European policies on space science and technology 1960–1978

This paper discusses the key political issues involved in current and past attempts to come to a common European space programme. The history of European space policy has been characterised by different perceived interests on the national level. In the 1960s financial and above all political problems shattered the ideal of a unified Europe, and European collaboration in space largely failed. Political disagreement — particularly between the three main European space nations, France, F.R. Germany and the United Kingdom — continued into the 1970s. Finally, a renewed attempt for European technological cooperation was made by the setting up of the European Space Agency. Since its creation, in 1974, Europe's space policy has again been facing political uncertainty. As a result of the divergence of national interests and of inappropriate industrial policies at the European level, Europe is now unable to cope with the reality of competitive space markets (satellites, launchers, ground equipment, tracking stations, etc.). If Europe is to become competitive in the commercial space market, industrial policies will have to be altered — with possible profound consequences for the structure and existence of the European Space Agency. If, alternatively, political disagreements about joint European programmes are not resolved, and if Europe as a consequence fails to make a (already late) start in the commercial space sector, the consequences may be far-reaching. The European countries may then either revert to separate national (or bilateral) programmes or become largely dependent on outside suppliers for space technology products. Europe may thus find itself without any share of the world space market.     

Polysemy in the Domain-Specific Pedagogical Use of Graphs in Science Textbooks: The Case of an Electrocardiogram

Polysemy in graph-related practices is the phenomenon that a single graph can sustain different meanings assigned to it. Considerable research has been done on polysemy in graph-related practices in school science in which graphs are rather used as scientific tools. However, graphs in science textbooks are also used rather pedagogically to illustrate domain-specific textbook content and less empirical work has been done in this respect. The aim of this study is therefore to better understand polysemy in the domain-specific pedagogical use of graphs in science textbooks. From socio-cultural and cultural-historical perspectives, we perceive polysemy as irreducible to either the meaning-making (semiotic) resources provided by the graph or its readers who assign meaning to it. Departing from this framework, we simultaneously investigated: (a) the meanings 44 pre-university biology students assigned to the Cartesian plane of a graph that is commonly used as a pedagogical tool in Dutch high school biology textbooks (an electrocardiogram); (b) the semiotic resources provided by this graph; and (c) the educational practices of which it is supposedly a part according to the actions constituted by the textbooks that were to be conducted by students. Drawing on this case, we show polysemy in the pedagogical use of graphs in science textbooks. In turn, we show how this polysemy can be explained dialectically as the result of both the meaning-making resources provided by the textbooks and the graph-related practices in which students supposedly engaged by using their textbooks. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.     

Validity of an Athletic Skills Track among 6- to 12-year-old children

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and validity of an Athletic Skills Track (AST) to assess fundamental movement skills among 6- to 12-year-old children in a physical education setting. Four hundred sixty-three Dutch children (211 girls, 252 boys) completed three tests: the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK) and two Athletic Skills Tracks (AST-1, AST-2). The validity of AST-1 and AST-2 was examined by correlating the time (s) needed to complete the tracks and the KTK Motor Quotient (MQ).

Overall, there was a low correlation between AST-1 and the KTK MQ (r = –0.474 (P < 0.01)) and a moderate correlation between AST-2 and the KTK MQ (r = –0.502 (P < 0.01)). When split up by age group the associations were much higher and ranged between r = –0.469 and r = –0.767), with the exception of the low correlation coefficient of the AST-2 in 7-year-olds. The results indicate that fundamental movement skills of 6- to 12-year-old children can be assessed with a quick, convenient and low-cost motor competence test in a physical education setting, i.e., an Athletic Skills Track. Future studies should further assess the reliability, discriminative ability and validity of age-specific versions of the AST.     

Relations of autonomous and controlled motivation with performance in secondary school students’ favoured and disfavoured subjects

Students in secondary education inevitably favour some subjects more than other subjects. This appraisal may affect how motivation relates to performance in these subjects. Whereas autonomous motivation is generally linked to positive school outcomes, the effect of controlled motivation is less clear. This study specifically focused on the associations of controlled motivation with performance in the context of favoured and disfavoured subjects. In the present study, secondary school students (N?=?918) identified 2 favoured and 2 disfavoured subjects. Hierarchical linear modelling was performed to investigate the relationship of autonomous and controlled motivation with performance in these subjects. Results showed that autonomous motivation positively related to performance in both types of subjects. The association of controlled motivation with performance was negative in both contexts, and more negative in disfavoured subjects. For teaching practice, this means that teachers should always stimulate autonomous motivation, even for negatively appraised subjects.     

Towards a chronotopic theory of “place” in place-based education

The notion of place, as in place-based education, has received considerable attention in educational theorizing because of its potential to link students, their lifeworlds, and their experiences in particular settings to formal education. However, in current debates of place-based education, the notion of place is emerging as problematic. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a rethinking of place in a form that is appropriate for describing and theorizing its occurrence in a world we share with others. We understand place as the result of a dialectical and dialogical relation of the material world and its chronotopic (time–space) nature in the various conversations (discourses) in which it is constituted as this place; that is, we view place as a lived entity that results from a dialogical transaction between a community and its material environment at a particular moment in cultural-historical time and which hence shapes and is shaped by the identity of the people. We exemplify our rethinking with a case of an environmental education project in which place unfolds as a chronotope from a dialogue between scientific and indigenous voices. The implications of this rethinking of place for place-based education are discussed.     

The teacher and the tool: instrumental orchestrations in the technology-rich mathematics classroom

The availability of technology in the mathematics classroom challenges the way teachers orchestrate student learning. Using the theory of instrumental orchestration as the main interpretative framework, this study investigates which types of orchestrations teachers develop when using technology and to what extent these are related to teachers’ views on mathematics education and the role of technology therein. Data consisted of videotapes of 38 lessons taught by three teachers, who also provided information on their views through questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative analysis of these data led to the identification of orchestration types and teacher profiles. The orchestration preferences of the three teachers proved to be related to their views. A detailed analysis of one exemplary episode suggests how other theoretical perspectives might complement the theory of instrumental orchestration.     

Practising what we preach: working together to further scientific collaboration

The recent shift in Internet usage – from content being simply consumed by users, to content that users create, interact with, and share – has challenged traditional publishing values and processes. This has, in turn, brought opportunities to explore and experiment with new technologies in the publishing industry. Elsevier's social bookmarking and collaboration tool for researchers, 2collab, was launched in November 2007 to address this shift. This article reviews how 2collab was built in close partnership with researchers, and how traditional processes had to be adapted to facilitate this. It outlines the current use of social applications among scientists and shows that nearly 50% of researchers anticipate that social tools like 2collab will have at least some impact on all areas of their research in the next five years.     

Context Problems in Realistic Mathematics Education: A Calculus Course as an Example

This article discusses the role of context problems, as they are used in the Dutch approach that is known as realistic mathematics education (RME). In RME, context problems are intended for supporting a reinvention process that enables students to come to grips with formal mathematics. This approach is primarily described from an instructional-design perspective. The instructional designer tries to construe a route by which the conventional mathematics can be reinvented. Such a reinvention route will be paved with context problems that offer the students opportunities for progressive mathematizing. Context problems are defined as problems of which the problem situation is experientially real to the student. An RME design for a calculus course is taken as an example, to illustrate that the theory based on the design heuristic using context problems and modeling, which was developed for primary school mathematics, also fits an advanced topic such as calculus. Special attention is given to the RME heuristic that refer to the role models can play in a shift from a model of situated activity to a model for mathematical reasoning. In light of this model-of/model-for shift, it is argued that discrete functions and their graphs play a key role as an intermediary between the context problems that have to be solved and the formal calculus that is developed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.