Disseminating development initiatives in British higher education: a case study

The Effective Teaching and Assessment Programme (ETAP) was commissioned and funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales and ran during the academic year 1993–4. Its aim was to identify and disseminate best practice in specific subject areas, student support and resource based learning. ETAP supported five projects, each undertaken by a consortium of British higher education institutions. This paper reports an evaluation of the programme based on interviews with leaders of the individual projects, along with a questionnaire survey of potential users of the products of the programme. A framework is offered for interpreting the results of the evaluation. Six different meanings of the word dissemination are identified, corresponding to the different degrees to which users actively engage with the materials produced. These distinctions are applied to the data collected and the findings are summarised in terms of the key notions of awareness of what is available, the attitude of teaching staff towards centrally-produced materials, and the accessibility of those materials. The implications of these three concepts are discussed in relation to the technical, organisational and presentational issues which promote or hinder the effectiveness of the dissemination. A number of policy recommendations for Funding Councils and institutions are outlined.     

Equal Opportunities in School‐based ITE: A view from one secondary PGCE course

Evidence suggests that equal opportunities issues are neglected in schools and in HEI based initial teacher education courses. It would, therefore, seem reasonable to assume that they will continue to be neglected in school based ITE.

This paper reports the findings of a small scale investigation into what input on equal opportunities students on a one year, school based, secondary PGCE course were receiving. In essence, the findings were that although the majority of students expressed the belief that active, conscious attention to equal opportunities issues is essential for good practice, they were not given the information or guidance they felt was necessary for them to achieve this. Although some students expressed discontent with the treatment equal opportunities were given in the HEI based component of the course, schools received the bulk of the criticism for neglecting this area or for only paying it lip service.

Mentors need to give more attention to equal opportunities if future generations of school students are not to be further disadvantaged.     

Toward a framework on how affordances and motives can drive different uses of scaffolds: theory, evidence, and design implications

One way to help students engage in higher-order thinking is through scaffolding, which can be defined as support that allows students to participate meaningfully in and gain skill at a task that is beyond their unassisted abilities. Most research on computer-based scaffolds assesses the average impact of the tools on learning outcomes. This is problematic in that it assumes that computer-based scaffolds impact different students in the same way. In this conceptual paper, we use activity theory and the theory of affordances to build an initial theoretical framework on how and why K-12 students use computer-based scaffolds. Specifically, we argue that affordances and motives drive how and why K-12 students use computer-based scaffolds. Then we examine empirical studies to gather preliminary support for the framework. Implications for research on and the design of computer-based scaffolds are explored.     

The Sorcery of Apprenticeships and New/Old Brooms: Thinking about theory,practice, the practicum and change

Attempts to reform teacher education, and in particular the practicum, often fail to produce the desired results. I apply Bourdieu's notion of field to teacher education, to show how a theory/practice binary maps onto the hierarchically ordered cultural and symbolic capitals of university-school relationships. Reform of teacher education cannot be achieved simply by adding more practice to university courses, nor by inverting the dyad to produce theory-less school-based teaching apprenticeships. Following Bourdieu, I suggest that those arguing for change-in teacher education, schools and leadership-must look at their own investments in the game, as well as working with/against it, in order to produce new forms of partnerships and a new approach to the practicum.