How teacher and students study ‘all that matters’ in high school chemistry

This study focuses on the relationships between meanings of science constructed in classrooms and sociocultural precepts of the wider society. Research presented is part of a larger study of the negotiation of knowledge and roles in high school science classrooms. The data presented document that what goes on in classrooms reflects and recreates societal attitudes towards work, in general, and teachers’ work, in particular. The teacher in this study reduces his demands for academic work in return for students’ cooperation and as a means of coping with negative aspects of teaching. Students, in turn, are not concerned about the specific subject matter of chemistry. What matters to them are the academic credentials that lead to success in the college and employment arenas. As a result, teacher and students construct school chemistry to be what you‐get‐through‐as‐you‐get‐along. The interdependence of the roles and actions of teachers and students suggests changes in policy and practice.     

School visits to zoos and museums: a missed educational opportunity?

Recent studies in exhibitions have begun to consider the cognitive content of the ‘dialogue’ between visitor and exhibit designer. Such studies have focused on the leisure visitor and not on organised school visits. The study reported here compares the conversational content of primary school and family visitors at the London Zoo and the Natural History Museum, London. The data show that there are common features to the children's interactions with animal exhibits and that the content of the conversations varies little between family groups and school groups both within an institution and between institutions. The lack of any marked distinction between school and family visitors strongly suggests that schools are failing to make effective use of the educational potential of zoos. Secondly, the findings of this study are important in pointing to the features of animal exhibits to which children, and their accompanying adults, attend. The data suggest that there is a gulf between the level of knowledge and understanding visitors bring to the exhibits and the message that the museums and zoos may wish to communicate. It is suggested that more successful education will only be achieved when museums and zoos give more credence to understanding what the visitor already does, or does not, know.     

The FCC's disposition of “fairness doctrine” complaints

How the FCC actually handles “Fairness Doctrine”; complaints was the topic of Bradley Canon's 1967 Ph.D. dissertation, completed in the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Canon currently is assistant professor of political science at the University of Kentucky.     

STATE PARTNERSHIPS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OLDER AMERICANS WITH LIFELONG DISABILITIES

The Older Americans Act and its network of state and area agencies are dynamic mechanisms for human services. The “aging network” has entered a period of expanded policy arenas which require broader agendas and applications, from long‐term‐care systems development to assisting employers who are creating flexible work and retirement programs. It is appropriate for the aging and developmental disabilities networks to explore the intersections of their operations with respect to their methods of administration, advocacy, service systems development, and policies.     

The Effect of a National Initiative on Exam Results

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the examination results of TVEI and non TVEI pupils in the database established at the University of Newcastle in 1985‐87. The pupils took national exams in the summer of 1987, when they were about 16 years old. Their average grades (Exam Means) and their accumulated grades (Exam Totals) were considered separately.

The Exam Mean and Exam Total scores were generally worse for TVEI than non TVEI pupils, even when pupils with the same ability test scores and aspirational scores were compared. However, it is possible that non TVEI factors caused the discrepancy in results and it is these factors which are the subjects of this paper.

The paper considers firstly whether the differences are an artefact of regression analysis. Secondly, the data are considered using various multilevel models. Both analyses suggest that there was no TVEI effect on the Exam Mean score and a negative TVEI effect on the Exam Total. Various explanations for these findings, concerning internal school allocational and curriculum policies, are considered and discussed.