards technology, but poor concepts of technology. The nature of these attitudes and concepts and related factors have implications for the development of the National Curriculum Statement in Technology. Specializations: science and technology education, gender     

Brokers on the boundary: Academy-industry liaison in Canadian universities

As scientific research has taken on increasingeconomic significance so research managementhas become a priority for universities and theState. Over the last two decades,Industry-Liaison Offices have become anestablished part of the infrastructure ofCanadian universities. The managers of theseoffices are the quintessential boundary workerswho are charged with translating academicscience into intellectual property. Someuniversities operate with an `internal' modelwhere the office is fully integrated into theuniversity's structure. Other universitiesoperate with an `external' model where theoffice operates outside the university eitheras a non-profit or a for-profit corporation.This article traces the institutionalization ofthese offices and commercialization in Canadianuniversities. Using documentary analysis andinterviews we document the key issues for thesemanagers in four `case' study universities, asthey attempt to commercialize universityresearch. We describe how these managers`capture the benefits' of discoveries generatedby researchers – the process of identifying,protecting, and exploiting intellectualproperty. Finally, we identify four majorthemes: intellectual property policy; cultureconflict; boundary work; and the public good. We end by raising the question about what islost when `capital' is allowed to enteruniversity culture in such a direct manner.