The use of work-based learning pedagogical perspectives to inform flexible practice within higher education

The renewed emphasis on developing flexible learning practices in higher education (HE) underscores the importance of understanding pedagogies for students who are based in the workplace or undertake significant work-related elements of study. This paper draws on research that explores how work-based learning (WBL) pedagogy operates in UK HE using three main perspectives that help to conceptualise the existing range of practice: discipline-centred, learner-centred and employer-centred. Data were collected from 20 academic practitioners with expertise in WBL using qualitative interviews, documents and observations at 14 different institutions from 7 regions in England. The research findings suggest that there are both commonalities and distinctive attributes across the range of practice that influence how academics develop and orient their pedagogy. It is argued that the characteristics and discursive features of these WBL perspectives present pedagogical approaches that could be adapted to inform more flexible mainstream provision.     

A Longitudinal Comparison of the Social Behavior of Young Children with Disabilities During Exchanges with Adults and Familiar Playmates

This study was designed to describe the changes in the social exchanges of young children with disabilities with their mothers and with a familiar playmate over a 16-month period. Thirty children were observed for 15-minute sessions with each partner for four data points. Data were analyzed using a modification of a coding system developed by Vandell and Wilson (1979) to determine changes in the frequency, complexity, and content of the social exchanges. Results indicated that children engaged in more exchanges over time, and that these exchanges became more completely social. In addition, children showed more vocal behavior and more object-related acts over the 16-month period of the study.     

Education and liberalism: pursuing the link

This paper uses data from the 1970 Birth Cohort Study in the UK to explore the well-established link between ‘liberal’ social values and education. Whilst the link itself is well-established, the underlying mechanism is not; the paper explores empirically mechanisms that have been proposed for this link. In particular it considers the effects of social background, ‘ability’, personal efficacy and field of study on social values to explore both direct and indirect effects of education. The paper finds that, whilst there are important effects of social background and ability on social values, these do not explain the effect of educational attainment. Moreover, differences according to field of study suggest that the most likely mechanism linking education with liberal values is one of socialisation.     

Complexity in Science Learning: Measuring the Underlying Dynamics of Persistent Mistakes

Abstract

Mistaken beliefs pose a barrier to science learning. For this reason, it is important to understand the circumstances in which they emerge and change. In the current paper, we apply complexity theory to shed light on the nature of mistaken beliefs. The strength of this approach lies in conceptualizing beliefs as dynamic stabilities, a well-defined construct that can be indexed precisely. For example, Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA) can determine the presence of dynamic stabilities by analyzing variability in time-series data. We applied this analytical tool to probe for mistaken beliefs in a beam-balancing task, a task that is known to elicit mistaken beliefs in preschoolers. Using a case-study design with four preschoolers, we tracked children’s hand position with motion sensors as they balanced various beams. The resulting time series of hand position was submitted to RQA, yielding two important results: First, we found that consistent mistakes in trying to balance the beams were not always accompanied by dynamic stability. This undermines the common assumption that overt consistency in task performance is sufficient to conclude the presence of beliefs. Second, we found strong individual differences over time, as children explored the balance beams. Applications to science education are discussed.

• Highlights

• A classical task of beam balancing was used to explore the underlying dynamics of children’s mistaken beliefs.

• Moment-to-moment hand movements were tracked and subjected to a multi-dimensional recurrence quantification analysis (RQA).

• Dynamic stability was captured through percent laminarity (%LAM), a measure of rigidity in children’s explorations.

• The RQA measure of %LAM shed light on patterns of stability that were not available from the analysis of overt behavior.

• In line with complexity theory, a model of persistent mistakes is offered that has important implications for science education.

     

Technology’s Non-Neutrality: Past Lessons Can Help Guide Today’s Classrooms

The benefits of classroom computers and associated technologies seem to be an accepted truism with those who question the benefits often dismissed as intractable Luddites. Educational technology has become big business both commercially and academically for today’s increasingly high-tech classrooms. Clearly, computers mark changes—permanent changes—in the way everyone lives, learns, works, and interacts globally. Ellul, Norman, and Postman, among others, have focused on the application of a technology and not on the “box” itself. All three have warned that although educators’ focus should be on the application, it is the characteristic of technology itself that shapes the future. History is replete with lessons and voices that support these warnings and provide a foundation for reasoned discussions of any technology’s Faustian bargains and its often unanticipated uses and consequences. The topic and open debate could not be more crucial or timeless, for how young minds, mental habits, and values are shaped in classrooms around the world affects everyone.     

Windows,Bridges and Mirrors: Building Culturally Responsive Early Childhood Classrooms through the Integration of Literacy and the Arts

This article investigates how instructors can utilize the integration of early literacy skills and the arts to cultivate the appreciation and celebration of cultures in early childhood classrooms. The theoretical framework is developed through three personal accounts establishing a rationale for the importance of a viable home to school connection for young children. Finally, the suggested activities support the transference of theory into classroom practice.     

Individual differences in RAN and reading: a response timing analysis

Thirty 8–11‐year‐old children were administered tests of rapid naming (RAN letters and digits) and reading‐related skills. Consistent with the hypothesis that RAN predicts reading because it assesses the ability to establish arbitrary mappings between visual symbols and verbal labels, RAN accounted for independent variance in exception word reading when phonological skills were controlled. Response timing analysis of different components of RAN digits and letters revealed that neither average item duration nor average pause duration were unique predictors of reading skill. However, the number of pauses on digit naming predicted unique variance in exception word reading. Moreover, better readers paused more strategically than poorer readers (e.g. more often at the ends of lines). We suggest that rapid automatised naming may in part reflect differences in strategic control that are a result of differences in reading practice and experience.     

Educating to Build Bridges

In March 2012, 30 faculty and 49 students from all over the world met in El Calafate, Argentina, during two intense weeks. It was the second Latin American School for Education, Cognitive, and Neural Sciences (LASchool), sponsored by the James S. McDonnell Foundation. The LA School seeks to critically examine research findings potentially relevant to the development, design, and implementation of effective educational practices, and to foster a new generation of researchers able to operate at the interface between education and science. Here we introduce a special issue which brings together theory, experiments, and educational interventions which emerged from ideas presented and discussed during the 2012 LASchool.     

Development project (2001 – 2004) of school staff and occupational health nurses as a promoter of occupational wellbeing—Staff's evaluations

This article reports on school staff's and occupational health nurses' development project (2001 – 2004), which aimed to promote school staff's occupational wellbeing by activities to maintain the ability to work in 12 comprehensive schools in Finland. The effects of the project were evaluated based on a follow-up study questionnaire presented to the staff (n = 141) in the years 2002 and 2004. During the 2 years of development, the staff's satisfaction with the activities to maintain their ability to work notably increased. Positive development was also seen in the different aspects of occupational wellbeing (working conditions, working community, worker and work, professional competence). These results cannot be generalized widely, but they can be considered as suggestive in comparable situations. Consequently, the portrayal of the development project and the results of the staff's evaluations are valuable in planning projects concerning occupational wellbeing for school and other working communities.     

Climate Change in the Mainstream Turkish Press: Coverage Trends and Meaning Dimensions in the First Attention Cycle

This article examines how climate change is represented by the mainstream press in a developing country context characterized by long-term avoidance of the issue. Study 1 establishes the issue coverage trends in two mainstream Turkish newspapers (1997–2013). Study 2 focuses on the news sections of these papers that were used for reporting about the issue in the first attention cycle (1997–2009) to summarize the knowledge and meaning dimensions presented to the Turkish public sphere. The findings show that the issue became part of the press agenda only after the mid-2000s, with a peak in 2007 (Study 1), and that climate change is represented as anthropogenic and alarming/uncontroversial, by drawing on dramatic consequences. These are constructed simultaneously as already “out there” in the country, and as to be dealt with globally, that is, from outside (Study 2). We discuss the findings by linking them to findings from other developing countries.