Evolution of the personal teaching models of prospective secondary school science teachers as expressed through metaphors

This study analyses the evolution of the personal metaphors of 31 science graduates enrolled in a Master’s degree course in Secondary Education Teaching during the 2012–13 academic year. The instrument used was an open questionnaire that included asking the participants to make drawings representing the roles of the teacher. Four categories of metaphor were considered: behaviourist/transmissive, cognitivist/constructivist, situative/socio-historical, and self-referential. It was found that most of the prospective teachers were indeed able to conceptualize their roles in the form of metaphors. Comparison of the results before and after the teaching practicum revealed no changes in most of the participants’ metaphors and associated models. Instead, these appeared to be firmly set already at the beginning of the Master’s course, and remained uninfluenced by either the course or the practicum. Only a minority of the participants showed changes in their metaphors—5 with progressive changes, and 5 with regressive changes.     

Cinematic representations of medical technologies in the Spanish official newsreel, 1943-1970

NO-DO, the Spanish official newsreel produced by Franco's dictatorship (1939-1975), held a 30-year monopoly over audio-visual information in Spain from 1943 to 1975. This paper reports on an analysis of coverage of medical technologies by the Spanish Cinematic Newsreel Service, NO-DO, from 1943 to 1970. The study focuses on the changing roles played by cultural representations of medical technologies deployed in NO-DO. Our analysis shows how these representations offered a new space for the legitimization of the regime, and, more importantly, played a key role in the attempts to construct and enforce a hegemonic national identity after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). During the period of isolationist autocracy that ended in the mid-1950s, the images of medical technologies reinforced the idea of a self-sufficient "national space" and deepened the break with the historical past. Once the international isolation of the regime was overcome in the late 1950s and the 1960s, the representation of medical technologies contributed to establishing a Spanish national identity that mirrored the outside world, the foreign space. Finally, gender representations in NO-DO are also explored.     

The Progression of Prospective Primary Teachers’ Conceptions of the Methodology of Teaching

This article describes the evolution of prospective primary teachers’ conceptions of the methodology of teaching. Three categories were analyzed: the concept of activity, the organization of activities, and the concept of teaching resources. The study was conducted with five teams of prospective teachers, who were participating in teacher education courses of a constructivist orientation. The results showed very different itineraries in the processes of change, and the presence of two major obstacles—the belief that teaching is the direct cause of learning, and epistemological absolutism. The study allows us to deduce some implications for initial teacher education.     

On-line learning networks: Framework and scenarios

The idea of using the internet as a platform to mediate social interactions and learning at different levels has progressively affirming itself, and this has given rise to a huge number of spontaneous and planned collectives, which are often described as on-line learning networks. On-line learning networks create value through the combination of content and people’s knowledge. They can vary widely in the strength and permanence of their connections and the resources necessary to maintain them. Aspects of both a pragmatic and social nature need to be carefully considered in the process of initiation of on-line learning communities. This paper considers learning networks from the perspective of the potential they offer to the strengthening of relationships among institutions, groups, and people sharing a common interest in computer-enhanced learning. Some case studies are analysed and an analytical framework is sketched out to guide observations and to provide a lens through which case studies can be interpreted. The final goal is to delineate a reference for identifying strong and weak elements in virtual networks and to examine under what conditions they are succeeding. In addition, some possible scenarios for on-line networks are delineated along two main lines: the organisation and structure of the network and its level of establishment.

Visions of value: Leading the development of a view of the University Library in the 21st century

Over the course of 2018 the University of Sheffield Library conducted a series of interviews and workshops with stakeholders as part of a strategic project to reflect on the value of the university library in the 21st century. Using a mixed methodology, participants were asked to reflect upon the future Higher Education (HE) environment for the university and, for academic participants, their discipline. In this context participants were also asked to reflect upon the future value of the University Library in a series of questions designed to elicit value statements using a tool which the project group have called the ‘Wheel of Value’. The resulting reflections upon the future environment have been grouped into four categories reflecting the drivers for change; Digitalisation, Student Experience, Diversification and Collaboration recognizing that there is considerable overlap and interconnection between these. The reflections on the future value of the library are presented by Wheel of Value higher order categorization. This approach proved useful in eliciting responses from participants in the face of recognized difficulty in getting beyond current views of the library and the approach is recommended to other universities looking to carry out a similar project. The results of this research will be used to inform the development of a view of the library for the purpose of engaging with our university community and key partners.     

The Progression of Prospective Teachers’ Conceptions of School Science Content

The purpose of the present work is to describe the progression in the conceptions of prospective primary teachers about school science content while they were participating in three teacher education courses following the same constructivist oriented strategy. The participants’ written output was analyzed in various categories—selection of content, types of content and their relationships, levels of complexity, and presentation of content to pupils. There was evidence for some progress in their conceptions of the content from a traditional view to another that we termed intermediate since it did not reach the vision that we consider to be the most complex. Finally, we present a General Itinerary of Progression on school content that could serve as a referent for initial teacher education.     

Technology transfer in schools: from research to innovation

Technology transfer should be a central objective of research into educational information technology, as it is generally acknowledged that the quality of this process is a critical factor in effectively bringing about innovation. The central focus of this paper is on this problem. In particular, we discuss the peculiarity of information technology transfer in schools as opposed to the transfer of technology in companies; we indicate some central problems of this transfer and discuss a typology of approaches to the transfer of educational information technology from research to school.