Extending the Cognitive Mediation Model: Examining Factors Associated With Perceived Familiarity and Factual Knowledge of Nanotechnology

This research—a pilot study on the cognitive mediation model (CMM) in Singapore—seeks to revisit and test the applicability of an extended CMM in the context of nanotechnology by examining perceived familiarity as a separate outcome variable in addition to factual knowledge. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 719 adult Singaporeans. Results demonstrated partial support for the hypothesized CMM. First, elaboration was positively associated with both factual knowledge and perceived familiarity, whereas interpersonal discussions about science was associated only with familiarity. Results also showed differential relationships between attention to media platforms (traditional vs. new media) and reflective integration (composed of elaborative processing and interpersonal discussion); whereas attention to science reporting in newspapers and science television programs were associated with elaboration, media attention across all platforms were associated with interpersonal discussions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The microstructure of coaching practice: behaviours and activities of an elite rugby union head coach during preparation and competition

The activities and behaviours of a female head coach of a national rugby union team were recorded in both training and competition, across a whole rugby season, using the newly developed Rugby Coach Activities and Behaviours Instrument (RCABI). The instrument incorporates 24 categories of behaviour, embedded within three forms of activity (training form (TF), playing form (PF) and competitive match) and seven sub-activity types. In contrast to traditional drill-based coaching, 58.5% of the training time was found to have been spent in PF activities. Moreover, the proportion of PF activities increased to a peak average of 83.8% in proximity to the team’s annual international championship. Uniquely, one of the coach’s most prolific behaviours was conferring with associates (23.3%), highlighting the importance of interactions with assistant coaches, medical staff and others in shaping the coaching process. Additionally, the frequencies of key behaviours such as questioning and praise were found to vary between the different activity forms and types, raising questions about previous conceptions of effective coaching practice. The findings are discussed in the light of the Game Sense philosophy and the role of the head coach.     

A review of twenty-first century higher education

This article is predominantly concerned with the global challenges associated with managing an academic workforce in an era characterised by increased demand for higher education. In scrutinising global trends in higher education and academic workforce management, the article will address two research questions. First, what are the global trends that most affect education in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the transformations that have taken place in the academic workforce amid these trends? Last, the article calls for a need for researchers to profoundly explore the management of the academic workforce cross-nationally between developed and developing economies, with a particular focus on Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.     

Representation, Identification and Trust: Towards an Ethics of Educational Research

Crudely put, educational research is unethical when it misrepresents or misidentifies—and so betrays—its putative beneficiaries or the goods and values they hold dear. How can researchers guard against these vulnerabilities? While acknowledging the vulnerabilities of educational research to abuses of trust and representation, and that there is no Archimedean point from which to approach research into people’s practices, we defend a universalist conception of research ethics in education. This universalist conception is developed via an examination of a central debate in feminism, contrasting Alcoff’s positionality, Caughie’s performative conception and Nussbaum’s universalist conception of feminism.     

Writing, the Novel and Genres - an English Perspective

This article shows how the Genre Teaching Methods developed in Australia can be adapted to the study of literature in secondary English classrooms. The theoretical position taken by those in Australia needs to extend beyond the textual focus to take account of the processes and culture of the reader and writer. It will be seen how the genres of Narrating, Describing, Explaining and Arguing can be used to analyse specific features of literature analysis - plot, character, setting, theme and style. Modelling texts and providing scaffolds for pupils' writing are a part of the systemic and structured approach to ensure progression and understanding in pupils' writing about English literature.     

Virtual Reality in Education: Defining Researchable Issues

Abstract

Ever since technologies began offering something to learners and the process of learning, we have been besieged by proponents who claim wonderful advantages for each new technology, praising the superiority of each new form over its precursors. In this environment virtual reality (VR) might be seen as the latest white knight in the arsenal of educational technologies. In this paper, we have sought to reflect on what we want to achieve as educational outcomes and the efficacy of VR for the design of modern learning environments. We have also sought to link current beliefs about learning with the need to experience a world in which the pedagogical assumptions can be embedded into the objects, contexts and relationships from which the user might derive further complex concepts.