Forced Disruption of Anatomy Education in Australia and New Zealand: An Acute Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Australian and New Zealand universities commenced a new academic year in February/March 2020 largely with “business as usual.” The subsequent Covid-19 pandemic imposed unexpected disruptions to anatomical educational practice. Rapid change occurred due to government-imposed physical distancing regulations from March 2020 that increasingly restricted anatomy laboratory teaching practices. Anatomy educators in both these countries were mobilized to adjust their teaching approaches. This study on anatomy education disruption at pandemic onset within Australia and New Zealand adopts a social constructivist lens. The research question was “What are the perceived disruptions and changes made to anatomy education in Australia and New Zealand during the initial period of the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected on by anatomy educators?.” Thematic analysis to elucidate “the what and why” of anatomy education was applied to these reflections. About 18 anatomy academics from ten institutions participated in this exercise. The analysis revealed loss of integrated “hands-on” experiences, and impacts on workload, traditional roles, students, pedagogy, and anatomists' personal educational philosophies. The key opportunities recognized for anatomy education included: enabling synchronous teaching across remote sites, expanding offerings into the remote learning space, and embracing new pedagogies. In managing anatomy education's transition in response to the pandemic, six critical elements were identified: community care, clear communications, clarified expectations, constructive alignment, community of practice, ability to compromise, and adapt and continuity planning. There is no doubt that anatomy education has stepped into a yet unknown future in the island countries of Australia and New Zealand.     

Information Handling Skills, Cognition and New Technologies

Few would dispute the efficacy of multimedia technology and the world wide web in promoting declarative knowledge or the acquisition of facts. It is the argument of this paper however that, apart from assisting a learner in "knowing that", these technologies are underestimated in their capacity to facilitate intellectual skills—procedural knowledge or "knowing how". Via examples from children employing information handling skills with a CD-ROM, this paper attempts to illustrate the ways in which new technologies support and enhance a range of skills associated with deep level processing and meaningful learning such as metacognition, problem solving and critical thinking.     

An exploratory investigation examining the cues that students use to form initial impressions and expectancies of lecturers

The aim of this study was to examine the informational cues that students perceive to be influential when developing initial impressions and expectancies of a lecturer. Undergraduate university students (n = 452) were required to rate the extent to which 30 informational cues (e.g. gender, qualifications) influence their initial perceptions of a lecturer. Following exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a five-factor model (i.e. appearance (APP), accessories (ACC), third party reports (TPR), communication skills (CS), nationality/ethnicity (NE) was extracted. Inspection of mean scores identified that students rated TPR (e.g. teaching experience) and CS (e.g. speed of speech) to be influential factors in forming initial impressions and expectancies of a lecturer. The findings identify the potential for expectancy effects within student–lecturer interactions.     

Inclusion in action: an in-depth case study of an effective inclusive secondary school in the south-west of England

This paper represents the outcomes of an in-depth case study of a secondary school in the south-west of England, identified as inclusive by the local education authority (LEA). The study, which formed the second part of a ‘bricolage’ approach, utilized ethnographic research methods, with the aim of investigating inclusion in a holistic way, at the school level. Data were collected through interviewing of a variety of school constituencies and participant observation. The analysis suggested that: (a) the participants were enculturated into the integration model; (b) although there were strong perceived academic benefits for the included students, the evidence is contradictory regarding the social outcomes of inclusion; (c) successful implementation of inclusion requires restructuring of the physical environment, resources, organizational changes and instructional adaptations; and (d) there was a perceived need for ongoing professional development. The findings reported in this investigation may be used to illuminate current practice in the LEA and to provide directions for formulating policies to support ‘inclusive practice’ in ways which are acceptable to teachers, parents and students.     

Should we Teach Primary Pupils about Chemical Change?

Thirty‐six pupils from three sixth‐grade classes (ages 11/12, n = 75) in Greece were interviewed pre‐ and post‐intervention in a piece of research on explanations of chemical phenomena. Software concerning chemical phenomena was incorporated in a teaching scheme, where the particle theory was used. After a 13 hour intervention, pupils’ explanations were categorized in five discrete categories. Only a few pupils could give satisfactory explanations, involving the integration of particle ideas at the level of atoms. The idea of chemical change seemed to be very difficult for the majority of pupils. Implications for the teaching of chemical phenomena at young ages are discussed.