Factors mathematicians profess to consider when presenting pedagogical proofs

This paper concerns proof presentation at the university level. We report on a study in which we observed ten mathematicians constructing or revising proofs for pedagogical purposes. We highlight the factors that they claimed to consider when completing these tasks. We found that intended audience and medium (lecture or textbook) influenced proof presentation. We also found that, although mathematicians generally valued pedagogical proofs featuring diagrams and emphasizing main ideas, these mathematicians did not always incorporate these aspects in the proofs they constructed or revised.     

Citizenship,civic education and politics: the education policy context for young Australian citizens

Citizenship education in Australia is embedded throughout the school curriculum. Despite a coherent policy context for the inclusion of citizenship and civic education at all levels of schooling, the links between education and civic minded citizens are tenuous. This paper explores these connections by drawing on the views of participants in an international community service program between Western Australia and Tanzania. By situating the interview data in relation to the policy goals, the paper argues that the current policy framework ‘sanitises’ the political nature of modern citizenship. The results from this study demonstrate that students have little understanding of the connections between the civic, the social and the political realms of citizenship. These results suggest that the current policy context does not adequately prepare young people to position themselves in the political realm.     

Emergent literacy activities in the final preschool year in the German federal states of Bavaria and Hesse

Emergent literacy activities are considered to be important for promoting children’s emergent literacy skills. However, little research exists, especially in Germany, regarding how often such activities occur and in what context. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of emergent literacy activities occurring in the final preschool year, and their dependence on structural characteristics. Ninety-six children (mean age = 5.9) from 50 preschools in two German federal states were observed in their final preschool year. Results show that emergent literacy activities relating to print materials play a minor role, whereas activities involving oral language play a major role, compared with other activities in children’s preschool experience. Results also indicate a significant link between child-related, family and distal characteristics (i.e. geographic location and federal state affiliation) and the frequency of emergent literacy activities.     

Jamming market rhetoric in Wisconsin's 2011 labor protests

Taking the case of the 2011 protests at the Wisconsin state capitol, this essay theorizes a model of political culture jamming. When 100,000 people swarmed downtown Madison, I argue, they jammed both Governor Scott Walker's market-based rhetoric and organized labor's typical response to such attacks. This case study, then, extends culture jamming as a way of understanding resistance to the marketization of realms that extend beyond the vaguely cultural. It demonstrates that when expanded to include embodied, political action, culture jamming offers a particularly useful lens through which activists may challenge rhetorics that promote ever-expanding markets.     

Digital Feast and Physical Famine: The Altered Ecosystem of Anatomy Education due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article explores the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic on the evolution of both physical and digital cadavers within the unique ecosystem of the anatomy laboratory. A physical cadaver is a traditional and established learning tool in anatomy education, whereas a digital cadaver is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Covid-19 pandemic presented a major disturbance and disruption to all levels and types of education, including anatomy education. This article constructs a conceptual metaphor between a typical anatomy laboratory and an ecosystem, and considers the affordances, constraints, and changing roles of physical and digital cadavers within anatomy education through an ecological lens. Adaptation of physical and digital cadavers during the disturbance is analyzed, and the resiliency of digital cadaver technology is recognized. The evolving role of the digital cadaver is considered in terms of increasing accessibility and inclusivity within the anatomy laboratory ecosystem of the future.     

Applying artificial intelligence insights in a CAI program for “open sentence” mathematical problems in primary schools

Elementary school children are often unclear which operations to use when tackling mathematical problems of the open sentence kind (e.g. 3+*=7). We give details of (a) some of their impasse-repair and other problem-solving strategies; (b) computer models of knowledge and misconceptions underlying those strategies; and (c) a CAI program which can identify strategies and remedy gaps in knowledge and misconceptions. Tests of that program with second graders in five schools over six weeks indicate that one third profited significantly. The results are further discussed.1. Jacobijn A. C. Sandberg, is now at the Department of Social Science Informatics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Note     

Undergraduates’ perception and engagement in Facebook learning groups

This study presents and evaluates the educational potentials that Social Network Services (SNS) offer to students in the higher education context. The first aim of this study is to explore students’ perceptions of Facebook Learning Groups (ie, Facebook Groups that were created for learning purposes), and the learning and affective benefits that SNS offer to students. This study further explores the influence of four identified factors (ie, self-efficacy, privacy, trust and presence of teaching members) in moderating students’ perception and learning engagements on SNS. Findings from an online survey demonstrate the usefulness of these learning groups. Trust and presence of teaching members were also indicated to have significant influences in affecting students’ perception and engagement in Facebook Learning Groups.     

Interpreting young people's self-expression through characters and relationships in collaborative creative writing

White Water Writers is an intervention that offers school pupils the opportunity to collaboratively write a novel in a week. The current study uses thematic analysis to interpret the voices of young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities through the characters and relationships created in this fictional writing. The main themes derived from the data were: heroism and villainy, associated with characteristics such as responsibility and control; fictional powers, linking to personal agency; social relations, including positive relationships with peers and authority figures; and anthropomorphism, for exploring new emotions and interactions between humans and animals. This suggests that creative writing may be a useful lens through which to explore young people's views of their lived experiences.