Assessment guiding learning: developing graduate qualities in an experiential learning programme

As industry demands increase for a new type of graduate, there is more pressure than ever before for higher education (HE) to respond by cultivating and developing students who are prepared for these workplace challenges. This paper explores an innovative experiential learning programme built on the principles of work-related learning that develops students to attain graduate qualities for competitiveness in the business sector. The role and importance of assessment as a core influence for learning is recognised and embedded into the programme, as well as the prevalence of meeting the needs of its stakeholders. Issues concerning assessing work-oriented learning are explored as well as what assessment methods might be most appropriate for enhancing and evaluating learning in this context. Feedback from stakeholders on the structure of the programme and its assessment are discussed as well as the question of how to maintain work-related programmes in HE. If such programmes continue to focus assessment and design around student learning, students will not only have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a practical context, they will also be maximising their personal learning outcomes with the added advantage of being better equipped to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace.     

Lady Albemarle’s youth workers: contested professional identities in English youth work 1958–1985

This article examines tensions and developments in youth work following the Albemarle Report in 1960, which sought to revive the flagging youth service. It uses oral history interviews with former youth workers and club members in London and Liverpool, archival research looking at the documents of voluntary youth clubs and associations in London and Liverpool, and national policy documents to uncover ideas about the professional youth worker between 1958 and 1985. It examines three main areas of tension: between older and newer methods in youth work, between volunteers and those with a sense of themselves as professional workers, and the conflict between those in voluntary youth association management, allied professions (e.g. teaching and social work) and the youth worker. Ultimately it shows youth work was professionalising at this time but that its status remained unclear. This article aids our understanding of professionalisation, informal education, and youth in post-war Britain.     

Social media's use in postgraduate students' decision-making journey: an exploratory study

Universities globally are showing increased interest in the potential of social media as a marketing recruitment tool. This paper explores how and why potential postgraduate business students looking to study internationally use social media in their educational decision-making process. Due to a lack of existing research, this study adopted an exploratory approach, gathering data through in-depth interviews with 12 postgraduate international students at an Australian university. The findings indicate that besides Facebook and YouTube, students are using blogs in their study search. The two most common reasons for social media usage are finding out about student life and reading reviews from former students. In the decision-making process, social media is mostly used in the information search and evaluation stages. Students’ use of social media also varies across source countries. Our findings are a good information source for education marketers who need to engage more actively with social media.     

Terence Tao

The article is a biographical account of Terence Tao's mathematical development. Born in 1975 he has exhibited a formidable mathematical precociousness which the author describes in some detail. The paper also presents the social and family context surrounding this precociousness and discusses the educational implications of this data.     

The relationship between affect and achievement in science

The relationship between affect and achievement in science was examined in two stages. First, a model was developed and tested for science-related affect, the complex of students' attitudes toward, interests in, and perceptions about science at school. The LISREL approach to path analysis was used to demonstrate the fit of the model to data collected from grade 8 students in two different schools on two different occasions. In the second stage of the research, multiple linear regression was used to examine the direction of the relationship between science related affect and achievement and to apportion variance common between previous and subsequent achievement and the components of science-related affect. It was found that affect is related more strongly to previous than subsequent achievement and that much of the common variance can be attributed to students' perceptions of their competence in science.     

Teacher Collaboration in Curriculum Change: The Implementation of Technology Education in the Primary School

The problem which stimulated this research is that in Australia, primary school teachers are expected to teach a new subject, Technology, but have had little training consistent with the newly adopted technology curriculum. Using case studies from two Western Australian schools, the paper documents the ways in which one teacher from each school has established successful classroom strategies for incorporating technology into her classroom, and how she has had a significant effect on the practice of other teachers in her school. The relationship between one pair of teachers in each school is used to explore the nature of their collaboration. One pair used joint work, with shared responsibility for the work of teaching, an example of deep collaboration. The other pairing was more one-sided, a collaborative relationship better described as one of aid and assistance. Both relationships were based on mutual respect, and demonstrate how teachers choose to work together towards a common purpose, the implementation of technology education. Implications from the study are discussed in terms of leadership and collaboration, time and integration, and teachers' knowledge.