Asking the ‘Right’ Questions. Identifying Issues in Developing a Technological Solution

It is well established that technological education is not just about the development of technical expertise. A socially constructed view of technology aims to recognise the culture of technology. Technology education as expressed in the New Zealand curriculum provides an opportunity for societal issues to have equal space with technological capability and technological knowledge. However, when technological activities focus on solutions it is all too easy for stakeholders' positions to be ignored. There is a need for a teaching approach to engage in a liberating technological literacy discourse where values and beliefs of all participants directly and indirectly involved in the activity, are examined. This research monitored a professional development programme where identification of the values represented in a familiar object provided a model for discussion and the development of a teaching environment that promoted consideration of values during problem-solving. The data have been collected from primary school teachers who developed teaching programmes for Years 1 to 8 (5–12 years).     

The effect of language specific factors on early written composition: the role of spelling,oral language and text generation skills in a shallow orthography

Spelling skills have been identified as one of the major barriers to written text production in young English writers. By contrast oral language skills and text generation have been found to be less influential in the texts produced by beginning writers. To date, our understanding of the role of spelling skills in transparent orthographies is limited. The current study addressed this gap by examining the contribution of spelling, oral language and text generation skills in written text production in Italian beginner writers. Eighty-three children aged 7–8 years participated in the study. Spelling, lexical retrieval, receptive grammar, and written sentence generation and reformulation skills were assessed and children were asked to write a text on a set topic. A factor analysis revealed that the children’s written text production was captured by three factors: productivity, complexity and accuracy. In contrast to results from children learning to write in opaque orthographies, such as English, this study showed that receptive grammar and written sentence generation skills accounted for significant variance in measures of productivity, complexity and accuracy in Italian children’s written text production. Spelling skills contributed to text accuracy and quality and explained more variance than receptive grammar in microstructural accuracy. By contrast, oral grammatical skills explained more variance in text quality than spelling. The current study shows the differential impact of language systems, such as Italian, on written text production. Implications for assessment and instruction are outlined.     

Bakhtin's theory of dialogue: A construct for pedagogy, methodology and analysis

This article describes the application of Bakhtin's (1981, 1986a,b) theorisation of language as dialogue to the study of young students' struggle with discourses of ethnicity within the context of a Studies of Asia curriculum project (Hamston 2003). Bakhtin's rich conceptualisation of the productive and ethical nature of dialogue has operated at all levels in this study as a theoretical, pedagogical, methodological and analytic research construct.     

Mathematical Flexibility: Aspects of a Continuum and the Role of Prior Knowledge

Abstract

Psychologists and mathematics educators have long viewed flexibility as critical to students’ mathematical development. In this paper, we focused on the multidimensional nature of flexibility to better understand how preference, knowledge, and use of effective methods for solving algebra problems are related. In Study 1, we identified research-based aspects of flexibility with algebra and assessed students on them following a two-step equations unit. Results indicated that certain aspects of flexibility develop prior to others and that prior knowledge of algebra plays a significant role in that development. Study 2 confirmed and elaborated on these results using a larger sample size. Implications for theory and for supporting flexibility in classrooms are discussed.     

Orthographic knowledge: clarifications,challenges, and future directions

Orthographic knowledge is the understanding of how spoken language is represented in print. However, the terms used to describe the two levels of orthographic knowledge, lexical and sublexical orthographic knowledge, have been variably defined and inconsistently measured, potentially contributing to discrepancies in research findings. Dissimilarities in how orthographic knowledge has been operationally defined and measured and the associated differences in tasks used to assess that construct are discussed. As part of that discussion, we relate how some measures assess either implicit or more explicit levels of orthographic knowledge. Using current theories and the existing research, we next provide an argument for how initial development of sublexical orthographic knowledge occurs before lexical orthographic knowledge. Suggestions are provided for what researchers might do in the future to help move the field toward a better understanding of orthographic knowledge. Strategies for assessing orthographic knowledge in literacy research are offered.