Nothing but the Facts?

This paper seeks to understand how journalists deal with storytelling and truth-seeking in their daily news practice. While storytelling is usually studied through texts, we approached it from a practice perspective, combining data from three ethnographic studies in which 36 beat reporters and 13 journalistic storytelling experts were extensively interviewed. Because of the emphasis journalists place on “finding out the truth” in public discourses, it is tempting for academics to present them as naive truth-seekers. However, by means of an interpretative repertoire analysis of their “practice” discourses, we seek to enlarge the discursive space to talk about the supposed tension between story and reality. Although departing from the idea that all news making is storytelling, the interviewed journalists consider news making and storytelling as distinct—and sometimes opposing—practices. These professional practices serve as the framework around which five storytelling repertoires are organized.     

Financing special needs and inclusive education – from Salamanca to the present

ABSTRACT

The focus of this paper is upon an examination of the ‘direction of travel’ in European countries from special needs education to inclusive education – a development influenced by the Salamanca Statement. The 1994 Salamanca Statement argued that inclusive schools provide ‘an effective education for the majority of children and improve the efficiency and ultimately the cost-effectiveness of the entire education system’ (ix). Underpinning this assertion are issues around special needs and inclusive education are financed. The paper will examine the degree to which the critical issue of financing has – or has not – changed across European countries since Salamanca. This examination takes retrospective look at key issues identified in the European Agency 1999 study of funding models for special education in 17 European countries, compared and contrasted with those identified in a 2016 study of approaches to funding inclusive education in 18 European countries. This paper argues that the essential issues underpinning their financing mechanisms have changed very little. For many European countries, changing systems of financing of inclusive education can still be seen as a key lever for achieving the goal of more widespread inclusion of learners with special educational needs, as outlined in the 1994 Salamanca Statement.     

Developing and implementing innovative ICT-supported engineering education and educational services: results of a faculty-wide research and implementation programme

This paper describes the results of a department-wide programme called IMAGO, which was aimed at giving information and communication technology (ICT) a more important and effective role in the educational programmes. The underlying assumption was that students are responsible for their own learning process, and that students are considered to be knowledge- and information-intensive workers rather than passive consumers of information, and need to be facilitated as such. In implementing more advanced and innovative ICT applications for supporting the educational processes and for improving the contents of the courses, we have developed and used an implementation approach that was geared towards managing and steering professionals. The approach respects the role of professionals as highly individual and knowledgeable workers, and suggests the use of specific incentives to stimulate those professionals. The approach used has led to successful results and innovations in the areas of educational administrative processes, such as individual and flexible scheduling software, and in the area of the course contents, such as intensive use of ICT to enhance the students' learning process. The results obtained will be distributed to a wider audience in the near future by means of (inter)national collaborations.     

Effects of aerobic exercise and cognitively engaging exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills in primary school children: A cluster randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

This paper examined effects of two interventions on cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills, and whether these effects are influenced by baseline levels, and dose of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the intervention. A cluster randomized controlled trial was implemented in 22 schools (n = 891; 9.2 ± 07 years). Intervention groups received aerobic or cognitively engaging exercise (14-weeks, four lessons per week). Control groups followed their regular physical education programme. Cardiorespiratory fitness, motor skills and MVPA were assessed. Multilevel analysis showed no main effects on cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills although the amount of MVPA was higher in the aerobic than in the cognitively engaging and control group. Intervention effects did not depend on baseline cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills. Children with a higher dose of MVPA within the intervention groups had better cardiorespiratory fitness after both interventions and better motor skills after the cognitively engaging intervention. In conclusion, the interventions were not effective to enhance cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills at a group level, possibly due to large individual differences and to a total dose of MVPA too low to find effects. However, the amount of MVPA is an important factor that influence the effectiveness of interventions.     

Gender‐Based Differential Prediction by Curriculum Samples for College Admissions

A longstanding concern about admissions to higher education is the underprediction of female academic performance by admission test scores. One explanation for these findings is selection system bias, that is, not all relevant KSAOs that are related to academic performance and gender are included in the prediction model. One solution to this problem is to include these omitted KSAOs in the prediction model, many of these KSAOs are 'noncognitive' and “hard‐to‐measure” skills in a high‐stakes context. An alternative approach to capture relevant KSAOs is using representative performance samples. We examined differential prediction of first year‐ and third year academic performance by gender based on a curriculum‐sampling test that was designed as a small‐scale simulation of later college performance. In addition, we examined differential prediction using both frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Our results showed no differential prediction or small female underprediction when using the curriculum‐sampling tests to predict first year GPA, and no differential prediction for predicting third year GPA. In addition, our results suggest that more comprehensive curriculum samples may show less differential prediction. We conclude that curriculum sampling may offer a practically feasible method that yields minimal differential prediction by gender in high‐stakes operational selection settings.     

THE IMAGE OF THE HUMAN BEING IN ISLAMIC AND “SECULAR HUMANISTIC EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT

Our moral awareness directs our attention to salient ethical cues. This article discusses how mistaken presumptions about the ways faith can inform moral awareness can cloud our understanding of the role of religious convictions in public discourse. The article then explores how an understanding of the dynamics of moral awareness can enable people to ground their moral outlooks in their faith commitments while at the same time remaining open to dialogue with people of other faith commitments so that they are able to discuss moral issues in the religiously diverse public places (the public squares) of our global, postmodern age.     

Textbook Questions in Context-Based and Traditional Chemistry Curricula Analysed from a Content Perspective and a Learning Activities Perspective

In this study, questions in context-based and traditional chemistry textbooks were analysed from two perspectives that are at the heart of chemistry curricula reforms: a content perspective and a learning activities perspective. To analyse these textbook questions, we developed an instrument for each perspective. In total, 971 textbook questions were analysed. Textbook questions in context-based and traditional curricula appeared to differ significantly in their orientation on content and in the activation to engage students in certain learning activities. Although traditional curricula included more questions that stress traditional chemistry content and included more reproductive chemistry questions than context-based curricula, they were not always as traditional as we had expected. Context-based chemistry curricula focused more on chemistry content relating to societal/technological issues and chemistry theory development and also more questions were included that activate students to regulate their own learning. However, context-based chemistry curricula still included a considerable amount of traditional chemistry content and did not focus as much on higher order learning as we had expected. The developed instruments might be helpful in chemistry curricula design to gain insights into the content which is stressed and how students are activated by textbook questions to engage in learning.     

Portfolio as a means of promoting autonomous learning in teacher education: a quasi-experimental study

Background:?The predominant dissertation model used in teacher education courses in Flanders is the ‘literature study with practical processing’. Despite the practical supplement, this traditional model does not fit sufficiently well with autonomous learning as the objective of modern teacher education dissertations.

This study reports on the development of a portfolio model to serve as an alternative to the current model and afford greater opportunities for autonomous learning.

Purpose:?This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the usefulness of portfolio as a means of promoting autonomous learning.

Sample:?Two teacher education courses collaborated, involving 174 teacher education students and 44 supervisors in this study.

Design and methods:?Using a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design, we examined whether the use of portfolio as a dissertation model has a greater effect on the students' capacity for autonomous learning than the literature study with practical processing, using three existing questionnaires. Differences between the experimental group and the control group were revealed by means of covariance analysis.

Results:?Our research shows that the portfolio model results in students acquiring greater metacognitive knowledge. It also appears that students only get the chance to use their metacognitive skills when supervisors give them sufficient autonomy. However, supervisors experience loss of control and therefore tend to restrict students' autonomy.

Conclusions:?This leads us to the paradox of autonomous learning: students will only learn autonomously when they are given the freedom to learn autonomously. Supervisors need to transfer learner control.     

Promoting effective teacher-feedback: from theory to practice through a multiple component trajectory for professional development

This study describes an evaluation of a theory-based trajectory for professional development called FeTiP (Feedback-Theory into Practice) that aims to have an observable effect on teacher classroom behavior. FeTiP is a multicomponent trajectory for professional development and combines several types of interventions. Its goal is to help teachers expand their feedback behavior in the classroom to provide more, and more effective (i.e. learning-enhancing), feedback. We first describe the foundation of FeTiP, with a central focus on how classroom behavior can be influenced by a multicomponent trajectory of professional development, as this is often a major aim in initiatives for the professional development of teachers but is the most difficult to establish. We describe the effects of FeTiP on the feedback behavior of teachers and attempt to explain why these effects occurred.     

The relation between feedback perceptions and the supervisor–student relationship in master's thesis projects

Research supervision can be investigated from social–emotional and cognitive perspectives, but most studies include only one perspective. This study aims to understand the interplay between a social–emotional (supervisor–student relationship) and cognitive (feedback) perspective on the outcomes of master's thesis supervision in specific, by investigating student perceptions of both perspectives. Questionnaire data (N?=?1016) were collected and analysed using regression analyses. For student satisfaction (SS) and students' perceived supervisor contribution to learning (PSCL), affiliation by far is most important, followed by control for SS and feedback-forward for PSCL. Also, interaction effects between feedback and interpersonal perceptions were found, indicating that the role of feedback perceptions is most important in situations in which no optimal supervisor–student relationship could be established. Findings imply the importance for master's thesis supervisors of creating friendly and helping relationships with students and if this is problematic, extra care should be taken with giving feedback.