“Storming and norming”: Exploring the value of group development models in addressing conflict in communal writing assessment

Composition assessment scholars have exhibited uneasiness with the language of norming grounded in distaste for the psychometric assumption that achievement of consensus in a communal assessment setting is desirable even at the cost of individual pedagogical values. Responding to the problems of a reliability defined by homogenous agreement, compositionists have moved to reframe validity as a reflective measure of local context, often relying on hermeneutic approaches that foreground expression of difference as criteria for success, not failure. Such approaches, while serving the goals of assessment as reflective practice, foster a tension between conflict and consensus that is arguably unproductive for assessments that may benefit, in various ways, from the achievement of agreement. The present study, drawing from group development models, reframes conflict and consensus in dynamic integration. Reader training experiences in two large-scale portfolio assessments at one institution provide evidence that assessment practitioners may benefit, theoretically and pragmatically, from an approach to conflict and consensus neither hierarchical nor mutually exclusive.     

Book reviews

The following books are reviewed.

Teachers' work in a globalising economy JOHN SMYTH, ALASTAIR DOW, ROBERT HATTAM, GEOFFREY SCHACKLOCK & ALAN REID (1999) London: RoutledgeFalmer. 240 pp., ISBN 07507 0962 6 (hb) £65.00, ISBN 07507 0961 8 (pb) £19.99

Learning Mathematics: from hierarchies to networks LEONE BURTON (Ed.) (1999) London: RoutledgeFalmer. ISBN 07507 1008 X (hb) £65.00 ISBN 07507 1009 8 (pb)     

Fifteen years of action research for political and educational emancipation at a South African University

This article traces the origins and development of an action research Master's in Education programme, which was introduced in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa in the mid-1980s. The programme began during a time of political and social repression, when the apartheid government was very much in control, and was explicitly located within an emancipatory approach to education. The article discusses the vision of emancipatory education that underpinned the programme, linking this to the political situation of domination and resistance in the educational sector. The origins of People's Education are described, as well as various initiatives in action research which were closely linked to the People's Education movement of the time. The article concludes by discussing some of the new challenges for action research and emancipatory education in the post-apartheid era.     

Lifelong learning for elders in Hong Kong: policy and practice

ABSTRACT

This article explores non-traditional student and graduate views of the university in Ireland and Portugal as it relates to their expectations of, and experiences in, the labour market. The research is based on in-depth biographical interviews with 61 non-traditional students and graduates conducted longitudinally (85 interviews in total). The article contextualises the research in relation to the expansion of higher education internationally as well as national and EU policies aimed at supporting a ‘knowledge-based economy’. It offers an overview of the meaning of precarity. It then outlines key empirical findings from the research related to student expectations of their degree and their post-graduation experience in the labour market. In particular, it explores the phenomenon of precarity amongst graduates how this is experienced and handled in various ways. Using a critical and egalitarian lens the overall aim of the research is to widen the focus of widening participation debates and explore how educational and institutional initiatives impact, or not, on wider social and employment inequalities.     

A novel three-dimensional tool for teaching human neuroanatomy

Three‐dimensional (3D) visualization of neuroanatomy can be challenging for medical students. This knowledge is essential in order for students to correlate cross‐sectional neuroanatomy and whole brain specimens within neuroscience curricula and to interpret clinical and radiological information as clinicians or researchers. This study implemented and evaluated a new tool for teaching 3D neuroanatomy to first‐year medical students at Boston University School of Medicine. Students were randomized into experimental and control classrooms. All students were taught neuroanatomy according to traditional 2D methods. Then, during laboratory review, the experimental group constructed 3D color‐coded physical models of the periventricular structures, while the control group re‐examined 2D brain cross‐sections. At the end of the course, 2D and 3D spatial relationships of the brain and preferred learning styles were assessed in both groups. The overall quiz scores for the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group (t(85) = 2.02, P < 0.05). However, when the questions were divided into those requiring either 2D or 3D visualization, only the scores for the 3D questions were significantly higher in the experimental group (F_1,85= 5.48, P = 0.02). When surveyed, 84% of students recommended repeating the 3D activity for future laboratories, and this preference was equally distributed across preferred learning styles (χ² = 0.14, n.s.). Our results suggest that our 3D physical modeling activity is an effective method for teaching spatial relationships of brain anatomy and will better prepare students for visualization of 3D neuroanatomy, a skill essential for higher education in neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery. Anat Sci Educ. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Evaluation of the Parent-implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) project using the Multiattribute Utility (MAU) approach

We conducted a multiattribute utility (MAU) evaluation to assess the Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) project which was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). In the PiCS project parents of young children with developmental disabilities are trained and coached in their homes on naturalistic and visual teaching strategies to enhance their children’s social-pragmatic communication skills. This report focuses on the evaluation process, the application of the MAU approach to evaluate the PiCS project, the results of the evaluation, and a discussion of the benefits and concerns related to the use of the MAU approach to conduct a comprehensive evaluation.     

人文社会与医学：UIC临床医学基要课程

本文介绍了伊利诺伊大学芝加哥校区的整合式课程“临床医学基要”（Essentials of Clinical Medicine, ECM）的历史、课程目标、内容和教学安排、学生课业评价、课程管理与改进、课程的效果和主要特点等。该课程将医学人文社会知识技能与临床问诊、查体和临床决策紧密联系起来,运用讲座、小组学习、工作坊、医院见习与实习多种教学方法,注重学生从“做中学”,注重自我教育与反思,注重团队合作与教学相长,教学效果良好。