‘You’re actually the problem’: manifestations of populist masculinist anxieties in Australian higher education

In 2016 the world witnessed a consolidation of a western brand of political ‘populist authoritarianism’ that is anti-globalisationalist and creates ‘shared objects of loathing’ in the popular imagination. This article engages with the implications of this affective and masculinist ‘post-truth’ era for higher education and analyses the narratives of teacher educators who teach compulsory classes based on inclusion and diversity. The article uses the work of feminist, Indigenous and queer theorists to explore gendered responses to pedagogical encounters recounted in the data. We offer a reading of these experiences that links white male objections, particularly around the teaching of gender and race, to the growth of neoconservatism that precipitated the contemporary rise of populist authoritarianism. The pedagogical encounters we explore reflect the notion that the Australian white male is a figure who is brought undone by allowing the subaltern to speak.     

Postcolonial foldings of space and identity in science education: limits, transformations, prospects

The four essays reviewed here constitute a worthwhile attempt to discuss various aspects of postcolonial theory, and offer constructive ideas to ongoing academic as well as public conversations with respect to whether science education can meet the challenges of educating an increasingly diverse population in the 21st century. These essays are grounded in the assumption that it is difficult to make meaningful and transformative changes in science education so that educators’ efforts take into consideration the dramatic changes (i.e., diverse culture and racial origins, language, economic status etc.) of ‘an era of globalization’ in order to meet the demands of today’s schools. Each of these four essays problematizes various aspects of the social and cultural conditions of science education nowadays using different ‘postcolonial’ ideas to interpret the implications for science learning and teaching. Although the term ‘postcolonial’ has certainly multiple meanings in the literature, we use this term here to describe the philosophical position of these essays to challenge long-standing and hegemonic practices and taken-for-granted assumptions in science education. Through critical analysis of these essays, we engage in a dialogue with the authors, focusing on two of what seem crucial issues in understanding the potential contributions as well as the risks of postcolonial concepts in science education; these issues are space and identity. We choose these issues because they permeate all four essays in interesting and often provocative ways.

Methods of teaching on-line bibliographic searching: Experience at the College of Librarianship Wales

We have been teaching students about on-line bibliographic searching since 1972. With the help of British Library Research and Development Department funding we have recently extended our teaching in this area and now use services such as Lockheed, System Development Corporation and the British Library's BLAISE. This paper discusses aspects of the design of courses on on-line bibliographic searching, describes various methods we have used to demonstrate searches to students in order to prepare them for undertaking a live search themselves, and compares the relative costs, in terms of system costs and staff time, of these methods. The methods of demonstration involve the playing back of recorded searches on videotape, audio cassettes and digital cassettes as well as live demonstration and may be of interest to other teachers of library and information science students or to those involved in the training of people to carry out on-line bibliographic searching.     

I. CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONAL CARE: DELAYED DEVELOPMENT AND RESILIENCE

Children exposed to institutional care often suffer from “structural neglect” which may include minimum physical resources, unfavorable and unstable staffing patterns, and socially emotionally inadequate caregiver‐child interactions. This chapter is devoted to the analysis of the ill effects of early institutional experiences on resident children's development. Delays in the important areas of physical, hormonal, cognitive, and emotional development are discussed. The evidence for and against the existence of a distinctive set of co‐occurring developmental problems in institutionalized children is weighed and found to not yet convincingly demonstrate a “postinstitutional syndrome.” Finally, shared and nonshared features of the institutional environment and specific genetic, temperamental, and physical characteristics of the individual child are examined that might make a crucial difference in whether early institutional rearing leaves irreversible scars.     

In the spirit of William Georgetti: scrutiny of a prestigious national scholarship selection process

Postgraduate scholarship programmes are increasingly important for supporting gifted students from diverse backgrounds. Systems and processes in the application, determination and delivery of scholarships must be robust, transparent, accountable and equitable. However, they are rarely evaluated. One of the most prestigious scholarships in New Zealand – the William Georgetti Scholarship – is investigated here for the impact of student’s grade point averages (GPAs) and sex on applicant’s progression, the level of agreement between Scholarship Board member rankings, and whether applicants or members’ sex is material to any outcomes. Data from 2007 to 2015 were extracted, and contained 301 applicants considered for shortlisting, 78 who were shortlisted and 60 successful recipients evaluated by 17 Scholarship Board members (5 female, 12 male). Mean GPAs significantly increased over time amongst applicants, those shortlisted, and those successful. While 60% of applicants were female, only 49% of those shortlisted were female; however, this was explained by GPA differences. Some 52% of successful applicants were female. Ranking discordance amongst members was relatively high, but no differential sex biases were noted. The empirical results suggest that current systems and processes are consistent with the scholarship’s deed, although the difference in GPA scores between female and male applicants is of concern.     

We read,we write: reconsidering reading–writing relationships in primary school children

The extent to which children's reading experiences influence their writing production is not well understood. It is imperative that the connections between these literacy practices are elucidated in order to inform the development of stimulating curricula and to support children's development. This paper presents new data and key findings from a project investigating relationships between children's free choice reading and volitional writing in Key Stage 2 (9–10 years). The data were collected in two primary schools in northern England, using mixed methods. Quantitative data were collected using an online reading survey taken by 170 children, and qualitative data were provided through independent writing journals maintained by 38 participants. Through analysis of the data using a multiliteracies approach, we demonstrate that the writing that children choose to do is influenced by the texts they encounter as readers in terms of content, text type and linguistic style. The child readers in this project encountered texts in different media and created texts in a range of genres. By examining a sample of children's written texts from the data set, we show that children's interactions and transactions with texts as readers and writers are complex and multiple. Children creatively work across media, and in doing so the boundaries of traditional text genres and styles are redeveloped and redesigned. These findings highlight the importance of providing children with opportunities to freely choose and create texts and recognising the wide variety of text experiences that children bring to their classroom learning.     

Artificial intelligence behind the scenes: PubMed's Best Match algorithm

This article focuses on PubMed''s Best Match sorting algorithm, presenting a simplified explanation of how it operates and highlighting how artificial intelligence affects search results in ways that are not seen by users. We further discuss user search behaviors and the ethical implications of algorithms, specifically for health care practitioners. PubMed recently began using artificial intelligence to improve the sorting of search results using a Best Match option. In 2020, PubMed deployed this algorithm as the default search method, necessitating serious discussion around the ethics of this and similar algorithms, as users do not always know when an algorithm uses artificial intelligence, what artificial intelligence is, and how it may impact their everyday tasks. These implications resonate strongly in health care, in which the speed and relevancy of search results is crucial but does not negate the importance of a lack of bias in how those search results are selected or presented to the user. As a health care provider will not often venture past the first few results in search of a clinical decision, will Best Match help them find the answers they need more quickly? Or will the algorithm bias their results, leading to the potential suppression of more recent or relevant results?     

A comparison of the Kaufman brief intelligence test (K-BIT) with the Stanford-Binet,a two-subtest short form,and the Kaufman test of educational achievement (K-TEA) brief form

The relationship between the K-BIT, the Stanford-Binet, a two-subtest short form, and the K-TEA was examined with a population of 75 academically referred students. The K-BIT correlated significantly with the Stanford-Binet (.81) and the K-TEA Math (.57), Reading (.58), and Spelling (.47) scores. The mean K-BIT IQ Composite (76.5) averaged 5.1 points lower than the mean Stanford-Binet Test Composite (81.6). The results tend to support the use of the K-BIT as a screening instrument when the Stanford-Binet is the follow-up or comprehensive measure of intelligence.     

Thinking about your running movement makes you less efficient: attentional focus effects on running economy and kinematics

A number of studies have shown that attentional focus instructions can effect running economy. This study assessed spiroergometry, as well as running kinematics as a possible mechanism to explain these effects. Twelve runners had to focus their attention on either their running movement, their breathing or on a video while running on a treadmill at a set, submaximum speed. Spiroergometry and running kinematics were measured. Results revealed worse running economy in both internal focus conditions (breathing and movement) compared to the external focus condition (video), replicating previous findings. In addition, vertical oscillation during the running movement was elevated in the movement compared to the video condition, indicating a less efficient running style. No changes in kinematics were found for the breathing compared to the video condition. Therefore, consciously focusing on the running movement moves runners away from their optimised running pattern and leads to detriments in economy. The decreases in running economy in the breathing condition can be better explained by changes in breathing patterns.     

Collaboration in,Collaboration Out: The Eighties in the Age of Digital Reproduction

In this article I bring together the practical, pedagogical and theoretical implications of a relatively small digitization project, ‘Observing the 80s’, in order to explore the ways in which ‘the digital’ might transform historical practice. Borrowing from Benjamin’s work on production and reproduction I argue that not only are historians currently using digital tools in interesting ways, we are also well equipped to understand what the implications of these tools are. By thinking about digitalization, we can draw together the processes of production, analysis and reception of our historical evidence. Digital technology may only have become the subject of historical research, funding and teaching relatively recently, but the frameworks of cultural and social history provide us with the skills to evaluate its potential meanings. Not least, Benjamin helps us to analyze and evaluate what it really means to be a historian researcher and teacher in a British University today. In so doing, Benjamin’s work can help us uncover and celebrate the unknown through a process of collaboration, juxtaposition and engagement despite the increasingly quantified and goals orientated context in which most academic historical work takes place.