Asynchronous and synchronous online teaching: Perspectives of Canadian high school distance education teachers

This paper presents the results of an inductive, interpretive analysis of the perspectives of 42 Canadian high school distance education (DE) teachers on asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. The paper includes a conceptual overview of the affordances and constraints of each form of teaching. Findings provided insight into the following aspects of asynchronous and synchronous online teaching: degree of use; the tools used; the contexts in which each occur; students' preferences; and limitations. Pedagogy emerged as more important than media for both asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. Synchronous online teaching relied on teacher‐ rather than student‐centred approaches. Asynchronous online teaching provided support for self‐paced, highly independent forms of secondary DE supplemented by synchronous online teaching for answering questions and troubleshooting.     

Comparing the use of the empty number line in England and the Netherlands

Efforts to meet the needs of children's learning in arithmetic has led to an increased emphasis on the teaching of mental calculation strategies in England. This has included the adoption of didactical tools such as the empty number line (ENL) that was developed as part of the realistic mathematics movement in the Netherlands. It has been claimed that the English use of the ENL differs from that of the Dutch. In this study curriculum guidance materials are examined to investigate these differences. Two examples of teaching sequences are provided to illustrate them further. It is proposed that the different uses stem from different pedagogical principles. The implications of the English use are discussed in relation to the presentation of mental calculation strategies in an algorithmic way.     

Plastic brains and the dialectics of dialectics

This article advances the thinking of Lima, Ostermann and Rezende’s “Marxism in Vygotskian approaches to cultural studies of science education” and Mark Zuss’ response to their paper. Firstly, it introduces Catherine Malabou’s concept of plasticity, from which Hegel’s dialectic can be re-read as historical materialist self-determination in a way that embraces science but non-reductively, and which leads to the possibility of challenging theoretical rigidity as a form of transformative action. Secondly, this response article provides political analysis of scientific concepts as they reproduce and reinforce particular interests and are expropriated by policy makers and unaware teacher educators whose understanding lies within a technical-instrumentalism and diluted humanism framework. Both arguments feature the human brain as an object of research in science education. From Malabou, the emancipatory conceptualisation of the brain as material, historical and sociocultural; whilst ‘Brain Gym’ exemplifies a non-science and nonsensical misappropriation of scientific concepts for commercial gain via a para-educational intervention.     

A known group analysis validity study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US elementary and secondary schools

The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) provides educators with a tool for principal evaluation based on principal, teacher, and supervisor reports of principals’ learning-centered leadership. In this study, we conduct a known group analysis as part of a larger argument for the validity of the VAL-ED in US elementary and secondary schools. We asked superintendents to select the principals in their district who they believe in performance of their duties are in the top 20 % and the bottom 20 %. We ask how accurately VAL-ED scores can identify membership of the two known groups. Using a discriminant analysis, the VAL-ED places principals in the superintendent groups, on average, 70 % of the time for both elementary and secondary schools. Placement accuracy is greater for the top group than the bottom group.     

The acceptability of nontraditional degrees: Illinois' Board of Governors Program as a case study

The development of external, nontraditional degree programs has stimulated discussion as to the usefulness of the diplomas received through such programs. Questionnaires completed by 686 graduates of Illinois' statewide Board of Governors Bachelor of Arts Degree Program measure the extent to which the degree is acceptable to graduates and their employers, the degree to which student goals were met upon graduation, the quality of program services, and the success rate of students applying to graduate schools. The results are overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that non-traditional degrees are gaining general acceptance among a wide variety of groups.For assistance in collecting, tabulating and analyzing data for this article, the authors are grateful to C. Edward Gilpatric, Judith Hofstrand, Elizabeth Stanley, and Donald Tedder.