Implementing vision research in special needs education

This article presents experiences from vision research implemented in education and argues for the need for teachers with visual competence and insight into suitable methods for stimulation and learning. A new type of continuing professional development (CPD) focuses on the role of vision in children's learning and development, the consequences of frequently occurring vision disturbances and related new educational possibilities. Participating teachers undertake a period of practical teaching training in their home community. Two students' cases visualise the need to break out of the narrow definition of visual impairment and become capable of evaluating the visual challenges affecting many pupils and their learning. The two cases presented represent various issues of visual challenges; both reached a better functional level, including better reading, following improved vision after the educational interventions. These results illustrate that vision competence in schools is most useful and ought to be widely accessible.     

The Italian middle school in a deregulation era: modernity through path-dependency and global models

In the current context of intensified moves towards educational deregulation, the configuration of the Italian middle school and its relationship to education governance is an interesting case. Historically, it represents a unique example of the successful ‘decision-making' model of the welfarist era. Despite some internal constraints, at the end of the 1970s it was considered a progressive model of schooling for its time. At present, however, internal institutional processes and path-dependencies have rendered its comprehensiveness relatively formalised and weak. A key finding of this article is that ideas, such as the ‘two people’ theory, have played a crucial role in shaping actors' strategies and goals, while references to world models, in particular the English model, have mediated the reception of global policies. Cultural factors, such as the role played by families, are deeply linked to structural issues and inequalities. An ethnographic account depicts a welfarist institution whose internal processes and links to the wider society may be seen as an example of Italian modernity that ‘speaks for itself’. Fieldwork clarifies the role of the teachers in mediating a path-dependent and cultural reproduction pattern. I argue that partial deregulation is a major source of inequalities at the middle school level, engendered by both new and old mechanisms, which further intensifies a selective path in education. This analysis will show how global deregulation trends meet local and enduring path-dependencies.     

Exploring classroom life through cogenerative dialogues

In response to Shady’s reflection on his experience as a teacher-researcher in which he explored different cogen structures, we consider fluid participant configurations using cogens as a research method to provide insights into classroom life. Our cogens illuminated the role of symbolic, cultural and social capital in student–teacher alignments that changed across different classroom situations. In Shady’s study, as well as our own, respectful student–teacher relationships that involved the teacher and students first establishing common social capital, enabled the teacher to “be in with” the students, and vice versa. We raise questions about how the structure of cogens might affect the nature of the dialogue that is cogenerated.     

The glue that makes it “hang together”: A framework for identifying how metadiscourse facilitates uncertainty navigation during knowledge building discussions

Classroom discussions have become a centerpiece of reform efforts in science education because talk mediates the joint co-constructing of knowledge in science classrooms. Although decades of research underscore the importance of talk in supporting science learning, the science education community continues to grapple with how to support teachers and students in navigating the uncertainty that is associated with doing knowledge building work. To address these challenges, we must examine not just what gets constructed (the scientific ideas), but how knowledge is co-constructed by teachers and students (the process of building those ideas) amidst uncertainty. In this study, we propose a conceptual tool for identifying organizational, epistemic, and interpretive metadiscourse markers (MDMs) in science talk. We highlight how teachers and students use these three types of MDMs as they navigate uncertainty while connecting ideas within and across multiple turns of talk, leveraging resources for knowledge building, and making interpretations about one another's ideas. We conclude with a set of suggestions for how researchers and teachers can utilize this framework to attend to the ways that MDMs index the organizational, epistemic, and interpretive dimensions of uncertainty in the knowledge building process.     

Continuous removal of glycerol from frozen-thawed red blood cells in a microfluidic membrane device

Cryopreservation of human red blood cells (RBCs) in the presence of 40% glycerol allows a shelf-life of 10 years, as opposed to only 6 weeks for refrigerated RBCs. Nonetheless, cryopreserved blood is rarely used in clinical therapy, in part because of the requirement for a time-consuming (∼1 h) post-thaw wash process to remove glycerol before the product can be used for transfusion. The current deglycerolization process involves a series of saline washes in an automated centrifuge, which gradually removes glycerol from the cells in order to prevent osmotic damage. We recently demonstrated that glycerol can be extracted in as little as 3 min without excessive osmotic damage if the composition of the extracellular solution is precisely controlled. Here, we explore the potential for carrying out rapid glycerol extraction using a membrane-based microfluidic device, with the ultimate goal of enabling inline washing of cryopreserved blood. To assist in experimental design and device optimization, we developed a mass transfer model that allows prediction of glycerol removal, as well as the resulting cell volume changes. Experimental measurements of solution composition and hemolysis at the device outlet are in reasonable agreement with model predictions, and our results demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the glycerol concentration by more than 50% in a single device without excessive hemolysis. Based on these promising results, we present a design for a multistage process that is predicted to safely remove glycerol from cryopreserved blood in less than 3 min.     

Uncertainty in information seeking and retrieval: A study in an academic environment

This research focuses specifically on uncertainty and information seeking in a digital environment. In this research we argue that different types of uncertainty are associated with the information seeking process and that, with the proliferation of new and different search tools, sources and channels, uncertainty, positive/desirable or negative/undesirable, continues to be a significant factor in the search process. Users may feel uncertain at any stage of the information search and retrieval process and uncertainty may remain even after completion of the process resulting in what may be called persistent uncertainty. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from users in the higher education sector. There were three parts to the questionnaire focusing on: information seeking activities, information seeking problems, and access to specific information channels or sources. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data collected through the online questionnaire. A total of 668 responses were returned from the chosen user categories of academic staff, research staff and research students. This research has shown that there are some information seeking activities and information seeking problems that are the most common causes of uncertainty among significant number of users from different disciplines, age, gender, ICT skills, etc. This is also the case with respect to access to and use of specific information sources/channels, although the degrees of uncertainty in relation are relatively small. Possible implications of this study and further research issues are indicated.