Enriching the historiography of Religious Education: insights from oral life history

This article seeks to exemplify the extent to which oral life history research can enrich existing historiographies of English Religious Education (RE). Findings are reported from interviews undertaken with a sample of key informants involved in designing and/or implementing significant curriculum changes in RE in the 1960s and 1970s. The interviews provided insights into personal narratives and biographies that have been marginal to, or excluded from, the historical record. Thematic analysis of the oral life histories opened a window into the world of RE, specifically in relation to professional identity and practice, curriculum development and professional organisations, thereby exposing the operational dynamics of RE at an (inter-)personal and organisational level. The findings are framed by a series of methodological reflections. Overall, oral life histories are shown to be capable of revealing that which was previously hidden and which can be confirmed and contrasted with knowledge gleaned from primary documentary sources.     

A model for optimizing step size of learning tasks in competency-based multimedia practicals

Learners are often overwhelmed by the complexity of realistic learning tasks, but reducing this complexity through traditional Instructional Design (ID) methods jeopardizes the authenticity of the learning experience. To solve this apparent paradox, a two-phase ID model is presented. Phase 1 consists of cognitive task analysis, where a systematic approach to problem solving (SAP) is identified in conjunction with skill decomposition and determination of task complexity. In the subsequent design phase, inductive micro-level sequencing based on the four-component ID model (van Merriënboer, 1997) is applied where worked-out examples and problems accompanied by process worksheets assure the necessary variability of practice. Step size in a multiple-step whole-task approach—needed for the process worksheets—is determined on the basis of estimated part-task complexity. A developmental study of the model is illustrated with examples from the domain of law.     

Group Behavior and Learning in Electronic Forums: A Sociotechnical Approach

The term community is widely and often uncritically used to characterize groupings of people who meet in electronic forums (e-forums). The research reported here shows how the casual use of the term community to characterize these groups can actually undermine their transformation into forms of social organization that are justifiably characterized as communities. This article examines how transforming a group into a community is a major accomplishment that requires special processes and practices. Primary data come from a particular project, the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), that aimed to develop "communities of practice" (CoPs) among high school science and mathematics teachers through an elaborate dedicated web site. We examine participants' behaviors in some of the differently structured forums within the ILF web site. While the project's developers expected CoPs to develop autonomously, there was no evidence of CoP formation in open public online forums. The article contrasts two approaches to building online communities that differ sharply: "IT-led community development" and "IT-supported community development." The experience of the ILF project shows that IT-led strategies community development strategies are much more difficult to make workable than are the "IT-supported" strategies.     

On shifting sands: assessing the financial sustainability of UK learned societies

This article provides a quantitative assessment of the extent to which UK learned societies rely on publishing revenues. Drawing on work completed as part of a Universities UK project to monitor the transition to open access in the United Kingdom, it considers the risks that increased market consolidation and a shift to open access publishing present for societies' financial sustainability in the coming years. The project identified 279 UK societies that publish peer‐reviewed publications. It is estimated that publishing accounts for just over £300 million, or 26%, of these societies' overall revenues of £1.2 billion, but an in‐depth analysis of 30 societies found that the proportion is as high as 80% in some cases. Publishing is typically a profitable activity for societies, and thereby supports their charitable activities and makes an important contribution to their overall financial sustainability. Although most societies are presently in good financial health, the combined pressures of market consolidation and open access, coupled with early indications of an increase in the costs of publishing, suggests that their reliance on publishing could prove an uncertain foundation in the years to come.     

身体成分研究的10大问题

摘要：理解身体成分对于理解人体健康、疾病和功能至关重要。身体成分的研究集中在评估方法的改进、对随着生长发育和老龄化身体成分正常变化的描述、以及由于疾病和计划性干预带来的身体成分的变化。每个关注点都很重要,从某种意义上来说,它们是相互依赖的。因为技术的进步使得更多复杂的问题被解决,反过来也推动研究方法的更好发展。尽管基础性的问题仍然存在,但每个领域里都有了明显进步。例如：生长发育的轨迹往往用横断面数据进行评估,考虑到也需要长期观察性资料,因此,也需要纵向描述性数据。随着实验室方法的改进,场地测试方法的发展对于筛选受试者和临床实践仍然具有重要意义。尽管已经认识到了干预应答存在广泛个体差异,但结果的均值仍然受到重视。随着技术的进步,可以研究引起身体成分变化的遗传和非遗传因素,但这些技术需要先应用于长期、控制严格的试验。在本文中,我们提出了该领域需要进行研究的10大问题,以推动该领域的发展。     

Child care and family processes: Bi-directional relations between child care quality,home environments,and maternal depression

The current study examined whether within-family changes in child care quality and quantity predicted subsequent changes in home environment quality and maternal depression across early childhood (6 to 54 months of age). Data were drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1239; 77% White; 48% female; data collection from 1991 to 1996), and were analyzed using Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models. Within-family increases in child care quality predicted modest increases in home environment quality (β = .13–.17). These effects were most robust from child age 6 to 15 months. Increases in child care quality produced small, statistically non-significant, reductions in depression. Time-specific increases in child care quantity were not consistently predictive of either outcome.     

Student-centred and teacher-centred learning environment in pre-vocational secondary education: Psychological needs,and motivation

In this study the perception of psychological needs and motivation in a student-centred and a teacher-centred learning environment are compared, using Self Determination Theory as a framework. The self-report Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was completed by 230 students (mean age 16.1 years) in pre-vocational secondary education. School records on absenteeism and achievement were also analysed. As predicted, multi-level analyses showed that students in the student-centred learning environment reported higher levels of perceived autonomy, competence, relatedness and motivation, measured by pleasure and effort. Furthermore, boys were less absent. Achievement shows no differences. These results suggest that a student-centred form of learning can be more beneficial for students' motivation if granted autonomy is embedded in a supportive environment.     

Free schools in the Big Society: the motivations,aims and demography of free school proposers

Free school policy claims to partly decentralise to local proposers decisions over who provides a free school, where and for what reasons, within the constraints of a government approval process. This article analyses empirically the people and organisations doing the proposing and their interactions with the approval process. The article begins by locating free schools within Big Society and quasi-market policies. The emerging free school landscape is then mapped and the motivations, aims and demography of a sample of 50 proposers are explored. A key distinction emerges between two analytical clusters. First, proposers able to negotiate the approval process are shown to draw on a range of professional networks, to have strongly academic educational aims and to on average not seek to specifically serve disadvantaged communities. Second, and conversely, the majority of proposers located in highly disadvantaged areas have aims and expertise that do not fit well with what the government is willing to accept. This is not conceived as a simple dualism but highlights the significance of both a lack of critical engagement with inclusion among accepted proposers and the effects of an approval process that has prioritised an unequal distribution of particular forms of professional expertise and experience.