The Educational Imagination Revisited

(Eisner, Elliot W., 1979. The educational imagination: On the design and evaluation of school programs . New York: Macmillan.)     

THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION FOR THREE MATHEMATICS ITEM FORMATS1

Different instructional programs were developed for three mathematics aptitude item formats to determine the relative susceptibility of each to special instruction. Subjects were male and female high school junior volunteers in 12 schools. In the seven weeks between a pre- and posttest, experimental Ss received 21 hours of instruction for one of the three formats; control Ss received no special instrucion. Each of the three formats was found susceptible to instruction directed toward it. The complex formats were most susceptible. Female Ss were slightly less able mathematically at the outset and benefited less from instruction than males. Mean gains of nearly a full standard deviation for groups instructed for the complex formats were considered to be of practical consequence.     

What Ought to Be Done to Promote Education for Sustainability in Teacher Education?

Teachers are major players in the development of future citizens who have the knowledge, understanding, skills, values and dispositions to respond to existential threats such as climate change, land degradation, sea level rise and population growth. Yet, this type of education, often captured under the name of Education for Sustainability (EfS), is often rejected by teacher educators and, thereby, mostly not included in the education of future teachers. This paper draws on learning from a long-term collaborative project to argue for the promotion of EfS in teacher education and to offer a set of propositions or strategies for doing so. The paper will interest academics and researchers within and beyond teacher education who are interested in change towards sustainability through education.     

Beyond the ‘classic’ nurture group model: an evaluation of part‐time and cross‐age nurture groups in a Scottish local authority

This study begins to explore ways in which the principles underpinning the traditional ‘nurture group’ model could be altered and age ranges extended while continuing to deliver the proven success of nurture groups in promoting children's social and emotional development. Part‐time nurture groups were established in four different primary schools within the same council area. A total of 25 pupils ranging from age four to ten years attended the nurture groups for the 2006/7 school session and a control group was established within each school. All fifty children were tested using the Boxall Profile, literacy, numeracy and motor skills baseline assessments at pre‐, mid‐ and post‐nurture group intervention. Analysis of the results showed that for the children who had received a part‐time nurture group experience, statistically significant gains were made in the areas of development assessed by the Boxall Profile. Gains were also made in the areas of literacy, numeracy and motor skills; however, these gains were not at a statistically significant level. Results also show that the younger the pupil accessed the nurture group, the more significant gains were made in the measures used.     

Teaching about Electronic Records in an Online Learning Environment

The author, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University in Australia, discusses the literature used to teach macroappraisal of electronic records through distance education techniques within an environment rooted in the Australian records continuum. In this context, students are given a sound grounding in systems analysis and design, as well as functional appraisal and the importance of metadata. A key teaching element is the International Standards Organization's Information and Documentation—Records Management (ISO 15489), which she demonstrates has strong parallels to the principles of systems analysis and design.     

HIV/AIDS Education for Counselors: Efficacy of Training

This article discusses the efficacy of an intensive model of HIV/AIDS counselor training. Positive changes in knowledge and attitudes were reported at the posttraining stage and were sustained over time.     

A STUDY OF SPEEDEDNESS AS A SOURCE OF TEST BIAS1

Specially constructed “speeded” and “unspeeded” forms of a Reading Comprehension test were administered to both regular center and fee-free center LSAT candidates in an effort to determine: (1) if the test was more speeded for fee-free candidates, and (2) if reducing the amount of speededness was more beneficial to fee-free candidates. Results of the analyses show: (1) the test is somewhat more speeded for fee-free candidates than for regular candidates, (2) reducing the amount of speededness produces higher scores for both regular and fee-free center candidates, and (3) reducing speededness is not significantly more beneficial (in terms of increasing the number of items answered correctly) to fee-free than to regular center candidates. Lower KR-20 reliability was observed under speeded conditions in the fee-free sample.