Generative methodology: an inquiry into how a university can acknowledge a commitment to its Aboriginal community

This paper maps ethical and epistemological issues around attempts by a university to negotiate with the traditional custodians of the Sydney basin, the Darug, to facilitate the intergenerational transmission of knowledge within their community, and through the university curriculum. The theory and practice of research raised some important methodological questions about what constitutes knowledge in Aboriginal and western contexts. The project brought us to reflect upon the epistemological basis of our research to consider whether it was history, ethnography, cultural resource management or memory work. As we worked through these issues during the process of consultation and negotiation with Senior Darug, the inquiry began to focus on how a university can acknowledge a commitment to its community. Such a commitment for a university must be built around attentiveness and respect, rather than an epistemology of control. We find that respecting the power structures and organisation of an Aboriginal community is a crucial step for a university in performing such a commitment. Respect for the established power relations in these communities constitutes the very basis of a generative methodology.     

Rhetoric in the beginning course

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MIND: STUDIES IN ETHNOMETHODOLOGY AND LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY. By Jeff Coulter. Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield, 1979; pp. ix + 190. $18.50.

A PRIMER ON ETHNOMETHODOLOGY. By Kenneth Leiter. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980; pp. viii + 252. $14.95, $4.95 paper.

EVERYDAY LANGUAGE: STUDIES IN ETHNOMETHODOLOGY. By George Psathas (ed.). New York: Irvington Publishers, 1979; pp. 294. $18.50.

INTERACTIONAL COMPETENCE. By George Psathas and Richard Frankel (eds.). (Forthcoming, New York: Irvington Publish‐ers).

QUALITATIVE SOCIOLOGY: A METHOD TO THE MADNESS. By Howard Schwartz and Jerry Jacobs. New York: Free Press, 1979; pp. xv + 458. $16.96, $9.95 paper.

DILEMMAS OF DISCOURSE: CONTROVERSIES ABOUT THE SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF LANGUAGE. By Anthony Wootton. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1975; pp. 125. $18.00, $7.50 paper.

LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION. By Don Zimmerman and Candice West, (eds.). Vol. 50, 1980, of Sociological Inquiry, pp. xx + 425. $6.50 paper. (Copies may be obtained by writing Harry M. Johnson, Editor, Sociological Inquiry, 326 Lincoln Hall, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801.)     

The sensorium and fleshy schools

As places of learning, schools inevitably foreground cognition. Neglected in schools and in the literature is the body, often an inconvenience or barrier to learning rather than a site of perception and understanding. Where the body is considered, it is primarily concerned with pedagogy and children rather than analysing the broad range of embodied experience: teachers' sensuous experience is side-lined; classrooms are central, with toilets and staffrooms and corridors usually ignored; policy and architecture largely unconsidered. Furthermore, ironically, the focus in the literature also foregrounds the body within its contribution to cognition rather than centring the fleshy experience of sensing. This paper therefore addresses these omissions and focuses on the sensorium—movement, the haptic, hearing, smell/taste and visual—providing a framework to analyse the truly embodied experience of the school environment. It argues that as well as being culturally bound, the sensorium is delineated and encoded within the educational ideology and architecture of schools, prescribed by senior leaders to manage and police the flesh within their school walls.     

Comparing task-based instruction and traditional instruction on task engagement and vocabulary development in secondary language education

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the impact of task-based instruction (TBI) and traditional instruction (TI) on the motivation and vocabulary development in secondary language education. The focus of the study was to also find out the perceptions of teachers about implementing these two instructional methods in their teaching practices. The participants were 97 students and 2 teachers engaged in the 7th grade EFL program at a private school in Istanbul, Turkey. Data was collected quantitatively from a vocabulary check test and motivation scale, as well as qualitatively from semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that implementing TBI had positive impact on students' vocabulary development as well as their motivation. In line with these findings, it was also suggested that teachers perceived TBI to be a more effective method to be incorporated in secondary grade language practices. Based on the gathered findings, suggestions for redesigning and implementing the existing 7th grade EFL program were provided.     

Engagement with online self-tests as a predictor of student success

Online self-testing as part of the online learning environment (OLE) provides practice questions on key concepts with immediate feedback – in a ‘no-risk’ environment. OLE activity was analysed for 471 on-site and distance students enrolled in health science courses to determine total activity on the OLE and usage of online self-tests. The study also aimed to determine whether utilisation of self-tests differed by final grade, particularly between students who just pass (C grades and Restricted pass) and those who fail (D and E grades). Results indicated that on-site students were significantly more active on the OLE compared to distance students. However, these groups engaged similarly with self-tests and achieved a similar distribution of grades. A significant positive relationship was found between final grade achieved and percentage of self-tests attempted. This relationship was significant regardless of study status (on-site or distance), course studied or total activity logged. A more targeted analysis of C?+?R vs. D?+?E students showed that although these two groups were similar on overall usage of the OLE, C?+?R students utilised self-tests to a significantly greater extent. Recommendations from this study are that students (particularly those struggling to achieve academic success) should be directed towards online self-tests.     

Meeting the expectation of industry: an integrated approach for the teaching of mechanics and electronics to design students

This paper examines the traditional engineering-based provision delivered to Product Design and Technology (B.Sc.) undergraduates at the Loughborough Design School and questions its relevancy against the increasing expectations of industry. The paper reviews final-year design projects to understand the level of transference of engineering-based knowledge into design practice and highlights areas of opportunity for improved teaching and learning. The paper discusses the development and implementation of an integrated approach to the teaching of Mechanics and Electronics to formalise and reinforce the key learning process of transference within the design context. The paper concludes with observations from the delivery of this integrated teaching and offers insights from student and academic perspectives for the further improvement of engineering-based teaching and learning.     

Macro-economic consequences of European research policy: Prospects of the Nemesis model in the year 2030

Acknowledging the weakness of R&D expenditure in Europe relative to that in the United States and Japan, Barcelona's European Council agreed in March 2002 to increase investment in R&D to 3% of GDP by 2010. The aim of this paper is to assess the macro-economic consequences of such a policy, using the European macro-econometric model Nemesis. Results show that macro-economic trends can be split into two distinct phases. In the first one, growth is directly driven by R&D expenditures, while in the second phase, innovation is the engine of growth through productivity and competitiveness gains.