CHANGING VISIONS OF EXCELLENCE IN ONTARIO SCHOOL POLICY: THE CASES OF LIVING AND LEARNING AND FOR THE LOVE OF LEARNING

In this essay, Rosa Bruno‐Jofré and George Hills examine two major Ontario policy documents: 1968's Living and Learning and 1994's For the Love of Learning. The purpose is, first, to gain insight into the uses of the term “excellence” in the context of discourse about educational aims and evaluation, and, second, to explore how these uses may have changed over time. Bruno‐Jofré and Hills employ the conceptual framework developed by Madhu Prakash and Leonard Waks to elucidate the varied notions of excellence contained in the two reports. Bruno‐Jofré and Hills argue that Living and Learning is an eclectic report that creates continuity by aligning itself with the pedagogically progressive tradition in Ontario; that propounds a holistic conception of excellence centered on the all‐around development of the self; and that seeks simultaneously to secure a sense of being Canadian while dealing with rapidly emerging social fragmentation. For the Love of Learning, in contrast, attempts to combine a technical view of excellence in education (stressing various literacies and skills as measurable indicators) with the principles of caring and the goals of social responsibility. Each report can be seen as an attempt to respond to the expectations of a population that had become increasingly diverse in the interval between the two reports. What is cause for concern in terms of policymaking, Bruno‐Jofré and Hills conclude, is the turn away from broader, more comprehensive and coherent views of excellence in education toward narrower and more fragmented accounts that are preoccupied with various types of literacy or loosely related vocational and other skills. The effect of this shift is to leave educational policy and practice in the schools essentially rudderless.     

The integration of students with special needs in Latin America and the Caribbean: Present situation and outlook

Degree in educational sciences. Technical adviser to the Centre for Curriculum Development of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. Regional expert in special education at UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile.     

Coping with [R]evolution in Online Games: Vulnerability and Resilience Responses to Change in MMO Game Expansions

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) often introduce new content and mechanics to increase player retention and enjoyment. Drawing on theories of socioecological risk response, this exploratory study examines players’ in situ responses to these changes by analyzing patterns in public, in-game chat across 3 game expansions. Analysis reveals that a) change facilitates agenda setting in player chat, b) vulnerability and resilience expressions highlight tensions in player and game agencies, and c) increased semantic distance between the game and the “real” helps cope with game changes. In addition, sociotechnical affordances of MMO environments could be a mechanism for coping with change, more generally.     

导言

在2005 年题为<对图书馆和信息资源的认知>(Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources)的环境审视报告导言中我写道:这个报告对我们所了解的图书馆功用、图书馆品牌和日益增长的网络信息服务需求,"证实多于挑战".……     

Supporting computer-mediated learning: A case study in online staff development and classroom learning environment assessment

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of staff inservice evaluation models that are geared towards improving degree programs. Based on best practices in student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Classroom Learning Environment Assessment course was designed to serve the dual purpose of staff development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results of analyses showed that the course maximised the potential of online staff development for encouraging staff to reflect on Curriculum and Teaching Capacities (CTC). Implications are discussed in terms of emphasising the process of online CTC learning and incorporating perspectives to capture a comprehensive view of staff teaching attitudes and their association with student perceptions of the classroom learning environment.     

Mothers' use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study

Mothers read stories to their children (N=41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book reading correlated with their children's later understanding of mental states. Some pragmatic aspects of maternal input correlated with children's later outcomes. Two different factors in mothers' cognitive discourse were identified, suggesting a zone of proximal development in children's understanding of mental states.     

Projecting to the NAEP Scale: Results from the North Carolina End-of-Grade Testing Program

Data from the North Carolina End-of-Grade test of eighth-grade mathematics are used to estimate the achievement results on the scale of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial State Assessment. Linear regression models are used to develop projection equations to predict state NAEP results in the future, and the results of such predictions are compared with those obtained in the 1996 administration of NAEP Standard errors of the parameter estimates are obtained using a bootstrap resampling technique.     

User Action and Social Interaction Mediated by Direct Manipulation Interfaces

In this paper we discuss a theoretical framework which aims to specify the conditions under which the mediation offered by an educational system (based on a direct manipulation interface) is effective for teaching and learning activities. We have worked out this framework on the basis of experience we have developed in designing, implementating and experimentating with systems for mathematics education. © IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Inter-rater reliability assessment for the new-born screening quality assurance

IntroductionTo ensure the quality of the new-born screening (NBS), our laboratory reviewed the analytical procedure to detect subjective steps that may represent a risk to the patient. Two subjective activities were identified in the extra-analytical phases: the classification of dried blood spots (DBS) according to their quality and the assignment of haemoglobin patterns. To keep these activities under control, inter-rater studies were implemented. This study aimed to evaluate the inter-rater reliability and the effectiveness of the measures taken to improve the agreement between observers, to assure NBS results’ quality.Materials and methodsDried blood spots specimens were used for the inter-rater studies. Ten studies were performed to assess DBS quality classification, and four to assess the assignment of haemoglobin patterns. Krippendorff’s alpha test was used to estimate inter-rater reliability. Causes were investigated when alpha values were below 0.80.ResultsFor both activities, the reliability obtained in the first studies was inadequate. After investigation, we detected that the criterion to classify a DBS as scant was not consolidated, and also a lack of consensus on whether or not to report Bart’s haemoglobin depending on its percentage. Alpha estimates became higher once the training was reinforced and a consensus about the appropriate criteria to be applied was reached.ConclusionInter-rater reliability assessment helped us to ensure the quality of subjective activities that could add variability to NBS results. Furthermore, the evolution of the alpha value over time allowed us to verify the effectiveness of the measures adopted.