The role of video in teacher professional development

This literature review focuses on the e-use of video in teacher initial and continuing professional development. There is evidence that video technology used synchronously, and particularly asynchronously, can extend the quantity and quality of classroom observation experience, which in turn supports the development of observation, analysis and reflection in viewers. Theorising on these gains, the authors describe how the linking of theory to practice, the development of pedagogical language and collaborative learning through communities of practice might all be related to video-enhanced teacher education. Claims for gains in codified subject knowledge are less convincing.     

Creating an Institutional Repository: Elements for Success!

ABSTRACT

The institutional repository (IR) can be a dynamic, online collection of research, writing, and projects conducted by a university’s faculty and students. IRs are also important tools that allow a library to create a connection with faculty and students. This report will identify the services and content essential to a successful institutional repository, discuss how to build a team of talented experts to build and market the repository, address the creation of a business plan and strategies for marketing and building social media presence, and conclude with thoughts on how to develop, process, and publish journals locally and sustainably.     

Batman and Batwoman go to School: popular culture in the literacy curriculum

This case study is an investigation into the effects of the introduction of a theme from popular culture into a socio‐dramatic role play area, focusing on the effects on children's literacy activities. A Batman and Batwoman HQ was set up in a base containing two classes of 6‐ and 7‐year‐olds and a range of literacy materials was placed within it. Methods included participant observation, interviews, use of video camera and collection of statistics. The findings indicate that the incorporation of themes from popular culture into the curriculum can motivate children whose interests are usually excluded from the classroom.     

Individual Differences and Similarities in the Stability,Timing Consistency,and Natural Frequency of Rhythmic Coordinated Actions

Abstract

Silhouette ratings of actual and ideal body fat (N = 258 high school students) were related to 4 self-concept scales (Body Fat, Physical Appearance, General Physical, Esteem) and objective body composition measures in order to test predictions from actual-ideal discrepancy models. Actual-ideal discrepancy scores were more strongly related to self-concept than actual scores alone, thus supporting the traditional discrepancy model. However, multiple regression analyses demonstrated that more sophisticated actual- ideal discrepancy models that considered discrepancies in either direction (feeling too fat or too thin) did significantly better. Because the traditional discrepancy model is a special case of this more general discrepancy model, the more general model should have broad applicability. Important aspects of this task were (a) that discrepancies were evaluated along a continuum in which the ideal was not one of the endpoints of the continuum, (b) that there was reasonable variation in ideal ratings, and (c) that positive and negative discrepancies were reported.     

Contents of Volume 11

Science &; Education -     

We're playing Jeremy Kyle'! Television talk shows in the playground

This paper focuses on an episode of play in a primary school playground in England, which featured a group of children re-enacting elements of the television talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show. The episode is analysed in the light of work that has identified the key elements of the talk show genre and the children's play is examined in relation to conceptualisations of talk shows as cruelty-verité, carnivalesque spectacle and vehicles of social class anxiety. The paper explores the children's playful re-enactment not only as a parody of adult worlds, but also as a confirmation of the ‘ordinariness’ of everyday life. It is argued that in episodes such as these, the functions of play are multiple and complex, but include a desire to construct collective moral sensibilities and reinforce normative discourses relating to sexuality and what it means to be a ‘good citizen’. The paper identifies spaces of continuity and discontinuity in such traditions and suggests that in play which draws from contemporary media we see the reconstruction of traditional play themes, but can also trace newer elements that are closely related to the generic conventions of reality television.     

Confirmatory factor analyses of Chinese students' evaluations of university teaching

Chinese University of Hong Kong students (N = 844) selected a “good” and a “poor” teacher, and rated each using a Chinese translation of the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) instrument. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models, based on a 3 × 2 design, were constructed to test the invariance of the SEEQ factor structure across 3 discipline groups (a between‐group comparison of ratings by students in arts, social sciences, and education; in business administration; and in engineering, medicine, and science) and across ratings of good and poor teachers (via within‐subjects comparison). The selected model imposed between‐group invariance constraints on factor loadings, factor correlations, and factor variances across the 3 discipline groups and within‐subjects invariance constraints on factor loadings across ratings of good and poor teachers. The results support the use of SEEQ in this Chinese setting, demonstrating the generality of North American research findings and the usefulness of CFA in this research area.