Peer interaction and the learning of critical thinking skills in further education students

A teaching programme is reported in which criticalthinking skills (in the sense of reasonedjustification of arguments; see Kuhn, 1991, 1993) weretaught. The principal aims of the study were todevelop, implement and evaluate a programme forteaching evidence-based justification to vocationaleducation students in Further Education colleges. Teaching was via modelling and peer-based critiquingexercises in the context of the students' projectwork. Eighty-four Further Education college studentsunderwent a 10-session teaching intervention whichdovetailed with their Additional Assessmentintegrative project work. Students took part inpeer-based exercises in which they learned to critiqueimaginary examples of project outlines and plans,followed by similar peer-based critiquing of eachothers' proposed projects. Analysis of the students'dialogues with each other indicated that they hadlearned the importance of justifying arguments, andcontent analysis of their written work indicated thatthey engaged in justification of their arguments to asignificantly greater degree than control groups. Several key variables in the dialogues correlatedpositively with justification in the written work,suggesting that the dialogue had impacted on thewritten work. However, justification tended to be ofa weak kind (using anecdotes or experience-basedgeneralisations), and strong (i.e. formalresearch-based) evidence remained relativelyinfrequent and sometimes inappropriately used. Apsychometric test of general critical thinking skillsshowed no evidence of transfer of learning.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mathematical sophistication</Emphasis> among preservice elementary teachers

This study explores the ways in which eleven preservice elementary teachers used a web-based teacher resource to apply a mathematical definition, to correct a procedural error in arithmetic, and to make sense of a story requiring the multiplication of fractions. In our analysis we propose a framework to compare the behaviors and values expressed by our participants with the values and norms of the mathematical community. This analysis suggests that many preservice elementary teachers are profoundly mathematically unsophisticated. In other words, they displayed a set of values and avenues for doing mathematics so different from that of the mathematical community, and so impoverished, that they found it difficult to create fundamental mathematical understandings.     

Triggering play: electronic literature in the English classroom

ABSTRACT

With the anticipated increase in narrative video games entering the English classroom, the particular features of the genre need added attention. One of these features is the stronger perceived relationship between a player and the character than a reader and a character. While this has benefits for effective storytelling, it also creates the possibility of stronger triggering of trauma in the player. We must consider how to make accessible narrative games that discuss potentially triggering themes while not compromising other features of the genre such as multiple storylines and experiences of the text.     

Conceptual understanding in history

There has been considerable interest in the topic of conceptual understanding especially as found in mathematics and the sciences. The present paper discusses recent studies related to conceptual understanding in the domain of history, comparing the nature of understanding as found in history to that other domains. Included are considerations of the role of the sources of historical knowledge, narrativization, causation and explanation. In addition, it is pointed out that conceptual change in history may differ from that in the sciences because of the former’s emphasis upon the motives of people and the central role of the historian.     

“Love Doesn’t Just Happen…”: Parent-Child Communication About Marriage

This study takes an exploratory, qualitative approach to examine the communication between parents and their children on the topic of marriage. Two research questions guide this study regarding what messages newlyweds recall receiving from their parents about marriage and how accurate the newlyweds perceive these messages to be. An inductive theme analysis revealed several meanings of marriage were transmitted from parent to child: Marriage means a lifelong commitment, marriage means work, and traditional values of marriage. Largely, these meanings of marriage were perceived to be accurate by the newlyweds.     

Forging inclusive practice in ethnically-segregated school systems: lessons from one multiethnic,bilingual education classroom in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a perspective on bilingual education (BE) as inclusive education. Ethnolinguistically-separated schools and classrooms in Sri Lanka resulted from an enduring, mother tongue instruction policy which abetted a deeply ethnically-divided nation. More recently, Sri Lanka has experimented with a BE programme in pursuit of enriching the perceived value of the local mother tongues as well as building students’ knowledge of English as a global language. This article presents analysis of the inclusive practice of two Sri Lankan BE teachers in their attempts to advance social cohesion through bilingual education. We demonstrate the logic of practice focussing on four features of the teachers’ work: promoting interethnic relations through regular change of seating arrangements; equal delegation of responsibilities and absence of favouritism; cooperative group work in ethnically heterogeneous groups; and, promoting heteroglossic language practices or translanguaging. The positive, inclusive consequences of these practices are corroborated by focus group data gathered from students in the school. We argue that teachers have a significant role in changing the logic of practice in the classroom, and that the implicit rules teachers encode in their pedagogy can reorient exclusionary, ethnocentric identity positioning towards more inclusive, supraethnic identities.     

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