Inclusive practice within the lived cultures of school communities: research case studies in teaching,learning and inclusion

This paper provides an account of a teacher's use of theory as a tool to develop inclusive practice through a social studies programme in a new entrant class. The account illustrates the ways in which the teacher drew on research to assist in the facilitation of an inclusive educational environment. Presented are research case studies the teacher encountered in an in-service teacher education programme, and the ‘social constructionist’ and ‘personal tragedy’ models that were used as theoretical tools to assist the teacher's planning and teaching practice. Mounted cameras, broadcast microphones and pre- and post-unit interviews with the teacher and students were used to explore the lived culture of the classroom, and the nature and effectiveness of the strategies the teacher used. An ‘interrupted narrative’ methodology engages the reader in the interplay between research and theory in the research case studies. Four major strategies used by the teacher have been identified and these are presented as theoretical tools for other teachers and teacher educators to use, critique and develop to support inclusive practice in their own contexts.     

Girls Helping Girls: Assessing the Influence of College Student Mentors in an Afterschool Engineering Program

Current data suggest fewer females than males continue to be interested in engineering and that this gender gap is first evidenced during middle school years. One might expect that female engineering role models would encourage adolescent girls to pursue future careers in engineering and thereby increase the girls’ interests in and attitudes towards science and mathematics. This study sought to correlate middle school girls’ overall confidence in science and mathematics with a year-long, afterschool mentoring program led by female engineering students from a local university. The results demonstrated that there was a significant correlation between the quality of the mentoring relationship and the girls’ confidence in mathematics. The relationship between female role models and young girls’ attitudes toward science and mathematics is discussed.     

Discrepant SAT Critical Reading and Writing Scores: Implications for College Performance

Despite the similarities that researchers note between the cognitive processes and knowledge involved in reading and writing, there are students who are much stronger readers than writers and those who are much stronger writers than readers. The addition of the writing section to the SAT provides an opportunity to examine whether certain groups of students are more likely to exhibit stronger performance in reading versus writing and the academic consequences of this discrepant performance. Results of this study, based on hierarchical linear models of student performance, showed that even after controlling for relevant student characteristics and prior academic performance, an SAT critical reading–writing discrepancy had a small effect on 1st-year grade point average as well as English course grades in college. Specifically, students who had relatively higher writing scores as compared to their critical reading scores earned higher grades in their 1st year of college as well as in their 1st-year English course(s).     

A Collaborative Process Model for Promoting Successful Referrals in College Counseling

The need to refer students to off‐campus mental health providers is common in college counseling. Such referrals can be challenging for college counselors who strive to meet students' counseling needs while adhering to ethical and center policy guidelines. In this article, the authors explore the nature and challenges of referral in college counseling settings and introduce a collaborative process model to enhance the likelihood of successful referrals. A case study is provided to illustrate the model.     

Gender Differences in Teacher Response to School Inspection

Teachers’ responses to inspection were investigated using a questionnaire survey of a random sample of 821 secondary school teachers who had undergone a full OFSTED inspection and in‐depth interviews with a further 35 teachers. The research found that inspection causes additional stress and that female teachers, regardless of level of seniority, felt more nervous about inspection than male teachers. Both male and female teachers felt more nervous when an inspector of a different gender to themselves was observing them in the classroom. Teachers’ affective responses to inspection alter their behavioural ones, thus affecting the resultant picture not only of the school itself but also of schools in this country‐‐a picture on which future advice and policy may be based. Explanations for gender differences are sought using the frameworks of stress and power differentials.     

BioMEMS and Electrophoresis in 2006: Review of the 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society

The 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society (AES) was held at the San Francisco Hilton in San Francisco, California on 12–17 November 2006. This year’s meeting featured a look toward the future, with an emphasis on theoretical and experimental advances in miniaturization of BioMEMS, electrokinetics, and proteomics technologies. A total of 13 sessions accommodating 71 presentations and 18 posters were held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This review and corresponding special issue of Biomicrofluidics provide a sampling of some of the exciting research presented at the conference.