School Effectiveness and Value Added Measures

The theory that schools can promote the progress of pupils so as to overcome the influence of family, community and individual attributes, underpins British studies of school effectiveness. Measures of value added have been developed as sophisticated ways of analysing potential school effects. Desmond Nuttall played a key role in adapting the statistical technique of multilevel modelling to the issue of value added. In this paper we provide a general introduction to three topics and describe three, as yet, unresolved issues: whether value added results are stable over time; whether schools have differential results for different pupil groups; and whether the contextual features of a school exert a powerful influence on its performance.     

The Role of Drawing in Graphic Design and the Implications for Curriculum Planning

Over a number of years a programme of research has been carried out into the role of drawing in design processes, primarily the graphic design process, and on the possible implications for curriculum planing for design students. From the findings of an original in-depth analysis of the use of drawing in the commercial environment of the design consultant, various initiatives in educational planning and assessment in England and Scotland have been fostered and a contribution has been made to the ongoing debate in drawing studies     

A Partisan Evaluation‐‐John Elliott on school effectiveness

This paper is a response to ‘School effectiveness research and its critics; alternative visions of schooling’ by John Elliott (Cambridge Journal of Education, 1996, 26, pp. 199‐223). It is argued that Elliott knows little of the knowledge base, misinterprets what he knows and fails to support his criticisms with evidence. It is concluded that educational advance and improvement can be furthered by school effectiveness research.     

Students' perceptions of teaching and learning in first-year university physics

The transition from school to university involves substantial change in the structure and organization of teaching, and in the nature and purpose of learning contexts. This paper, which reports some data from a broader study of learning and teaching in first year university physics, focuses on aspects of the school-university transition. In particular, we report perceptions of first year physics students about how they should learn physics, what it is intended they should learn, and what they believe to be the functions of the various teaching situations in which they are placed.     

Spaces of influence: A framework for analysis of an individual’s contribution within communities of practice

Within our lives there are spaces of influence or opportunities in which the impact of an ‘influential other’ enables learning in ways that might not otherwise occur. This paper focusses on learning in terms of the learning of others, and in particular the professional impact of John Bowden. Building on the work of Vygotsky (1978 Vygotsky, L. S. 1978. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  [Google Scholar]), and Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976 Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross, G. 1976. The role of tutoring in problem solving. Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(1): 89–100.  [Google Scholar]), the notion of supported learning is revisited and extended. A range of actual stories involving Bowden as key influence are presented through which the term: spaces of influence is developed. The stories flow from varied contexts including those pertaining to research students, communities of practice around methodological positions steeped in qualitative methods, phenomenography, and a scholarly review network. Five spaces within a metaspace of influence‐action, explicit discourse, learning, practice development and trust are developed through the analysis of the stories. The paper pays tribute to the significant work of John Bowden, through the telling of embedded stories, the interweaving of theory such as Bowden and Marton’s (1998 Bowden, J. and Marton, F. 1998. The university of learning: Beyond quality and competence in higher education, London: Kogan Page.  [Google Scholar]) theory of learning for an unknown future, and through the development of the notion of spaces of influence that emerged from reflection here on Bowden’s contribution within communities of practice.     

Exploring variations in teachers' work,lives and their effects on pupils: key findings and implications from a longitudinal mixed‐method study

This article outlines the research design of a large‐scale, longitudinal research study in England intended to describe and explore variations in teachers' work, lives and their effects on pupils' educational outcomes. The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and incorporated into the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) as an ‘Associate Project’, used an innovative mixed‐methods research design to create case studies of 300 teachers in Years 2, 6 and 9. The research was conducted over three consecutive academic years and collected a wide range of data through interviews, questionnaire surveys of teachers' and pupils' views and assessment data on pupils' attainments in English and mathematics. The text summarises the main findings from the research in relation to four interconnected themes of the study: Professional Life Phases; Professional Identity; Relative Effectiveness; and Resilience and Commitment. The influence of school context, in terms of level of social disadvantage of pupil intake, is also investigated. Key findings and their implications for policy and practice are highlighted.     

The Development of Professional Self‐concept

This paper re‐analyses data originally gathered as part of a longitudinal study of entrants to teaching in an effort to isolate the conditions which affect the development of a strong professional self‐concept. Differences were found between primary and secondary student teachers. For primary specialists, teaching practice had become the dominant influence in the development of their conceptions of themselves as teachers. Their academic courses were regarded unfavourably as not helpful in their professional development. Secondary specialists viewed their college courses very favourably as the foundation on which their development as teachers during teaching practice was based. Associate teachers in schools had their greatest influence on self‐concept development when they provided a climate marked by autonomy for the student teacher backed up by support and advice.     

The Changing World of Home Technology: A Microsoft Case Study

We have entered the “digital decade,” when advances in technology will become deeply woven into home life. But how will technology evolve from an experience that is technologically challenging to an experience that is intuitive and fun? This article reviews new technologies and related possibilities that Microsoft is envisioning in the context of home life. As a specific example of the impact of home technology, we review lessons learned from the adoption and integration of a home Internet device from a user experience perspective. Looking ahead to the next decade, we then take a look at Microsoft's vision for the home of the future, examining new directions.