Beyond Usability: The Study of Functionality of the 2.0 Online Catalogue (OPAC)

A usability test of Copac was carried out to inform developments in both its usability and functionality. Participants were assigned tasks, using specific system features, and their actions and thoughts were collected through think aloud to reveal potential issues with the system. Retrospective thinking and subsequent reflection were gathered in a focus group to provide greater insight into perceived functionality (current and potential) of the system. The study demonstrated the importance of the application of usability principles in the interface design. Many of the issues associated with search, records display, and use of specific features related to the attributes of ease of use, appearance, navigation, and terminology and provided the evidence base for re-design. The study also highlighted the importance of the users’ perceptions and expectations of functionality in the specific usage contexts. Continued user testing is recommended to inform further development of functionality in the broader contexts of information use to ensure the value and use of the system features are evident in the system design and meet the expectations of its users.     

Oral versus written assessments: a test of student performance and attitudes

Student performance in and attitudes towards oral and written assessments were compared using quantitative and qualitative methods. Two separate cohorts of students were examined. The first larger cohort of students (n = 99) was randomly divided into ‘oral’ and ‘written’ groups, and the marks that they achieved in the same biology questions were compared. Students in the second smaller cohort (n = 29) were all examined using both written and oral questions concerning both ‘scientific’ and ‘personal development’ topics. Both cohorts showed highly significant differences in the mean marks achieved, with better performance in the oral assessment. There was no evidence of particular groups of students being disadvantaged in the oral tests. These students and also an additional cohort were asked about their attitudes to the two different assessment approaches. Although they tended to be more nervous in the face of oral assessments, many students thought oral assessments were more useful than written assessments. An important theme involved the perceived authenticity or ‘professionalism’ of an oral examination. This study suggests that oral assessments may be more inclusive than written ones and that they can act as powerful tools in helping students establish a ‘professional identity’.     

Researching the competence-based curriculum: preface to a case study of four urban secondary schools

This introductory article accompanies three further articles forming a case study research project undertaken to describe the experience of four urban secondary schools implementing a competence-based curriculum for students in their first year of secondary education. The nature of such competence-based curricula is discussed in the context of secondary schools before providing an outline of the context of each of the case study schools. A democratic and emancipatory view of education provides the rationale for the development of transferable competencies, and this is considered with respect to the challenges of engaging in a cross-disciplinary approach to the curriculum. These challenges are viewed through the lens of Bernstein's concepts of strong and weak framing and horizontal and vertical discourses. Each of the accompanying articles takes up a different aspect of education, focusing on curriculum planning, teaching and learning, and leadership and management respectively. Further challenges with regard to changes in the English curriculum are briefly reflected upon. Finally an outline of the case study methodology which was employed in the study is provided.     

Curricular and Instructional Factors which Facilitate Mathematical Learning

The problem was to investigate basic curriculum factors apart from instructional factors and evaluate heir relative effects upon the learning of mathematics at various cognitive levels, in different mathematical reas and on different mathematical topics by sixth graders. Multivariate analysis of variance and covariance vere used to analyze the data. The findings suggest (a) curriculum characteristics of organization do differentially affect the mathematical learning of sixth graders at the knowledge and evaluation levels of cognition and vithin the area of number theory, and (b) the inductive mode of presentation better facilitates the learning of perations while a deductive mode better facilitates the learning of properties.     

Statistics poster challenge for schools

The analysis and interpretation of data are important life skills. A poster challenge for schoolchildren provides an innovative outlet for these skills and demonstrates their relevance to daily life. We discuss our Statistics Poster Challenge and the lessons we have learned.