Foucault on camp: What does his work offer outdoor education?

In this paper we examine aspects of French social theorist, Michel Foucault's work and the contributions these can make to understanding practices in outdoor education. We look specifically at his notions of practice, discourse, power and the self and the lines of questioning that these concepts make possible in relation to outdoor education. We conclude with a discussion of some of the challenges of doing research with Foucauldian tools.     

Modelling success networks to improve the quality of undergraduate education

Discussions of support and intervention in undergraduate university education are dominated by discussion of attrition. This study quests more broadly in arguing that support and intervention for undergraduate students may also benefit from models of engagement and success as well as conventional risk and failure. Supporting this proposition is a study that involved multifactorial approaches based in a combination of aspects of social network theory and social ecology theory. Analysis was enacted through social network analysis of archival data sets derived from a single cohort of 4065 undergraduate students at a regional Australian university. The findings suggest that models of academic success are suited to examination of the broader issues of student agency and undergraduate university education. The success networks developed are uniquely student-centred and place-based and may serve as more nuanced models for university intervention and support structures and mechanisms.     

Scientists’ Ontological and Epistemological Views about Science from the Perspective of Critical Realism

Including the perspectives of scientists about the nature and process of science is important for an authentic and nuanced portrayal of science in science education. The small number of studies that have explored scientists’ worldviews about science has thus far generated contradictory findings, with recent studies claiming that scientists simultaneously hold contradictory sophisticated and naïve views. This article reports on an exploratory study that uses the framework of Bhaskar’s critical realism to elicit and separately analyse academic scientists’ ontological and epistemological views about science in semi-structured interviews. When the views of scientists are analysed through the lens of critical realism, it is clear that it is possible to hold a realist ontological commitment about what knowledge is of, simultaneously with a fallibilist epistemological commitment about knowledge itself. The apparent incongruence of scientists’ so-called naïve and sophisticated views about science is resolved when analysed using a critical realist framework. Critical realism offers a simple and coherent framework for science educators that avoids many of the problems of positivism and social constructivism by finding a middle ground between them. The three pillars of critical realism: ontological realism, epistemological fallibilism and judgmental rationality help to make sense of how socially constructed scientific knowledge can be anchored in an independent reality.     

Capturing the ‘vibe’: an exploration of the conditions underpinning connected learning environments

Learning Environments Research - Student achievement and engagement are both influenced by the quality of the learning environment. Effective learning environments are characterised by high levels...     

如何评审科技论文

本文旨在探讨如何评审科技论文。审稿人在稿件评审过程中通常需要履行以下四个方面的工作：①按审稿单的评审要求判断稿件是否适合于发表；②就稿件可否直接录用、修改后录用或退稿给出建议；③给稿件的作者提供详细的评审意见；④给期刊的编辑提供详细的评审意见。科技论文的评审应基于重要性、学术性、论证是否充分及文字表达等方面。本文结合笔者本人的经历探讨如何按审稿单的要求评审稿件、如何给稿件的作者和期刊的编辑提供详细的评审意见，以及有关审稿风格、礼貌等方面的事项。论文评审的目的在于其能否进一步提高可录用稿件的总体质量。     

Processing and recall of seductive details in scientific text

This study examined how seductive details affect on-line processing of a technical, scientific text. In Experiment 1, each sentence from the experimental text was rated for interest and importance. Participants rated seductive details as being more interesting but less important than main ideas. In Experiment 2, we examined the effect of seductive details on reading time and learning. Seductive details reduced the amount of time readers spent reading base text sentences, and hindered recall of important ideas and deeper processing as measured by an essay task. These findings extend previous research [Harp, S. & Mayer, R. E. (1997). Role of interest in learning from scientific text and illustrations: on the distinction between emotional interest and cognitive interest. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 92–102; Harp, S. F., & Mayer, R. E. (1998). How seductive details do their damage: a theory of cognitive interest in science learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 441–434.] to suggest that the negative effects of seductive details’ on comprehension were due to a combination of reduced attentional allocation and disruption of text coherence.     

American state intervention in the parent-child legal relationship

There are two traditions in the history of American family law that are reflected in different state legislation dealing with child abuse and neglect. They indicate a continuing cultural dilemma about the rights of parents and those of children. One tradition supports the privacy and autonomy of the family, and the right of the parents to the child. Such a view of the permanence of the parental role helps to explain state laws which make the termination of parental rights nearly impossible to achieve. Social workers in such jurisdictions must protect children by means of long foster-care placements. Pennsylvania represents a state with laws supporting parental rights.Another tradition is derived from that of the court acting as a parent, the parens patriae heritage. In the United States the Juvenile Court has assumed this protective and intrusive role. Where such legal support exists, children may be freed for adoptive homes, as they are in Colorado. This paper outlines the state laws of Pennsylvania and Colorado pertaining to the termination of the parent-child legal relationship. These laws indicate that American children in families at risk are protected very differently. As long as state laws differ so greatly, equality of justice for families and children will exhibit substantial variation due to residence.     

The development and validation of the student engagement scale in an Ethiopian university context

This paper is positioned to make a sound contribution to knowledge of higher education (HE) quality through its study of student engagement in a large university in Ethiopia. We establish that the assessment of student engagement is a valid facet in determining HE quality, contributing holistically alongside quality assurance and university rankings. The authors present an example of this through reporting on a statistical analysis of an adjustment of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement survey and its administration in the Ethiopian university. The results of factor analysis illustrate empirical support for the nine-factor engagement scale and a number of associated factors related to student demographics and university experience. The results of the multi-validation approach provide specific guidelines to universities using this approach to evaluate the validity and reliability of this construct. The paper provides a supporting tool that can be used by other universities to assist in the evaluation of students’ engagement with their undergraduate programmes.