社区教育的真谛

因为全球化、主权国家的弱化资金与劳动力的流动以及市场侵入我们的生活世界，我相信社区教育工作在今天的世界是首要的。市民社会在民主社会中一直是很重要的，因为市民需要积极参与影响他们生活品质的决策。今天我想谈的是强有力的市民社区的重要性，以及社会运动及市民行动在促进一个更民主的社会所扮演的角色，我也会谈到为何共同学习的观念在培养一般人成为知识创造者———我称之为有社会实践力的知识分子（organicintellectual）———的过程中日益重要。更重要的是我要强调作为成人教育者，我们的角色是什么，当我们说服务“社区”…     

A study of auditory preferences in nonhandicapped infants and infants with Down's syndrome

11 infants with Down's syndrome (MA 9.2 months, CA 12.7 months) and 10 of 11 nonhandicapped infants (MA 9.6 months, CA 9.3 months) demonstrated that they could operate an automated device which enabled them to choose to listen to 1 of a pair of auditory signals. All subjects showed preferential responding. Both groups of infants showed a significant preference for nursery rhymes sung by a female voice rather than played on musical instruments. The infants with Down's syndrome had much longer response durations for the more complex auditory stimuli. The apparatus provides a useful technique for studying language development in both normal and abnormal populations.     

Student Use of Internet Study Rooms for Out-of-Class Group Study in Introductory Biology

This paper describes a pilot study in which undergraduates in an active introductory biology class (Biol 100) used online, virtual study rooms to study together outside of class in small groups. The study was conducted (a) to determine whether students who had access to Internet study rooms would make use of them for out-of-class group study, and (b) to find out how students perceived their online group study experience in comparison with face-to-face group study. Self-reported data were obtained at the time that multiple-choice exams were administered in the large class of Biology 100. The survey was completed by 90 of the students who had signed up for online study rooms. The results indicated that 47 students used their online study rooms to study for the final exam together with other members of their in-class teams. More than half of the students who provided written comments were positive about their online experience. Even those who strongly preferred face-to-face meetings expressed willingness to use online study rooms in a pinch.     

Assessment rubrics: towards clearer and more replicable design,research and practice

‘Rubric’ is a term with a variety of meanings. As the use of rubrics has increased both in research and practice, the term has come to represent divergent practices. These range from secret scoring sheets held by teachers to holistic student-developed articulations of quality. Rubrics are evaluated, mandated, embraced and resisted based on often imprecise and inconsistent understandings of the term. This paper provides a synthesis of the diversity of rubrics, and a framework for researchers and practitioners to be clearer about what they mean when they say ‘rubric’. Fourteen design elements or decision points are identified that make one rubric different from another. This framework subsumes previous attempts to categorise rubrics, and should provide more precision to rubric discussions and debate, as well as supporting more replicable research and practice.     

Children,Stressful Life Events and School Adjustment: an Australian study

A sample of 1,114 urban children ranging in age from 5‐13 years was assessed for the occurrence of 25 stressful life events across the life span. Children reported an average of six events during their lifetimes. Developmental trends and gender differences were noted in terms of certain stressful life events (SLEs). The children were also rated by their teachers on a number of measures of adjustment to school. Children who had experienced three to eight serious SLEs were rated as less well adjusted on a variety of behavioural measures than those children who had experienced no such serious life events.     

Student perspectives of engagement in learning in contemporary and digital contexts

ABSTRACT

Increasing significance has been ascribed to student engagement, as a measure of success of both teachers and programs. However, since users of the term commonly tend not to explain, rationalise or problematise their understanding of engagement, its value to understand or transform learning may be limited. While clarification has occurred in conceptual work, there is a lack of empirical work that extends beyond understandings of engagement-as-behaviour, as well as insufficient work exploring what students understand engagement to be. Further, much work on engagement is rooted in physical campuses and face-to-face delivery, which represents an incomplete picture of how students actually engage in study. This article investigates student perceptions of engagement in two blended learning Initial Teacher Education programs. It offers a critical discussion of how research can be re-considered in light of changing learning contexts and changing understandings of ways to investigate engagement. The findings of this study support previous work that found multiple levels and meanings of student engagement exist. New complex and multidimensional models of engagement are proposed, which can open new possibilities for designing studies and analysing findings. This article argues that including and questioning physical, virtual and political contexts and power, affect, relationships, linearity and essential measurability are important features of new models of engagement.     

The effect of teacher intervention on object manipulation in young children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of limited oral and physical teacher intervention on object manipulation by preschool and early elementary children. The population consisting of 70 children, three, four, five, and six years old from two preschools and two kindergarten classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Children were observed as they manipulated magnets in classroom settings. Experimental students had the objects placed in their hands and were orally invited to explore. Results showed that there were significant differences between the groups in total time spent with the objects, number of activities performed, and cognitive level of operation. No significant differences were found in the number of contacts or in the interactive effects of treatment and testing day. The findings suggest that teacher roles may have an effect on student exploration and quality of interaction with unfamiliar objects.     

Humanizing disciplinary literacy pedagogy for Dinka refugee children

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This response to Fleer, Adams & Gunstone builds upon “Transformative pedagogy: Dinka playgroups as spaces for cultural knowledge productions of...     

Teacher Questions During Story-book Readings: Who's Building Whose Building?

The way in which a story is interpreted by children is heavily influenced by the teacher's questioning strategies and their responses to children. In this article, Phil Kirby explores the nature and operation of such questions during story-book reading. His purpose is to encourage teachers to look carefully at their own question strategies and the ways in which these might constrain or limit children's responses.     

Students with Self-identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (si-SEND): Flourishing or Languishing!

Students’ wellbeing is an essential component of their ability to function well, not only at school but also in all life domains. Many studies have investigated student wellbeing. However, empirical studies about the wellbeing of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are scarce. Furthermore, many studies have adopted a deficit view of wellbeing and mental [ill]-health. This study adopted a more positive perspective. We administered a questionnaire assessing social-emotional and psychological wellbeing, global self-concept, resilience, bullying, mental ill-health and school satisfaction to 1930 students, aged 13–15 years, who were attending seven mainstream schools in South Australia. Of those students, 172 self-identified as having SEND. Results showed significant differences, with students who self-identified with SEND not faring as well as other students on all measures. In particular, just over one third (39.9%) of students who self-identified as having SEND reported that they were flourishing, compared with just over half (57.6%) of the students who did not indicate that they had special needs. The findings indicate that more attention needs to be given to designing and implementing supports to improve the wellbeing and school satisfaction of students who self-identify as having SEND.