Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Evidence Relevant to Classroom Instruction with Manipulatives

The papers in this special issue focus on instructional strategies with manipulatives. Often described as “hands-on learning”, these strategies emphasize the use of physical and, more recently, virtual objects to represent target information and concepts. These strategies are frequently suggested as effective techniques for teaching across many domains of learning. This special issue presents contemporary theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, regarding instructional manipulatives with a focus on application in classroom contexts. In this introduction, we present the primary topics of interest to the special issue and provide broad overviews of the contributors’ papers.     

Routine-Generating and Regenerative Workplace Learning

The research discussed in this article focuses on workplace learning in industrial manufacturing work. Everyday work episodes contributing to workplace learning are investigated in four companies operating in the Finnish and Swedish package-supplier sectors. The research adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach. Interviews with employees and managers along with workplace observations were used to gather data on work and learning. The findings indicate that workplace learning may have two purposes: routine-generating learning that contributes to the basic job mastery, and regenerative learning that promotes employees’ ongoing competence and generates new work methods. Routine-generating learning occurs when an employee joins an organization and is planned, supported, and assessed in the companies. However, the lack of job rotation delimits further routine-generating learning. Regenerative learning takes place at the individual level but is not adequately supported at the collective level. The paper advances practical ideas on how to promote these two instances of workplace learning in industrial work.     

The Importance of History and Philosophy of Science in Correcting Distorted Views of ‘Amount of Substance’ and ‘Mole’ Concepts in Chemistry Teaching

The knowledge of historical facts can help teachers and students to correctly appreciate a variety of scientific theories. It is important to be aware of the evolution of the basic concepts, particularly the ones our students find very abstract and therefore difficult to understand. Historical knowledge of chemical concepts will allow us to understand their difficulties and make them easier to teach successfully. In this paper we answer the following research questions: what was the historic and sociologic context in which chemical equivalent, mole and its magnitude amount of substance were introduced to science? How the lack of historic knowledge in science teaching contributes to the presence of distorted views of science and hampers meaningful learning?     

Working their way to school completion: a snapshot of School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships for young Australians

This paper highlights troubling patterns within the Australian School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SBATs) by analysing statistical data of 21,000 of 15–19 year old apprenticeship/traineeship learners engaged in Vocational Education and Training in School (VETiS). It confirms the alignment of social groups to certain qualification fields and levels and provides a compelling picture of the learner profile of SBAT including the type of occupations and qualifications being undertaken at school level. In a complex policy environment, where VET in Schools has been assigned the important task of preparing ‘workforce job-ready’ students for the ‘high skill and high earning roles our economy demands’, we argue that the SBAT pathway is not yet adequate to meet these high expectations. It is not an effective apprenticeship pathway as it potentially ‘locks-in’ already disadvantaged young people to precarious pathways, and reinforces the nature of an already highly gender-segregated Australian labour market. The paper helps to focus attention on endemic weaknesses in the Australian VET system that serve to entrench disadvantage in Australian society.     

Guided Hands-On Activities Can Improve Student Learning in a Lecture-Based Qualitative Biomechanics Course

A qualitative biomechanics (functional anatomy) course is a typical course in kinesiology curriculum. Most evidence suggests that biomechanics learning could be improved with the inclusion of laboratory experiences. However, implementing laboratories into biomechanics curriculum is difficult due to cost and time constraints. This study was conducted to evaluate whether hands-on activities in lecture improve qualitative biomechanics learning. A lecture format was compared to the same course with guided and unguided hands-on activities included during lecture. Test performance and student evaluations were compared between lecture formats to determine if hands-on experiences improve learning. The hands-on group performed better on the same test questions and they evaluated their overall course activities as beneficial to their learning. The findings suggest that guided hands-on experiences may improve learning compared to unguided activities. The hands-on experiences seem to provide an embodied cognitive learning experience, facilitating retention of learned material through three-dimensional and tactile mental representations. Findings from this research are currently shaping how biomechanics is taught to students at this university and could at other universities as well.     

Impact of a statewide home visiting program on parenting and on child health and development

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a voluntary, paraprofessional home visiting program on promoting child health and development and maternal parenting knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. METHODS: This collaborative, experimental study of 6 Healthy Families Alaska (HFAK) programs enrolled 325 families from 1/00 to 7/01, randomly assigned them to HFAK and control groups, interviewed mothers at baseline, and followed families until children were 2 years old (85% follow-up). Child outcomes included health care use, development and behavior. Parent outcomes included knowledge of infant development, parenting attitudes, quality of the home environment, and parent-child interaction. HFAK records were reviewed to measure home visiting services. Home visitors were surveyed to measure knowledge, perceived effectiveness and perceived training adequacy. RESULTS: There was no overall impact on child health, but HFAK group children had more favorable developmental and behavioral outcomes. HFAK and control mothers had similar parenting outcomes except that HFAK mothers had greater parenting self-efficacy (35.1 vs. 34.6 based on the Teti Self-Efficacy Scale, p<.05). Fewer HFAK families had a poor home environment for learning (20% vs. 31%, p<.001). HFAK families were more likely to use center-based parenting services (48% vs. 39%, p<.05). The impact was greater for families with lower baseline risk (Family Stress Checklist scores<45). There was little evidence of efficacy for families with a higher dose of service. CONCLUSIONS: The program promoted child development and reduced problem behaviors at 2 years. Impact could be strengthened by improving home visitor effectiveness in promoting effective parenting. Future research is needed to determine whether short-term benefits are sustained.     

Absorptive capacity and the search for innovation

This paper examines the link between a firm's absorptive capacity-building activities and the search process for innovation. We propose that the enhanced access to university research enjoyed by firms that engage in basic research and collaborate with university scientists leads to superior search for new inventions and provides advantage in terms of both the timing and quality of search outcomes. Results based on a panel data of pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms support these contentions and suggest that the two research activities are mutually beneficial, but also uncover intriguing differences that suggest differing roles of internally and externally developed knowledge.     

Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Inquiry： An Instrument to Assess It and Its Application to High School In-Service Science Teachers

It is argued that the lack of consensus on what constitutes an inquiry-based approach makes the generalization about it difficult, because the concept is relatively unspecific and vague. This problem can partially be solved by constructing a set of activities promoted by inquiry, thus defining the inquiry objectives for classroom and laboratory teaching. Five high school and college Mexican teachers＇ PICK （pedagogical inquiry/content knowledge） was documented and assessed by means of Loughran, Mulhall and Berry＇s （2004） l-CoRe （inquiry content representation） developed by the authors through a proposal of a set of seven inquiry activities. They were also interviewed to construct the professional and pedagogical experience repertoires, a second tool by Loughran et al. （2004） to document PICK. It was observed that all teachers interviewed have used inquiry to modify their students＇ way of thinking, mainly through question posing. Some of them employed research as their main tool to promote scientific inquiry but others mentioned the lack of time to do it. It is interesting to notice that in spite of the fact that inquiry is out of the curriculum in M6xico, the teachers make use of it to improve their teaching practice. According to their answers, their actions in the classroom or the lab were classified within the three general approaches expressed by Lederman （2004）： implicit, historical and explicit. It is concluded that a given teacher cannot be classified exclusively in one of them, because in his/her activities one general approach overlaps the others. The authors conclude that Lederman＇s classification has to be taken into account as an orientation to characterize a given activity of one teacher, even though the same teacher may use another activity characterized by other general approach. That is, Lederman＇s classification applies to characterize activities, not persons