Interference effects on the recall of pictures,printed words,and spoken words

In an extension of the work of Pellegrino, Siegel, and Dhawan, nouns were presented in triads as pictures, printed words, or spoken words and followed by visual, acoustic, visual and acoustic, or no interference. Recall, presentation type, and confidence ratings were elicited after each triad. After all triads were presented, participants free-recalled as many nouns as possible, indicated presentation type, and rated confidence as measures of long-term memory. In short-term memory, pictorial superiority was noted under conditions of acoustic and visual and acoustic interference but not after visual interference. Long-term memory data showed superior recall for pictures. These results were compared to the Pellegrino et al. research and to Paivio's dual coding hypothesis, and differences in patterns of short-term and long-term memory data were interpreted within a levels of processing framework.     

Cognitive modelling and the behaviour genetics of reading

While it is well known that reading is highly heritable, less has been understood about the bases of these genetic influences. In this paper, we review the research that we have been conducting in recent years to examine genetic and environmental influences on the particular reading processes specified in the dual‐route cognitive model of reading. We argue that a detailed understanding of the role of genetic factors in reading acquisition requires the delineation and measurement of precise phenotypes, derived from well‐articulated models of the reading process. We report evidence for independent genetic influences on the lexical and nonlexical reading processes represented in the dual‐route model, based on studies of children with particular subtypes of dyslexia, and on univariate and multivariate genetic modelling of reading performance in the normally reading population.     

The New Quality Assurance Arrangements in England and Wales

A new national quality assurance agency is about to commence operations. This article looks at the background to the new agency and at its immediate agenda, in which the recommendations of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education ('The Dearing Committee' are likely to bulk large. The article suggests a number of issues which the new agency will need to resolve if it is to prove more durable than its predecessors, the Higher Education Quality Council and the Quality Assessment Divisions of the English and Welsh Higher Education Funding Councils.     

The development of technology enhanced learning: findings from a 2008 survey of UK higher education institutions

This article summarises the key findings from a UK survey of higher education institutions, focusing on the development of technology enhanced learning (TEL). TEL is defined as any online facility or system that directly supports learning and teaching. The 2008 survey builds upon previous UCISA surveys conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and for which at each stage after 2001, a longitudinal analysis was undertaken [see Browne, T., Jenkins, M., & Walker, R. (2006 Browne, T., Jenkins, M. and Walker, R. 2006. A longitudinal perspective regarding the use of VLEs by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(2): 177–192. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A longitudinal perspective regarding the use of VLEs by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(2), 177–192]. The findings, confirmed by other studies published since 2005, reveal that ensuring the quality of learning and teaching activities is consolidated as the primary driver for using TEL with a committed local champion representing the highest ranked factor in supporting TEL development within an institution. External strategies have been influential, contributing to the rise to prominence of institutional e-learning strategies. The delivery of course content continues to be the most common way in which TEL is used to support teaching and learning. The tools that have increased in prominence are those for podcasting, e-portfolios, e-assessment, blogs and wikis. Regarding new activities, streaming media, mobile computing, podcasting and Web 2.0 are discernibly the greatest. Upgrading staff skills were overwhelmingly noted as the greatest challenge that these new activities would create, with staff development and supportive strategies being seen as the primary remedies. However, the perception of lack of time was identified as the main barrier that needed to be surmounted. Though much of the data remain subtle, clear identifiable differences continue to be discernible between Pre-92 and Post-92 universities.     

The under-recognition of the significance of social class conceptions of education in Piketty’s Capital

Abstract

Piketty’s Capital has created enormous interest around the world, not least in educational circles. One reason for this may be his readiness to refer, in a book largely focused on economic history, to the ways that education has, and might, contribute to better and more equal social outcomes. This article welcomes this approach, but argues that Piketty’s suggestions remain somewhat limited due to his adherence to a more or less distributional, rather than relational, approach, and then sets out to address this issue by arguing that the assumption that it is the distribution of credentials which accounts for their contribution is mistaken. Instead, the article advances arguments which recognize the separate contributions of the content of credentials, and their valorization. The main focus of this article is thus on the different ways educational credentials are realized, which, it is argued, is a major basis for the maintenance of educational inequality.