Improving Groupworking Skills in Undergraduates Through Employer Involvement

Frequently undergraduate project work involves students working in groups. Such groupworking is often problematic owing to poor groupworking skills on the part of the students involved, yet ‘teamwork’ is one of those generic skills highly prized by employers. This study describes a pilot project to involve employers in the development of groupworking skills in undergraduate students, with the aims of increasing student awareness of group dynamics and processes and of promoting more effective groupworking. Students worked in small groups over a period of six to eight weeks on a problem associated with the module being studied. Employers observed students working in their groups and provided feedback to the students on their groupworking skills. The reactions (extremely positive) of students, staff and employers are presented. The procedures and methods used in the pilot are described and evaluated.     

The (hidden) injuries of NAPLAN: two standardised test events and the making of ‘at risk’ student subjects

Standardised testing regimes, including the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australia, have impacted on relationships between and within schools, and on teachers’ work and on pedagogies. Previous analyses of the effects of NAPLAN have been generated outside of the test situation: frequently through attitudinal surveys and qualitative interviews. This article takes as its point of departure two intensely affective events associated with the NAPLAN test day itself. These events erupted in two qualitative studies of students’ schooling experiences: a study of students’ experiences of NAPLAN and a study of students’ experiences of student voice at school. We ask, after Deleuze and Guattari, What can a NAPLAN test do? Exploring the entangled corporeal (physical and embodied) and incorporeal (psychic and subjectivating) wounds effected in and through these events, we analyse the dynamic constitution and re-constitutions of ‘at risk’ categorisations. While the NAPLAN test is not claimed to cause physical and psychical injury, we argue that standardised test conditions, in these singular events, are inextricably entwined with the formation of particular students’ schooled subjectivities.     

Reforming special education in Scotland: tensions between discourses of professionalism and rights

In 2001, the (then) Scottish Executive embarked on a process of reform of the SEN framework in Scotland. This paper analyses negotiations between different social actors, principally local authority staff and parents, in the formation of the legislation and its subsequent enactment. Data are drawn from an analysis of responses to consultations, official statistics and parent and local authority staff perceptions of the reforms as revealed in questionnaire surveys. It is argued that policy frameworks based on professionalism and bureaucracy have tended to dominate in Scotland, with a rights framework emerging much more recently. The legislation attempts to strike a balance between the different actors, although, in implementing the legislation, local authorities have sought to neutralise aspects which they felt tipped the balance of power too far in favour of parents. Parents have responded by campaigning as citizen‐consumers, and appear to be having a growing influence on Government.     

Impaired eye tracking is associated with symptom severity but not dynamic postural control in adolescents following concussion

Purpose:The purpose of the study was to(1)examine the relationship between self-reported symptoms and concussion-related eye tracking impairments,and(2)compare gait performance between(a)adolescents with a concussion who have normal eye tracking,(b)adolescents with a concussion who have abnormal eye tracking,and(c)healthy controls.Methods:A total of 30 concussed participants(age:14.4±2.2 years,mean±SD,50%female)and 30 controls(age:14.2±2.2 years,47%female)completed eye tracking and gait assessments.The BOX score is a metric of pupillary disconjugacy,with scores<10 classified as normal and≥10 abnormal.Symptoms were collected using the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale(PCSS),and gait speed was measured with triaxial inertial measurement units.We conducted a linear regression to examine the relationship between PCSS and BOX scores and a two-way mixed effects analysis of variance to examine the effect of group(abnormal BOX,normal BOX,and healthy control)on single-and dual-task gait speed.Results:There was a significant association between total PCSS score and BOX score in the concussion group(β=0.16,p=0.004,95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.06‒0.27),but not in the control group(β=0.21,p=0.08,95%CI:
0.03 to 0.45).There were no significant associations between PCSS symptom profiles and BOX scores in the concussion or control groups.There were also no significant differences in singletask(Abnormal:1.00±0.14 m/s;Normal:1.11§0.21 m/s;Healthy:1.14±0.18 m/s;p=0.08)or dual-task(Abnormal:0.77±0.15 m/s;Normal:0.84±0.21 m/s;Healthy:0.90±0.18 m/s;p=0.16)gait speed.Conclusion:The concussed group with impaired eye tracking reported higher total symptom severity,as well as worse symptom severity across the 5 PCSS symptom domain profiles.However,eye tracking deficits did not appear to be driven by any particular symptom domain.While not statistically significant,the slower gait speeds in those with abnormal BOX scores may still be clinically relevant since gait-related impairments may persist beyond clinical recovery.     

‘Bunking off’: The impact of truancy on pupils and teachers

There is widespread interest in the impact of unauthorised absence on pupil attainment, links with disaffection, exclusion from school and criminality. However, little is heard about what those who take unauthorised absence from school think that the effect has been on them; nor do we hear the voices of other pupils and their teachers. This article presents evidence from a one‐year study of absence in seven local authorities in England funded by the Department for Education and Skills. It defines ‘truancy’, explores some issues from existing literature on pupil non‐attendance, and presents evidence to show the impact that absence from school has on truants, other pupils and teachers. Finally, it suggests that although the greatest impact is on the academic and socio‐psychological development of persistent absentees, the attitudes and learning of other pupils and the workload and morale of teachers are also affected.     

A national survey of current supervision and evaluation practices of school psychologists

This paper presents findings from a national survey of school psychologists regarding current supervision and evaluation practices. Thirty‐seven percent of usable surveys were returned. Overall results suggested that the sample of school psychologists were somewhat to moderately satisfied with current supervision and evaluation practices. However, wide variation in how supervision, evaluation, and professional development are obtained was indicated. The evaluation process is most often conducted by an administrator who may not be familiar with school psychology; and it is not viewed as an opportunity for professional development. In addition, evaluation criteria often are not tailored specifically to the roles of the school psychologist. Most alarming, and consistent with previous research, is that many school psychologists do not have enough supervision available to meet either their wishes or standards for the profession. Higher satisfaction with supervision was found when participants were provided with more regular and formal supervision contacts. Participants also indicated a person knowledgeable about school psychology could best provide supervision. Implications of the results and future directions are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Positive psychology goes to school: Are we there yet?

Implicit within a perspective of positive psychology is the assumption that environments can be promoted to foster individual strengths through a preventative focus and the development of positive institutions. Given that the development of positive institutions has direct implications for school psychology, this paper begins to draw attention to the potential of positive psychology within school systems. Throughout the paper, it is suggested that a focus on schools may serve as the nexus between the movement in positive psychology searching to promote positive human development and the institutions that could serve as the vehicle for this development. Historic and emerging trends are examined, with particular attention to how positive psychology could promote the development of positive schools (institutions) that foster success for all students. Specifically, the parallel histories of discontent with deficit‐oriented practice in the fields of mental health and school psychology are reviewed, and precursors to building and maintaining positive institutions that focus on working within the existing system to promote lasting change are explored. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 101–110, 2004.     

Defining Early Number Sense: A participatory Australian study

Recent publications in Australia focus on “number sense” as an important component of mathematics instruction. The current study attempted to tap into local expert knowledge in the area of early mathematics in an effort to establish a consensus on which skills reflect the number sense typically acquired by school entry. A modified Delphi procedure was employed whereby participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with a variety of skills as indicators of number sense in young children. The study raised questions about the efficacy of this type of participatory research when used in relation to an ill‐defined construct. It also revealed a lack of consensus among the group of academics who agreed to participate in the study.     

Phoneme awareness in language-delayed children: comparative studies and intervention

Our initial study compared 15 normally- developing and 13 language- delayed four- and- five- year- olds on a range of phoneme awareness tasks differing in the degree of explicit linguistic analysis required. The language- delayed group performed more poorly than the normally- developing children, and there were significant group differences on several tasks. A significant interaction effect reflected the particular difficulty the language- delayed group had with the more explicit tasks. Follow- up testing suggests that group differences are maintained over time and that the language- delayed children perform more poorly than the normally- developing children on tests of decoding and spelling at the end of first grade. An intervention study, training phoneme awareness skills in language-delayed kindergarten children, was undertaken with a new group of subjects. Fourteen language- delayed children participated in 16 training sessions over eight weeks. Fourteen normal and 14 language- delayed children served as controls. Only the language- delayed training group made significant gains from pre- to posttraining measures. Following training, the language-delayed training group performed similarly to normal controls and significantly better than language- delayed controls whom they had matched before intervention. One year later, the language-delayed children who received training maintained their gains on phoneme analysis tasks and performed significantly better than the language-delayed controls on reading measures. Educational implications are discussed.     

Some Recent Developments in Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science: A Review and Commentary

Teacher preparation in science and mathematics will be best served, says the author of this roundup, by improvements both in the pedagogy and content of the undergraduate science and mathematics courses required of future teachers and in the reform of required science and mathematics methods courses. In a review of the history and politics of teacher education, the author underscores the twin goals of achieving program coherence and higher standards. She compares the place of mathematics education in mathematics departments with that of science education in science departments and recommends the replacement of bare bones methods courses with those combining pedagogy and content. Included is a selective bibliography.