Learning to Teach Science: The Curriculum of Student Teaching in Hiroshima "Attached" Schools

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Career counsellors, support and lifelong learning: A case for clinical supervision

While much has been written about clinical supervisionin other fields of counselling, little has beenwritten in the area of career counselling. However ascareer counsellors are confronted with the challengesof a constantly changing world of work, their supportand learning needs are increasing. This articlediscusses the role of clinical supervision as amechanism for facilitating the support and lifelonglearning of career counsellors moving into thelearning culture of the 21st Century.     

The International Adult Literacy Survey: What Does It Really Measure?

The paper evaluates the work of the International Adult Literacy Survey as reported in OECD 1997. It assesses its contribution to understanding literacy in terms of the perspective of the New Literacy Studies. It outlines this perspective as a basis for a critique that is mostly concerned with the validity of the test. Three criticisms of the survey are made: that it provides only a partial picture of literacy; that culture is treated as bias; and that the test items do not represent the real-life items as claimed. Finally, the paper concludes with an overall evaluation of what the IALS achieves in terms of its own aims.     

The Uses and Gratifications of Media Migration: Investigating the Activities,Motivations, and Predictors of Migration Behaviors Originating in Entertainment Television

Increasingly, media consumers follow entertainment across media; migrating from one medium to the next seeking to fulfill different needs. Using survey methods (N = 444), this exploratory research examines the underlying elements of media migration by studying the uses and gratifications of migration behavior. Specifically, findings of this survey identify migration activities, motivations, and predictors of migration. Results suggest that several of the top migration activities are strongly tied to Internet use. Findings indicate that media migration is motivated by different needs, including entertainment, escape, enlightenment, and more content-congruent exposure. Finally, amidst various predictors, the need for content-congruent exposure emerged as a strong predictor of migration.     

Adapting an Outcome-Based Education Development Process to Meet Near Real-Time Challenges to Sustainable Agricultural Production

Purpose: This paper examines the benefits of using an outcome-based education (OBE) method within agricultural extension outreach programmes for professional and farmer audiences. Design/Methodology/Approach: The method is elaborated through two practical examples, which show that focused, short-duration programmes can produce meaningful skill development and impacts at the farm level. Both examples addressed pressing problems that were evolving during the education programme, and we sought a method that would respond adaptively to local circumstances and unanticipated changes. Key aspects of the method include strategic planning to properly focus education programmes, and the integration of data-driven decision support tool development to reduce uncertainty associated with the use of high-risk pest management inputs. Findings: Professionals and farmers increased their knowledge and skills related to pesticide management, and follow-up evaluation documented high levels of adoption of risk reduction and mitigation practices by farmers. Practical Implications: We recommend OBE for several reasons: (1) it uses a group process to elicit an accurate view of the system that learners operate within, (2) it provides cohesive and active learning with the potential for continuation, and (3) it enables feedback between all stages of programme development and implementation. Originality/Value: The most novel aspect of our adaptation of the OBE approach is the integration of, and feedback between, participatory programme design and tool development throughout the process, which maximises the value of each, and their ability to deliver outcomes. The OBE method integrates science, technology and social learning, and connects these with authentic problem-solving tasks to perpetuate learning beyond the classroom to where outcomes are attained.     

Gender Gaps in Achievement and Participation in Multiple Introductory Biology Classrooms

Although gender gaps have been a major concern in male-dominated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines such as physics and engineering, the numerical dominance of female students in biology has supported the assumption that gender disparities do not exist at the undergraduate level in life sciences. Using data from 23 large introductory biology classes for majors, we examine two measures of gender disparity in biology: academic achievement and participation in whole-class discussions. We found that females consistently underperform on exams compared with males with similar overall college grade point averages. In addition, although females on average represent 60% of the students in these courses, their voices make up less than 40% of those heard responding to instructor-posed questions to the class, one of the most common ways of engaging students in large lectures. Based on these data, we propose that, despite numerical dominance of females, gender disparities remain an issue in introductory biology classrooms. For student retention and achievement in biology to be truly merit based, we need to develop strategies to equalize the opportunities for students of different genders to practice the skills they need to excel.