Discovering Randomness, Recovering Expertise: The Different Approaches to the Quality in Measurement of Coulomb and Gauss and of Today’s Students

The aim of this paper is to discuss different approaches to the quality (or uncertainty) of measurement data considering both historical examples and today’s students’ views. Today’s teaching of data analysis is very much focussed on the application of statistical routines (often called the ?Gaussian approach” to error analysis). Studies on students’ understanding of measurement however show, that though the majority can be enabled to apply those routines most of the students fail to construct a coherent understanding of the matter. Analysing two historical examples of measurement practice of the time around 1,800 when the statistical approach was established, we point out what often neglected key idea gave rise to the statistical approach to data analysis (the appreciation of randomness in data distribution) and how the emergence of this idea was embedded in a very sophisticated insight on measurement and the nature of measurement data (experimental expertise). These two aspects can vividly be illustrated using the different approaches to data handling of Coulomb and Gauss around the time of 1,800. Gauss’s appreciation of the randomness in data distribution consequently led him to other analytical routines as those employed by Coulomb. This is an important aspect concerning the teaching of the statistical routines of data analysis. However, the deep experimental expertise of both Gauss and Coulomb in both cases prevented an application by rote of some routines and shaped their approaches to very successful instruments of data handling. We therefore argue that both the key idea of randomness as well as an elaborated experimental expertise has to be taken into consideration much more than before by instructors and teachers in order to support the students to construct a coherent understanding on the nature and the handling of measurement data and especially the assessment of their quality.     

EARLY POLITICAL PARTIES AS MEDIATED COMMUNITIES

It has been well documented that forms of media help create new communities, such as the public sphere and the nation. However, the origin of one major political institution has rarely been considered in this light: the political party. This paper brings together the theory on early party formation in North America and the theory on mediated communities to argue that the first public political organizations in Canada, which resembled modern parties in many ways, should be seen as constituted by the media. The paper presents the case of Upper Canada (1820–1841) where newspaper distribution linked partisans into new communities, and editors and politicians ‘imagined’ new political communities in the pages of their newspapers. Modern political parties should thus be seen as essentially mediated communities.     

“Why Is This Happening to Me?:” The Attributional Make-Up of Negative Emotions Experienced in Emotional Support Encounters

Weiner's (2000 Weiner , B. ( 2000 ). Intrapersonal and interpersonal theories of motivation from an attributional perspective . Educational Psychology Review , 12 , 1 – 14 . [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) attributional model of intrapersonal motivations suggests that attributions influence not only people's emotional experiences, but also their behavioral responses to the events that caused these emotions. The current study investigates the causal dimensions (i.e., stability, controllability, locus) of five emotions (i.e., sadness, helplessness, hurt, fear, anger) people commonly experience when they are distressed and in need of emotional support. Participants (N = 258) were asked to identify an upsetting event and subsequently talk about it with a confederate helper in a five-minute conversation. After the conversation, participants completed attribution and emotion indices scales. The events discussed were coded into nine categories (e.g., death of a relative, college performance/job problems, break-ups). Results suggested that the five emotions possess a unique attributional make-up and are uniquely tied to specific events that were discussed by participants. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of providing emotional support to people who experience distress.     

Teachers' and Pupils' Experiences of Integrated Education in Uganda

Under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme in Uganda, which was implemented in 1997, the idea of integrated education was put into practice. Today children with disabilities are enrolled in regular primary schools in the whole country. After three years of experience with UPE, the aim of this study was to examine the views of teachers about their needs for training and support regarding the task of teaching children with disabilities in ordinary classrooms. A qualitative approach was chosen using individual interviews, focus group discussions with teachers, pupils and head teachers, and observations in classrooms. Three primary schools in different districts of Uganda were selected as research sites. For a number of reasons data collection from the pupils proved problematic but generally the findings confirmed the information drawn from the review of literature. In addition to the high teacher-pupil ratio, there is an alarming lack of resources in the schools and an urgent need for teacher training to meet special needs in the classroom. Despite these difficult conditions found in schools, many teachers had positive attitudes towards integrating children with disabilities, but only a few examples from the classroom observations showed good practice for meeting a diversity of needs.     

Self-evaluation accuracy and satisfaction with performance: Are there affective costs or benefits of positive self-evaluation bias?

This paper examines how self-evaluation biases may influence satisfaction with performance. A review of theoretical positions suggests there are two views, both of which are supported by studies involving laboratory tasks. The first view predicts affective costs, and the second affective benefits of positive self-evaluation bias. We test the opposing predictions with the data of a study in which fifth-graders’ self-evaluation, performance, and satisfaction with performance were measured before and after a four-week arithmetic training program. Our findings support the benefit view, that is, students with a negative self-evaluation bias rated their satisfaction with performance significantly less than those with positive bias, even though both performed comparably.     

The specific relationship between disgust and interest: Relevance during biology class dissections and gender differences

This investigation examined trajectories of interest and disgust related to a biology dissection class. Three hundred and two secondary students completed ratings of disgust sensitivity and individual interest in the topic of the heart approximately one week before a dissection class. States of disgust and interest were recorded before, during, and after the dissection, and again four weeks later. Overall, girls expressed higher disgust sensitivity than boys, but showed similar levels of individual interest in the heart topic. Individual interest was negatively related to feelings of disgust prior to and during the dissection while feelings of disgust at the beginning of the class negatively predicted students’ interest during the dissection. These findings extend knowledge of the interactive influences of students’ affective experiences during a specific curriculum task and provide a complementary perspective to research findings on emotions relating to achievement outcomes.     

Increasing employability by implementing a Work-Integrated Learning partnership model in South Africa – A student perspective

In South Africa, 70 per cent of the population is under 35 years old. South Africa has a vision to increase youth employment by focusing on education, training and skills development that will promote employment opportunities. A work-integrated learning (WIL) partnership model was developed to provide students with work experience and to increase their employability. this article presents the research on the perspectives of students subsequent to their WIL experience. the research method consisted of a structured questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. The study findings indicated that students were capable of seeking their own WIL placement and that over 90 per cent of students experienced WIL as rewarding, with multiple opportunities for employment. the article adds theoretical value by increasing the WIL body of knowledge from a student perspective, as well as strategic and practical value by presenting the WIL partnership model that may easily be implemented by lecturers in various disciplines across the continent of Africa and beyond to enable students to enter the workplace with confidence.     

Qualification paths of adult educators in Sweden and Denmark

The qualification of adult educators is a central aspect of the quality of adult education. However, within current policy discourses and adult education research on the professional development of prospective adult educators, little attention is paid to teacher qualification when compared to other fields of education and training. In this study, we analyse the qualification paths, or learning trajectories, of prospective adult educators in Sweden and Denmark. The analysis is based on narrative interviews with 29 students in training to become adult educators. The career paths of adult educators are often long and winding roads. Becoming an adult educator could be their primary desire, but it could also be their ‘Plan B’, a second choice. Individual motives and external demands interact in the professionalisation process. A shift in focus from teaching subject and methods to teaching context and the relation to the learners is part of the professional development. Finally, we argue that both academic studies and hands-on work in the adult education community are crucial parts of the adult educator's qualification path.     

A comparative study on student perceptions of their learning outcomes in undergraduate science degree programmes with differing curriculum models

ABSTRACT

This study investigated students’ perceptions of their graduate learning outcomes including content knowledge, communication, writing, teamwork, quantitative skills, and ethical thinking in two Australian universities. One university has a traditional discipline-orientated curriculum and the other, an interdisciplinary curriculum in the entry semester of first year. The Science Students Skills Inventory asked students (n?=?613) in first and final years to rate their perceptions of the importance of developing graduate learning outcomes within the programme; how much they improved their graduate learning outcomes throughout their undergraduate science programme; how much they saw learning outcomes included in the programme; and how confident they were about their learning outcomes. A framework of progressive curriculum development was adopted to interpret results. Students in the discipline-oriented degree programme reported higher perceptions of scientific content knowledge and ethical thinking while students from the interdisciplinary curriculum indicated higher perceptions of oral communication and teamwork. Implications for curriculum development include ensuring progressive development from first to third years, a need for enhanced focus on scientific ethics, and career opportunities from first year onwards.