The Impact of Relational Characteristics and Reasons for Topic Avoidance on Relational Closeness

Although research suggests that the act of topic avoidance itself has consequences for romantic partners, it seems equally likely that the antecedent conditions underlying these decisions to avoid certain topics also lead to important relational outcomes. Framed by communication boundary management theory, relationship characteristics, motivation for topic avoidance, and implications for relational closeness were examined. Findings indicate that relational commitment characteristics and individuals' reported rationale for topic avoidance are related to perceptions of relational closeness. These results illustrate the importance of understanding the underlying factors that motivate the decision to engage in topic avoidance and their impact on romantic relationships.     

Secondary School Students’ Epistemic Insight into the Relationships Between Science and Religion—A Preliminary Enquiry

A number of previous studies have shown that there is a widespread view among young people that science and religion are opposed. In this paper, we suggest that it requires a significant level of what can be termed “epistemic insight” to access the idea that some people see science and religion as compatible while others do not. To explore this further, we draw on previous work to devise a methodology to discover students’ thinking about apparent contradictions between scientific and religious explanations of the origins of the universe. In our discussion of the findings, we highlight that students’ epistemic insight in this context does seem in many cases to be limited and we outline some of the issues emerging from the study that seem to boost or limit students’ progress in this area.     

A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration of Intrinsic Problems in Designing Inquiry Activities

A central concern in science education is promoting inquiry activities, and a significant amount of research in science education has addressed what inhibits this goal. However, this research has tended to be focused on implementation issues. Levels of implementation are correlated with extrinsic barriers such as time, resources and teacher knowledge, but the internal structure of inquiry remains unexamined. However, are there also some ways in which inquiry based instruction is intrinsically difficult? That is, given perfect conditions for implementation, is devising inquiry activities a non-trivial matter, and are there patterns to the difficulties in doing so? The aim of this paper is to provide both a theoretical and empirical basis for the intrinsic problems associated with the construction of inquiry activities. We present a theoretical framework that connects contemporary studies of science to the classroom context. We then examine a case study of teacher education students designing inquiry-based instruction to demonstrate empirical evidence of intrinsic problems. Our ultimate goal is to improve our ability as teacher educators to guide science teachers in fulfilling this central task of their work.     

School drop out in Bangladesh: Insights using panel data

This paper examines the relative strength of different factors associated with school drop out using data collected between 2007 and 2009 in Bangladesh. A sample of 9046 children, aged 4–15, was selected across six districts for a household survey focusing on children's school access and experiences. Two groups of children were identified: those who were enrolled in school in both 2007 and 2009 and those who dropped out by 2009. Using a multivariate logit model, results show age and gender, together with financial constraints, such as lack of income and school expenditure, as the top predictors of school drop out. Two other important predictors are lack of parental support for children's school work and school absenteeism. This paper identifies some possible interventions that could reduce school drop out. These include campaigns to reduce late entry and overage enrolment, reductions in direct costs of schooling, and more support for low achieving children to compensate for lack of educational support at home.     

Cost Analysis of a Distance Education MSW Program

The use of technology to facilitate education and the provision of an entire higher education degree has exploded in the last two decades. Social work educators have been a part of that trend and have started to utilize distance education (DE) technologies. There is a growing literature regarding the efficacy of DE instruction in social work, and scholars are actively developing best practices. However, there is little research in general to support the cost of DE, no cost studies in social work, and none comparing costs of DE delivery to costs associated with a face-to-face program. This study hopes to fill this gap by providing an analysis of the direct costs of an MSW DE program in comparison to similar costs of a face-to-face program.     

Using the Repertory Grid as a Complementary Probe in Eliciting Student Understanding and Attitudes towards Science

Abstract

In previous research, participation in science studies in senior secondary school has been related to both background characteristics of students and to earlier achievements and interests. This paper reports an investigation of participation in combinations of subjects in senior secondary schools in Australia which embody different science orientations. It shows that different combinations of factors shape participation in physical science’ and ‘biological and other science’ types of course. Both are favoured by investigative interest but participation in a physical science course type is strongly associated with high levels of earlier school achievement in numeracy and gender whereas participation in a biological and other science course type is more strongly associated with social background and curriculum influences. In addition the paper suggests that the low participation by females in physical science courses should be interpreted in terms of an interactive influence of gender, earlier achievement and socio‐economic background.     

Gender Differences in Science Preferences on Starting Secondary School

Pupils in their first weeks of secondary school were asked to select from a list those topics they would be interested in studying in science. Gender differences were found supporting the pattern previously reported in the literature: in particular that boys predominantly selected topics with a mechanical connection, whilst girls predominantly selected topics related to human biology.     

Understanding the contexts in which we work

Open and distance learning is experiencing rapid growth throughout the world. China in particular is undergoing a massive expansion of its distance EFL programmes. This global phenomenon challenges all those involved in delivering distance learning materials to examine current practice and the assumptions and expectations that underlie it, with particular regard to the factors influencing approaches to learning, not least the extent of the effect of differing cultural backgrounds. The cross‐cultural study which forms the subject of this paper investigates foreign language students in two very different open and distance learning cultures, The Open University, United Kingdom and the Shantou Radio and TV University, China. It seeks to investigate different attitudes to the distance teaching of languages as spelt out in the two groups’ answers to questions relating to beliefs, difficulties and learning strategies.     

The views of children and parents towards higher level teaching assistants who teach whole classes

By September 2009 there were approximately 30,000 higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) in English schools. All of these HLTAs are expected to be able to deliver pre-set lessons in place of a teacher. Often, they are determining the pedagogical approach and range of activities used to deliver the lesson's objectives. Consequently, there is a need to question the extent to which they can improve the quality of learning when meeting HLTA standard 31 (advancing learning when working with whole classes without the presence of an assigned teacher).This paper therefore considers the following question: Does the use of HLTAs with whole classes have a positive impact on children's learning? The voices of children and parents have so far been neglected in this field. Their voices deepen our understanding of notions of teacher professionalism and school effectiveness. How do parents and children view hierarchical staffing structures and the subsequent impact on learning disposition and behaviour? Is it possible for HLTAs to acquire the pedagogical skills and subject knowledge needed to ensure continuity in learning when taking responsibility for a class? These are the issues this paper will address.