Guest Editor's Introduction: Analyzing Tools: Perspectives on the Role of Designed Artifacts in Mathematics Learning

Concentrating the attention on one aspect makes it leap into the foreground and occupy the square, just as, with certain drawings, you have only to close your eyes and when you open them the perspective has changed. (Calvino, 1983, p. 7)     

A Window into the Rural Classroom: interactive television and problem‐based activity in Australian pre‐service teacher education

ABSTRACT

This project incorporated live broadcasts of teaching from small, multi‐graded, rural schools into university lecture halls where pre‐service teacher education students in the last semester of their programmes were able to observe ‘best practice’ in a learning context that they would eventually be responsible for during their final practicum session. Interactive observation sessions were immediately followed with opportunities for students to discuss various aspects of planning, classroom organisation and teaching strategies appropriate to multi‐graded contexts with the remote classroom teacher. These ‘reverse distance education’ sessions followed an intensive lecture and tutorial series centring upon topics relevant to teaching in small rural communities. Tutorial activities placed student teachers in small rural school scenarios containing everyday ‘problems’ requiring diagnosis and the generation and analysis of solutions. At the conclusion of scenario discussions, students had networked, collaborated with colleagues and applied current research findings in generating viable solutions and considered school community reactions to these proposed solutions.

The incorporation of interactive video technology with these problem situations consolidated the concept and skill development of student teachers and increased both their real time involvement in their chosen professions, and their access to best practice. This dual focus upon a problem solving approach to teaching immersed the student teacher in situations derived from real school environments, and so encouraged a collegial and open approach to teaching. Extensive evaluations revealed that pre‐service teachers were more thoroughly prepared for rural teaching experiences, displayed competence in effective multigrade teaching skills, and exhibited control during involvement     

Public Policy

GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY RELATIONS: KEY ISSUES IN THE US TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY by Dr. D.C. Pitt (Economic and Social Research Council, 160 Great Portland St., London WIN 6BA—L3.50, paper)

STATE GOVERNMENT RESEARCH DIRECTORY edited by Kay Gill and Susan E. Tufts (1987—price not given)

GOVERNMENT RESEARCH DIRECTORY edited by Kay Gill and Susan E. Tufts (1987—$350)

RESEARCH SERVICES DIRECTORY edited by Robert J. Huffman, and Mary Michelle Watkins (1987—$290)

PROTECTING THE BEST MEN: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY OF THE LAW OF LIBEL by Norman L. Rosenberg (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986—$29.95)

MEDIA LAW by Ralph L. Holsinger (New York: Random House, 1987—price not given)

COMMONSENSE COPYRIGHT: A GUIDE TO THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES by R. S. Talab (McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640—$14.95, paper)     

Challenges of an Interactive Environment in the Context of Developing Countries in sub-Saharan Africa

The paper discusses the state of the interactive environment in the context of developing countries and relates this to the library and information service (LIS) professionals' ethos on freedom of information. It highlights the role of LIS professionals in adaptive integration of the concept of “leap-frogging,” in support of the struggle for equal access to information for citizens. Drawing from the literature of developed countries, the paper then focuses on ethical issues to which LIS professionals in developing countries need to be sensitized. It encompasses freedom of information, copyright and privacy of information. It concludes by recognizing the need for the reinforcement of education on ethical issues for LIS professionals in developing countries and the role of library associations in sensitization efforts.     

HANDICAPPED STUDENT SATISFACTION

This study was undertaken to investigate the relationships between selected student characteristics and measures of perceived campus and support service satisfaction of handicapped students enrolled in three comprehensive community colleges in Missouri. It was expected that specific information could be provided for decision making at the participating institutions regarding the handicapped student with special consideration to campus factors and support services. Significant correlations were found between students’ usage of specific services and their satisfaction with campus environments in general. Those specific services include: vocational evaluation, vocational counseling, instructional modification, and consumer services. Significant correlations were found between students’ usage of support services and their satisfaction with those services. High usage‐high satisfaction services included: learning centers, tutors, counseling, instruction modification, test arrangement, career exploration, job placement, equipment modification, notetakers, readers, and writers. Handicapped students used and were satisfied with the majority of services provides.     

TEXAS TECH PREP ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN OF PARTNER OPINIONS: AN ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS

Tech Prep is a federal education initiative funded by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act initially authorized in 1990 then reauthorized in 1998. Texas HB 2401 subsequently established the parameters for the operation of Tech Prep in Texas. Texas has 26 regional consortia that coordinate the delivery of services between secondary school districts and two-year colleges under the leadership of consortium directors. The research reported in this paper examined the effectiveness of these consortia based upon an opinion survey administered to Texas Tech Prep consortia directors, community college technical administrators, and secondary technical program directors.     

Policies on special needs education: competing strategies and discourses

This paper critically examines the array of policy approaches that have been adopted in the field of special needs education in Scotland over recent years. These are characterized in the following ways: (1) supporting or changing the child—an individualized approach; (2) making schools inclusive for all—a systems approach; (3) challenging the mainstream—an anti‐discrimination approach. Each approach creates different distributions of power, accountability and resource allocation. They formulate categories and eligibility requirements that can both include and exclude children (and their parents), and create rights and duties with varied potential and limitations. Thus, the policy approaches may aver their promotion of inclusion but, in fact, they create a new quilt of inclusive and exclusive policies and practice. This is further examined through the analysis of official statistics, which suggests that there has been little difference in the proportion of children who are excluded spatially from mainstream schools and classrooms. Recent legislation, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, claims to underpin a radical new approach to promoting inclusion. However, many features of the Act suggest that it will reinforce the power of professional groups, rather than investing more power in children and their parents. There is a real danger that, whilst policy frameworks shift, practices remain the same as a result of inertia and resistance to change.     

Using the Constructivist Tridimensional Design Model for Online Continuing Education for Health Care Clinical Faculty

This article presents a new paradigm for continuing education of Clinical Instructors (CIs): the Constructivist Tridimensional (CTD) model for the design of an online curriculum. Based on problem-based learning, self-regulated learning, and adult learning theory, the CTD model was designed to facilitate interactive, collaborative, and authentic learning. The authors conducted experimental research with twenty-one physical therapy (PT) CIs to explore how the participants perceived the usefulness of the online curriculum structured around the CTD model in improving their knowledge in student mentoring. The CTD-inspired module was effective in that the participants perceived an improvement in the quality of their mentoring skills and they were able to maintain best practices.     

Gifted High-School Students' Perspectives on the Development of Perfectionism

Through the use of in-depth interviews, this study investigated how gifted high-school students scoring high on at least one measure of perfectionism (self-oriented, socially prescribed, or other-oriented) perceived their perfectionism as developing. Findings suggested support for three family history models outlined by Flett, Hewitt, Oliver, and Macdonald (2002 Flett, G., Hewitt, P., Oliver, J. and Macdonald, S. 2002. “Perfectionism in children and their parents: A developmental analysis”. In Perfectionism: Theory, research, and treatment, Edited by: Flett, G. and Flett, P. 89–132. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Lack of challenge in their early academic experiences was also indicated as an influence. Findings are discussed within the context of the current literature on perfectionism in gifted students, and avenues for future research are suggested.     

Pro-Nets Versus No-Nets: Differences in Urban Older Adults' Predilections for Internet Use

Enthusiasm for information technology (IT) is growing among older adults. Many older adults enjoy IT and the Internet (Pro-Nets), but others have no desire to use it (No-Nets). This study found that Pro-Nets and No-Nets were different on a number of variables that might predict IT use. No-Nets were older, had less education and income, were retired, in poor health, and less active than Pro-Nets. No-Nets potentially have the most to gain from access to—and training inusing—the Internet as a health management tool. Further research with this population could inform the development of health-related web based interventions.