From empowerment to response-ability: rethinking socio-spatial,environmental justice,and nature-culture binaries in the context of STEM education

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In this conceptual paper, we draw upon the insights of Feminist Science Studies, in particular Karen Barad’s concept of agential realism, as a critical...     

Rendering an Account: An open-state archive in postgraduate supervision

The paper begins with a brief account of the transformation of research degree studies under the pressures of global capitalism and neo-liberal governmentality. A parallel transformation is occurring in the conduct of research through the use of information and communication technologies. Yet the potential of ICTs to shape practices of surveillance or to produce new student-supervisor relations and enhance the processes of developing the dissertation has received almost no critical attention. As doctoral supervisor and student, we then describe the features and uses of a Web-based, open-state archive of the student's work-in-progress, developed by the student and accessible to his supervisor. Our intention was to encourage more open conversations between data and theorising, student and supervisor, and ultimately between the student and professional community. However, we recognise that relations of accountability, as these have developed within a contemporary "audit revolution" (Power, 1994, 1997) in universities, create particular "lines of visibility" (Munro, 1996). Thus, while the open-state archive may help to redefine in less managerial terms notions of quality, transparency, flexibility and accountability, it might also make possible greater supervisory surveillance. How should we think about the panoptical potential of this archive? We argue that the diverse kinds of interactional patterns and pedagogical intervention it encourages help to create shifting subjectivities. Moreover, the archive itself is multiple, in bringing together an array of diverse materials that can be read in various ways, by following multiple paths. It therefore constitutes a collage, which we identify as a mode of cognition and of accounting distinct from but related to argument and narrative. As a more "open" text (Iser, 1978) it has an indeterminacy which may render it less open to abuse for the technologies of managerial accountability.     

How universities can enhance student mental wellbeing: the student perspective

ABSTRACT

The growing prevalence and severity of mental health difficulties across university student populations is a critical issue for universities and their wider communities. Yet little is known about student perspectives on the stressors in university environments and the steps that universities could take to better support student mental wellbeing. This article reports on a study that collected and analyzed 2776 student responses to the question: What can be done to improve student wellbeing? Students made diverse recommendations that fell into seven categories: Academic teachers and teaching practices; student services and support; environment, culture and communication; course design; program administration; assessment; and student society activities. The findings from our study offer important insight to university educators and administrators about the role they can play in better supporting student wellbeing and preventing the high rates of psychological distress. We argue that the process of seeking and acting on students’ suggestions fosters students’ sense of inclusion and empowerment, and this is critical given that the goal of improving student mental wellbeing can only be achieved through an effective partnership between students and institutional actors.     

北欧巨人之战

现代社会经济发展迅猛,商场如战场,尤其是作为新兴产业的电信业更是群雄聚会,风起云涌。过去爱立信垄断电信产品市场,而如今诺基亚当仁不让占据市场最大份额。是什么导致这种变化呢?请看——     

Career Decisional States of Australian and South African High School Students

The influence of contextualfactors on the career decision states of 429South African and 623 Australian male andfemale students in grades 8 to 12 wasinvestigated. The results for both nationalsamples on the Career Decision Scaledemonstrate that grade, gender, and theinteraction of grade and gender impact on thedevelopmental progression of career decisionbehaviour. Gender differences across nationswere more pronounced for males than females.Both South African and Australian students aremore decided in lower grades. Internationaldifferences suggest that South African studentsare less certain and evidence greaterindecision than Australian students. Theimplications for educational decision pointsand career education practices are discussed.     

Beyond traditional school value-added models: a multilevel analysis of complex school effects in Chile

School value-added studies have largely demonstrated the effects of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the schools and the pupils on performance in standardised tests. Traditionally, these studies have assessed the variation coming only from the schools and the pupils. However, recent studies have shown that the analysis of academic performance could significantly benefit from additional complexity in the model structure, incorporating non-hierarchical and unexplored levels of variation. Using data on secondary students from the Chilean National Pupil Database (2004–2006), this study shows how the traditional value-added models fall short in addressing the complex phenomenon of academic performance, because they largely overestimate school effects. A 4-level contextualised value-added model for progress in Mathematics was implemented and shown to avoid the masking of classroom and locality effects found in the traditional models. We also analyse the effects of important structural factors in Chile such as family income and school type.     

The appraisal of fear appeals as threatening or challenging: frequency of use,academic self-efficacy and subjective value

Fear appeals are messages that focus on avoiding the negative consequences of failure. They are often used by teachers as a motivational tactic prior to high-stakes examinations. In this study, we examined whether 566 secondary school students, from 26 different classes, approaching high-stakes examinations appraised fear appeals as threatening or challenging. Multilevel regression analyses showed that an increased frequency of student-reported (but not teacher-reported) fear appeals were experienced as a threat, when focused on avoiding negative consequences and as a challenge, when focused on the timing of forthcoming examinations. Threat experience was associated with lower student-reported academic self-efficacy, higher attainment value and higher extrinsic value. Challenge experience was associated with higher student-reported attainment value and higher extrinsic value. Results show that students differ in the way that they experience fear appeals. Fear appeals should be conveyed with caution, especially if students have low academic self-efficacy.     

Holiday Play for Children with Disabilities in England: Access,Choice and Parents’ Views about Integration

Families with children with disabilities can feel isolated during school holidays and concerns exist that they face greater difficulties than families of children without disabilities in finding enriching activities for their child. In the context of national policies that encourage integrated play, local service commissioners in England require evidence on what sort of short breaks parents and children prefer. The parents of 99 children with disabilities and 43 children without disabilities attending various holiday play schemes in summer 2010 completed mailed questionnaires. Parents of children with disabilities reported more difficulty getting information, less choice of schemes and further distances to travel than parents of children without disabilities. Although 72% of parents of children without disabilities and 55.5% of parents of children with disabilities stated integrated schemes would be suitable for their child, open text comments provided weaker support. Variety of provision is required to meet all needs and preferences.     

可爱的房东

那天在shafaston college等候房东的时候,我一直在猜测,会是怎么样的人来接我。会不会是一个大帅哥呢?当叫到我名字的时候,我才发现面前站着的是一个身材不高,有点发福,头发不多,有很多皱纹的老外,虽然他的笑容很灿烂,虽然他显得很友好,但是我心里总归有那么点失望。