On Being (and Not Being) Mrs Curley’s Wife

How do students draw on texts read in class to explore and make sense of the world? How does role-play open up the possibilities of utilising these resources, remaking them for their own purposes? How does play, as Vygotsky suggests, enable students to achieve more? And how does being in role change the character of social relations in the classroom, enabling students to shed new light on their lives, their experiences. This essay focuses close attention on two role-plays, both involving the same pair of 11th-grade students from a school in Ramallah. The role-plays arose out of, and enabled the students to explore, literary texts that they had been studying in class: Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The article argues that what the students accomplished in this work is complex and needs to be understood in context. Through this account, the essay seeks to challenge those (currently fashionable) models of pedagogy that are insufficiently attentive to the histories, identities and interests of particular learners.     

La Medusa by Caravaggio: characterisation of the painting technique and evaluation of the state of conservation

The oil painting “La Medusa” executed by Caravaggio at the end of the XVI century on a wooden shield, was investigated by integrated physical–chemical and analytical methodologies in order to obtain scientific data capable of elucidating the state of conservation and the painting technique. Optical (OM) and electronic (SEM-EDS) microscopy, micro-FT-IR spectroscopy, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and pyrolysis GC–MS were applied on two microfragments and some organic samples obtained by solvent extraction using the swab cleaning technique. The obtained results indicated that Caravaggio probably reused an old shield as a previous gypsum preparation layer has been detected under the original painting layers. He used white lead, natural earths, verdigris and lead–tin yellow type I mixed with drying oils to paint. The considerable amount of amorphous particles of copper chlorides found in the green pigment verdigris suggests that it could have been produced according to the ancient recipe of verde salsum described by Theophilus. Mordant gilding has been identified on the upper part of the shield that can be related to an abandoned experiment to give the painting a mirror-like reflecting effect. Three different varnishes layers have been detected above the painted surface. The original and restoration varnishes have been identified and they contain a mixture of drying oil, mastic and turpentine and some beeswax. Cleaning tests, performed with different organic solvents, suggest the use of isopropyl alcohol as cleaning agent because it is less efficient in comparison to others solvents; thus it ensures a careful and controlled removal of the varnishes.     

Perspectives on academic staff involvement in the acquisition and implementation of educational technologies

This article presents the results of a study using both quantitative and qualitative data to uncover the extent and nature of the involvement of academic staff in the processes of acquisition and implementation of educational technologies. Actor-network theory (ANT) is used to inform the design of the study and the analysis of the data. Three main areas of investigation are (1) issues of institutional policy and overall purpose of technology, (2) issues of staff involvement in various activities related to acquisition and use of technology and (3) issues related to the existence of arenas for dialogue and discussions of technological needs and requirements across organisational boundaries. The analysis focuses on the diffuseness of the role of academic staff in processes of development of institutional policies and technology acquisition. The article concludes with suggestions for organisational policy in higher education contexts, and possible directions for new research.     

The dimensional structure of reading assessment tasks in the IEA reading literacy study 1991 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001

The study investigates measurement properties of the reading assessment tasks used in the IEA 1991 Reading Literacy (RL) study and the Progress in International Readings Study (PIRLS) 2001 study. The analysis is based on data from the Swedish PIRLS study, comprising 16,676 students in grades 3 and 4. As an extension to the basic design, not only the PIRLS tasks were administered, but each student also completed 1 of the 2 booklets from the 1991 study. Using missing-data modeling techniques, confirmatory factor analysis models were estimated and tested for the complete set of reading tasks. Results show that both sets of tasks measure comprehension of reading continuous text, but that each of them also represents unique sources of variance. In the RL instrument, reading speed is one such component, and performance on tasks from the documents domain is another. The PIRLS tasks are influenced by the requirement to produce constructed responses. It is also demonstrated that the shared context among items referring to a particular text is a source of systematic variance.     

Opportunity Knocks? Professionalism and excellence in university teaching

Abstract

This paper proposes that excellence in teaching resides in a reflective, self‐critical, theoretically informed approach. A training programme for new teachers is used as an example of how the approach advocated can be put into practice. Evidence is presented which indicates that academic teachers pursuing such an approach develop conceptions of teaching which can contribute to improved practice; and which may also contribute to changing thinking about teaching and learning in departments. It is argued that encouraging reflective pedagogy has the potential of engaging academics in making the cultural changes necessary to professionalise and enhance the status of teaching. Finally, it is suggested that, although the methodology used by the inspection teams of the Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) is problematic, the impetus provided can be used as an opportunity to explore and establish creative and worthwhile ways of improving the quality of teaching.     

The “Wicked Problem” of Neutral Description: Toward a Documentation Approach to Metadata Standards

Increasingly, metadata standards have been recognized as constructed rather than neutral. In this article, we argue for the importance of a documentation approach to metadata standards creation as a codification of this growing recognition. By making design decisions explicit, the documentation approach dispels presumptions of neutrality and, drawing on the “wicked problems” theoretical framework, acknowledges the constructed nature of standards as “clumsy solutions.”     

From research to reality: Australian evidence-based practice in autism education

Many teachers are sporadic in using evidence-based practice (EBP) concerning students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Numerous reasons have been posited for this. However, no single study has worked to understand the relative importance of identified criteria in the EBP decision-making processes of teachers. Through the development of a new survey tool, the Evidence-Based Practice Innovation Survey (EBPIAS), an exploration of the decision-making process of Australian teachers in their adoption and cessation of EBP was undertaken. Teachers rated the perception that an EBP would meet the needs of their students as the most important criteria in determining their use of EBP. Conversely, the judgement that an EBP did not meet the needs of their student was the most important criteria in their decision to cease use. In comparing the relevant importance of identified criteria, teachers rated the perception of training as the second-lowest consideration in their decision to adopt and cease using EBP. Consequently, there may need to be greater promotion of, or information concerning, the training required by teachers for effective implementation supporting a more balanced and holistic approach in assessing criteria impacting the adoption of EBP by teachers in the first instance, potentially lowering cessation rates.     

Women's Role in Creating the Field of Health and Safety Communication

Crystal Eastman, Alice Hamilton, and the women who organized the Workers' Health Bureau helped shape the field of health and safety communication early in this century. In texts targeted to varied professional and popular audiences, they sought to prevent occupational accidents and disease by promoting voluntary efforts by employers, government regulation and compensation programs, and unions to incorporate health and safety standards in contracts. While both their approach to research and their argumentative strategies can be considered “feminine”, this designation reflects a tendency to associate women with activities and behaviors that have been devalued.