Learning while playing: Children's Forest School experiences in the UK

Children's outdoor play is declining, despite clear links between play, learning and development. Alternative learning initiatives which provide children with a diversity of play opportunities, including the chance to play outdoors, are therefore needed. One such programme, Forest School, is increasing in popularity in the UK and internationally, yet little is understood about its impact on children's learning, or how alternative approaches are informing learning in mainstream settings. This novel study examined primary school children's experiences of engaging in a Forest School programme in relation to this intersection between formal and informal approaches to learning. It explored how children interpret their experiences when faced with a fusion of learning environments and critically evaluates the benefits children realise, when asked to reflect on their learning engagement in both classroom and outdoor settings. Interviews were conducted with 33 children from two mainstream primary schools in England who had recently completed a 6-week Forest School programme. A rigorous phenomenological thematic analysis revealed three inter-related themes: a break from routine; learning through play; collaboration and teamwork. The findings suggest that the blending of Forest School with mainstream settings contributes to children's social, cognitive, emotional and physical skill development through experiential learning using play. These findings are significant because they not only emphasise the values of social constructivist play-pedagogy which underpin Forest School practice, but also highlight the need for primary schools to consider learning outside of the classroom as an effective pedagogy.     

What makes a cMOOC community endure? Multiple participant perspectives from diverse cMOOCs

Imagine the challenge of being immersed in a dynamic learning network where you play brinkmanship with being overwhelmed by a plethora of information, comments, and conversations on a topic of intense interest to you. Through adept facilitation, the comments and encouragement of fellow participants, and your own perseverance, you develop a network of personal connections which serve as metaphorical flying buttresses creating enough stability that you are able to learn in a new, yet profoundly meaningful way – the connectivist massive open online course (cMOOC) way. Through the lens of autoethnography, five seasoned educators collaboratively reflect on their motivation for participating in their initial cMOOC. They analyze their lived experience, what they found most engaging, and most importantly, they grapple with why cMOOC communities often endure past official end-dates. This article attempts to provide insight into the thrill and depth of learning and connection possible through participation in cMOOCs.     

“Crossing the Rubicon”: Understanding Chinese EFL students’ volitional process underlying in-class participation with the theory of planned behaviour

An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign language classroom anxiety and face-saving) frequently discussed in the literature about Chinese EFL classroom dynamics. A total of 199 Chinese students enrolled in a Sino-American international branch campus were surveyed. The results of a partial least squares (PLS) path modelling analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy, and face-saving explained 46% of the variance in intentions to participate in English in class. Perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy fully mediated the negative indirect effect of foreign language classroom anxiety on intentions. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed for implementation purposes.     

Critical moments: pre-service mathematics teachers’ narrative arcs and mathematical orientations over 20 years

This study explores narratives about critical moments in mathematics learning written by K-8 pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) in the United States over a 20-year period. These critical moments, such as a single memorable task, course, test, or comment from a teacher, had a powerful and sustained impact on PSTs’ mathematics identities, which they carried with them as they entered the teaching profession. We classified narratives using McCulloch et al. (Sch Sci Math 113(8):380–389, 2013) and Drake’s (J Math Teach Educ 9(6):579–608, 2006) categories and found a potentially new category, Taking the Reins. We also classified PSTs’ mathematics orientations as either relational (oriented toward creative problem solving and conceptual understanding) or instrumental (enacting rote procedures without meaning) (Skemp in Math Teach 77(1):20–26, 1976). Many PSTs identified a causal relationship between their mathematics orientations and narrative arcs: relational learning opportunities encouraged positive narratives, while instrumental learning opportunities either resulted in negative narrative arcs or positive but fragile mathematics identities that crumbled under minor stress. We found little variation over time in the nature and prevalence of the narrative arcs and mathematics orientations, suggesting that any changes in mathematics teaching practices over time were not reflected in students’ learning experiences.

     

Technology at Washington University School of Medicine Library: BACS, PHILSOM, and OCTANET

A brief overview of the Bibliographic Access and Control System developed by the Washington University School of Medicine Library is presented. Because the system has been described in two previous reports, this paper focuses on its relationship to other automated programs (i.e., PHILSOM and OCTANET), education of users, evaluation of the system, and outreach to the medical center. In operation for more than two years, BACS represents the computerization of much of the managerial and operational functions of the library, and marks the completion of stage 1 of the three stages of library evolution described in the AAMC report Academic Information in the Academic Health Sciences Center: Roles for the Library in Information Management.