Portfolios, Accountability, and an Interpretive Approach to Validity

How can the results of classroom-based portfolio assessment be communicated outside the classroom? How might a portfolio-based assessment system be designed and implemented? How can we evaluate the merits of portfolio-based assessments?     

Kazzies,DBTs and Tryhards: categorisations of style in adolescent girls’ talk

One aspect of the work that adolescent girls do in creating and maintaining friendship networks with each other, the process of including some girls and excluding others, is explored using an ethnomethodological framework of analysis. Three adolescent schoolgirls in Australia talk about themselves and the other girls in their school. A close examination of this talk reveals a hierarchy of style categorisations which resonate with the socio‐economic and ethnic composition of the three main feeder areas to the school. The girls rank their own ‘original’ style, which is avant‐garde and eclectic, over the mass‐produced, imitative fashions‐of‐the‐moment displayed by members of other style groups.

By social closure Weber means the process by which social collectivities seek to maximise rewards by restricting access to resources and opportunities to a limited circle of eligibles. This entails the singling out of certain social or physical attributes as the justificatory basis of exclusion. (Parkin, 1979, p. 44)     

The Effect of Questioning Style During Storybook Reading on Novel Vocabulary Acquisition of Preschoolers

The effects of adult questioning on children’s novel word acquisition during storybook reading were investigated. Three-year-olds were assigned to one of three conditions: vocabulary eliciting questions, noneliciting questions, and no questions (control). General vocabulary comprehension and novel word knowledge were equivalent across the groups before the storybook reading intervention. Children were read 3 storybooks repeatedly across 4 reading sessions and were tested for production and comprehension of novel words in the final session. Children’s novel word comprehension increased more in both question conditions than in the control condition, suggesting that type of question is not as important to word learning as children’s active engagement in discussion about novel words in general. Novel word production was not strongly affected by any of the reading conditions. However, asking children noneliciting questions did appear to foster production of new words more than not asking questions at all.     

Boxing clever: using shoeboxes to support home–school knowledge exchange

A key tenet of the Home–School Knowledge Exchange Project is that children's learning will be enhanced if the knowledge and experience that are to be found both at home and in school can be brought together. In this paper we explore ways of connecting home and school to support literacy learning at Key Stage 1, focusing on the home‐to‐school direction. We discuss how shoeboxes, filled with children's artefacts, can support a range of literacy‐related activities in school. It is suggested that the extensive diversity of knowledge and interests reflected in the chosen objects presents teachers with an invaluable opportunity to personalise children's literacy learning.     

Conceptual difficulties experienced by senior high school students of electrochemistry: Electrochemical (galvanic) and electrolytic cells

This research investigated students' understanding of electrochemistry following a 7–9-week course of instruction. A list of conceptual and propositional knowledge statements was formulated, and this provided the framework for semistructured interviews that were conducted with 32 students in their final year of high school chemistry, following instruction in electrochemistry. Three misconceptions identified in this study and five which have been reported earlier are incorporated into an alternative framework about electric current. The framework is grounded on the notion that a current always involves drifting electrons, even in solution. Another area where students' misconceptions were prevalent was in relation to the sign of the anode and cathode. Students who thought the anode was negatively charged believed cations would move toward it, and those who thought it was positively charged were unable to explain why electrons move away from it. Electrolytic cells also proved troublesome for students. Many students did not associate the positions of the anode and cathode with the polarity of the applied electromotive force (e.m.f.). Other students attempted to reverse features of electrochemical cells and apply the reversals to electrolytic cells. The implications of the research relate to students' interpretation of the language that is used to describe scientific phenomena and the tendency for students to overgeneralize, due to comments made by teachers or statements in textbooks.     

Contemporary high-profile scientists and their interactions with the community

This article presents a case study of 10 high-profile Australian research scientists. These scientists are highly committed to engaging with the public. They interact with a wide range of groups in the community, including the traditional media. They are aware that they are seen as representatives of science at a time when the authority of science and scientists is threatened in Australia by controversy around issues such as climate change and vaccination. Through their experiences of interacting with non-scientists, they have developed views about qualities, characteristics and knowledge that contribute to, or inhibit, positive interactions between scientists and non-scientists. Their experiences and insights highlight aspects of contemporary science that are not generally acknowledged in science curricula.     

Talking Spirituality with Family Members: Black and Latina/o Children Co-researcher Methodologies

Children in public schools challenge people’s conceptions of them by talking about their spiritualities and spiritual practices. Based on a one-year multicultural feminist critical narrative inquiry, this article examines how Black and Latina/o first grade children co-researchers interview family members to think about their beliefs, encourage others, and to acquire more spiritual knowledge. I provide three counterstories in which children choose a mother, an older sister, and a younger brother to interview. These counterstories demonstrate children’s diverse literacies and spiritual practices, and families’ involvement in children’s lives. I discuss implications for educational practices in support of Black and Latina/o children and their families. I highlight ways pedagogical practices can be critiqued and transformed in order to better support children.Dr. Nadjwa E. L. Norton is an Assistant Professor in the Literacy Department at City College, CUNY. Her scholarship focuses on multiple literacies practices, spirituality, teacher education, equity-oriented multicultural education, and collaborative qualitative research designs. Address correspondence to Dr. Nadjwa E. L. Norton, Department of Literacy NAC 6/207, The City College of New York, 138th Street & Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA; e-mail: nnorton@ccny.cuny.edu.     

Online or Face-to-Face: Do Mission-Related Student Learning Outcomes Differ?

This study investigated how an authentic assessment program was used to examine student learning outcomes within the context of a Christian university’s institutional mission, core values, and distinctive qualities. For the purposes of this study, an authentic assessment program is defined as assessing student-produced work within the context of the institutional mission. A sample of 1,814 undergraduate students taking one or more general education courses at the university during the 2007–2009 academic years was examined for any significant differences in student learning outcomes. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated the Student Assessment System (SAS) scores for the online students were not significantly different from the SAS scores for the face-to-face (F2F) students after controlling for course grade. These results suggest that online students achieved the same critical mission-related educational outcomes that the university required of its F2F students. An implication of this finding is that the university just as effectively articulated its faith-based mission and vision to the online students as it did to its students taking classes F2F.