Several CASE Lessons Can Improve Students’ Control of Variables Reasoning Scheme Ability

This study addressed one aspect of scientific reasoning, the control of variables reasoning scheme. We explored whether a short intervention aimed at accelerating this reasoning scheme by CASE lessons would improve students’ ability to apply this scheme in problems related to the biology curriculum. About 120 students from grade nine were assessed for their Piagetian cognitive level and were divided into two groups, control or intervention. A short intervention of three sessions took place in the intervention group only. Both groups were then instructed on the topic of enzymes according to the biology curriculum and undertook a final exam. The results showed that only 20% of the population acquired the Piagetian formal operations level, in line with previous findings. In addition, it was found that the short intervention had a significant effect on students’ ability to use the control of variables reasoning scheme.     

Using behaviour contracts to decrease antisocial behaviour in four boys with an autistic spectrum disorder at home and at school

This article describes how a behaviour contract has been implemented to achieve positive and enduring results for four boys with a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Four case studies are described which address reductions in behaviours such as assaultive and destructive behaviour, out‐of‐seat behaviour, inappropriate contact with others and loud vocalisations, while also increasing the following of directions in the classroom and at playtimes. The common thread across all of the case studies is the use of the behaviour contract and the link that is built between home and school. The authors suggest that it is this contingent link that is the basis for the success in each of these studies. Based on their research, they believe that the behaviour contract can be considered an important and useful tool in helping address challenging behaviours in children with an ASD. Emma Hawkins is the Director of Education at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and oversees the implementation of strategies at the school to improve the behaviour of the pupils. Grant Gautreaux, from Nicholls State University in Louisiana, consults at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and is a member of the CABAS® Board. All of the remaining authors work at The Jigsaw CABAS® School and have successfully implemented the behaviour contract in their classrooms.     

Patterns and purposes in the uses and misuses of the term ‘critical thinking’ in the social sciences

This article analyses the uses and representations of the term “critical thinking” in the social science literature, based on a qualitative content analysis of titles, abstracts and keywords retrieved from the SCOPUS database for Germany, France and Russia over the last two decades. Our analysis focuses on how the use of the term “critical thinking” has increased over time, in which contexts the term is used and in which part of article texts it is used. Our findings are counterintuitive on several levels. First, the term “critical thinking” is seldom used in a pluri-disciplinary context. More commonly, it is used within specific discourses—notably education. Second, we found that it is mainly used instrumentally, rather than analytically. Third, most of the articles that use the term do not engage in actual critical analysis. There are also important geographic variation in the use of the term. In articles from Germany and Russia the term is used in similar ways—and differently in France. These nuances are difficult to analyse however, due to the different topics addressed, as well as author preferences. The use of the term “critical thinking” is diverse; indeed, at times weak and paradoxical. Finally, we discuss how editorial policy in academic journals possibly influences the discourse on critical thinking.     

Digital competences and long-term ICT integration in school culture: The perspective of elementary school leaders

This study examines how the leaders of technology integration in educational institutions - school principals and ICT facilitators - assess systemic changes that occurred in their schools. The study collected the data from Israeli elementary schools towards the end of the third and the fourth years of the gradual National ICT program. The research questions explored (1) the predictors of the general school ICT culture and (2) changes over time in the general school ICT culture and its components. An online questionnaire was distributed to all elementary schools in the Northern District and filled out jointly by the school principal and ICT facilitator. A total of 392 questionnaires (91.2 % response rate) were analyzed. The following predictors explained 63 % of variance in general school ICT culture: the percent of teachers who frequently use ICT in lessons, using technology for enhance pedagogy, teachers’ digital competence, digital content use, its design by teachers, pedagogical update of class website, school portal update (negative predictor), e-communication within school staff, and teacher-parents e-communication. Regarding the impact of time, the results indicated that between the 3rd and 4th years of ICT integration significant changes still occur in the general school ICT culture and most of its components.     

Dynamic in situ chromosome immobilisation and DNA extraction using localized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) phase transition

A method of in situ chromosome immobilisation and DNA extraction in a microfluidic polymer chip was presented. Light-induced local heating was used to induce poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) phase transition in order to create a hydrogel and embed a single chromosome such that it was immobilised. This was achieved with the use of a near-infrared laser focused on an absorption layer integrated in the polymer chip in close proximity to the microchannel. It was possible to proceed to DNA extraction while holding on the chromosome at an arbitrary location by introducing protease K into the microchannel.     

ESD Pedagogy: A Guide for the Perplexed

This article addresses issues regarding implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within formal education systems. In particular, it seeks to identify the basic essential components of ESD pedagogy. The authors present a theoretical pedagogical framework based on accumulated theory and experience in the field. The framework aspires to encompass the majority of prevailing pedagogies within a simple set of four basic principles. It will be argued that the four principal pedagogies are basic and indispensable prerequisites for achieving the goals of ESD, and the lack of one is sufficient to undermine the ESD's pedagogical construct.     

“Hello! This is Jerusalem calling”: The revival of spoken Hebrew on the Mandatory radio (1936–1948)

ABSTRACT

In this article we argue that an important landmark in the revival of spoken Hebrew has been overlooked by historians, linguists, and culture scholars: The launching of Kol Yerushalayim, the Hebrew Service of British Mandatory Radio, on 30 March 1936. Between 1936 and 1948 the Hebrew Hour became the shared public space in which spoken Hebrew – dynamic, updated, meticulously pronounced – was realized. The important role of the Hebrew radio in the Yishuv can be attributed to five factors that were responsible for the spread of spoken Hebrew among both veterans and newcomers: (1) its ability to reach into listeners’ homes, which served as a metonym for the yet-absent Zionist sovereignty, creating a shared, exclusive Hebrew space; (2) its contribution to the standardization of Hebrew by adopting the Sephardic accent; (3) its enrichment and updating of the language by inventing and suggesting vital neologisms; (4) its institutionalization of regular time-slots for teaching the language; (5) its innovative ways of addressing audiences, who were simultaneously far away and very close, in accordance with the characteristics of the new medium.     

From marginalisation to integration: Arab-Palestinians in Israeli academia

The Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel, one-fifth of the country's population, has been underrepresented in Israeli institutions of higher education since the establishment of the state. This article focuses on the authors’ shared aim of promoting diversity and multiculturalism in institutions of higher education in Israel. It first introduces Arab marginalisation within Israeli society as a whole. Subsequently, it offers a critical overview of existing data and research on the challenges faced by young Arab-Palestinians in higher education institutions in Israel. Based on this indispensable analysis, which clearly shows the numerous obstacles that await Arab-Palestinians on their path to graduation, the article goes on to suggest some required changes. Presenting some useful policy transformations and courses of action, it subsequently introduces multicultural academia as a better conceptual and practical framework for achieving inclusive education.