The CASE Programme Implemented Across the Primary and Secondary School Transition in Ireland

In the Irish education system, there is little continuity between the primary and secondary education systems. The transfer between these systems is particularly problematic in the area of science. In order to alleviate some of these problems, as well as to enhance the cognitive development of students, the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education programme was adapted for use and implemented across the primary–secondary school transition in Ireland. The programme was delivered in a variety of ways across the two levels, including the teacher and researcher teaching the programmes individually and team-teaching arrangements. The results on cognitive development measures showed that the students who were taught the programme in primary and secondary school made significant gains, when compared to the non-intervention group. There were also gains evident for students who only received one part of the programme (i.e. in either primary or secondary school). The greater gains, in terms of effect size, were evident at secondary school. The rationale, methodology and results are detailed in this paper.     

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as collaborative working: a case study in shared practice and collective purpose

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has yet to fully enter the mainstream of life in higher education. In this case study, we consider a specific network focused on the reform of engineering education. The network involves global collaboration within the discipline of Engineering and is based around curricular activity that affects entire departments or groups of staff. We suggest that SoTL should pay greater attention to collaboration that addresses substantive disciplinary purposes, further embodying these purposes through spaces, motivations and capacities for action in the disciplinary and departmental setting. We frame our argument around a theoretical model of collaborative working in higher education and go on to offer a synoptic overview of ways to articulate common purpose around teaching and learning at large. Our account highlights potential drivers for such collaborative activity in other settings. In this way, we offer a means for others to develop the collective commitments, structures and understanding needed to mainstream SoTL within specific disciplinary or departmental settings.     

Action research and collaborative research: their specific contributions to professional development

The increasing complexity of the teaching profession calls for engaged professionals in their professional development. This article claims that participative types of research contribute differently to professional development. Its intent is to explore the different contributions action research and collaborative research bring. One action research and one collaborative research have been conducted involving school personnel. They have been assessed mid‐course with regard to various components of professional development, including the learning taking place, changes made to professional practices and development of the collective competencies. Group interviews were conducted and each participant produced a written summary. The results show that participants’ individual competencies are strengthened, as well as collective competencies emerging such as the development of a common vocabulary and a shared vision about the school’s mission and mathematics curriculum. Learning is more relational in the action research project, and more connected to knowledge in the collaborative research project. Tensions are also present. They deal with the need to come up with concrete results, the urgency of action, the need to be open to the unknown, a tacit agreement to expose one’s vulnerability to others, the need for interdependence and for accountability. In conclusion, researchers identify their own sources of tensions and recognize that those types of research are important situations of learning.     

A recipe for effective participation rates for web‐based surveys

One way many universities have approached the process of better understanding and meeting the needs of their students is through student evaluations. The evaluation data provide not only diagnostic feedback but also useful information in terms of the quality of learning and teaching experiences. In an effective quality cycle, the data gathered are analysed and used to make improvements. This is often referred to as ‘closing the loop’. However, for any evaluation data to be of value an important prerequisite for ‘closing the loop’ is that response rates should be sufficiently high to be representative of the student cohort. This paper describes how a faculty within Monash University utilising only web based surveys developed a successful communication strategy to elicit staff and student participation in the unit (subject) evaluation process which achieved a response rate as high as 83.2%.     

SOCIAL WORK DIALOGUES: TRANSFORMING THE CANON IN INQUIRY,PRACTICE, AND EDUCATION

Social work educators require textbooks and other teaching materials that can be used in research courses to enhance student learning. Likewise, social work practitioners require resource books that can be used to enhance practice. This article provides an essay review of four recently published books representing diverse viewpoints on social work research, and discusses these books in the context of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. The major aims, content, and scope of each book are reviewed as well as suggestions for their use in undergraduate or graduate courses, or as a resource for social work practitioners.     

NO ONE LEFT TO PUSH: THE PUBLIC POLICY OF AGING AND BLINDNESS

The decline in psychometric measures of general intelligence (g) and performance of similar laboratory-based tasks has been pivotal in shaping psychogerontology's views of the aging intellect, and by extension, the ability to learn. However, parallel to this is the consideration that the motivation and intellectual needs of older adults may change. The study presented here found that levels of need for cognition are closely related to older adults' performance on Piagetian tasks, indicating an intellectual lifestyle preference that operates alongside, and interactively with, performance on traditional intellectual measures. The implications of this are discussed.     

Understanding achievement differences between schools in Ireland – can existing data-sets help?

Recent years have seen an increased focus on school accountability in Ireland and calls for greater use to be made of student achievement data for monitoring student outcomes. In this paper, it is argued that existing data-sets in Ireland offer limited potential for the value-added modelling approaches used for accountability purposes in many other countries. Some reasons for this include: few longitudinal studies of student achievement, few population data-sets and limited data on student home background in the State examination data-sets. A cross-sectional contextualised attainment model (CAM) is presented using Junior Certificate data from 2009. While the model offers some potential for identifying schools performing significantly above or below average, its explanatory power is limited by the availability of appropriate student background data. It is proposed that the use of statistical models for the purposes of identifying high or low performing schools in Ireland would need to take account of findings from other countries regarding technical difficulties such as variable selection, missing data, and the need to avoid aggregated data. Other practical concerns discussed include the appropriateness of publishing league tables and the usefulness of such information for informing parental choice.     

A comparison of teacher assessment (APP) with standardised tests in primary literacy and numeracy (WIAT-II)

Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) arose from a government drive to increase the amount of teacher-based assessment within school and to make this consistent across schools. We conducted semi-structured interviews with head teachers to gain insight into how their schools applied APP and we compared the APP levels for English and Maths, provided by teachers across 11 schools for 72 pupils, to a standardised assessment (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-II; WIAT). There was a strong correlation between the APP and WIAT for literacy but not for numeracy. Head teacher interviews revealed that APP is used differently across schools and at times is used in a way inconsistent with government guidance, which raises the question of how teacher assessments are used and their purpose. Questions that should be considered are; how is moderation used in schools, what is the function(s) of teacher assessments and what is good practice in relation to these assessments? Clarity about the function of assessments is of vital importance as is ensuring that assessments are meaningful to teachers, pupils, families and schools, especially in light of the weight that can be placed on teacher assessments for all these groups.