Investing in the renewal of urban science teaching

This article provides a conceptual framework for understanding what is involved in improving urban science teaching and what might be implied by conducting research on its improvement. It is argued in this article that three sets of forces and conditions have a direct impact on urban science classrooms: first, the array of interdependent policies at school, district, and state levels about science teaching in particular and about education improvement more broadly construed; next, the investment and use of instructionally relevant resources at each of the three levels and their differing impacts on the renewal of urban science teaching; and finally, the broader context in which urban science teaching occurs mediating how these resources are—or can be—used. Mediating factors include the professional peer community, subject‐specific instructional leadership, the professional development infrastructure, the supply of available science teachers, and the broader community context. The article concludes with suggestions for how this framework informs directions for future research on the promise and limits of efforts to renew science teaching in urban settings. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 1089–1100, 2001     

Student counselling in Australian universities: Forty years of development

Since the first development of counselling services in Australian universities in 1953, the tertiary system, and counselling services within them, have undergone a forty-year period of growth and change, and now all universities have counselling services which typically focus on short-term counselling interventions and are characterised by high levels of professionalism. Two case studies provide a picture of the situation in Australian universities. One case is that of an older and larger institution recently formed as a multi-campus university by amalgamations and with its main campus in the inner city of Australia's second-largest city. The contrasting case is of a newer, suburban university in one of the smaller capital cities. The challenges facing university counselling services in the future include the continuing pressure for greater accountability, the increasing demands of a multi-cultural clientele, the temptation to take on a wider range of tasks than can be sustained, and its obverse, the risk of over-specialisation.     

Access and Support in the Development of a Visual Language: arts education and disabled students

Overall, little is known about the ways in which disabled children and young people produce artwork or how they are enabled to access the visual arts curriculum particularly when they have high level and complex support requirements. This article focuses on the Information Communication Technology (ICT) and practical assistance that enables disabled students to create art and design work. The article is based on my recent doctoral research which has analysed the arts education of a group of disabled young people post 16 and investigated the ways in which the arts curriculum can be made accessible [1]. ICT, in conjunction with effective practical assistance, can be refined and merged to create seamless access to the visual arts for disabled students and can play a key role not only in equipping them with the skills and competencies to gain qualifications and potential employment, but also as a ‘voice’ with which they can express their particular experiences of the human condition.     

Sameness-difference judgments inSaimiri sciureus based on volumetric cues

The rationale was to apply Piaget’s theory and methods to the study of the phylogenetic development of cognitive abilities. It was asked whether squirrel monkeys have the prerequisite skills for conservation of quantity, and, specifically, whether they might respond differentially to equivalent and unequivalent volumetric cues. All monkeys responded significantly and differentially to pairs of identical objects or pairs of objects similar only in volume vs. pairs of objects which differed in volume. It was concluded that squirrel monkeys have the prerequisite skills for the conservation of quantity. Discussion included methodological problems associated with demonstrating conservation in nonhumans as well as the potential usefulness of Piaget’s theory for phylogenetic studies of intelligence.     

Editorial

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Editorial

     

Issues in Adopting a Laserdisk-Based Science Curriculum

We examined the implementation of a laser-disk based science curriculum in an elementary school. The goal was to develop a richer understanding of the principles for designing a curriculum that will adequately support teachers in adopting a learner-centered framework. Issues included: who has ownership of the classroom discussion; what types of activities are engaged in terms of the constraints imposed; and what is the teacher's response to the specific tools provided (the teacher's guide, the Circle of Learning, and concept maps). In addition to looking at the implementation pattern, we also examined the impact of the implementation on student attitudes and anxiety toward science. Results indicated little adoption of the curriculum, and teachers continued to maintain a high degree of control in the classroom. However, results also indicated significant effects of the curriculum on science attitude and anxiety. Suggestions for future research are included.     

Computerized prompting partners and keystroke recording devices: Two macro driven writing tools

Recent research into composing processes has focused on instructional intervention strategies that promote effective composition practices within computerized writing environments. The field of computers and composition has benefitted both from advances in computing tools and developments in learning theory. The innovative computer tool discussed in this paper uses the macro-command language of a full-featured word processor to enact strategic support designed to help writers with their written work. From a theoretical standpoint, this tool created a writing environment based on Vygotskian theory of mediated learning and was grounded in an instructional strategy known as “procedural facilitation.” To evaluate the effectiveness of this computerprompting tool, a second macro application was used to log student keystrokes, thereby tracking student writing development, revisionary practices, and keystroke reactions to the prompting partner. Students using the prompting tool enacted divergent and convergent thinking assistance that appeared at the bottom of their computer screens while the system saved a process record of their keystrokes. Procedures for creating macro-driven prompting programs and keystroke-logging devices are discussed. Additionally, a catalog of prompts and summary of keystroke-mapping benefits are provided. Finally, our research using the macro-driven prompting partner and keystroke-register tool is detailed.