Reach to Teach ICT: Issues and Compromises

This paper outlines some implications for pupils’ learning and for teachers of information and communication technology (ICT) in primary or elementary education of using complete ‘reach and teach’ resource and lesson plan solutions to support a national scheme of work. The example resources referenced in the paper are ‘The LCP ICT Resource Files for Schools’, designed to enable teachers to deliver the ICT National Curriculum requirements for England and are structured to closely follow the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) scheme of work. The authors of the LCP ICT Resource Files became aware that there was a widespread takeup of their materials and that, therefore, the resources had potentially a substantial impact upon practice in many schools.Models of curriculum provision are presented and characteristics of good practice are adduced which the author recommends to those who write, review or evaluate complete teaching solutions for ICT.     

Testing the efficacy of team teaching

This study examines differences between team-taught and solo-taught sections of a graduate introductory course on research and statistics in terms of student perceptions and achievement. Factor analysis of survey data confirmed three factors: comfort with research and statistics; the relationship of research and statistics to work; and interest in research and statistics. Pre- and post-survey and achievement data were gathered, as were demographic data. T-test and MANCOVA results indicated: no significant achievement differences based on teaching format; a significant pre-post difference for all students on one factor (comfort with research and statistics); and only one significant difference (relationship between work and research and statistics) based on learning environment.     

Independent inquiry and the undergraduate dissertation: perceptions and experiences of final‐year social science students

This article reports on findings from a research project that investigated the experiences and perceptions of final‐year social science undergraduates enrolled on a dissertation module in a post‐1992 UK university. The dissertation was designed to provide students with the opportunity to function autonomously and determine the content and focus of a major part of their study and assessment. Using data from interviews and questionnaires, the article explores the students’ lived experience of the dissertation as a form of independent learning and assessment, the challenges they encountered, and their perceptions of peer and tutor support. While students valued the autonomy, authenticity, and ownership they felt in relation to their dissertation, they also experienced considerable ­challenges, particularly in relation to ‘time’.     

The Course Experience Questionnaire: Altering question format and phrasing could improve the CEQ's effectiveness

Two studies considered whether the Course Experience Questionnaire's (CEQ) question format was the most appropriate for the CEQ's purpose. In the first, comparisons were made against two alternative but minimalist variations on the standard format. None of three tests showed the standard format to be superior. In the second, students reported the thinking used in deciding their responses on a sample of specific CEQ questions. Those reports uniformly showed responses to be decided by the recall of particular, concrete and personal experiences prompted by a question, and not by the overviewing implicitly assumed by the standard format. The implications drawn are that the systematic trialing of alternative question forms could well result in improved performance of the CEQ as an instrument, and that those alternative forms should probably be constrained to those directly prompting the recall of personal experience, but in more guided fashion than seems presently to occur.     

Embodied experiences: Critical insights from Dewey for contemporary education

ABSTRACT

Background: Reflecting increased cross-disciplinary interest in the significance of the body in education, this paper considers that a greater appreciation of John Dewey’s conceptualisations of experience and habit would benefit contemporary theory- and practice-related concerns.

Sources of evidence and main argument: The paper draws upon pragmatist-informed epistemological insights into the nature of experience and the habitual body from John Dewey. In doing so, the paper highlights how embodied experiences could become more central to realising a diverse range of educational goals. These include contexts where students appreciate that embodied learning practices can play a reconstructive part in shaping their identity, as well as the culture and school environments they share with others.

Conclusion: The paper concludes by exemplifying and critiquing some conceptual possibilities which recognise the benefits of intensifying bodily experiences and cultivating related habits in everyday contemporary schooling.     

The pupil as philosopher

Discussion of the need for an understanding of the philosophy of science to inform classroom practice is mostly directed at clarifying the nature of science, the history of science, the nature of scientific evidence, and the nature of scientific method for curriculum developers and teachers. The discussion assumes no input from pupils. The constructivist perspective, however, assumes that pupils do not come to lessons with blank minds. What insights and questions do students bring to lessons about issues relevant to the philosophy and history of science? Can these be used to develop understanding? Classroom discussions about the energy concept imply that students have valuable ideas and questions related to the exploration of philosophical issues. Rather than developing curricula to tell students about the philosophy and history of science, this paper argues for exploration of student’s ideas and questions when abstract concepts are being discussed in the classroom.     

Faculty reflect on course planning

Faculty members' beliefs about educational purpose and the nature of their academic fields strongly influence how they plan introductory courses. Interviews with 89 faculty members teaching in diverse colleges and representing eight fields also identified faculty attention to student preparation, available textbooks, and locally important factors, but little attention to alternative instructional strategies during course planning. Based on the findings, the authors have developed a tentative general model of course design and related questions to guide future study.     

Notes on Contributors

Place is material, conceptual and symbolic. Physically, the Library at Townsville College of Advanced Education was central, visible and distinctive. Internally, it provided a dramatically different environment from other college buildings. It functioned as the (metaphorical) ‘hub’ of the external studies programme and, when the college was under threat, it formed a symbolic rallying point.