The Literacy Skills of Language-Impaired Children: Time for 'joined up' thinking?

Relatively little research has been completed into the nature of the association between language and literacy in language-impaired children. This study examines a group of children who attended language unit provision between the ages of 3 years 6 months and 7 years in an inner city education authority. At follow-up, the children were between 7 years 10 months and 13 years 3 months. Of the 24 children, five had transferred to mainstream school, 12 went to a Key Stage 2 language unit and seven went to special school. The links between the assessments of language, phonological skills and literacy development are described. The educational outcomes for this group are considered. Proposals are made for closer collaboration between educational psychologists, and speech and language therapists in the initial identification of children with language impairment, and the continued communication with teachers, so that the language and literacy development of such children can be viewed within the whole teaching context.     

Supporting academic workloads in online learning

Academic workloads in online learning are influenced by many variables, the complexity of which makes it difficult to measure academic workloads in isolation. While researching issues associated with academic workloads, professional development stood out as having a substantive impact on academic workloads. Many academics in applied health degrees commence their educational careers as specialists or experts within their profession, rather than as professional educators. New educators may have limited access to professional development when orientating to their new role. The available professional development focuses on technological and presentation aspects, rather than pedagogy in practice, increasing workloads and adding complexity without the understanding. This study argues that academics become empowered to better understand and manage their workloads through the implementation of targeted professional development, as well as the use of clear institutional frameworks for instructional design. A framework for course design (LATARE) is presented as part of this study.     

The transfer of reflective engagement from social work education into the workplace: a study of the value of scaffolded reflection

The focal concern of this article is the investigation of the transfer and sustainability of the reflective process into the work environment. Specifically, the identification of the variables which support or challenge practitioners to continue the ongoing process of reflection in practice contexts is addressed. The article describes a study carried out over a seven-year period with students/graduates from a master's in social work (MSW) professional qualification programme in Ireland. The research involved gathering data on participants’ experiences of reflective teaching and learning while on the course and in the initial years of their work as practitioners. In the early phases of the data collection, participants referred to developing epistemological awareness through the reflective process while on the course. This was in the context of a scaffold for reflection through journal writing and mentored portfolio inquiry. The outcomes of the study offer considerable insight into the challenges and value of developing a reflective teaching and learning environment in professional education. In particular, the work highlights how it impacts positively on professional practice.     

Solving graphics tasks: Gender differences in middle-school students

The capacity to solve tasks that contain high concentrations of visual-spatial information, including graphs, maps and diagrams, is becoming increasingly important in educational contexts as well as everyday life. This research examined gender differences in the performance of students solving graphics tasks from the Graphical Languages in Mathematics (GLIM) instrument that included number lines, graphs, maps and diagrams. The participants were 317 Australian students (169 males and 148 females) aged 9-12 years. Boys outperformed girls on graphical languages that required the interpretation of information represented on an axis and graphical languages that required movement between two- and three-dimensional representations (generally Map language).     

EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION, 1969‐1979

The author, Principal of a College of Education, reviews the changes that have occurred in educational television in the past ten years in Britain, and the reasons for these changes. If educational television has had a raw deal, some at least of the responsibility for this lies at the door of its own practitioners, who need to try to look ahead with greater foresight to the coming decade.     

The investigation of school effects on student achievement in science: A multilevel analysis of educational data

The Second International Science Study provides a large Australian data base for the purpose of secondary analyses. This data base consists of a large number of student and school level variables which were examined with reference to the students nested within the schools. Multilevel analysis involves the use of the hierarchical linear model to adequately compensate for variability between-schools, as well as within-schools. The role of the school organization and effects such as the average student ability and average social factors were found to substantially influence student achievement in science. These school effects were also found to influence boys and girls differently with respect to their science achievement as measured by the tests in this study. Specializations: large scale data analysis, gender differences, socioeconomic factors, epidemiology.     

Using classroom videos to stimulate professional conversations among pre-service teachers: windows into a mathematics classroom

This paper reports on the novel use of classroom videos by 71 pre-service teachers enrolled in a one-year graduate diploma pre-service teacher education program across three Australian universities. The classroom videos were of an experienced teacher delivering a Year-6 mathematics lesson. Students observed, discussed and debated practices that were evident. Data were collected via observation protocols and through recorded focussed discussions. Pre-service teachers, even at the early phase of their course, were able to articulate theoretical explanations for events occurring in the lesson. All students, irrespective of the progression in the course, lamented the absence of prior opportunities to engage in analysis and discussion of classroom lessons. The study reinforces the value of dialectical interactions focussed on authentic teaching scenarios.     

Improving quantitative volumetric analysis skills in first year university chemistry courses

This paper describes a project in the School of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne. During 1992 thirty hours of videotapes were taken of students doing quantitative volumetric work in first year laboratories. These were viewed to find out what problems students encountered and what interactions they had with other students and with demonstrators. The data were logged on a Hypercard stack and novel visual images were produced to map student activity, both qualitatively and quantitatively. These data contributed to the design of a multimedia learning package which students worked through at the beginning of 1993. Video data of their laboratory performance after this intervention provides evidence of improved performance. Specializations: academic development in the sciences, evaluation of computer-based learning materials. Specializations: physical chemistry, chemical education at tertiary level. Specializations: design and development of computer-based learning materials. Specializations: electrochemistry, general physical chemistry at secondary and tertiary level. Specializations: chemical education at secondary and tertiary level, theoretical chemistry.     

American Hegemony in Packaged Software Trade and the 'Culture of Software'

United States-based companies continue to dominate the global market in packaged software. Although many have predicted this U.S. dominance will wane, particularly as a result of competitive threats from Japan, and more recently from low-wage, developing nations, erosion has yet to be significant. The United States benefits from nine factors that sustain its advantage in this industry: skilled labor, favorable capital conditions, sophisticated customers, close association with hardware vendors, a competitive marketplace, geographic concentrations, first-mover advantage, a strong intellectual property regime, and English as the software lingua franca. Industry-specific strengths and weaknesses vis-a-vis Europe, Japan, and other nations are also discussed. In addition to these nine better known U.S. competitive advantages, two culturally linked assertions are presented that have received scant attention vis-a-vis competitive analysis. First, the industrial evolution of software development is at an immature stage-still a cottage industry practiced by craftsmen in a cultural milieu of artisans-and thus does not track other global high-technology trends. Second, packaged software is part of the copyright industry (e.g., film and music) in which United States-based firms have a sustained advantage. While manufacturing capabilities are significant for technology industries, culturally related factors, such as creativity, are more important for copyright industries. The U.S. 'culture of software,' which helps explain U.S. hegemony, is introduced and discussed. The three elements of this culture are the culture of individuals as manifested by the individualistic computer hacker; the entrepreneurial culture and its risk-taking ethos; and the software development culture with its embrace of ad hoc, innovation-driven development as opposed to routinized, production-driven development.