The cognitive impact of multimedia simulations on 14 year old students

The study investigated the cognitive impact of three different types of multimedia simulation (physical, procedural and process) for teaching the concept of energy to 14 year old students. A six cell design was used to control for gender and for three levels of prior achievement within a random sample of 36 students for each simulation. Pre and post-tests were administered. The results showed a significant, consistent cognitive gain for the physical simulation - a surrogate exploration of how electricity is made in a power station. Results for the procedural and process simulations revealed a more complex and varied pattern of interaction between type of simulation and student characteristics which can be linked to specific design features.     

Learning for the professions: lessons from linking international research projects

At the core of higher education is the experience of students whose focus for learning is often directed towards their future employability. In this paper, we explore the intersections between two large international research projects involving over 500 students. Interviews with students yielded their conceptions of learning and work in specific discipline and professional areas. Analysis of the Swedish and Australian data sets showed the important interplay between students’ individual ideas about learning and future work with their workplace. A meta-analysis of the two projects highlights the utility of higher education for students’ future working life and suggests ways in which institutions and policy makers can critique current practice in a way that will incline curriculum and teaching development towards professional formation.     

An exploration of school communication approaches for newly arrived EAL students: applying three dimensions of organisational communication theory

This article explores the modes of school communication associated with language and cultural diversity, demonstrating how organisational communication theory can be applied to the analysis of schools’ communication responses to the presence of pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL). The article highlights three analytical dimensions: the external factors influencing school communication systems; communication models reflected in school structures; and the content of communication between stakeholders. An exploratory study of a primary and a secondary school in the East of England, involving 32 semi-structured interviews with school managers, teachers, EAL staff, parents and newly arrived Eastern European students, reveals the interactional and transactional models of communication in the primary school, while the secondary school frequently used a linear approach. Communication in both schools showed a lack of information on EAL students and their parents, hindering a sustained outreach and empowering partnership, and possibly placing these students at a disadvantage.     

Educational policies and experiments among indigenous populations in Peru

Specialist in linguistics applied to education, sociolinguistics and bilingual education, she is currently on the research staff of the Centro de Investigación de Linguística Aplicada, teaches at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru) and is director of the Ayacucho bilingual education programme. Author of numerous books and articles on bilingual education and applied linguistics.     

Freedom’s Children: A Gender Perspective on the Education of the Learner-Citizen

Drawing on Ulrich Beck’s theory of “freedom’s children”, the present contribution examines contemporary concerns about educating young people for citizenship as well as educating them about citizenship. Under the first theme, the author focuses on the citizen as learner, highlighting some of the gender- and class-related inequalities that are typically associated with individualisation. Under the second theme, she looks at the learner as citizen in view of the fact that citizenship education courses often prepare learners for a gender-divided world – even though the processes of individualisation have themselves significantly reshaped contemporary gender relations. In light of current challenges facing citizenship education, the study concludes by reflecting on gender-related dimensions of individualisation and their implications for democracy and the learner-citizen.     

Theorising simulation in higher education: difficulty for learners as an emergent phenomenon†

Despite the widespread interest in using and researching simulation in higher education, little discussion has yet to address a key pedagogical concern: difficulty. A ‘sociomaterial’ view of learning, explained in this paper, goes beyond cognitive considerations to highlight dimensions of material, situational, representational and relational difficulty confronted by students in experiential learning activities such as simulation. In this paper we explore these dimensions of difficulty through three contrasting scenarios of simulation education. The scenarios are drawn from studies conducted in three international contexts: Australia, Sweden and the UK, which illustrate diverse approaches to simulation and associated differences in the forms of difficulty being produced. For educators using simulation, the key implications are the importance of noting and understanding (1) the effects on students of interaction among multiple forms of difficulty; (2) the emergent and unpredictable nature of difficulty; and (3) the need to teach students strategies for managing emergent difficulty.     

Peerbeziehungen im Klassenzimmer

Peer relations in the classroom have long been subject to scientific investigation. Extensive evidence confirms their influences, either facilitating or impeding learning. In this contribution, we systematize these influences by (1) differentiating between affective and cognitive-instrumental peer relations. Further, we outline central mechanisms by which (2) these influences unfold and (3) students self-select into (mal-)adaptive peer-relations. Next, we (4) discern the role of teachers as managers of peer-relations and (5) determine arrangements by which affective and cognitive-instrumental relationship structures can be positively influenced. Finally, we infer the meaning of the systematic study of peer-relations for the development of interventions for handling current challenges in the educational system (fan effect, inclusion, social integration of refugee children and adolescents).     

Hands‐on versus teacher‐centred experiments in soil ecology

This study focused on differences between teacher‐centred and learner‐centred experiments in soil ecology. After a pilot study, we selected three experiments simple enough to be carried out by pupils even with little experience in self‐determined learning and hands‐on practice. The sample comprised 123 fifth and sixth graders from a middle school (four classes). We found a significant influence of treatment on achievement and pupils enrolled in a learner‐centred environment scored higher. Girls scored higher than boys in both treatments. We found no differences in well‐being, boredom or difficulty of the tasks, but pupils of the learner‐centred group expressed a higher interest.