School leadership and educational change: Tools and practices in shared school leadership development

This study examines the features of school leadership as it evolved in an upper secondary school attempting to enhance school improvement through a dedicated team of developmental leaders. We study the team leadership’s tools and design over one school year and report on the evolution of a collective approach to leadership for school improvement. Researchers in a formative intervention research project supported the change process. Cultural-historical activity theory and a set of new technologies inspired the intervention design. The study describes how conceptions and practices of leadership gradually emerged as a collective and distributed approach to leading educational change and school improvement. In particular, new tools and designs for school team leadership were explored and implemented. The study addresses the need to develop shared and collaborative conceptions of leadership in schools. The study concludes that careful planning and skilful orchestration of human, cultural and technological resources are needed in order to make sustainable improvements in schools.     

Educational Media

Dean Jamison, et al. The Effectiveness of Alternative Instructional Media: A Survey (March 1973, 72 pp.)

Dean Jamison with Steven Klecs, The Cost of Instructional Radio and Television for Developing Countries (March 1973, 57 pp.)

Emile G. McAnany, Radio's Role in Development: Five Strategies of Use (September 1973 with a 1976 afterword, Info. Bulletin No. 4, 29 pp.)

Henry T. Ingle, Communication Media and Technology: A Look at Their Role in Non-Formal Education Programs (August 1974, Info. Bulletin No. 5, 62 pp.)

Lois Joy Lester, A Directory of Sources of Assistance on Educational Technology for Development (November 1975, Info. Bulletin No. 6, 90 pp.)

A Sourcebook on Radio's Role in Development: (October 1976, Info. Bulletin No. 7, 85 pp.)

Therese Silverman, Tele-Niger: Adapting an Electronic Medium to a Rural African Context (undated, but late 1976, Info. Bulletin No. 8, 45 pp.)

Development Communication Report (an apparently irregular newsletter)

Keith W. Mielke and James W. Swinehart's Evaluation of the Feeling Good Television Series (Children's Television Workshop, One Lincoln Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10023—$10.00, paper)     

Students’ test motivation in PISA: the case of Norway

Do students make their best effort in large-scale assessment studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)? Despite six cycles of PISA surveys from 2000 to 2015, empirical studies regarding students’ test motivation and experience of the tests are sparse. The present study examines students’ test motivation in PISA, and how closely students’ achievement correlates with students’ reported test motivation. A total of 40 students from eight schools that participated in the PISA study in 2006, 2009 and 2012 were interviewed. In addition, questionnaire data from a total of 9400 students who participated in PISA 2009 and 2012 were collected. The findings of this study indicate that students overall were motivated to do their best in the PISA study, despite the fact that these low-stakes tests have no impact on students’ grades or future school entrance. In contrast to claims in the media, where it has been suggested that Norwegian students are more relaxed towards the PISA test than students in other countries, students report that they are motivated to do their best, but girls report significantly higher test motivation than boys. Despite the policy influence of PISA and the large number of countries participating, very few studies have reported findings from students’ perspectives regarding their test motivation and experience of the test. The present study aims to fill that gap.     

Joining the Learning Society and working in the NHS: some issues

In this paper we discuss the concept of the Learning Society in relation to staff working in the NHS (National Health Service) and taking part in formal courses. We outline the changing context within the NHS and draw on evidence from interviews with 38 participants on two courses. While motives for participation in courses were mixed, many staff felt under some pressure to engage in formal courses and in some cases undertook work‐related training in their own time and at their own expense. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the development of a Learning Society.     

Injecting Inquiry-Oriented Modules into Calculus

Abstract

Implementing inquiry-based modules within a course can be effective and enable instructor experimentation, without completely transforming an entire course. For instructors new to inquiry-based learning (IBL), we state hallmarks of the practice and point out the merits of strong IBL communities. An inquiry-based approach may alleviate some current common issues in Calculus I. We present two activities and evidence of their effectiveness and adaptability, and describe their POGIL style of guided inquiry learning that raises awareness of the learning process. We share the experience of a “traditionally-oriented” faculty member transitioning to a more student-centered pedagogy, reflecting on advantages of using a combination of pedagogical styles.     

Pharmacokinetic Models for Active Learning of Differential Equations

Abstract

We present adaptable activities for models of drug movement in the human body – pharmacokinetics – that motivate the learning of ordinary differential equations with an interdisciplinary topic. Specifically, we model aspirin, caffeine, and digoxin. We discuss the pedagogy of guiding students to understand, develop, and analyze models, progressing in complexity to a system of differential equations. We investigate the effects of parameter values that distinguish various health levels, and dosing that may have toxic effects. Our assignments include modeling in a student-centered, active, and increasingly inquiry-oriented setting through which the mathematics and biology inform and reinforce each other. We include supplemental information regarding inquiry methods, student learning outcomes, a student’s commentary about our activities, and support through mathematical communities such as POGIL and SIMIODE.     

Organizational trials of valuation: insights from the work of leaning the patient distribution process at a children’s hospital

Management devices from industrial sectors are proliferating in the public sector, a trend now being accused of undermining the proper values of public organizations. A prominent example of such a management device is lean management, which is a set of principles and tools employed by contemporary management consultants to eliminate waste and promote value – often for the sake of efficiency. While lean management has been particularly welcomed in the healthcare sector, healthcare professionals are increasingly resisting attempts at leaning their work processes. Applying the notion of trials of valuation, this study empirically unfolds the conflicts arising when lean management is used to reorganize the task of distributing patients to beds in a children’s hospital. Following the turn to value and the pragmatic tenet of studying values as the outcome of work, this paper suggests that the effects of a management device on the values of an organization can fruitfully be investigated for its ability to organize. Further, the paper contributes to the field of valuation studies with a heuristic to undertake such an investigation, directing attention towards the object of valuation, the temporal and spatial dimensions of the valuation situation, and the knowledge used to inform that valuation.