Schooling and the development of central conceptual structures: An example from the domain of children's narrative

A neo-Piagetian model is presented, and used as a framework for interpreting the developmental changes that take place in children's narrative compositions, between 4 and 10 years of age. An instructional program is then described, which is aimed at producing an increase in the developmental level of children's narratives. The program is shown to have an impact not just on the level of stories children generate, but on the extent of their story-recall as well, and on their level of understanding of a wide variety of social interactions. It is suggested: (a) that the reason for the broad transfer is that the program led to the development of a central conceptual structure; and (b) that the method that was used in designing the problem may serve as a model for designing similar programs in other content domains, where the development of such structures is considered a worthwhile objective.     

Race in biology and anthropology: A study of college texts and professors

Information about social issues is underemphasized in college science education. This article takes the race concept as an example of this neglect. We review the history of the race concept and report the current status of the concept in textbooks and among professors. Responses to surveys of faculty at Ph.D.-granting departments indicate that 67% of biologists accept the concept of biological races in the species Homo sapiens, while only 50% of physical anthropologists do so. Content analysis of college textbooks indicates a significant degree of change over time (1936–1984) in physical anthropology but a lesser degree in biology. We suggest several reasons for the dissimilarity in the two disciplines. We propose continued use of the concept for some infrahuman species, while abandoning its application to Homo sapiens. For those biologists and anthropologists who continue to use the concept, scientific accuracy can be achieved by the presentation in lecture and text of the following ideas: first, consensus among scientists on the race concept's utility and accuracy does not exist; second, there is more variation within than between so-called races; third, discordant gradations due to natural selection, drift, and interbreeding make consistent racial boundary lines impossible to identify; fourth, past use of the race concept has had harmful consequences; fifth, the most precise study of human hereditary variation maps one trait at a time; and sixth, racial labels are misleading, especially as most populations have a cultural designation.     

Fostering environmental action through outdoor education

In this article I review my own teaching effectiveness specifically relating to a postgraduate university course. Whilst the theoretical material of the course promotes action there is no formal requirement for students to actually undertake action, leaving me to wonder whether my teaching has had any effect beyond the limitations of the course. I conducted a small-scale enquiry involving a recent cohort to explore this. An organising framework of single-loop, double-loop and triple-loop learning is introduced to distinguish between shallow and deep learning based on the differing degrees of intensity in the way that students reported their learning experiences and actions. The data show that the reflexivity reported by students, who are wrestling with concepts of self and agency, is consistent with what has been termed ‘inquiry as stance’. I have learnt that agency lies not just in the actions of students but also in the way they approach, internalise and externalise their own teaching and learning.     

Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need

This study identifies the soft skills community colleges teach in an office technology course and determines whether the skills taught are congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work. A qualitative content analysis of a community college office technology soft skills course was performed using 23 soft skills employers require for entry-level office work. Nine of the 16 colleges in the South Carolina Technical College System were teaching an office technology soft skills course in 2007–2008, and they provided course content for analysis. Data determined that the skills taught in the office technology soft skills course are by vast majority congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work.     

Hurricane Katrina's Impact on Gifted Programs in Louisiana, 2005–2007

Hurricane Katrina had, and continues to have, a devastating effect on every student who was living in the southeastern quadrant of Louisiana at the beginning of the 2005–2006 school term. African American public school students who were enrolled in gifted and talented programs were particularly impacted by the storm, although they comprised a healthy proportion of gifted and talented students statewide before Katrina struck. Following the hurricane, 20% of all of the gifted and talented students in Louisiana were displaced. Because the majority of that displacement occurred among the predominantly African American public school population in New Orleans, gifted and talented program enrollment among African American students was reduced by 47%. This article examines the circumstances in 4 Southeastern Louisiana parishes before and after Hurricane Katrina that contributed to the drastic reduction in gifted and talented African American participants. Included are suggestions for recovering this population of students, and for increasing proportional distribution of identified gifted and talented students statewide.