Is content knowledge pre-requisite of pedagogical content knowledge? An empirical investigation

Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education - Given the scarcity of studies explicitly exploring the often tacit assumption that teachers’ content knowledge (CK) is pre-requisite of pedagogical...     

The Collective that Didn't Quite Collect: Reflections on the IALS

The concept and methodology of IALS obviously represent progress for literacy research. Nevertheless, this survey presents serious limitations. It prioritises the handling of data-based information as opposed to experiential and contextualized information, ranking at a higher position those who handle the first kind of information. The survey ignores how people solve problems in their life context. The competence of people cannot be understood merely through outside observation and a questionnaire situation. In the case of Poland, the interpretation of data manifests an ethnocentric Western attitude, tending to reduce cultural differences to a cultural deficit. Two IALS-inspired surveys conducted in Spain and Portugal mixed quantitative and qualitative methods in order to take into account the social relations in their cultural context. This article questions the role of research, which cannot be limited to the objectivation of reality, but should help to transform and improve it. The alternative model proposed is named "investigation action."     

Continuing professional development: pedagogical practices of interprofessional simulation in health care

The increasing complexity of health care practice makes continuing professional development (CPD) essential for health care professionals. Simulation-based training is a CPD activity that is often applied to improve interprofessional collaboration and the quality of care. The aim of this study is to explore simulation as a pedagogical practice for the CPD of health care professionals. Specifically, the study focuses on how a professional development activity, the simulation, is enacted to support interprofessional collaboration and learning. A practice theory perspective is used as the theoretical framework. In this, the professional practice is conceptualised as being embodied, relational and situated in sociomaterial arrangements. Ten introduction and reflection sessions following interprofessional full-scale manikin-based simulations with professionals were video-recorded. The recordings were analysed following a stepwise qualitative collaborative approach developed for the purpose. The key findings suggest that the professional competence activity is enacted and interconnected with and governed by historical traditions of institutional teaching practices as well as simulation practices. Despite the intentions of team and interprofessional training, the institutional teaching and simulation practices constrain and hinder the intended outcomes of professional development in interprofessional collaboration.     

Students' conceptions of the second law of thermodynamics—an interpretive study

Thirty-four clinical interviews were conducted with Grade 10 students (15–16 years old) who had received four years of physics instruction. The interview's focus was to understand students' responses from their point of view and not solely from the physicist's angle. The results of the study confirm and deepen, on the one hand, findings from other studies concerning students' severe difficulties in learning the energy concept, the particle model, and the distinction between heat and temperature. On the other hand, students' qualitative conceptions in a new area—the second law of thermodynamics—are revealed. For instance, in the case of irreversibility (i.e., the idea that all processes take place by themselves only in one direction), most students came to conclusions similar to those of modern physicists. But their explanations of irreversibility are based on significantly different conceptual frameworks. The results of the study suggest that a mere enlargement of the traditional physics curriculum by the addition of ideas of the second law is not sufficient to familiarize students with these ideas. A totally new teaching approach to heat, temperature, and energy is necessary. In this approach, basic qualitative ideas of the second law should be a central and integral part from the beginning of instruction.     

Ethics in Neuroscience Graduate Training Programs: Views and Models from Canada

Consideration of the ethical, social, and policy implications of research has become increasingly important to scientists and scholars whose work focuses on brain and mind, but limited empirical data exist on the education in ethics available to them. We examined the current landscape of ethics training in neuroscience programs, beginning with the Canadian context specifically, to elucidate the perceived needs of mentors and trainees and offer recommendations for resource development to meet those needs. We surveyed neuroscientists at all training levels and interviewed directors of neuroscience programs and training grants. A total of 88% of survey respondents reported general interest in ethics, and 96% indicated a desire for more ethics content as it applies to brain research and clinical translation. Expert interviews revealed formal ethics education in over half of programs and in 90% of grants-based programs. Lack of time, resources, and expertise, however, are major barriers to expanding ethics content in neuroscience education. We conclude with an initial set of recommendations to address these barriers which includes the development of flexible, tailored ethics education tools, increased financial support for ethics training, and strategies for fostering collaboration between ethics experts, neuroscience program directors, and funding agencies.     

Grades degrade group coordination: deteriorated interactions and performance in a cooperative motor task

At school, pupils often cooperate on common projects and must coordinate their different individual actions. However, grades are pervasively used even in cooperative situations, which make the pupils’ differences in achievement and their relative rank salient and may reduce their inclination to work constructively with others. Thus, we hypothesized that grades would elicit disruptive interactions and reduce performance in a cooperative cognitive-motor task necessitating inter-individual coordination of members. In a study with 5th graders, grades (vs. a neutral concept) were primed at the onset of a cooperative group interaction. Results showed that, although pupils were set to work cooperatively, priming grades (vs. neutral concepts) harmed inter-individual coordination by eliciting more negative dominant behaviours among pupils during interactions, which decreased group performance.