Handling math expressions in economics: recoding spreadsheet teaching tool of growth models

In the present paper, we develop a teaching methodology for economic theory. The main contribution of this paper relies on combining the interactive characteristics of spreadsheet programs such as Excel and Unicode plain-text linear format for mathematical expressions. The advantage of Unicode standard rests on its ease for writing and reading mathematical expressions. In this sense, our proposal allows incorporating an easily readable and writable methodology to cope with math expressions when interactive spreadsheets are used and designed in Economics teaching. The resulting nearly plain text can be used with few or no modifications in other numerical computing programs.     

Educating students with FASD: linking policy,research and practice

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD ) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disability with significant implications for learning and behaviour. International research suggests that the prevalence of FASD in school‐aged children is 2.3–6.3%. In this paper, we address the questions: (1) what is FASD ; (2) what is the prevalence of FASD in schools; (3) what is the impact of FASD ; and (4) why develop special FASD education strategies and programmes? We summarise the 18‐year history of W innipeg S chool D ivision's development of its FASD P rogramme of services, describe the specialised FASD classrooms and then present the results from a consensus‐generating workshop comprised of 36 FASD education professionals, with over 209 years of collective FASD education programme experience, who were asked to identify and reach consensus on best strategies and lessons learned in FASD education programmes. We then suggest that effectively educating children with FASD is critical to get right if positive educational outcomes are to be realised.     

Multiculturalism: An as if phenomenon

Multiculturalism has come to have multiple meanings depending on the context and voice it is given. In higher education it has become a symbol for particular notions about minority and majority groups, and their places in the institution. While multicultural affairs and concerns at academic institutions appear to be genuinely supported and give the impression of commitment, they are, on closer inspection, a superficial and reactionary response to environmental pressures. Multicultural initiatives are not integrated into the very heart of the institution, but, rather, relegated to a cursory importance that, while genuinely intended, maintains the status quo. This paper attempts to closely examine the process of multiculturalism in small liberal arts colleges from the perspective of a minority faculty and administrator. That is, from a simultaneous position of subject and object.     

Connecting languages: the use of the portfolio as a means of exploring and overcoming frontiers within the curriculum

The Linguistic European Policy stresses the importance of linguistic diversity and encourages students to learn several languages, believing that the more languages we know, the better we can understand each other and preserve our languages. To preserve diversity and to value all the languages (either included in the curriculum or not) is a first step to develop a plurilingual and intercultural competence in the classroom as a means of overcoming frontiers between languages and between people. A second step is to work with teachers and to value what they know by helping them to find new and innovative answers to meet these professional challenges. Thus, this paper describes the work within a project for professional development of a group of in‐service language teachers. The teacher education programme suggests a portfolio‐oriented language learning and teaching approach that promotes plurilingualism. We will analyse the teachers' starting point and their willingness to work within an innovative and challenging approach. The analysed data include a questionnaire prior to the starting of the programme and three written reflections at the end of the programme concerning professional development, new concepts, teaching approach and working habits. The conclusions indicate that the teachers were not familiar with either the concept of plurilingualism or the portfolio‐oriented language learning and teaching approach. Nevertheless, they clearly show their willingness to try a new approach in their teaching practice.

La politique linguistique européenne défend l'importance de la diversité linguistique et encourage l'apprentissage de diverses langues, en croyant que la maîtrise de plusieurs langues augmente la capacité de comprendre les autres et de préserver nos propres langues. Préserver et valoriser toutes les langues (présentes, ou pas, dans le curriculum scolaire) est le début du développement de la compétence plurilingue et interculturelle. Ceci constitue un moyen de dépasser les barrières entre des langues et des peuples différents. Un deuxième pas est le travail avec les enseignants, en valorisant leurs connaissances et en les aidant à découvrir de nouvelles réponses, capables de faire face aux défis de la gestion de la diversité. Cet article décrit le travail mené au sein d'un programme de formation continue destiné à un groupe d'enseignants de langues. Ce programme de formation se construit autour d'une approche plurilingue où le portfolio est le concept‐clé. Le texte présente l'analyse du point de départ des enseignants, en explicitant leurs prédispositions à travailler d'une autre façon. Les données analysées incluent les réponses à un questionnaire antérieur au programme de formation et trois réflexions écrites à la fin de ce même programme à propos du développement professionnel (nouveaux concepts, nouvelle approche, nouvelles habitudes). Les résultats montrent que les enseignants n'étaient familiarisés ni avec le concept de plurilinguisme ni avec l'utilisation du portfolio. Toutefois, les enseignants révèlent le désir d'essayer une nouvelle approche dans leurs pratiques d'enseignement.

La política lingüística europea defiende la importancia de la diversidad lingüística y alienta a aprender varios idiomas, en la convicción de que cuantos más idiomas sabemos, mejor podemos entendernos y preservar nuestros idiomas. Preservar y valorar todas las lenguas (estén o no presentes en el currículum) es un primer paso para desarrollar una capacidad plurilingüe e intercultural en clase, que se convierte en un medio de superar las barreras entre idiomas y entre pueblos. Un segundo paso es trabajar con profesores, valorando lo que saben y ayudándolos a descubrir nuevas e innovadoras respuestas para su desarrollo profesional en momentos de cambios. Este escrito describe el trabajo llevado a cabo en el marco de un proyecto para el desarrollo profesional de un grupo de profesores en un instituto, a partir de un programa de formación sobre enseñanza y aprendizaje de idiomas basado en el porfolio. Analizaremos el punto de partida de su camino y la predisposición para trabajar un abordaje innovador y desafiante del currículum. Los datos analizados incluyen las respuestas a un cuestionario anterior al programa de formación y tres reflexiones escritas en el término de ese programa, sobre desarrollo profesional, nuevos conceptos y hábitos de trabajo. Las conclusiones indican que los profesores no estaban familiarizados ni con el concepto de plurilingüismo ni con la enseñanza y aprentisage de idiomas basado en el porfolio. Sin embargo, evidencian predisposición para intentar nuevos abordajes en sus practicas profesionales.

Die Europäische Sprachenpolitik legt grossen Wert auf die linguistische Vielfalt. Eine der Prioritäten ist demnach, Schüler zum Erlernen mehrerer Fremdsprachen zu motivieren. Diese Idee basiert auf der Grundlage, dass das Erlernen mehrerer Sprachen nicht nur eine bessere Verständigung zwischen Kulturen ermöglicht, sondern auch die eigene Sprache und Kultur erhält. Die linguistische Vielfalt zu erhalten und grossen Wert auf alle Sprachen zu legen (im Lehrplan beinhaltet oder nicht) stellt einen ersten Schritt dar, eine mehrsprachige und interkulturelle Kompetenz im Klassenzimmer zu entwickeln, zur Überwindung von Grenzen zwischen Sprachen und Leuten. Ein zweiter Schritt ist die Arbeit mit Lehrern, in der deren Vorkenntnisse wichtig genommen werden und ihnen damit geholfen werden soll, neue Antworten für die entsprechenden beruflichen Herausforderungen auszuarbeiten. In diesem Vortrag soll die Zusammenarbeit mit einer Lehrergruppe im Rahmen einer beruflichen Weiterbildung beschrieben werden. Das Lehrerausbildungsprogramm schlägt ein portfolio‐orientiertes Sprachlernen und Unterrichten vor, das Sprachenvielfalt fördert. Es soll analysiert werden, aus welchen Ausgangspunkten die Lehrer kommen und welche Bereitschaft sie zu einer innovativen Unterrichtspraxis zeigen. Die analysierten Daten, ein Fragebogen vor Programmbeginn und drei schriftliche Reflexionen am Ende des Programms, beziehen sich auf professionelle Entwicklung neuer Konzepte, Unterrichtspraxis und Arbeitsmitte. Die Schluβfolgerungen zeigen, dass die Lehrer weder mit dem Konzept der Mehrsprachigkeit noch mit dem portfolio‐orientierten Sprachlernen und Unterrichten vertraut waren. Andererseits deuten sie auf eine Bereitwilligkeit von Seiten der Lehrer, eine neue Herangehensweise ihre Unterrichtspraxis zu erproben.     

Photovoice as a research method for higher education research

ABSTRACT

Higher education (HE) research often draws on a range of qualitative research approaches. However, some methods developed in other fields are underutilised in HE research, even though they could be of great use for answering particular kinds of research questions, or for involving students more actively in the research process. In this article, we draw on a study that piloted different methodological approaches to explore students’ conceptions of good teaching and effective learning at university. The participants in our study included 33 high achieving international, Māori, Pacific Island, and (other) local students enrolled in Humanities subjects. Our study used photovoice as a visual data collection approach in conjunction with more traditional methods of data collection: open-ended focus group questions and critical incident technique. In this article, we review the photovoice literature, which is mostly from outside HE. Then, we describe our study, discussing the students’ responses to photovoice, and the different kinds of data it elicited. We note that, while most students expressed appreciation of the photovoice approach, some also found it restrictive and challenging in some respects. We conclude, photovoice offers a useful methodological addition to HE research, while noting, as with all data collection approaches, researchers need to be mindful of its limitations.     

Preventive Conservation: People,Objects, Place and Time in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Preventive conservation, with its origins grounded in the material fabric of cultural material, is in a period of transformation, with numerous practitioners, in and outside of the field of conservation, considering its broader and holistic objectives. The conventional tools for the assertion of preventive conservation principles, namely the assessment and management of risks to cultural material from the ‘ten agents of deterioration’, have a central focus on the primacy of physical materials and degradation, with less clear relationships with people, place, and time in their modelling. With a case study focus on collections in the Philippines, this paper argues for a practice of preventive conservation that incorporates a balanced assessment and broader thinking around the contexts of objects, people, place, and time. The case studies of ecclesiastical Church collections, and museum environments in the Philippines, demonstrate how the interdependency of objects, people, place and time forms a holistic and conceptual preventive conservation framework. Through a cyclic renegotiation of these four parameters, this paper speculates on the gaps and opportunities for an inclusive view of preventive conservation that is current and more sustainable.     

Coupling tendencies during exploratory behaviours of competing players in rugby union dyads

This study investigated interpersonal coordination tendencies in 1vs.1 dyads in rugby union, here expressed by participants' movement velocity towards or away from the sideline as they competed to score or prevent a try. We examined whether coupling tendencies of members of each dyad shaped key performance outcomes (try or successful tackle). Data on movement displacement trajectories of eight male rugby union players (aged 11–12 years) were analysed during performance in 47 trials. To assess coordination tendencies during exploratory behaviours in the dyads, analyses of performance time series data were undertaken using variable time graphs, running correlations and cross-correlations. Results revealed distinct coupling patterns characterised by shifts between synchronous coordination and asynchronous coordination tendencies and uncoordinated actions. Observed behaviours were interpreted as attempts of competing participants to create and perceive possibilities for action while seeking to achieve specific performance goals. Findings also revealed that a variety of patterned relations between participants resulted in different performance outcomes.