Using situated cognition theory in researching student experience of the workplace

It has been proposed that situated cognition theory, in which learning is conceptualized as induction into a community of practice through the activity of legitimate peripheral participation, offers an appropriate theoretical perspective for examining issues of gender in science education. This study critically engages with this proposal by means of an investigation of the vacation work experiences of a group of South African final‐year civil and chemical engineering students. Issues of race and gender appeared prominently and spontaneously in focus group and interview data. An analysis of these data using the situated cognition framework allowed for a deeper understanding of these issues and their impact on learning. It was found that access to legitimate peripheral participation was critical for good learning outcomes (associated with positive identity formation) while denial of this access (as sometimes experienced by black and female students) appeared to be related to less effective learning and poor feelings of self‐worth. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 415–431, 2004     

Patient and Public Information delivery through NHS library and knowledge services: how Knowledge for Healthcare changed the landscape

Health care library and knowledge services (LKS) are now expected to contribute to the provision of Patient and Public Information (PPI). The challenges of an ageing population, prevalence of long‐term conditions and the encouragement of patients to self manage give added impetus. The Knowledge for Health care PPI Task and Finish Groups developed strategic partnerships with national organizations and produced a suite of resources to support LKS staff. Outputs include guidance, workshop materials, an Ideas Bank and Guide to NHS Choices. The work of the PPI Task and Finish groups will continue to support staff as they develop activities and evidence its impact.     

Outdoor education: Research topic or universal value? Part Two

Abstract

This paper follows the theme of part one in that it sets out to discover if the history of outdoor education provides its modern exponents with a legacy of prescribed conservatism or alternatively a form of education which embraces, or is capable of embracing, diversity of theory and practice. Focusing on local authority residential outdoor education centres it begins with the 1970s through the 1980s and ends with the 1990s.

Secondary sources are used and include government and civil service education circulars as well as the body of literature that relates to outdoor education. The paper analyses how discussions of philosophical underpinnings and aims, together with the public perception of safety and risk came to influence the practice of outdoor education. This leads to a discussion of terminology and the role of outdoor education as a curricular subject. The influence of market forces on the provision of outdoor education and the increasing call for cost effectiveness is analysed in relation to the increasingly diverse range of activities coming under the umbrella term of outdoor education.

The evidence shows that throughout this period significant changes regarding the nature of outdoor education are observable. However, within this flux one point is clear. The body of outdoor education literature attaches more importance to outcomes relating to personal and social education than environmental education and this point will be the bridge between part two and part three.     

The Development of Abstract Reasoning about the Physical and Social World

This study investigated 3 questions: (1) Can neo-Piagetian theory predict the developmental sequence through which adolescents progress, in using an abstract form of mathematical analysis to understand the operation of a physical apparatus (the balance beam)? (2) Can the same theory be used to predict the sequence through which they pass in using an abstract form of social analysis, to understand the behavior of a story character? (3) If so, does progress through each sequence take place at the same rate? 80 subjects, aged 9–19 years, were tested. Most were found to be functioning at the level predicted by the theory on each task. A substantial minority, however, were more advanced on 1 task than the other. These results, in conjunction with those from other studies, are interpreted as indicating that abstract thought develops in a fashion that includes both general and specific components.     

A Stereotype Threat Account of Boys' Academic Underachievement

Three studies examined the role of stereotype threat in boys' academic underachievement. Study 1 (children aged 4–10, n = 238) showed that girls from age 4 years and boys from age 7 years believed, and thought adults believed, that boys are academically inferior to girls. Study 2 manipulated stereotype threat, informing children aged 7–8 years (n = 162) that boys tend to do worse than girls at school. This manipulation hindered boys' performance on a reading, writing, and math test, but did not affect girls' performance. Study 3 counteracted stereotype threat, informing children aged 6–9 years (n = 184) that boys and girls were expected to perform similarly. This improved the performance of boys and did not affect that of girls.     

Outdoor education: Research topic or universal value? Part Two

This paper follows the theme of part one in that it sets out to discover if the history of outdoor education provides its modern exponents with a legacy of prescribed conservatism or alternatively a form of education which embraces, or is capable of embracing, diversity of theory and practice. Focusing on local authority residential outdoor education centres it begins with the 1970s through the 1980s and ends with the 1990s.

Secondary sources are used and include government and civil service education circulars as well as the body of literature that relates to outdoor education. The paper analyses how discussions of philosophical underpinnings and aims, together with the public perception of safety and risk came to influence the practice of outdoor education. This leads to a discussion of terminology and the role of outdoor education as a curricular subject. The influence of market forces on the provision of outdoor education and the increasing call for cost effectiveness is analysed in relation to the increasingly diverse range of activities coming under the umbrella term of outdoor education.

The evidence shows that throughout this period significant changes regarding the nature of outdoor education are observable. However, within this flux one point is clear. The body of outdoor education literature attaches more importance to outcomes relating to personal and social education than environmental education and this point will be the bridge between part two and part three.     

The historical evolution of engineering degrees: competing stakeholders,contestation over ideas,and coherence across national borders

Recent times have seen significant realignment of engineering degrees globally, most notably in the Washington Accord, a system of mutual recognition of accreditation across much of the Anglophone world and beyond, and the Bologna Process, impacting significantly on the form of engineering degrees in Europe. This article, tracing the historical evolution of engineering degrees, argues that recent events can be seen to be part of an ongoing process of reworking the arrangements for formal engineering education, based on a long-standing contradiction between the different stakeholders that have an interest in curriculum: the state, engineering employers, and academics. This is reflected in a contestation over what was historically termed the ‘shop culture’ of the employers versus the ‘school culture’ of the academy. Furthermore, contemporary developments of mutual accreditation beyond national borders can be seen to have an earlier echo in the relative measure of global coherence that was achieved in the 1870s.