The pedagogy of the image text: Nakazawa,Sebald and Spiegelman recount social traumas

The paper discusses the pedagogy of the image text, a term that encompasses the graphic novels of Nakazawa and Spiegelman and the heavily illustrated novels of Sebald. Increasingly, artist-authors have turned to the image-text medium to represent catastrophic social events, and these three authors’ works are discussed as seminal documents of cataclysmic societal events, such as the bombing of Hiroshima or the Holocaust. All have provided a narrative visual framework that attempts to inform us of the lived experience of these traumatic moments, insofar as their medium will permit, and these methods are discussed and compared. The pedagogic impulse – the desire to inform a contemporary audience of such major historical events – is evident in all three selected authors’ works. Their diverse yet comparable visual methods, and the ways in which they seem to imbue us with authentic vicarious experiences arguably constitute a visual pedagogy of social crises.     

校园中的流浪者[五]

Hunting, in which the young man was an apt scholar, was now the order of the day. Tiburcio was an artist in woodcraft as well as in his knowledge of the habits of animals and birds. On chilly or disagreeable days they would take out the pack of dogs and beat the thickets for the javeline. It was exciting sport to bring to bay a drove of these animals. To shoot from horseback lent a charm, yet made aim uncertain, nor was it advisable to get too close range. Many a young dog made a fatal mistake in getting too near this little animal, and the doctoring of crippled dogs became a daily duty. All surplus game was sent to the ranchito below, where it was always appreciated.     

Assessing college student perceptions of instructor customer service via the Quality of Instructor Service to Students (QISS) Questionnaire

This study presents the results of a three‐step project designed to: (1) identify what students perceive to be quality service as offered by instructors, (2) relate the dimensions identified to an appropriate survey instrument (the QISS) and pilot‐test the instrument, and (3) survey a stratified representative sample of the undergraduate population with the instrument. A stratified sample of students (N=457) were surveyed using the QISS questionnaire in the spring semester of 2004. The QISS is a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire. Results indicate that students consistently identify Reliability and Responsiveness as the most important dimensions of instructor service to students. Female students consistently report that their experiences with instructors do not meet their expectations. The same holds true for males but to a lesser degree. Information provided from this kind of assessment provides a means of identifying areas where student satisfaction is already strong and areas where it can be improved.     

Quantitative skills as a graduate learning outcome of university science degree programmes: student performance explored through the planned–enacted–experienced curriculum model

Application of mathematical and statistical thinking and reasoning, typically referred to as quantitative skills, is essential for university bioscience students. First, this study developed an assessment task intended to gauge graduating students’ quantitative skills. The Quantitative Skills Assessment of Science Students (QSASS) was the result, which examined 10 mathematical and statistical sub-topics. Second, the study established an evidential baseline of students’ quantitative skills performance and confidence levels by piloting the QSASS with 187 final-year biosciences students at a research-intensive university. The study is framed within the planned–enacted–experienced curriculum model and contributes to science reform efforts focused on enhancing the quantitative skills of university graduates, particularly in the biosciences. The results found, on average, weak performance and low confidence on the QSASS, suggesting divergence between academics’ intentions and students’ experiences of learning quantitative skills. Implications for curriculum design and future studies are discussed.     

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: examining the effectiveness of authentic scientific research on high school students’ science skills and interest

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. This research explored: (1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and (2) how the open-inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.     

The great debate: Then and now

In discussing Jeanne Chall’s chapter, “Are Reading Methods Changing Again?” (this volume), I compare today’s situation with that of 30 years ago as recounted by Chall in Learning to Read: The Great Debate (1967).     

The effects of microcomputer-based laboratory exercises on the acquisition of line graph construction and interpretation skills by high school biology students

Effects of microcomputer-based laboratories and level of cognitive development on tenth-grade biology students' ability to construct and interpret line graphs was investigated. Fortysix students enrolled in general biology classes at a rural high school volunteered to participate in the study. These students were administered instruments to assess level of cognitive development and line-graphing ability. Ten students that scored between zero and three and ten students that scored between six and ten on the graphing assessment were chosen to participate in the study. The 20 students were then assigned to either experimental or conventional groups to achieve a matched design with relation to gender and line-graphing ability. Statistical analysis of the data indicated no effect due to instructional method on graph-interpretation abilities. An instructional effect was demonstrated for graph-construction tasks (p < 0.10) with the conventional group outperforming the microcomputer-based laboratory group. Effect sizes of ?1.01 and 0.48 were found for graph-construction and -interpretation skills, respectively. Effects related to cognitive development were indicated with those students classified as high cognitive development outscoring those classified as low (p < 0.10) This was true for both graph-construction and graph-interpretation tasks. No two-way interactions were found.     

Modelling success: enhancing international postgraduate research students' self‐efficacy for research seminar presentations

Most postgraduate research students face the task of presenting an oral seminar on their proposed research early in their candidature. Those of us who work with international postgraduate research students know that they can find this task daunting, and the literature both in Australia and abroad confirms that these students often lack confidence in this task. This paper presents findings of a small case study which compared the influence of observing a seminar performance of a peer to that of a senior academic on the confidence, or self‐efficacy, for seminar presentations of participants in a bridging program for international postgraduate research students at an Australian university. Participants responded to a 19‐item questionnaire which measured self‐efficacy for four areas of seminar presentation: speech, display, content, and presenter presence. The results indicated that the use of a peer model performance was the more effective pedagogical method for enhancing student confidence in this context.