Making sense of realistic word problems: portraying working class ‘failure’ on a division with remainder problem

Children of 10–11 years of age were interviewed while undertaking a range of mathematic problems, most of which embedded mathematical operations in textually represented realistic settings. One problem, concerning a lift moving people in the morning rush, comprised a division‐with‐remainder problem in which children are required, conventionally, to introduce a particular realistic consideration in order to produce the ‘correct’ answer. Another problem was an extended version of this, requiring children to comment on four competing answers produced by other children. Analysis of responses to the first of these two problems demonstrated that it was working class children who were especially likely to fail to produce the conventionally required answer. Having shown this, the paper concentrates on portraying the ways in which ‘failing’ working class children interpret and respond to the two problems. Our purpose here is to contribute to understanding the difficulties working class children appear to have in negotiating the demands of contextualized problems.     

History of teaching anatomy in India: From ancient to modern times

Safe clinical practice is based on a sound knowledge of the structure and function of the human body. Thus, knowledge of anatomy has been an essential tool in the practice of healthcare throughout the ages. The history of anatomy in India traces from the Paleolithic Age to the Indus Valley Civilization, the Vedic Times, the Islamic Dynasties, the modern Colonial Period, and finally to Independent India. The course of the study of anatomy, despite accompanying controversies and periods of latencies, has been fascinating. This review takes the reader through various periods of Indian medicine and the role of anatomy in the field of medical practice. It also provides a peek into the modern system of pedagogy in anatomical sciences in India. Anat Sci Educ 6: 351–358. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Representational guidance and student engagement: examining designs for collaboration in online synchronous environments

In this paper we report the results of a study which investigated the affordances of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) for collaborative learning from a design perspective. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, we conducted a comparative study of the effect of varying representational and interactional design features on a collaborative design activity in three online synchronous environments. We compared environments featuring multiple modes of interaction (MUVEs), shared representations (text chat and 2D still images) and text-only features. Sixty-one students enrolled in an undergraduate course on Child Development participated in the study. Participants were asked to design a theoretically-based, developmentally appropriate, preschool classroom setting. Students were randomly assigned to one of three online learning environments that provided varying levels of representation and interaction. Significant differences in collaborative problem solving interactions were found. Participants in the shared representations + text condition evidenced stronger learning outcomes as regards substantive discussion and integration of child development concepts; while participants in the MUVE condition reported the most enjoyment with the experience. These findings are explained by the concepts of representational guidance, representational bias, educational affordances and interface design metaphors. Suggestions for the design of MUVEs for collaborative learning are provided.     

School leadership models: what do we know?

The growth in the importance of school leadership has been accompanied by theory development, with new models emerging and established approaches being redefined and further developed. The purpose of this paper is to review current and recent writing on leadership models. The paper examines theoretical literature, to see how leadership is conceptualised, and empirical literature, to demonstrate whether and how the research evidence supports these concepts. The paper shows that leadership models are subject to fashion but often serve to reflect, and to inform, changes in school leadership practice.     

Public anonymity and the connected world

We defend public anonymity in the light of the threat posed by digital technology. Once people could reasonably assume that they were fairly anonymous when they left the house. They neither drove nor walked around with GPS devices; they paid their highway tolls in cash; they seldom bought on credit; and no cameras marked their strolls in the park or their walks down the street. Times have changed. We begin with a brief discussion of the concept of anonymity. We then argue that public anonymity helps promote privacy in public. Next, we argue that public anonymity is worth protecting insofar as it promotes autonomy. After that we attempt to show how digital technology threatens public anonymity in the context of CCTV and GPS devices. We argue for a significant scaling back of public surveillance. We close with some thoughts on what we take to be the gratuitous costs imposed on those who would attempt to preserve their anonymity in public.