The triangel (socio-therapeutical institute)

We have given a brief outline of the work which is being done at the Triangel. We do not pretend to present a report based on a scientific justification. The aid we give seems to be better described as “the arm around the shoulder of someone in distress” than by the use of precise scientific terms. The common, natural reaction to a disturbed person is a spontaneous gesture of help. We should not try to classify him, or to adopt an attitude of cool scientific interest. The natural, instinctive approach seems to us the most obviously supportive and in this respect the Triangel would seem to serve as a model for all assistance agencies.     

Technological Education for the Rural Community (TERC) Project: Technical Mathematics for the Advanced Manufacturing Technician

ABSTRACT

Hopkinsville Community College’s Technological Education for the Rural Community (TERC) project is funded through the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) division. It is advancing innovative educational pathways for technological education promoted at the community college level serving rural communities to fill highly technical positions. Deficiencies in mathematics preparation and access to meaningful math program content were identified as barriers to educational attainment for the technician. Math courses were hybridized to deliver material in class with an online component. Didactic content was employed using portable media that students without Internet could use outside of class. Materials were contextualized using problem-based learning focusing on curriculum requirements relating to industry-specific problem solving with relevant examples that are of use to the technician. Interdepartmental and industrial collaborations were conducted to incorporate hands-on content from math, engineering, and technician fields.     

Peer-supported collaborative inquiry in teacher education: exploring the influence of peer discussions on pre-service teachers’ levels of critical reflection

Scaffolding pre-service teachers to critically reflect on their practice remains a challenging goal. Exploring the extent to which peer discussion facilitates this critical reflection is the focus of this paper. Using a series of three linked tasks, pre-service teachers 1) reflected on a classroom incident from a vignette of practice, 2) shared and discussed their initial reflections with peers and 3) revisited their initial reflection in an attempt to unearth any assumptions they may have had. The study found that peer discussion broadened pre-service teachers’ perspectives beyond the initial ego-centric reflections, which were dominated by issues of pupil management, control and discipline. The peer discussion process supported pre-service teachers in identifying and questioning some of their preconceived assumptions. However, findings indicate that the process supported pre-service teachers in acquiring greater breadth rather than greater depth in reflective thinking. We would argue that rather than seeing peer engagement opportunities as a panacea, it should be viewed as a valuable scoping exercise to unearth alternative perspectives and to begin the process of ‘hunting assumptions’.     

Computer-based tools for instructional design: An introduction to the special issue

Modern instructional theories are characterized by their focus on rich, multidisciplinary and often collaborative learning tasks that are somehow representative for authentic, real life tasks. This new view on learning heavily increases the complexity of the design process and the resulting instructional systems. It is argued that computer-based instructional design (ID) tools may help to deal with this growing complexity. A framework to distinguish different kinds of ID tools is presented. This framework is then used to introduce the contributions to this special issue.     

Using Mind Maps to Make Student Questioning Effective: Learning Outcomes of a Principle-Based Scenario for Teacher Guidance

Research in Science Education - Student questioning is an important learning strategy, but rare in many classrooms, because teachers have concerns if these questions contribute to attaining...     

Identities of research-active academics in new universities: towards a complete academic profession cross-cutting different worlds of practice

This study explores how academics who expanded their teaching-only positions to include research view their (re)constructed academic identity. Participants worked in a higher professional education institution of applied research and teaching, comparable with so-called new universities. The aim is to increase our understanding of variations in academic identity and to be better able to support academics’ ‘role making’ within and across different worlds of practice. Data from semi-structured interviews with 18 academics at a Dutch new university were analysed using a grounded theory approach. This revealed six well-rounded academic identities reflecting participants’ personal scholarly objectives: the ‘continuous learner’, ‘disciplinary expert’, ‘skilled researcher’, ‘evidence-based teacher’, ‘guardian of the research work process’ and ‘liaison officer’. The researcher role served to promote the overall development of participants’ identities. The ‘disciplinary expert’ matured through participation in the academic world and research activities. Participants discovered what ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ a researcher in the new university might entail, and contributed to the professions’ knowledge base. Participants learned to apply various research-based teaching approaches. As brokers, they linked research projects to practices in meaningful ways. The six identities embodied an emergent power in creating and preserving a complete academic profession. Participants’ accounts showed tensions inherent in an extended role portfolio and constraints in ‘role making’ given inconsistencies between the university’s espoused research mission and the one in use. These imply challenges for university managers in aligning policies and practices, and scaffolding academics’ attempts to integrate their academic roles in different worlds of practice.     

Interpersonal process recall: a novel approach to illuminating students’ software development processes

Background and Context: Encouraging undergraduate programming students to think more about their software development processes is challenging. Most programming courses focus on coding skill development and mastering programming language features; subsequently software development processes (e.g. planning, code commenting, and error debugging) are undervalued. Moreover, many of these processes involve tacit thinking that is often seemingly invisible, meaning it can be difficult for teachers to identify and address shortcomings in student processes.

Objective: In this paper, we employ a novel approach called Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) to encourage students to think more about their software development processes.

Method: We conducted IPR sessions with five undergraduate programming students—we screen captured them working on programming assignments, and then used the screen captures to stimulate reflection. IPR is hallmarked by several key features, namely its developmental (rather than evaluative) focus, and the use of a facilitator to guide reflection in a structured way.

Findings: We found IPR was useful for both the teaching staff and the students, revealing incongruence between the value students placed on certain development processes and what they actually do in practice.

Implications: IPR is a novel approach for shining a light on student software development processes. We hope this paper encourages other practitioners to consider adding IPR to their toolbox of approaches for encouraging students to reflect on their software development processes.     

Using Patterns of Summed Scores in Paper-and-Pencil Tests and Computer-Adaptive Tests to Detect Misfitting Item Score Patterns

Two new methods have been proposed to determine unexpected sum scores on sub-tests (testlets) both for paper-and-pencil tests and computer adaptive tests. A method based on a conservative bound using the hypergeometric distribution, denoted p, was compared with a method where the probability for each score combination was calculated using a highest density region (HDR). Furthermore, these methods were compared with the standardized log-likelihood statistic with and without a correction for the estimated latent trait value (denoted as l*_z and l_z, respectively). Data were simulated on the basis of the one-parameter logistic model, and both parametric and non-parametric logistic regression was used to obtain estimates of the latent trait. Results showed that it is important to take the trait level into account when comparing subtest scores. In a nonparametric item response theory (IRT) context, on adapted version of the HDR method was a powerful alterative to p. In a parametric IRT context, results showed that l*_z had the highest power when the data were simulated conditionally on the estimated latent trait level.     

Teachers’ Goal Orientation Profiles and Participation in Professional Development Activities

Participation in professional development activities is important for teachers to continuously improve their knowledge and skills. However, teachers differ in their attitude towards learning activities. This paper examined how different goal orientation profiles are related to participation in professional development activities (acquiring information and asking feedback). To this end, we conducted latent profile analysis based on a sample of 984 teachers in vocational education. Five profiles were identified: diffuse (50.1%), moderate learning (12.3%), high avoidance (10.9%), performance oriented (15.9%) and success oriented (10.7%). Furthermore, means of acquiring information and asking feedback from teachers were compared across the profiles. Teachers with a success-oriented profile (high learning and performance approach goals) scored significantly higher while teachers with a high-avoidance profile scored significantly lower on asking for feedback and acquiring information. Exploration of background characteristics indicated that age, gender and work experience outside education were related to the goal orientation profiles. Our findings show that goal orientation profiles can be used to explain individual differences in teachers’ propensity to engage in professional development activities.     

Religious Education,Big Ideas and the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)

This article outlines the ‘Big Ideas’ approach to curriculum reform, as applied in the ‘Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education’ project. A critical analysis follows of the outcomes of the University of Exeter’s ‘Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education’ project, which sought to apply the same approach to Religious Education (RE) in English schools. This project made great headway in generating ‘Big Ideas’ to inform and improve the selection and sequencing of RE curriculum content. However, its primary focus on subject content knowledge means that ‘Big Ideas’ about epistemology and methodology are lacking. The article recommends an additional focus on multi-disciplinary, multi-methodological, inquiry-based, reflexive learning, which would ask why, how, where and by whom our ‘knowledge’ of religion(s) and worldview(s) is generated. In this regard, the article posits four ‘Big Ideas about the study of religion(s) and worldview(s)’ to highlight the symbiotic relationship between knowledge and knower, and to reject the false dichotomy between the object of study and method of study. In so doing, it draws upon the theoretical framework underpinning the ‘RE-searchers approach’ to primary school RE, which correspondingly exemplifies how such ideas can be taught in practice.