Making on the Move: Mobility,Makerspaces, and Art Education

Combining the excitement from the maker movement and the novel creation of deployable makerspaces, we review the development of the Mobile Atelier for Kinaesthetic Education (MAKE) 3D. MAKE 3D is a mobile makerspace platform that can be deployed anywhere there is electricity to create a curricular spectacle of digital fabrication in particular additive manufacturing or what is more commonly referred to as 3D printing. Our project combines this notion of curricular spectacle and a mobile makerspace platform, to develop strategies in how to meet the novice user almost anywhere and to entice them into a series of hands‐on activities that would give them a range of knowledge and aptitude for additive techniques in digital fabrication. We review the component parts of our Material to Form curriculum and explore thematic connections between the maker movement and art education including STEAM and interdisciplinarity; design thinking and kinaesthetic learning; and place‐based education and the mobile platform. Informal practices in art education and the mobile makerspace advances forms of place and kinaesthetic learning. Similar curricular setups are therefore encouraged to reinforce and expand prior knowledge, broaden participation and provide an adaptable learning space for STEAM initiatives.     

Toddlers learn and flexibly apply multiple possibilities

The ability to consider multiple possibilities forms the basis for a wide variety of human-unique cognitive capacities. When does this skill develop? Previous studies have narrowly focused on children's ability to prepare for incompatible future outcomes. Here, we investigate this capacity in a causal learning context. Adults (N = 109) and 18- to 30-month olds (N = 104) observed evidence that was consistent with two hypotheses, each occupying a different level of abstraction (individual vs. relational causation). Results suggest that adults and toddlers identified multiple candidate causes for an effect, held these possibilities in mind, and flexibly applied the appropriate hypothesis to inform subsequent inferences. These findings challenge previous suggestions that the ability to consider multiple alternatives does not emerge until much later in development.     

The effect of worked examples on student learning and error anticipation in algebra

Instructional Science - The present study examines the effectiveness of incorporating worked examples with prompts for self-explanation into a middle school math textbook. Algebra 1 students...     

Seeing Merit as a Vehicle for Opportunity and Equity: Youth Respond to School Choice Policy

The Urban Review - School choice policy is ubiquitous in urban school districts. Evidence suggests that it has not fully delivered on its proponents’ promises of equitable educational...     

Intellectual property protection mechanisms in research partnerships

A set of US-based companies is investigated regarding the effectiveness of intellectual property protection mechanisms (IPPMs) in the formation of research partnerships. Patents are the most frequently used IPPM to protect both background and foreground knowledge in partnerships. Other IPPMs are used to protect know-how, especially in the early, forming stages of a partnership. Existing IP titles are quite useful when negotiating new partnerships. IPR negotiations are reported to be more complex in horizontal partnerships and when universities are involved.     

Snargets,Mage-Seamasters and Englands of the Mind

The time is right to stand back from the day to day struggle with National Curricula, Literacy Strategies and post 16 initiatives in order to think about fundamental issues concerning subject English. Citing a recent lecture by the ex Chief Executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as an example, this paper argues that policy makers are still deeply preoccupied with linguistic correctness, textual control and national identity. The real agenda, however, has been changed by the advent of electronic communication and increasing globalisation. Having considered some of the implications of this radical change in direction, the paper concludes with the suggestion that the current situation in the former Soviet Union should serve as both a warning and an example of what the future might hold for English.