Developing attitude to science scales for use with children of ages from five to eleven years

This paper reports on the development stages of three attitudes to science and school scales for use with children aged from 5-11 years. The investigation is part of a project intended to improve pupil achievement in science in 16 schools in an English city. The base-line performance of the attitude scales with over 800 pupils is reported. Attitude sub-scales measure 'liking school', 'independent investigator', 'science enthusiasm', the 'social context' of science, and 'science as a difficult subject' with Cronbach Alpha reliabilities for the year groups varying from above 0.8 to below 0.7. For the sample, both boys' and girls' enthusiasm for science declines progressively with age alongside a similar decline in their perception that science is difficult.     

World–processing and Writing Skills: Practical Applications to Language Teaching Text Books

This paper demonstrates the viability and usefulness of word processing as a pedagogical tool for developing writing skills in the language classroom. Although the specific context is English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the applications are relevant to all language teachers working in primary, secondary or tertiary levels.
The paper illustrates some possible ways into this important and ever growing aspect of education technology. It is written for language teachers who are either completely new to this field or who have some experience which they would like to develop further.     

Globalisation,Citizenship and the Education of Adults in Contemporary European Society

It is argued in this paper that globalisation is undermining the state and, therefore, calling for a reconsideration of the concept of citizenship. But education has generally reproduced the dominant culture, which is increasingly becoming influenced by the global economic market. Education is reproducing this culture. Adult education, however, has traditionally stood outside of the institutionalised education sector and has served a more democratic and radical function, but as it is being institutionalised it will lose this function - although some areas of adult education will remain outside of this process and be able to be more important.     

Three approaches to measuring children's perceptions about technology

Abstract

This paper reports the development and use of three instruments which comprise a comprehensive technique for describing children's perceptions about technology. The instruments are a questionnaire for upper primary school children, a quiz using pictures instead of written items for lower primary school children and, for both age‐groups, a combined writing/drawing activity which complements the questionnaire or quiz. The instruments are designed to cater for children from a range of age levels, provide information helpful to teachers about children's perceptions of technology, and be suitable for use in research. The instruments were trialled in a total of 28 classes in Western Australian schools and construct validity established by examining the pattern of responses between pairs of instruments completed by the same children. The teachers stated that participating in the processes of developing and administering the instruments was useful and gave them valuable information about children's views of technology.     

Global policy agencies and visions for twenty-first century lifelong education

The Community University (CU) movement in Taiwan arose from calls for education reform and social change in the country since the last decade. In 1998 the first CU, Wenshan CU, operated by local activists and grass‐roots groups, was established in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, as an outgrowth of a popular rally for education reform in 1994. Within five years, the movement blossomed into more than 66 independent CUs spreading all over Taiwan, with locally hinted diversities (as of 2003). Since then, social activists from areas including community building, environmental action, labour, aboriginal and feminist movements, culture and the arts etc., have found their niches in CUs. As a critical review, this paper first highlights contexts, rationales and methodologies of CUs. To further discussion, contributions and issues embedded in methodologies and difficulties from practice are also analysed. Finally, conclusions and suggestions are provided to help find a way out of the current constraints for CUs.