Academic development for knowledge capabilities: Learning,reflecting and developing

In this paper, we look backwards to educational development principles and practices as implemented in the 1990s at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and forward to ideal principles and practices for the design of courses for teachers in higher education. The bridge between the two lies partly in an evaluation study, which we will describe, and partly in the theoretical work of John Bowden on knowledge capabilities for learning for an unknown future. The underlying framework depends on phenomenography, with its theoretical emphasis on learning as becoming able to discern the whole from its background, and how the constituents of the whole relate to one another and to the whole, and its empirical emphasis on qualitative variation in the ways in which students understand, conceptualize or experience phenomena they meet in their studies. A PET model and PET process are described, relating Practice, Experience and Theory through reflective problematization.     

Journals based on applications: An attempt to improve students' learning about composite materials

In a course on composite materials for fourth-year students at Chalmers University of Technology, students are required to write journals as a complement to the more traditional teaching approach. The journals comprise a series of reports relating the theory currently being treated to an application object, and are sent to the teacher by e-mail for comments. These give the students the opportunity to make use of the theoretical knowledge they meet in each section of the course by reflecting on how it is applicable to a real application. The goal is for better, more integrated understanding, in that, on the one hand, the students should understand the importance of each part of the course and, on the other hand, they should be able to relate the parts to one another, and to practical application. In this paper, we describe the goals and strategies of the change to teaching, we analyse the ways that students approach the journal writing task and we discuss ways in which the journals can improve the quality of student learning.     

Predicting Middle School Profiles of Algebra Performance Using Fraction Knowledge

Fraction knowledge and algebraic skill are closely linked. Algebra is a gatekeeper for advanced courses (Booth & Newton, 2012; Brown & Quinn, 2007). This study uses the person-centered approach of latent profile analysis to examine individual differences in middle schoolers’ (N = 350) algebra performance at the end of the year (EOY). The relative importance of a range of fraction skills is considered in predicting the likelihood of displaying a particular profile of EOY algebra knowledge, measured by feature knowledge, equation encoding, equation solving, and word-problem skills. Notably, fraction number line estimation did not predict algebra performance on any of the four measures. Fraction arithmetic at the beginning of the year is most predictive of displaying the highest performing EOY algebra profile.     

Validating written feedback in clinical formative assessment

Abstract

Formative assessment is widely accepted as being crucial to promoting student learning and, since 2010, the UK General Medical Council has mandated its use in workplace-based clinical training for all new doctors. As a result, the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) instituted a range of formative workplace-based assessments including the Radiology Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (Rad-DOPS), in which supervisors appraise trainees’ performance in carrying out clinical procedures. This paper reports on the quality of the written feedback in 2,500?Rad-DOPS online feedback forms in addressing the aims of the new assessment approach. Random samples of 500 were selected from the first three years of the new assessment implementation, 2010–13, and from 2016 to 17. Using an appropriate coding frame, the feedback was analysed across the samples against key trainee attributes including stage of training and level of adjudged competence. Criteria for identifying high quality feedback were derived from the literature and a simplified form of qualitative comparative analysis was used to identify the conditions associated with high quality feedback. An average of 97% of the assessments contained written feedback but the number of instances of high quality feedback was found to be exceedingly small at around 5%. The paper offers suggestions for making the feedback process more purposeful in achieving the aims of formative assessment.     

Planning for Quality: Advice respectfully tendered to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council

What is ‘quality’ and how should it be handled by a funding body? This article discusses the practical implications of concern for quality in the PCFC sector of higher education, the role of institutions and of external agencies other than the PCFC. It concludes by offering advice to the PCFC on its policies towards the preservation and enhancement of quality.     

Developmental and individual differences in girls' sex-typed activities in middle childhood and adolescence

Girls' time in sex-typed leisure activities was studied across 2 years in middle childhood ( n =98, M =8.2 years in Year 1), early adolescence ( n =106, M =11.7 years), and middle adolescence ( n =86, M =14.9 years). In annual home interviews, White middle-class girls, mothers, and fathers rated their gendered attitudes, interests, and personality qualities, and saliva samples were used to assess testosterone; activity data were collected in 7 nightly phone interviews. Girls spent more time in feminine than masculine activities except in early adolescence. Girls' and parents' personalities and interests predicted sex-typed activities at each developmental period, but associations between testosterone and activities emerged only in middle childhood.     

Fractions: Could they really be the gatekeeper’s doorman?

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel (NMAP, 2008) asserts that a foundational knowledge of fractions is crucial for students’ success in algebra; however, empirical evidence for this claim is relatively nonexistent. In the present study, we examine the impact of middle school students’ fraction and whole number magnitude knowledge on various components of their algebra readiness. Results suggest that fraction knowledge is related to algebra readiness, more so than number magnitude knowledge in general; students’ magnitude knowledge of unit fractions (i.e., those with a numerator of 1) appears particularly important. Findings confirm the intuition of the NMAP (2008) and support the recommendation of the Common Core Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), 2010) that students’ fraction knowledge should be cultivated using number lines.