Students' conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution: Cases of replication and comparison

The work of Bishop and Anderson (1990) plays a major role in educators' understanding of evolution education. Their findings remind us that the majority of university students do not understand the process of evolution but that conceptual change instruction can be moderately effective in promoting the construction of a scientific understanding. The present article details two studies that represent an effort to focus on and define the limits of the Bishop and Anderson (1990) study. Study A describes a close replication of the work of Bishop and Anderson (1990) using the same conceptual-change teaching module to teach a unit on evolution to students enrolled in a biology course for nonmajors. Study B, a case of comparison, used the same evaluation instrument used in Bishop and Anderson (1990) and Study A, but high school students were the participants and the instruction was based on the inquiry approach to science. Like Bishop and Anderson (1990), Study A showed that the amount of prior instruction and students' beliefs in evolution were not found to be large factors in students' use of scientific conceptions. Unlike the original study, the students in Study A showed only a meager increase in their use of scientific conceptions for evolution. In Study B, students in the experimental group showed significant increases in their use of scientific conceptions. These findings suggest a need to investigate more closely the teachers' theories of learning, their reliance on instructional conversations, and the amount of time devoted to the topic of evolution as we study conceptual change in this area.     

Lifelong learning and the reform of the teaching practicum in Australia

This paper reports the findings of a project—‘Lifelong learning and teacher education’—undertaken by the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Australian Catholic University, under the auspices of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. The study was designed to investigate the operationalization of lifelong learning in Australian teacher education. The study revealed that there is a range of existing, innovative practices regarding partnerships between schools and higher and further education that are in keeping with emerging ideas about lifelong learning. Moreover, some of these take the form of collaborative action research projects focused on improving the learning occurring in the partnership schools. This paper describes some current approaches in Australia to collaborative action research by teacher educators' and their partnership schools and shows how they contribute to lifelong learning. The approaches are then analyzed to suggest ways of advancing lifelong learning within Australian Education Faculties thus helping to make lifelong learning more of a reality for all.     

Humanizing paediatric care

This paper deals with the development of a paediatric team approach to the care of children in the 70 bed paediatric unit in the Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania, Australia, and describes the measures used to help children and their parents adapt to life in hospital with a limited budget. The staff includes paediatricians and pediatric surgeon, resident staff, nurses, teachers, social worker, physiotherapist and pharmacist. There are no visiting hours but the wards are open to parents and relatives at any time. Parents are encouraged to stay in hospital and their accommodation is either in flats at the end of wards or in single or double bed wards using foldup beds. Each young child has a personal details form completed and placed on the end of the cot allowing a nurse to discover likes, dislikes, methods of feeding and sleeping, etc. Parents are asked to complete questionnaires at the time of the child's discharge, asking for their assessment of the standards of care their child received. Playleaders are rostered for evenings and weekends and they work with, and direct Red Cross volunteer ladies. Two full-time teachers cooperate with the child's school in maintaining the child's educational progress. Volunteer visitors entertain children whose relatives are unable to visit or stay in hospital. The methods used to raise the standards of paediatric nursing are also described. Community groups, particularly kindergarten and primary school children, are encouraged to visit the paediatric unit and each group is usually given a brief health education talk by a member of staff.     

Quality and change in higher education

There is increasing evidence that the pressures on British universities for greater quality and accountability, linked closely to funding, are leading to loss of quality. These governmental pressures, exerted through the Funding Councils, are wholly different from those applied in a quite separate way from another government source, the Employment Department. This article analyses the nature and effects of the two kinds of pressures in terms of change theory. This also demonstrates that the observed effects were not only largely predictable but to a substantial extent were predicted, and warns of the danger that the resulting deleterious effects may become irreversible.Lewis Elton obtained an M.A. in Mathematics at Cambridge University and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at the University of London. He is a Further and Higher Education Adviser to the UK Employment Department and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the University of Surrey. His special interests are in the improvement of university teaching and learning; staff development; distance learning; and organizational change in higher education. Pat Cryer obtained a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Exeter and a Ph.D. in Educational Development at the University of Surrey. She has recently resigned as Professional Adviser of the UK Universities' Staff Development Unit and is now a Consultant in Higher Education. Her special interests are in issues of quality; staff development; and teaching large classes.The opinions expressed in this paper are our own and do not commit the Employment Department.     

Living and learning as an international postgraduate student at a Midlands university

This paper investigates the views of 20 full-time international postgraduate students, many of whom were Chinese, on living, learning and becoming successful students at one university in a multicultural city in the Midlands of England. The qualitative study built on findings from the International Students’ Barometer (ISB) survey for the university, in that it seeks to understand how students’ experience of context (living) interacted with their experience of learning in building their identities as successful learners. Student participants were sampled opportunistically within a purposive framework. Data was collected through audio-recorded individual semi-structured interviews, using as a stimulus participant-constructed concept maps of their perceptions of learning in the university and living in the city. Interview data were transcribed and analysed thematically. The main findings showed that participants enjoyed living in a city with an international culture, although some found it strange initially because they encountered different styles of life and food, albeit including some that they enjoyed at home. They welcomed studying at a university with high international prestige, a wide range of excellent facilities and generally approachable tutors but were shocked by having to undertake unfamiliar styles of independent learning with brief teaching hours. They perceived culture shock as transitional, which declined as they made friends, often with co-linguists, and became familiar with life in the city, work in the university and the extensive support of tutors.     

Towards a Liberal Vocational Education

This essay takes up the issue of the impact of technology on jobs in modern workplaces, and the curricular challenges thereby engendered for vocational educators. Conceptions of the nature of workplaces are examined, along with conceptions of the types of skill needed. It is proposed that distinction be made between vocational education at the secondary school, and that beyond. At the secondary school, vocational education would be education about work , and the goal would be vocational literacy. This would constitute a liberal vocational education. Beyond that, vocational education would be for jobs , but would include liberal features, such as general education course work, and training in job families.     

Opportunity structures and educational marginality: the post-16 transitions of young people outside education and employment

This paper reports on findings from a three-year ethnographic study of 24 young people in northern England who were classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET), or at risk of becoming so. Drawing on conceptions of opportunity structure and educational marginality, the paper discusses the processes leading to young people becoming NEET after leaving school. It presents findings concerning the family backgrounds, school experiences, and educational attainment of participants, and traces their initial post-16 destinations and their pathways to NEET status. Although most participants did not become NEET immediately after leaving school, restricted labour market opportunities and a lack of high-quality education and training for middle- and low-attaining young people exacerbated social and educational disadvantage. Over time, participants became increasingly restricted to marginal forms of learning. The paper argues that a focus on opportunity structures provides a powerful way of understanding these processes, and that alongside sustained NEET status, educational marginality should be of equal concern to policy makers.