Information transformation Africa: Indigenous knowledge – Securing space in the knowledge society

This paper reflects on factors that need to be considered for establishment of an equitable knowledge society that will secure the Indigenous Knowledge space. While information communication technology facilitates the capture of a predominantly oral-based indigenous knowledge, its contribution to exploitative approaches to information access, also encourages the development of such knowledge as a commodity for competitive advantage, a factor that requires serious consideration. The basis for this consideration should be the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS) Principles which provide the promise of equitable access to information as a base for creation of the knowledge society through ethically grounded information use and sharing.     

Measures of Information Seeking: A Validation Study in the Context of Nonmedical Drug Use Behaviors

Health information is readily available and easily obtained from a variety of media and interpersonal sources. Although several studies have examined health-related information seeking, a comprehensive validation study of this measure is still needed. This study uses a longitudinal cohort study of Israeli university students (N = 800) aged 18–30, and a cross-sectional sample of U.S. college students (N = 498) to validate measures of information seeking about the nonmedical use of two drugs (marijuana and amphetamines) from a range of media and interpersonal sources. Information seeking measures for both drug types showed good convergent, discriminant, nomological, and test-retest validity. Results offer support for the use of these measures as valid indicators of the constructs for which they were designed. Implications for the use of these measures in future research are discussed.     

Patterns in children's ability to recall explicit,implicit and metaphorical information

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of grade level and recall task type on children's memory for explicit, implicit and metaphorical information following reading. Forty second and 40 fifth grade subjects balanced as to gender read four prose passages and were randomly assigned to cued and free recall conditions. A MANOVA produced significant main effects for grade level and task type on each of three dependent variables; EXPLICIT, IMPLICIT and METAPHOR recall measures. As predicted, fifth graders fared better than second graders and the cued condition exceeded free recall. Of greater significance was the finding that second graders were able to engage in metaphorical reasoning when the task was appropriately structured. The results suggest that providing externally generated, structured probes can greatly enhance children's reading recall at both grade levels and can enable children to demonstrate metaphorical comprehension prior to the age at which it spontaneously appears. In addition, significantly different patterns of recalled information were found within the two task conditions, patterns that remained stable across age groups.     

What does ‘inclusion’ mean for pupils on the autistic spectrum in mainstream secondary schools?

The last decade has seen a groundswell of developments in educational policy in the UK relating to inclusive education for students with special educational needs (SEN). However, whether government policy has been fully implemented in schools remains a concern. The experience of students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) provides an excellent case in point. An increasing number of such students are now educated in mainstream schools, but the limited research in this area has indicated that their experience of school is often marked by bullying, social isolation and anxiety. In light of this, the aim of the current study was to examine the extent to which inclusive educational policy was actually reflected in the practices of four mainstream secondary schools. An exploratory case study approach was adopted, utilising interviews with pupils, teachers, other school staff (e.g., senior managers, learning support assistants) and parents, observations of lessons and other contexts (e.g., lunch time), and document analysis. Our findings highlighted a number of school practices which acted as facilitators or barriers to students’ learning and participation, some of which were generic to SEN provision, and some of which appeared to be specific to those on the autistic spectrum. A discussion of these is presented to enable further understanding of, and inform practice relating to, the inclusion process for students with ASDs.     

Investigating Students’ Learning Through Co-designing with Technology

Involving students in the co-design of educational curricula and practices can benefit both students and teachers. Students who participate in co-design may show better learning or increased agency or engagement. In the present study, we investigated what kind of science knowledge or practices can be learned by student co-designers while engaging in co-design practices and how that learning happens with six high school students. We created a model to guide the analysis of students’ learning with technology in co-designing processes. The results revealed that students learned engineering design process even if no explicit instruction on engineering learning was given. Also, our analysis suggested that co-designing with technology enabled learning of the engineering design process and potentially furthered learning of science because it promoted knowledge integration. The results have implications for understanding and enhancing engineering design and science learning through co-designing with technology.