The use of source-related strategies in evaluating multiple psychology texts: a student–scientist comparison

Multiple text comprehension can greatly benefit from paying attention to sources and from using this information for evaluating text information. Previous research based on texts from the domain of history suggests that source-related strategies are acquired as part of the discipline expertise as opposed to the spontaneous use of these strategies by students just entering a field. In the present study, we compared the performance of students and scientists in the domain of psychology with regard to (a) their knowledge of publication types, (b) relevant source characteristics, (c) their use of sources for evaluating the credibility of multiple texts, and (d) their ability to judge the plausibility of argumentative statements in psychological texts. Participants worked on a battery of newly developed computerised tests with a think-aloud instruction to uncover strategies that scientists and students used when reading a text. Results showed that scientists scored higher in all of the assessed abilities and that these abilities were positively correlated with each other. Importantly, the superior performance of scientists in evaluating the credibility of multiple texts was mediated by their use of source information. Implications are discussed in terms of discipline expertise.     

Applying educational models in technological education

This paper presents a group of elements to improve teaching and learning in technological education. These elements are based on some contributions issued from contemporary educational models, namely, the thematic approach, meaningful learning, concept maps, and the spiral curriculum. Based on a thematic approach, a new way is proposed to select the contents that will be explored in the educational process. We emphasize the benefits of a thematic approach in students’ motivation. After contents are chosen, we propose the use of the directives of meaningful learning and concept maps, as a method and as a tool, respectively, to organize knowledge hierarchically, from general and inclusive concepts to specific ones. This may facilitate learning and understanding of the great bulk of knowledge to be dealt with during technological courses. A proposal has been submitted for a teaching module in computer networks and also for a complete course plan. The spiral curriculum was applied during the development of learning in the classroom, where some fundamental concepts were introduced many times over, adding more details gradually. A qualitative analysis of the application of these educational proposals, including learning evaluation aspects, is also presented.     

Children with dyslexia show an inhibition domain-specific deficit in reading

Reading and Writing - Children with dyslexia face persistent difficulties in acquiring reading skills, often making guessing errors characterized by the replacement of a word by an orthographic...     

Professional learning and development needs of women teachers in the Republic of Pakistan: a social realist perspective

ABSTRACT

This article, emerging from a wider study on the professional development needs of women teachers working in Catholic convent schools in the Republic of Pakistan, explores the perspectives and experiences of school leaders and Principals who developed professional development programmes. This area, which has been under-researched in the professional development literature, addresses the complexities and contradictions that the glocalisation of professional development can create for women teachers in developing world contexts. A social realist approach, using Archer’s morphogenetic framework, was employed to facilitate an exploration of the varied responses that professional development needs produce. The responses of former Principals and school leaders and their efforts to provide professional development for women teachers was captured, and revealed different agential responses. These responses included an acceptance of the realities of the education system in Pakistan and the role of women in that context, a desire to follow the ethos of the Catholic religious Order which was at variance with accepted educational praxis, and the changing expectations of society within Pakistan with reference to education of children.     

Institutional Researchers' Perceptions of Effectiveness

This article presents the results of a research study that investigated institutional researchers' perceptions regarding their effectiveness in influencing policy changes at their institution. Data were obtained from a mailed survey sent to 304 researchers in the Northeast; a response rate of 73 percent was achieved. Results revealed that those whose work is used in executive decision making, who include policy recommendations in reports, conduct follow-up studies on the impact of their work, have a doctorate, are part of a strong, professional network, and describe their positions as challenging perceive themselves as more effective. The discriminant function including these variables explained 48 percent of the variance and accurately predicted the perceived policy effectiveness for 84 percent of the participants.     

A scientific approach in the assessment of the school-based part of the teacher education programme in Sweden

This article aims to highlight how a scientific and critical approach is used in assessment dialogues during the last period of a practical, school-based teacher education programme. The result is based on 13 assessment dialogues conducted in a course at a Swedish university, where one of the course objectives is to, ‘in a scientific way, analyse teaching situations based on learning theories’. The assessment dialogues were analysed drawing from Bernstein’s concepts of ‘classification’, ‘framing’, ‘horizontal knowledge’ and ‘vertical knowledge’. The result shows that only in a minority of the assessment dialogues are students expected to use theory as an analytical tool and to critically examine their teaching practice. The theory is used in a more instrumental way to legitimize what is considered the ‘right way’ to teach. One conclusion is that the critical tradition of academia is seldom observed despite being clearly stated in the learning goals. The link between general academic knowledge and more school-based contextual knowledge is often missing or not made visible by the students or the teacher educators, and normative content is still clearly prominent.     

The Role of Institutional Research in Higher Education: Enabling Researchers to Meet New Challenges

Based on a survey of 243 New England colleges and universities, this article is designed to contribute to an understanding of the current and projected roles of institutional research and to discuss the implications of these roles for the education and training of future institutional researchers. Results from this study reveal the strongest relationships between the institution's size and the scope of the institutional research function, the reporting relationship, and the size and the qualifications of the institutional research staff. Multivariate analysis identifies the size of the institutional staff and the qualifications of the institutional director as significant predictors of involvement in planning and policy studies. These data indicate the need to enhance the presence, qualifications, and level of activity of institutional researchers in order to enhance the contribution to institutional decision making particularly among small institutions. Recommendations are offered to achieve these goals and prepare the institutional research profession for the challenges confronting higher education now and in the 21st century.     

Uneasy alliances: University,workplace, industry and profession in the education doctorate

The phenomenon of Professional Doctorates in Australia has come at a time of great change in the higher education sector. Such change includes an intensified imperative for universities to establish ‘partnerships’ with industry and the professions. The Professional Doctorate is, in part, a consequence of such changes and is also helping to effect them. However, in its examination of the Education Doctorate, this paper problematises the notion of partnerships and indeed the various policy constructions of the parties involved. Through fictionalised accounts of standpoints of a higher education policy maker, an EdD student, an academic in an EdD program and a member of the education industry, it identifies some of the tensions involved within and between such categories. In so doing it suggests some matters that require research and pedagogical attention.