Online discussion in schools: Towards a pedagogical framework

In this paper, we draw on Bernstein's [1996. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. London: Taylor and Francis] notion of framing of pedagogical communication to propose a framework for use in specific literacy contexts. Here, we illustrate how this framework has emerged from an examination of text response online discussions in the English/Language Arts curriculum in primary and secondary school contexts ostensibly concerned with the development of critical literacies. We focus on the selection of the literary texts and the prompts around those, the pacing and sequencing of the discussion, and the way in which responses are negotiated online. Using this framework in two specific contexts, we find that the more mediated, but less interactive framing in one institutional context tends to support the development of desired critical literacy practices, while the less mediated but more interactive framing of the online discussions in the second context is less supportive of such literacy practices. We suggest that this analytical framework could be adapted for use in a range of online contexts in order to make more visible the extent to which the intended forms of literacy are realised and which interactional affordances are exploited in the process.     

Chemosensory-based contextual conditioning inHermissenda crassicornis

In two experiments, the marine molluskHermissenda crassicornis was exposed to context discrimination training. In one context, defined by the presence of a diffuse chemosensory stimulus (shellfish extract A), brief, unsignaled, unconditioned stimuli (USs; high-speed rotation) were presented; in a second context, defined by the presence of shellfish extract B, no USs were presented. Animals were then tested (at both 1.5 and 24 h) by exposing them to small pieces of the shellfish meat used to define the two contexts. The latency to strike at the meat served as an index of the context-US association. In Experiment 1, the latency to strike at the cue associated with rotation was reduced relative to both preconditioning strike latencies and the associatively neutral cue. However, in a two-choice test where the animals could approach the conditioned or neutral stimulus, the animals regularly avoided the stimulus paired with rotation. Moreover, if, following conditioning, the animals were presented with an unsignaled rotation in the conditioned context or the neutral context, the animals exhibited more effective defensive clinging (an unconditioned reflex normally elicited by rotation) in the conditioned context, suggesting that it “prepared” the animal for the aversive US. In total, these results demonstrate thatHermissenda is capable of making associations to diffuse background (contextual) stimuli. Moreover, the results suggest that pairing the chemosensory cue with an aversive US elicits a strike response inHermissenda when the animal is placed in forced contact with the cue and an active avoidance response when the animal can choose between that cue and a neutral cue.     

Sibling Differences in Problem Behavior and Parental Treatment in Nondivorced and Remarried Families

This article examines within-family differences in parenting and problem behavior in nondivorced and remarried families, with a specific focus on whether sibling differences are magnified and whether the links between differential treatment and sibling adjustment are stronger in remarried families. Multimethod assessments of parenting and problem behavior were done on 516 families with 2 same-sex adolescent siblings. The remarried families included those in which one or neither sibling was the mother's stepchild and one or both siblings were the father's stepchildren. Within-family differences in parenting and problem behavior were greatest in remarried families where siblings did not share the same biological parent. Differential treatment was also more strongly related to problem behavior in this family context, with the mother's biological child and father's stepchild at greater risk. Results are discussed in terms of the differing experiences of biological children and stepchildren in remarried households.     

Gender and physics: feminist philosophy and science education

Physics education reform movements should pay attention to feminist analyses of gender in the culture of physics for two reasons. One reason is that feminist analyses contribute to an understanding of a ‘chilly climate’ women encounter in many physics university departments. Another reason is that feminist analyses reveal that certain styles of doing science are predominant in the culture of physics. I introduce recent philosophical work in social epistemology to argue that the predominance of certain styles of doing science is not good for science. Scientific communities would benefit from greater diversity in styles of doing science.

Efficacy of the Check & Connect Mentoring Program for At-Risk General Education High School Students

Although graduation rates are rising, the high school dropout problem remains a national crisis, and evidence-based information about interventions for at-risk students is critically needed. Prior research shows that Check & Connect, an individualized mentoring program, has positive effects on school persistence and progression for students with disabilities. This study examined the efficacy of Check & Connect with general education students who showed early warning signs of risk for dropping out of high school in a large urban district. The sample included 553 students with the lowest predicted probabilities of on-time graduation based on attendance, behavior, and course performance in Grades 8 and 9. Students were randomly assigned to receive a Check & Connect mentor for three years, starting in the summer after Grade 9, or not. Findings suggest the program was implemented with fidelity, except with students who left district schools. Check & Connect did not have any statistically significant impacts on measures of engagement, academic progress, the likelihood of dropping out, or graduation. These results are discussed in the context of other literature on mentoring and dropout prevention.     

Learning to Count: Structured Practice With Spatial Cues Supports the Development of Counting Sequence Knowledge in 3-Year-Old English-Speaking Children

Research Findings: Children who speak English are slower to learn the counting sequence between 11 and 20 compared to children who speak Asian languages. In the present research, we examined whether providing children with spatially relevant information during counting would facilitate their acquisition of the counting sequence. Three-year-olds (n = 54) who played a 1–20 number board game in which numbers were grouped by decade into 2 rows learned significantly more of the counting sequence than children who played a linear version of the game or those who were in the control group. Both the row and linear versions of the game helped children improve their performance on an object counting task. Children’s performance on a number line task did not show an effect of either game intervention. Practice or Policy: These results suggest that counting practice that includes spatially informative cues can facilitate young English-speaking children’s learning of the challenging number sequence from 11 to 20.     

Students' Understandings of Human Organs and Organ Systems

How do people develop their understanding of what is inside them? This study looks at students' understandings of their internal structure. A cross-sectional approach was used involving a total of 158 students in England from six different age groups (ranging from four year old students to first year undergraduates). Students were given a blank piece of A4-sized paper and asked to draw what they thought was inside themselves. Repeated inspections of the completed drawings allowed us to construct a seven point scale of these representations. Our analysis shows the extent to which student understanding increases with age and the degree to which students know more about some organs and organ systems than others. While gender differences in the drawings were generally not large there were some intriguing differences in the ways males and females drew reproductive organs.

     

The use of ethical frameworks by students following a new science course for 16–18 year-olds

There has been a move in recent years towards the greater inclusion of social and ethical issues within science courses. This paper examines a new context-based course for 16–18 year-olds (Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology) who are studying biology in England and Wales. The course is taught through contexts and has an emphasis on social issues and the development of ethical reasoning. Examination of a sample of reports written by students in 2005 as part of the course’s summative assessment shows that utilitarian ethical reasoning is used widely and that the other ethical frameworks to which students are introduced in the course—rights and duties, autonomy and virtue ethics—are used substantially less often. In addition, students mostly argue anthropocentrically though many of them argue ecocentrically and/or biocentrically too.     

Estimate of students’ workload and the impact of the evaluation system on students’ dedication to studying a subject in first-year engineering courses

In order to adapt current subjects to the ECTS credits system, it is necessary to estimate how much time a student has to invest in learning a subject. The Polytechnic Engineering School of the University of the Basque Country has made an initial study to investigate this matter in several subjects. A weekly questionnaire design was used for all the students in the class, supplemented, when necessary, by an individual interview, with student collaboration. The results indicate that the study rhythm and the number of hours are strongly conditioned by the evaluation system.