Let me Count the Ways. Analysing the Relationship between the Learner and Everyday Technology in Early Childhood

The first part of this paper outlines four ways in which the relationship between the learner and everyday technology might be analysed, using early childhood studies as examples. The four different individual-technology relationships are described as: affording, anchoring, distributing or appropriating. They are associated with four different learning outcomes: skills and problem-solving strategies, working theories or schemas, personal style and abilities, and membership of a learning community. Each succeeding example describes an increasingly complex model of the relationship between a learner and everyday technology that departs from a focus on the individual as the site for learning. The second part of the paper then sets out a fifth example in which the relationship is analysed as a combination of all four processes: affording, anchoring, distributing and appropriating. In this fifth example the learning outcomes are described as learning narratives (a combination of learning dispositions).     

The influence of tennis court surfaces on player perceptions and biomechanical response

This study aimed to examine player perceptions and biomechanical responses to tennis surfaces and to evaluate the influence of prior clay court experience. Two groups with different clay experiences (experience group, n = 5 and low-experience group, n = 5) performed a 180° turning movement. Three-dimensional ankle and knee movements (50 Hz), plantar pressure of the turning step (100 Hz) and perception data (visual analogue scale questionnaire) were collected for two tennis courts (acrylic and clay). Greater initial knee flexion (acrylic 20. 8 ± 11.2° and clay 32.5 ± 9.4°) and a more upright position were reported on the clay compared to the acrylic court (P < 0.05). This suggests adaptations to increase player stability on clay. Greater hallux pressures and lower midfoot pressures were observed on the clay court, allowing for sliding whilst providing grip at the forefoot. Players with prior clay court experience exhibited later peak knee flexion compared to those with low experience. All participants perceived the differences in surface properties between courts and thus responded appropriately to these differences. The level of previous clay court experience did not influence players’ perceptions of the surfaces; however, those with greater clay court experience may reduce injury risk as a result of reduced loading through later peak knee flexion.     

TOWARDS AN EDUCATIONALLY MEANINGFUL CURRICULUM: EPISTEMIC HOLISM AND KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION REVISITED

ABSTRACT:  Despite the 'progressive' influence of the English Plowden Report and Scottish Primary Memorandum on British primary curricula from the 1960s onwards, secondary education has generally continued to follow a more traditional subject-centred route and post-war educational theorists have not generally been favourably inclined to other than subject-based modes of curriculum planning and organisation. However, in the light of current curriculum reviews on both sides of the Scottish border – calling for more educationally meaningful curricula – the perennial issue of how school knowledge might best be ordered for the coherent educational experience of pupils seems worth revisiting. To this end, this paper examines some of the influential post-war philosophical arguments against integrated and interdisciplinary approaches to the curricular organisation of knowledge, concluding that they are not as compelling as they might formerly have seemed.     

Developing a database of authoring system software

AuthorBase, a working prototype database of authoring system software, was developed as part of a study of authoring software conducted by the National Library of Medicine. In this article, the authors discuss development issues ranging from the scope of the database to what information to document. The prototype demonstrates that records of reasonable integrity can be derived from vendor-supplied information. However, users should understand that the database is only a starting point in searching for authoring software and a resource for becoming generally familiar with the technology.     

PERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN EDUCATION AND TEACHING: A VIRTUE ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT:  This paper sets out to explore apparent contradictions between claims or assumptions to the effect that: (i) teaching is a profession; (ii) good teaching involves the cultivation of positive personal relationships with pupils; (iii) professional relationships should be of an essentially formal or impersonal nature. It is argued that the very real contradictions to which teaching as a professional occupation is prone are a function of fundamental tension between the essentially deontic character of professional principle and regulation, and the inherently 'virtue ethical' nature of teaching as a form of pre-theoretical and non-technical moral association. The paper concludes by identifying and offering some comment on three such areas of tension.     

Tracking the Development of Learning Dispositions

The fundamental purpose of education for the 21st century, it is argued, is not so much the transmission of particular bodies of knowledge, skill and understanding as facilitating the development of the capacity and the confidence to engage in lifelong learning. Central to this enterprise is the development of positive learning dispositions, such as resilience, playfulness and reciprocity. For a variety of reasons, it is necessary to devise methods for tracking and assessing the growth of these dispositions. There are a number of existing methods that might be used, including dynamic assessment, customised challenges, 'learning stories', self-report questionnaires and learning logs, which we evaluate against the criteria of practicability, validity, flexibility and reliability and formative value. We conclude that no single method is adequate on its own and that what is necessary is the development of instruments and approaches that integrate these different assessment methods. We offer a 'learning disposition grid' and a 'learning disposition portfolio' as tools to begin this integrative inquiry.     

Secretary's advisory committee on genetic testing: its emerging role in public policy deliberation on genetic tests

The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing (SACGT) was established by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna E. Shalala, to provide a public forum for the formulation of policy advice in the complex and growing area of genetic testing. After a careful nomination and selection process, the Secretary announced the appointment of thirteen advisors to the SACGT in June 1999. The first meeting of the SACGT was held June 30, 1999. This article describes the purpose, formation, and function of the SACGT. Before addressing these questions about the role of the SACGT, we first will explain what genetic testing is, how it is currently used, and what new uses it may be put to in the future.