The Way They See It: An Evaluation of the Arts Across the Curriculum Project

This article reports on an evaluation to interrogate the efficacy of a Scottish Government sponsored initiative to introduce an arts‐infused education model to primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools called Arts Across the Curriculum. Between April 2005 and December 2007 the evaluation team gathered data about this three‐year pilot project, using a variety of instruments including surveys, structured observations, interviews and video diaries. This article presents some of the findings from the evaluation and in particular it focuses on the artists' views of the efficacy of the project; in short we wanted to know how they ‘saw it’. It should be noted that the research team that evaluated the initiative had no say in the design of the project.     

Cognitive and Neural Development of Individuated Self-Representation in Children

Processing the self-relevance of information facilitates recall. Similarly, processing close-other-related information facilitates recall to a lesser degree than processing self-relevant information. This memory advantage may be viewed as an index of the degree to which the representation of self is differentiated from representations of close others. To test developmental hypotheses concerning the self, this study examined the relation of memory for self- and mother-referentially processed information in participants age 7–13 years (Experiment 1: N  = 37; Experiment 2: N  = 14). Memory for words encoded with reference to oneself increases with age, relative to memory for words encoded with reference to one's mother. When used as an individual difference measure, the difference in self versus mother memory correlates with regions of the rostral anterior cingulate associated with affective salience.     

Non-accidental head injury in New Zealand: The outcome of referral to statutory authorities

ObjectivesTo describe the outcome of referral to the statutory authorities for infants under 2 years with non-accidental head injury (NAHI), and to establish whether the authorities held sufficient information to develop a risk profile for these cases.MethodsRetrospective review of cases admitted to hospital in Auckland, New Zealand from 1988 to 1998. Records from the hospital admission, child protective services and Police were reviewed, up to 19 years from diagnosis.ResultsOf 39 infants, 33 survived to leave hospital. Documentation of risk factors was erratic, and sometimes incongruent between agencies. Inter-agency case conferences took place in 17/39 (44%). The Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYF) used an informal family agreement to secure safety in 15/33 survivors (45%). Family Group Conferences occurred in 17/33 (52%). Nine of 33 were placed permanently outside the home (27%), two (6%) with unrelated caregivers. Charges were laid in 18/39 cases (46%). Fifteen cases came to trial, with 14 convictions (36%). Of the survivors, 44% were later renotified to CYF. There was no obvious relationship between type of intervention and re-notification.ConclusionsEnsuring the safety of an infant with NAHI, and identifying and taking appropriate action with regard to the offender, are complex tasks. In New Zealand, data collection is often incomplete and inter-agency practice and collaboration is variable. Although the rate of prosecution was relatively high by international standards, many children were later notified again for further concerns of abuse or neglect, suggesting that our interventions have been only partially successful.Practice implicationsThis paper suggests that all infants admitted to hospital with non-accidental head injury should become part of a prospective inter-agency research study, using a standardised data collection instrument. This should include the systematic collection of all data known or suspected to be associated with risk of child abuse, and incorporate long-term prospective follow-up, regardless of child protective or legal outcomes. Without large numbers followed prospectively and according to sound methodology, it is difficult to prove which forms of intervention are better than others at reducing the risk of further abuse.     

Selling education through “culture”: responses to the market by new, non-government schools

The move to a market model of schooling has seen a radical restructuring of the ways schooling is “done” in recent times in Western countries. Although there has been a great deal of work to examine the effects of a market model on local school management (LSM), teachers’ work and university systems, relatively little has been done to examine its effect on parents’ choice of school in the non-government sector in Australia. This study examines the reasons parents give for choosing a nongovernment school in the outer suburbs of one large city in Australia. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu specifically his ideas on “cultural capital” (1977), this study revealed that parents were choosing the non-government school over the government school to ensure that their children would be provided, through the school’s emphasis on cultural capital, access to a perceived “better life” thus enhancing the potential to facilitate “extraordinary children”, one of the school’s marketing claims.     

A closer look at the impact of globalization on science education

This paper provides a historical overview of globalisation in order to illustrate how globalisation both shapes and is shaped by external forces. The authors use this perspective to generate a dialogue about the science education project The Case of Sustainability by the Bay, and raise some questions to further the discussion on the impact of globalisation on science education. The paper also discusses the importance of recognizing the historic developments around globalisation in order to understand how changes in the global economy have shaped and continue to shape education through policy regarding funding, curriculum development and implementation, as well as trends in teacher preparation and education. The paper concludes by offering implications for policy makers, researchers, and teacher educators as it relates to science education generally, and globalisation particularly.     

Incorporating radiology into medical gross anatomy: Does the use of cadaver CT scans improve students' academic performance in anatomy?

Radiological images show anatomical structures in multiple planes and may be effective for teaching anatomical spatial relationships, something that students often find difficult to master. This study tests the hypotheses that (1) the use of cadaveric computed tomography (CT) scans in the anatomy laboratory is positively associated with performance in the gross anatomy course and (2) dissection of the CT‐scanned cadaver is positively associated with performance on this course. One hundred and seventy‐nine first‐year medical students enrolled in gross anatomy at Boston University School of Medicine were provided with CT scans of four cadavers, and students were given the opportunity to choose whether or not to use these images. The hypotheses were tested using logistic regression analysis adjusting for student demographic characteristics. Students who used the CT scans were more likely to score greater than 90% as an average practical examination score (odds ratio OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.4, 9.2), final course grade (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.01, 6.8), and on spatial anatomy examination questions (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.03, 5.6) than were students who did not use the CT scans. There were no differences in performance between students who dissected the scanned cadavers and those who dissected a different cadaver. These results demonstrate that the use of CT scans in medical gross anatomy is predictive of performance in the course and on questions requiring knowledge of anatomical spatial relationships, but it is not necessary to scan the actual cadaver dissected by each student. Anat Sci Educ 3: 56–63, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Inquiry and Astronomy: Preservice Teachers’ Investigations of Celestial Motion

This study investigated the impact of an open inquiry experience on elementary science methods students’ understanding of celestial motion as well as the methods developed by students to answer their own research questions. Pre/post interviews and assessments were used to measure change in participants’ understanding (N = 18). A qualitative approach was used to describe the nature of each participant’s investigation through an analysis of their science journal and poster presentations. A comparison of participants’ inquiry projects with the change in their understanding revealed that while most participants improved in both their area of inquiry and beyond, elementary science methods students may need more guidance to reach a full scientific understanding across all aspects of celestial motion.     

Developing Students as Writers Through Collaboration

Revision is recognised as a key and complex element of the writing process. Despite this, research shows that students find it difficult effectively to revise their own writing due to a lack of metacognitive awareness and understanding of the processes they undertake when writing. The first part of this inquiry studies nine students’ understanding of the writing process and the revision strategies they employ using think‐aloud protocols and follow‐up interviews. Although the students all agreed that revision was an important part of improving their writing, they could not, or found it difficult to, articulate reasons for the changes they made to their writing. Therefore, the second part of the study explores the potential of collaborative writing to encourage and facilitate metacognitive talk through the implementation of a strategy where students are paired with a ‘writing buddy’. Observations of classroom work and interview responses of students showed that the scheme was successful in providing students with an experience of writing which was social, flexible and holistic, where talk is used to externalise thinking in order to develop a metacognitive understanding of the writing process.     

Writing and Reading Subjects: Fixing and Unfixing Identity through Close Literary Practices

For a number of years, Rebecca Luce‐Kapler and Dennis Sumara have been investigating the ways in which literary practices of close reading can help change how we think and how we remember. They have also considered how such practices might help make us more critical of normative representations of remembered experience. More recently, they have been joined by Claire Robson, who works with and investigates memoir writing. In 2009, Robson and Sumara were joined by their six older lesbian research participants at a conference held at the University of British Columbia entitled ‘Queerly Canadian: Changing Narratives’. The six women performed extracts from memoirs they had written as part of the research data and joined the researchers in offering theories and insights about the writing processes in which the group had engaged. That presentation and this paper represent the evolution of a two‐year collaboration between these researchers and the six women, who are listed as co‐authors on both the presentation and this paper.