Students’ Progression in Monitoring Anomalous Results Obtained in Inquiry-Based Laboratory Tasks

Research in Science Education - This paper examines students’ engagement in monitoring anomalous results across a 2-year longitudinal study with 9th and 10th graders (14–15 and...     

Improving the Effectiveness of Educational Development: Concerns,Constraints and Recommendations

A Higher Education Research and Development Unit (HERDU) is a specialised sub‐unit within higher education institutions whose members collectively act as a visionary, educational interest group. They aim to be critically reflective, dynamic agents of educational development and help to develop the practices and potential of individuals and groups. This paper defines HERDUs in organisation terms, clarifies educational development, and assesses the web of contexts that educational developers experience. The paper then canvasses international perspectives on improvement and effectiveness of educational development theory, practice and outcomes. Finally, it is suggested that coming to grips with long‐standing concerns might be aided by a set of performance indicators, a model of self‐review, and enhanced cooperation among educational developers to share research, theories, practices and experiences.     

漫步天堂海滩

Jim平时的消遣,多数是花在漫步海滩上面。享受着清新的海风,观察着海滩上的人来人往,猜测着他们的由来行踪,这是他认为最快乐的一种享受了。冬天拖着寒冷飞往南半球,剩下的就是合着春天的旋律,来欣赏天堂般的海滩。     

Higher expertise,pedagogic rights and the post-truth society

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the nature of higher expertise in society and the role of higher education in constituting that expertise. It is argued that higher expertise relies on disciplined norms against which expert activity can be evaluated, and such norms are the basis not only for knowledge communities in higher education but also for other societal institutions. However, expertise in these communities and institutions is challenged by ‘post-truth’ developments that are fuelled by the marketisation and commodification of expertise, and by a collapse in deference and trust throughout society to which expert institutions and communities have not yet adequately responded. The consequences for higher education can be usefully explored via Durkheim’s discussion of the social organisation of religion and magic. Bernstein’s pedagogic rights of enhancement, inclusion and participation are subsequently examined to offer insight into how higher expertise may be sustained in such a context.     

Gender,student perceptions,institutional commitments and academic dishonesty: who reports in academic dishonesty cases?

The academic dishonesty literature generally focuses on the causes of academic dishonesty, and outlines deterrence strategies, as well as the punishment methods used in formal sanction. Student self-monitoring techniques are becoming a more visible alternative that places greater emphasis on proactive prevention methods as opposed to reactive punishment policies. Increasing the formal level of student responsibility in deterring academic dishonesty assumes that students will actively monitor the behavior of their classmates. Our findings indicate that student perceptions of campus climate and gender differences are important factors when explaining student reporting of suspected academic dishonesty and may illustrate important prerequisite conditions that must exist prior to the establish of a successful student self-monitoring programme.     

Developing an Initial Learning Progression for the Use of Evidence in Decision-Making Contexts

This paper outlines an initial learning progression for the use of evidence to support scientific arguments in the context of decision-making. Use of evidence is a central feature of knowledge evaluation and, therefore, of argumentation. The proposal is based on the literature on argumentation and use of evidence in decision-making contexts. The objective is to develop a construct map describing a trajectory of evidence use in a decision-making context. The levels in the initial learning progression are characterised by students’ performance in practice. The framework is applied to a multiple-case study in 10th grade (66 students), structured around a marine resource management task. Data included audio and video recordings, as well as students’ written artefacts. Five levels of complexity in student performance are described; on the lowest level, students are able to identify and extract information in response to a problem and recognise general features in a set of data; on the uppermost level, they are able to articulate arguments by synthesising evidence from multiple sources and evaluate options based on evidence and scientific content. The framework also shows potential for recognising students’ difficulties in identifying and integrating data and evidence in their justifications and in drawing from domain knowledge to interpret evidence. Implications for educational practice are discussed.     

A pedagogy of larger concerns used as a lens to reflect on the design of student learning experiences

ABSTRACT

Although engineering educational endeavours are often described with regard to how well they prepare students to meet national or global engineering concerns, the purpose of this paper is to show how those efforts can also serve the larger educational goals of the educators themselves as they develop learning experiences for their students. This paper describes the reflections of four engineering educators who used a research-based ‘Pedagogy of Larger Concerns’ (PLC) as a conceptual lens for examining important aspects of their courses. A PLC is a set of teaching conceptions that was identified in a study exploring the thinking of outstanding professors in order to improve our understanding of the basis of their effectiveness.     

The Australian schools of the air: the conundrum of who teaches

This paper examines the question of who ‘teaches’ children in the Australian school of the air context, where responsibilities lie, the perspectives and roles of teachers and parents and ‘where’ the school in fact is. It uses Carnarvon, WA as the extant example, considers the changing nature of outback isolation in the area, and what this may mean for future school of the air education. It concludes that the school of the air is an unusual ‘dual teacher’ situation, that the parent/teacher relationship is complex, and that the relative roles and impact of the two upon the child's education is little understood.     

Multi-media Case Methods in Pre-service Science Education: Enabling an Apprenticeship for Praxis

In recent years, teacher educators have looked to case methods as one means of bridging the theory-practice gap in university-based pre-service programs. This paper explores how case methods may be used to foster habits of praxis – that is, critical, reflective practice – that enable beginning teachers to adapt to the many diverse contexts they may encounter in the field. Our research used qualitative ethnographic methods to determine the efficacy of a case method designed to encourage critical analysis of a Year 8 science Optics lesson. Results suggest student teachers: (1) understood an associated analytical framework; (2) effectively analysed curriculum and pedagogy; and (3) exercised prudence in their assessment of the case. These findings tentatively indicate emerging habits of praxis. Notwithstanding such gains, we encourage designers of case-based curricula to: ensure case authenticity, protect subjects from critique and use multi-media case methods in conjunction with other approaches to promote habits of praxis.