Place,community and information behavior: Spatially oriented information seeking zones and information source preferences

Even in a digitally advanced society, much of our daily lives is based in place, but information behavior research has largely ignored place as theoretically relevant to information behavior. This study explores the implications of a place-based approach to studying information practices, and examines factors that influence information seeking and sharing in place-based communities among parents of individuals with disabilities. Based on qualitative data gathered from 35 parents of individuals with disabilities, it proposes a spatial model of information source preferences based on the theory of information horizons, and discusses implications of the model for future research related to information seeking and places. It also presents substantive place-related findings about local information needs, including discussion of the local parent network as an information seeking system.     

Benefits of omega‐3 supplementation for schoolchildren: Review of the current evidence

Despite the potential impact nutrition may have on learning, there have been surprisingly few papers published directed towards the educational research community. In contrast, omega‐3 supplementation studies are being frequently cited in the media, leading to parents asking for advice and guidance. The purpose of this article is to review the evidence to date for any effect of using omega‐3 supplementation in school‐aged children. This article focuses on the research that has been undertaken, particularly in relation to behaviour, education and cognitive development, in both typically developing populations as well as in children with specific learning difficulties and developmental disorders. Recommendations for future studies in this area have been highlighted in view of current knowledge. In conclusion, it was found that there is a shortage of properly controlled omega‐3 supplementation trials, particularly with typically developing children, to advocate the supplementation of all children with omega‐3 fatty acids, but due to the known importance of omega‐3 fatty acids in the brain and early development, further research is required.     

Purposeful pauses: teacher talk during early childhood mathematics activities

This paper describes how early childhood teachers' incorporation of pauses raises the quality of talk-in-interaction during play-based mathematics activities. Responses of both children and teachers are shown to be more contingent and expansive when conversations include protracted pauses than during interactions in which pauses are largely absent. Pauses provided children with opportunities to initiate topics and facilitated more equitable access to discourse moves for children. By pausing before responding to a child's conversational gambit, teachers gained opportunities to assess children's demonstrated numeracy-related skills and understanding, and could thus provide authentic, individualised scaffolding. Pauses were not necessarily silent: a pause in an interaction with one child could be used strategically to model the learning interaction with a second child before returning to the first child in order to continue the discourse sequence.     

Re-viewing student teamwork: preparation for the ‘real world’ or bundles of situated social practices?

Research in Australian business education continues to emphasise the importance of students learning teamwork as an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum. However, entrenched conceptual and practical confusion as to what the term ‘teamwork’ means and how it ought to be enacted remains a vexed issue capable of distorting and diminishing teamwork, learning and related pedagogy. In this paper, we critically re-examine the view that developing teamwork in an undergraduate business degree equips students for work in the real world. By focusing on the ‘real world’ metaphor-in-use in a cross-disciplinary business capstone subject, we interrogate the spatio-temporal dimensions of teamwork and its realist conceptions and performance. The research draws upon the perceptions of interviewed academics conducting teamwork activities in undergraduate business courses and the lived experiences of the authors. The findings highlight how the use of multiple models of teamwork, constructed by competing discourses and linked to the dualities and invocations constructed by ‘the real world’ metaphor, further exacerbate confusion. We suggest re-viewing and re-valuing student teamwork as the performance of situated, social practices opening new spaces for student teamwork, learning and pedagogical practice.     

‘.he was excluded for the kind of behaviour that we thought he needed support with…’ A qualitative analysis of the experiences and perspectives of parents whose children have been excluded from school

Exclusion from school is associated with adverse outcomes for young people. There is limited research that explores parents’ perspectives, particularly in relation to the exclusion of primary school aged children. The present study used semi-structured interviews with 35 parents of 37 children aged 5–12 years from the Southwest of England. Parents experiences were captured in a conceptual model through three main themes. Exclusion was described as part of a complex journey of difficulties reflected by a continuum of coping. The child’s place on the continuum was determined by an interaction between the child, family, and school with communication a key determinant. The study also highlighted the wider implications of exclusion, including emotional and functional impacts on the child and parent and highlighted the importance of the parents voice in the identification and support of their child’s needs. It also presents many complexities surrounding exclusion from school and limited support parents felt their child was offered.     

Effect of delay on search decisions in a task-oriented reading environment

The goal of this study was to determine the effect of setting a delay between reading a text and answering comprehension questions on when-to-search and what-to-search decisions in a task-oriented reading environment. Fifty-five eighth-grade students were randomly divided into two groups. One group read one text, answered comprehension questions regarding the text with the text available, and subsequently repeated the procedure with a second text (immediate condition). The other group read both texts first and then answered, with the texts available, the questions for the first text and then for the second text (delayed condition). In both conditions, the readers’ actions during the task were recorded. The results demonstrated that the students in the delayed condition made more search decisions. In addition, moderated mediation analyses indicated that setting a delay had a positive indirect effect on performance via increased searching only for the students with average and high comprehension skills. Moreover, decisions regarding what information to search for depended exclusively on comprehension skill. Instructional implications are discussed.