From Alternative Education to The Mainstream: approaches in Canada and Germany to Preparing Learners to Live in a Changing World

There has been a shift in the core idea of schooling in both Germany and Canada: While schools have traditionally focused on cognitive development, they now increasingly focus on ‘engaged learners’ and use integrated settings to support their cognitive, metacognitive and social-emotional development. In line with the theme ‘Learning to Be’, we argue that beliefs about the purpose of schooling are shifting from a narrow, knowledge-based approach to understanding that students need knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed in their private, public and professional lives as adults. To this end, pedagogical concepts developed in alternative education are increasingly being implemented by mainstream schools. This article examines this significant development in Germany and Canada. We analyse current examples from mainstream schools, highlighting how they use alternative pedagogical concepts to transform the ways in which students come to know themselves as learners. In both countries, this process has been simultaneously bottom-up, driven by early-adopter schools, and top-down, driven by public awards or broad public initiatives.     

Project‐Based Learning Involving Sensory Panelists Improves Student Learning Outcomes

Project‐based, collaborative learning is an effective teaching method when compared to traditional cognitive learning. The purpose of this study was to assess student learning after the completion of a final meal project that involved a group of sensory panelists. A paper survey was conducted among 73 senior nutrition and dietetics students enrolling in Experimental Food Science, Spring 2013 and 2014. The survey comprised of qualitative and quantitative questions about students’ perceived learning outcomes. The project required students to prepare a 4‐course meal in 90 min, in groups of 4. Eighteen sensory panelists consisting of faculty and graduate students from the Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality Management Department and administrative staff from the college evaluated the foods, asked students several food science‐related questions, and completed a survey about their involvement in the project. Students reported that this project reinforced class material (4.7 ± 0.6), and was enjoyable (4.6 ± 0.6) yet challenging (4.4 ± 0.7); numerous skills were developed, including team‐building (4.7 ± 0.5), food preparation (4.6 ± 0.5), and time management (4.4 ± 0.5). Students perceived that the involvement of sensory panelists was beneficial in terms of providing constructive feedback for improvement and motivating them to prepare high‐quality foods. It also prepared them for serving foods to individuals from different cultural backgrounds. However, some students found the experience stressful. For the sensory panelists, the project helped them to venture out of their areas of expertise. In conclusion, a meal project involving sensory panelists can result in positive learning outcomes.     

The constructivist classroom learning environment and its associations with critical thinking ability of secondary school students in Liberal Studies

In this study, we investigated-secondary school students’ perceptions of their constructivist learning environment in Liberal Studies, and whether their perceptions were related to their critical thinking ability. A convenience sample of Secondary Three students (N = 967) studying Liberal Studies in Hong Kong participated in this research by completing a self-administered questionnaire which included the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X, and demographic information on age and gender. Students perceived their learning environment to be moderately constructivist in nature. Both age and school banding differences were identified in that younger students and students in band 1 schools tended to perceive a higher degree of constructivist characteristics in their learning environment. Multiple regression analyses indicated that three of the five scales of CLES were predictors of critical thinking ability. Shared Control was the strongest predictor and negatively associated with critical thinking ability, while Personal Relevance and Critical Voice were positively related to critical thinking ability. Findings of the study are discussed with reference to developing students’ critical thinking ability in Liberal Studies classrooms.     

The circumplex model of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction among Hong Kong students: a multidimensional scaling solution

The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) is a teacher–student relationship measure whose underlying two-dimensional structure is represented in a circumplex model with eight sectors. Using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA), this study examined the circumplex structure of the Chinese version of the QTI among a convenience sample of 731 primary-school students in Hong Kong. The study revealed that the SSA solution fits the circumplex structure of the Model for Interpersonal Teacher Behavior and uncovered a two-dimensional solution yielding five sectors in a clockwise direction: Strict, Leadership-Helpful/Friendly-Understanding, Student Responsibility/Freedom, Uncertain, and Admonishing-Dissatisfied. While the Leadership-Helpful/Friendly-Understanding sector was the largest, the Student Responsibility/Freedom sector was the smallest, with few items constituting it. For the two dimensions, the vertical dimension was named Structure Clarity, with adherence to external structure (Strict sector) at one extreme and lack of structure (Uncertain sector and Student Responsibility/Freedom sector) at the other extreme. The horizontal axis was labelled Attitude Valence, with benevolent valence (Leadership sector, Helpful/Friendly sector and Understanding sector) at one end and malevolent valence (Admonishing sector and Dissatisfied sector) at the other end of the axis. The positioning of the five sectors in the present study is in line with the factor structure that was often found in previous research on the circumplex model. By presenting a somewhat different interpretation of the two dimensions and some additional items, we hope that future research will verify our suggestions across different sociocultural settings.     

Asians as stereotypes and students: Misperceptions that persist

Although Asian Americans today are lauded as a model minority and Asian students are praised as whiz kids, racial prejudice toward Asians is as true today as it was in the past. American stereotypes of Asians appear characterized by persistent perceptual homogeneity and attitude-behavior inconsistencies. This review aims to: (a) display and analyze the basic stereotype toward Asians, (b) hypothesize an explanation for the basic Asian stereotype, (c) examine the Asian student stereotype by analyzing three factors commonly used to account for the achievement of Asian students, and (d) provide suggestions for research. Arguments for Asians' inherited advantages in IQ and cognitive abilities appear to be questionable. However, the factor of family encouragement and support as well as the work ethic and drive for education factor are found to be advantageous and disadvantageous to achievement, depending on how they are applied. The article discusses homogeneity-heterogeneity of perceptions, attitude-behavior consistency, achievement motivation, parent-child social interaction, mental health, and counseling needs relative to Asian students.     

Utilizing Information and Communication Technologies to Achieve Lifelong Education for All: A Case Study of Myanmar

This paper examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in advancing the cause of education for all and livelong learning. After examining the claimed benefits of ICTs for promoting education and schooling, and the characteristics of education and the basic education movement in Asia, the paper focuses on providing a case study of one country in South-East Asia, that of Myanmar, regarding the use of ICTs to achieve lifelong education for all. The paper reports on a research study being undertaken by the author which examines how ICTs are being harnessed to support educational needs in the formal education system in Myanmar, including basic education, teacher development, and in the higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education. The study focuses specifically on the applications of ICTs for increasing access and improving quality in the context of the Information Age. The research is based on a field survey and case studies of best practices and innovations in the applications of ICTs to education in the Myanmar education system. By identifying the conditions that must be addressed in making effective use of ICTs for learning and teaching, the results of this study provides much needed feedback to assist the Ministry of Education in Myanmar to operate most cost-effectively in this area. Although the paper specifically examines the situation regarding one particular country, lessons learnt from the experience of Myanmar have much to offer researchers, policy makers and practitioners regarding the applications of ICTs to education development in other parts of Asia, and indeed in other parts of the world. However, the extent to which the results of this research study are generalizable to other developing countries has yet to be ascertained, since this is beyond the scope of the study reported on in this paper.     

Testing the effectiveness of the Developing Inclusive Youth program: A multisite randomized control trial

The Developing Inclusive Youth program is a classroom-based, individually administered video tool that depicts peer-based social and racial exclusion, combined with teacher-led discussions. A multisite randomized control trial was implemented with 983 participants (502 females; 58.5% White, 41.5% Ethnic/racial minority; M_age = 9.64 years) in 48 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms across six schools. Children in the program were more likely to view interracial and same-race peer exclusion as wrong, associate positive traits with peers of different racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds, and report play with peers from diverse backgrounds than were children in the control group. Many approaches are necessary to achieve antiracism in schools. This intervention is one component of this goal for developmental science.     

Teachers’ perceptions of and responses to student evaluation of teaching: purposes and uses in clinical education

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) only becomes an effective tool for improving teaching and learning when the relevant stakeholders seriously consider and plan appropriate actions according to student feedback. It is common practice in medical education to provide clinical teachers with student feedback. However, there is limited evidence about how teachers in higher education, and medical education in particular, systematically apply student feedback to improve the quality of their teaching practice. The focus of this case study was to examine clinical teachers’ perceptions of and responses to SET with respect to its purposes and uses for enhancing their teaching. An explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from the clinical coaches. These clinical coaches perceived the main purpose of student evaluation as quality assurance, and were moderately receptive to student feedback. Four key factors enabling or inhibiting their responses were revealed: institutional requirements, operational practices, personal biases and provision of support. Future research should further explore the interrelationships among the above factors as the core mechanism in influencing clinical teachers’ perceptions of and responses to student evaluation.     

Effect of angle stimulation during development on adult discrimination ability in rats

Hooded rats were reared in very restricted environments with angular, curved, or white-field stimulation. The extent of transfer from this exposure was assessed in adulthood by testing subjects for (a) learning ability in form, brightness, and pattern discrimination tasks, and (b) exploration and activity differences in an open field. The angle-reared group performed better than the other two rearing groups in all three discrimination tasks. Moreover, the curved and white-field groups were equivalent. These learning differences did not appear to result from differences in (a) exploration or activity or (b) dependence on kinesthetic cues. The results demonstrated that one type of early visual stimulation produced transfer to discrimination tasks that varied in difficulty and in degree of relevancy to the rearing forms. This effect was related to the results and interpretations from previous form-rearing studies. Three interpretations were proposed for this transfer and for the advantage of angular vs. curved stimulation.