Staying on task: can a thinking skills approach support a productive pedagogy for inclusion?

This study investigates the effects of a thinking skills approach on the on task rates of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). There were three situations: two experimental and one controlled. The experimental situations compared on task rates of 19 primary-aged pupils with SEN in thinking skills (TS) and non-thinking skills (XTS) lessons. These same 19 pupils' on task rates were then compared to the 19 different pupils with SEN in the control situation (CON). The study found that pupils with SEN had significantly higher on task rates in thinking skills lessons compared to the non-thinking skills lessons and pupils with SEN in the control situation. This study also found that pupils' on task rate was directly proportional to the level of thinking skills content in a lesson. In addition it was found that pupils in thinking skills lessons spent significantly more time working collaboratively.     

Peer learning in international higher education: the experience of international students in an Irish university

Some of the main concerns in international higher education are the feeling of isolation among international students and their inability to adapt to the host environment, which may result in sub-optimal academic performance. Theoretically, peer learning can be an effective method to reduce these problems since it has the capacity to address isolation and adaptability issues among international students in a way that improves their learning experience and outcomes. Given the above, our study was designed to investigate this topic, focusing on the experience of international students. In this exploratory case study of a leading Irish university, we adopted a survey method via questionnaire to quantify and compare the experiences of a sample of international students at the said university. Five aspects of peer learning were explored, namely usage rate, current practices, outcomes, challenges, and coping strategies. We also included an open-ended section in the survey instrument for respondents to offer qualitative suggestions to the host institution. Through methodological triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative data, we discovered diverse practices, challenges, and outcomes of peer learning across different groups of international students in this university. The paper concludes with a discussion of research implications and suggestions for future studies.     

Can we avoid digital structural violence in future learning systems?

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the concept of digital structural violence and examines the negative role it could have in future learning systems. To address it, we propose a new interdisciplinary research agenda at the intersection of three current but disparate lines of work that:

1. Use the concept of epistemic privilege to theorise the inclusion of marginalised learners in the design of learning systems, and utilise participatory action research and emancipatory methodologies to pragmatically ensure this happens;

2. Support young learners and teachers to understand and build their own artificial intelligence algorithms;

3. Develop sustainable interdisciplinary links with computer science to address digital structural violence at the algorithmic level and to make its societal implications and underlying processes more widely understood, especially by teachers.

Taken together, these provide for a material form of resistance to digital structural violence and a theoretically and methodologically coherent future research agenda for building just learning systems.     

10. Media History

FILMS AND BRITISH NATIONAL IDENTITY: FROM DICKENS TO DAD'S ARMY by Jeffrey Richards (Manchester, England: Manchester University Press “Studies in Popular Culture,”; 1997—£45.00 /14.99, ISBN 0–7190–4742–0 hard, 0–7190–4743–9 paper, 387 pp., illustrations, bibliography, index of film titles, general index)

FORBIDDEN ANIMATION: CENSORED CARTOONS AND BLACKLISTED ANIMATORS IN AMERICA by Karl F. Cohen (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1997—$35.00, ISBN 0–7864–0395–0, 216 pp., illustrations, notes, appendix, index)

A READER IN ANIMATION STUDIES edited by Jayne Pilling (Luton, England: University of Luton Press/John Libbey Media, 1997—no price given, paper, ISBN 1–86462–000–5, 283 pp., illustrations, notes)

TEX AVERY: THE MGM YEARS, 1942–1955 by John Canemaker (Atlanta, GA: Turner Publishing, 1996—$34.95, ISBN 1–57036–291–2, 224 pp., illustrations, filmography, bibliography)

GILLES DELEUZE'S TIME MACHINE by David N. Rodowick (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997—$49.95/$16.95, ISBN 0–8223–1962–4/0–8223–1970–5, 258 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index)

RECREATIONAL TERROR: WOMEN AND THE PLEASURES OF HORROR FILM VIEWING by Isabel Cristina Pinedo (Albany: State University of New York Press “SUNY Series, Interruptions: Border Testimony(ies) and Critical Discourse/s,”; 1997—$44.50/14.95 paper, ISBN 0–7914–3441–9 hard, 0–7914–3442–7 paper, 177 pp., illustrations, films cited listing, notes, bibliography, index)

SELZNICK'S VISION: GONE WITH THE WIND AND HOLLYWOOD FILMMAKING by Alan David Vertrees (Austin: University of Texas Press “Texas Film Studies Series,”; 1997—$30.00, paper, ISBN 0–292–78728–6 hard, 0–292–78729–4 paper, 242 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index)

THE PASSION OF DAVID LYNCH: WILD AT HEART IN HOLLYWOOD by Martha P. Nochimson (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997—$40.00/19.95, ISBN 0–292–75566‐X hard, 0–292–75565–1 paper, 272 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, index)

CINEMA, THEORY, AND POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE by Patrick McGee (Port Chester, NY: Cambridge University Press “Literature, Culture, Theory, No. 24,”; 1997—$59.95/19.95, ISBN 0–521–58130–3 hard, 0–521–58908–8 paper, 235 pp., bibliography, index)

ADAPTATIONS AS IMITATIONS: FILMS FROM NOVELS by James Griffith (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997—$39.50, ISBN 0–87413–633–4, 272 pp., notes, works cited, index)

DEFINING CINEMA edited by Peter Lehman (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press “Rutgers Depth of Field Series,”; 1997—$48.00/18.00, ISBN 0–8135–2301‐X hard, 0–8135–2302–8 paper, 216 pp., notes, index)

FROM PEEP SHOW TO PALACE: THE BIRTH OF AMERICAN FILM by David Robinson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996—$17.50, paper, ISBN 0–231–10338–7 hard, 0–231–10339–5 paper, 213 pp., illustrations, bibliography, index)

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN POPULAR FILM AND TELEVISION edited by Gary R. Edgerton, Michael T. Marsden, and Jack Nachbar (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997—$49.95/$24.95, ISBN 0–89972–753–5 hard, 0–87972–754–3 paper, 274 pp., illustrations, index)

HIGH CONTRAST: RACE AND GENDER IN CONTEMPORARY HOLLYWOOD FILMS by Sharon Willis (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997—$49.95/$16.95, ISBN 0–8223–2029–0 hard, 0–8223–2041‐X paper, 266 pp., notes, index)

MAMMIES NO MORE: THE CHANGING IMAGE OF BLACK WOMEN ON STAGE AND SCREEN by Lisa M. Anderson (Lanham, MD: Rowman &; Littlefield, 1997—$22.95, ISBN 0–8476–8419–9, 147 pp., illustrations, bibliography, index)

HEMINGWAY AND HIS CONSPIRATORS: HOLLYWOOD, SCRIBNERS, AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN CELEBRITY CULTURE by Leonard J. Leff (Lanham, MD: Rowman &; Littlefield, 1997—$24.95, ISBN 0–8476–8544–6, 255 pp., illustrations, notes, works cited, index)

FOOTAGE: THE WORLDWIDE MOVING IMAGE SOURCEBOOK (New York: Second Line Search, [3rd ed.] 1997—$195.00, ISBN 1–890979–24–4, 1098 pp., glossary, index to advertisers)     

The Virtual University as a Conceptual Model for Faculty Change and Innovation

Virtual universities and virtual learning environments are becoming increasingly accessible to faculty wishing to develop Web-based courses. They can provide a convenient cognitive framework to assist educators in moving towards new technology-based teaching methods. The University of Strathclyde has developed a series of faculty development workshops based around the conceptual model of Clyde Virtual University (http://cvu.strath.ac.uk) in an attempt to promote cultural change within the institution. The virtual university, whilst providing examples of good practice in the use of the new technologies, is also used as a delivery medium for the courses themselves, and as a place where participants can communicate with each other and archive their own materials. This paper explains the necessity for such a conceptual framework to overcome barriers faculty face in developing Web-based materials. It describes the Clyde Virtual University and the way in which innovative approac hes to teaching, learning, and assessment in a virtual setting can aid the development of a fully professionalized teaching force in higher education.     

Three-dimensional printed millifluidic devices for zebrafish embryo tests

Implementations of Lab-on-a-Chip technologies for in-situ analysis of small model organisms and embryos (both invertebrate and vertebrate) are attracting an increasing interest. A significant hurdle to widespread applications of microfluidic and millifluidic devices for in-situ analysis of small model organisms is the access to expensive clean room facilities and complex microfabrication technologies. Furthermore, these resources require significant investments and engineering know-how. For example, poly(dimethylsiloxane) soft lithography is still largely unattainable to the gross majority of biomedical laboratories willing to pursue development of chip-based platforms. They often turn instead to readily available but inferior classical solutions. We refer to this phenomenon as workshop-to-bench gap of bioengineering science. To tackle the above issues, we examined the capabilities of commercially available Multi-Jet Modelling (MJM) and Stereolithography (SLA) systems for low volume fabrication of optical-grade millifluidic devices designed for culture and biotests performed on millimetre-sized specimens such as zebrafish embryos. The selected 3D printing technologies spanned a range from affordable personal desktop systems to high-end professional printers. The main motivation of our work was to pave the way for off-the-shelf and user-friendly 3D printing methods in order to rapidly and inexpensively build optical-grade millifluidic devices for customized studies on small model organisms. Compared with other rapid prototyping technologies such as soft lithography and infrared laser micromachining in poly(methyl methacrylate), we demonstrate that selected SLA technologies can achieve user-friendly and rapid production of prototypes, superior feature reproduction quality, and comparable levels of optical transparency. A caution need to be, however, exercised as majority of tested SLA and MJM resins were found toxic and caused significant developmental abnormalities in zebrafish embryos. Taken together, our data demonstrate that SLA technologies can be used for rapid and accurate production of devices for biomedical research. However, polymer biotoxicity needs to be carefully evaluated.     

Cosmopolitan Trade Centre or Bone of Contention? Alexandria and the Crusades, 487–857/1095–1453

Abstract

This article examines the position of Alexandria during the crusading period (487–857/1095–1453), seeking to open up the question indicated in the title for discussion. Did Alexandria's importance as a trade centre have an impact on whether or not it became the target of military attacks by the Franks? What other forms of contention was it a focus for during the period? While not claiming to provide conclusive answers, we seek at least to provide a starting point for discussion of this complex issue.     

Students as Partners in Peer Mentoring: Expectations,Experiences and Emotions

Innovative Higher Education - Increasing emphasis in recent years has been placed on how faculty, staff and students in higher education can be drawn into more collaborative learning relationships...