Autonomy and the Ethical Status of Comprehensive Education

On grounds of autonomy, is comprehensive education — an approach to education that attempts to facilitate the acceptance of certain beliefs and ways of life as being correct, and refuses to sympathetically expose students to contrary beliefs and ways of life — ethically suspect? Recently, Bryan R. Warnick has argued that it is. In this essay, Adam D. Bailey critically evaluates Warnick's argument, and contends that it is unsuccessful. In particular, he argues that Warnick's argument from necessity does not succeed. Bailey then addresses a potential response to his critique of Warnick's argument — that of developing an argument from facilitation rather than necessity — and argues that, contrary to the argument from necessity, the argument from facilitation does provide support for the claim that comprehensive education is ethically suspect. However, Bailey attempts to show that even granting the facilitation argument, it is plausible to hold that, on grounds of autonomy, comprehensive education need not be seen as ethically suspect.     

Reasons for student dropout in an online course in a rural K–12 setting

Rural schools in the USA use online courses to overcome problems such as attracting and retaining teachers, geographic isolation, low student enrollment, and financial constraints. This paper reports on the reasons that 39% of rural high school students who enrolled in an online Advanced Placement course subsequently dropped the course. Students who dropped the course were asked to provide an email statement detailing their reasons for doing so. On-site facilitators—local staff members situated in the small rural schools where students were enrolled—also provided reasons whenever one of their students dropped the course. Results indicate that the reasons given by students and on-site facilitators for dropping the course often agreed, and tended to fall within the following five categories: scheduling and time constraints, academic rigor and motivation, technology problems, problems with online medium and lack of teacher immediacy, and parental influences.     

What are students doing during lecture? Evidence from new technologies to capture student activity

Engaging students in class is paramount if they are to gain a deep understanding of class content. Student engagement is manifested by attention to the various components of instruction. However, there is little research at the tertiary level focusing on what aspects of instruction are related to changes in student attention during class. To address this gap, we collected multiple streams of data that provide a measure of student attention during instruction. We had students in an organic chemistry course who wear hats with a camera mounted on the brim, to provide a record of student gaze (i.e. looking at the board, notes, and friends). We also had students who use electronic pens that allowed us to record what information students transferred into their notes (pencasts). Based on our initial results, we believe the data provided by the point-of-view cameras and electronic pens hold great promise for using these technologies as viable research tools in educational settings to address various research questions.     

Building world class universities in China: exploring faculty’s perceptions,interpretations of and struggles with global forces in higher education

Employing a glonacal (global, national and local) heuristic as a theoretical lens, and a qualitative analysis with interview data, this study highlights how Chinese faculty members interpret the definitions and implications of pursuing world class universities (WCUs) and struggle with the multiple dimensions of their academic lives across global, national and local dimensions. The findings indicate that faculty members believe that the quest to build WCUs in China has been narrowly defined by the government, which emphasises international/global dimensions, rather than national or local. Because of this, Chinese professors believe that there are growing gaps between administration and faculty. Yet they recognise significant advancement in hardware and facilities, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This study confirms that faculty’s academic lives are intricately interlinked across the glonacal economy and that faculty continue to navigate their roles across all dimensions.     

Teaching controversial issues in a fragile democracy: defusing deliberation in Israeli primary classrooms

Teaching through controversial, politically charged issues is promoted in Anglo-American democracies as a key means for cultivating active citizenry and democratic values. However, the challenges of discussing controversial issues in the classroom may differ in younger, deeply divided democracies that lack common ground and institutional stability. In this study we ask, what approaches to the teaching of controversial issues do Israeli teachers adopt while enacting a curricular unit concerning Israel’s founding fathers? The data were collected in an ethnographic study in two primary schools during the 2012–2013 school year. We use linguistic ethnographic methods to analyse the curricular materials and their enactment in four video-recorded lessons in three classrooms. We argue that while the curriculum addresses deeply controversial content, it is designed to inculcate a shared national ethos and therefore avoids controversy. In practice, teachers and students engaged with controversial issues, but in ways that defused their volatility. We highlight two heretofore undocumented approaches to controversial issues: (1) sidestepping controversy by stripping it of real world complexities, and (2) scholasticizing the discussion by focusing on literacy practices. Finally, we discuss the rationales for using these two approaches to defuse controversy in the classroom, and their limitations.     

Is the supply of continuing education in the anatomical sciences keeping up with the demand? Results of a national survey

Continuing education (CE) is an essential element in the life‐long learning of health care providers and educators. Despite the importance of the anatomical sciences in the training and practice of clinicians, no studies have examined the need/state of anatomy‐related CE nationally. This study assessed the current landscape of CE in the anatomical sciences to contextualize preferences for CE, identify factors that influence the perceived need for CE, and examine the association between supply and demand. Surveys were distributed to educators in the anatomical sciences, practicing physical therapists (PTs), and anatomy training programs across the United States. Twenty‐five percent (9 of 36) of training programs surveyed offered CE, certificates, or summer series programs related to anatomy. The majority of PTs (92%) and anatomy educators (81%) felt they had a potential or actual need for anatomy related CE with the most popular formats being online videos/learning modules and intensive, hands‐on workshops. The most commonly perceived barriers to participating in CE for both groups were program location, cost, and duration, while educators also perceived time of year as a significant factor. Logistic regression analyses revealed that no investigated factor influenced the need or desire for PTs to engage in anatomy related CE (P ≤ 0.124), while teaching experience and the highest level of learner taught significantly influenced the perceived need among anatomy educators (P < 0.001). Overall, quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed a robust need for CE that strategically integrates anatomy with areas of clinical practice and education. Anat Sci Educ 11: 225–235. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Adult attachment, parent emotion, and observed parenting behavior: mediator and moderator models

In a middle-class sample of mothers of 2-year-olds, adult attachment classifications measured in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) were related to maternal self-reported emotional well-being and observed parenting behavior, and the potential mediating and moderating roles of maternal emotion were tested. Mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI reported significantly lower levels of positive affectivity. Mothers classified as preoccupied reported significantly higher levels of negative affectivity and anxiety. Preoccupied mothers were observed to be significantly higher on angry/intrusive parenting, but this association was not mediated by attachment-related differences in maternal emotion. Maternal emotional well-being did, however, moderate the associations between adult attachment and parenting behavior: Dismissing attachment was significantly associated with lower warmth/responsiveness only among mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms.     

Gender matters in higher education

Much of the research in higher education has treated student bodies as homogeneous groups with a consequent neglect of any consideration of gender differences. To test the validity of such research a questionnaire was administered to 255 psychology students. The results showed some important differences in responses between the genders. In particular, the female students reported attaching more importance than males to pre‐course aims, rated various learning activities as more valuable and interesting than males and reported more improvement in nine of the 12 skills surveyed than the males. The males rated experiencing less difficulty for various aspects of the course than anticipated than did the females for 11 of 12 potential difficulties listed. As a consequence, it is suggested that researchers ought to be wary of conducting research into various aspects of higher education without considering potential gender differences.     

Complexity in Science Learning: Measuring the Underlying Dynamics of Persistent Mistakes

Abstract

Mistaken beliefs pose a barrier to science learning. For this reason, it is important to understand the circumstances in which they emerge and change. In the current paper, we apply complexity theory to shed light on the nature of mistaken beliefs. The strength of this approach lies in conceptualizing beliefs as dynamic stabilities, a well-defined construct that can be indexed precisely. For example, Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA) can determine the presence of dynamic stabilities by analyzing variability in time-series data. We applied this analytical tool to probe for mistaken beliefs in a beam-balancing task, a task that is known to elicit mistaken beliefs in preschoolers. Using a case-study design with four preschoolers, we tracked children’s hand position with motion sensors as they balanced various beams. The resulting time series of hand position was submitted to RQA, yielding two important results: First, we found that consistent mistakes in trying to balance the beams were not always accompanied by dynamic stability. This undermines the common assumption that overt consistency in task performance is sufficient to conclude the presence of beliefs. Second, we found strong individual differences over time, as children explored the balance beams. Applications to science education are discussed.

• Highlights

• A classical task of beam balancing was used to explore the underlying dynamics of children’s mistaken beliefs.

• Moment-to-moment hand movements were tracked and subjected to a multi-dimensional recurrence quantification analysis (RQA).

• Dynamic stability was captured through percent laminarity (%LAM), a measure of rigidity in children’s explorations.

• The RQA measure of %LAM shed light on patterns of stability that were not available from the analysis of overt behavior.

• In line with complexity theory, a model of persistent mistakes is offered that has important implications for science education.

     

Constructing a Sense of Purpose and a Professional Teaching Identity: Experiences of Teacher Candidates with Disabilities

Abstract

Using grounded theory, we examined the ways in which undergraduate teacher candidates with disabilities developed a sense of purpose and constructed professional identities. Our findings suggest K-12 experiences with advocacy as well as exclusionary school experiences influenced their emerging professional identities. Resistance to a deficit view of disability was central to teachers’ professional identities and influenced their desire to become “change agents” in their future professions. We describe collegiate experiences that affirmed or presented roadblocks to their career path.