Author Index Volume 6

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 6     

The DES and Whitehall

This article outlines conflicting views of the place of the DES in the making of education policy at large and higher education in particular. It demonstrates how it changes over time and in different policy contexts. It documents different views of the status of the Department within Whitehall and seeks to account for its alleged separateness from the rest of government. An analysis of the relationships with the Treasury and the PESC system is offered. The connections with policy communities and the role of DES ministers are noted. The competence of the DES is appraised, against the status accorded to non-economic departments generally. The ability of the DES to generate stronger support for higher education is discussed in the context of the weakness of higher education as a political issue.     

Teaching and evaluating instructor effectiveness using the instructor effectiveness questionnaire and the instructor effectiveness check sheet combination

This article describes the use of two linked instruments, the Instructor Effectiveness Check Sheet (IEC) and Instructor Effectiveness Questionnaire (IEQ). The use of an evaluation instrument during a course can enable improvements to be made — even with experienced instructors. Detail can be taken from the IEC and IEQ to find obvious and not so obvious needed changes and attention to individuals in the group. The article gives an example where the instruments were used to teach instructors about different pedagogical constructs, describes further research using the instruments at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, USA, and describes a case study on a wilderness education group that illustrated improvement in effective teaching.     

Explorations of a Paradox in Curriculum Control: Resistance to Open-ended Science Inquiry in a School for Self-directed Learning

Despite official government srt (in various jurisdictions around the world) for providing students with opportunities to construct their own knowledge within the context of formal schooling, school science systems continue to place greatest priority on teaching and learning of products of science (e.g., laws and theories), while compromising students’ opportunities to develop realistic conceptions about science and expertise for doing science. Based on qualitative data analyzed using constant comparative methods (based on constructivist grounded theory), we found this also to be the case – paradoxically – in a school belonging to the Canadian Coalition for Self-directed Learning (CCSDL). Schools in this coalition espouse, among various goals, enabling students to construct their own knowledge, in ways and directions suiting their individual needs, interests, perspectives, and abilities, in addition to gaining access to knowledge developed by society. The science department within the coalition school in this study experienced considerable difficulty realizing this goal, despite school-level administrative support for a concerted effort to reinvent itself along these lines. Factors that appeared to influence the science department’s efforts included those in each of Schwab’s (1969) educational "commonplaces;” that is, the curriculum, teachers, students, and the milieu surrounding teaching and learning. Further analysis suggests that results can be explained through reference to a Kuhnian (1962/1996) paradigm conflict – in which the school’s administrative and curricular committee and other members of the CCSDL were unsuccessful in convincing members of the science department (who, in turn, appeared to be supported by the provincial government, parents, and students) to make provisions for more student-directed, openended science inquiry. Assuming that student-led scientific inquiry continues to be an important curricular goal, efforts must continue to be made, therefore, to convince members of the mainstream paradigm that it is a worthy goal.     

Systematic reduction of leg muscle activity throughout a standard assessment of running footwear

Purpose:This study aimed to investigate whether there is a systematic change of leg muscle activity,as quantified by surface electromyography(EMG),throughout a standard running footwear assessment protocol at a predetermined running speed.Methods:Thirty-one physically active adults(15 females and 16 males) completed 5 testing rounds consisting of overground running trials at a speed of 3.5 m/s.The level of muscle activity from 6 major leg muscles was recorded using surface EMG.The variables asse...