Paradigm wars, dialogue or dance: is rapprochement possible and/or desirable?

In focusing on the Kincheloe and Tobin paper, ‘The Much Exaggerated Death of Positivism,’ this forum explores the hegemony of positivism in the professional practices of a group of educators whose research expertise lies in the fields of science education, mathematics education and leadership education. Responding to the first question, ‘What is your personal/professional experience of the hegemony of positivism?’, four key issues arise: is positivism part of the external world or is it within us (and thus what is our agency)?, the role of positivism as a driver of Western cultural imperialism, dualism as the chief logic of positivism, and the difficulty of responding to positivism from a pluralist perspective. The second question, ‘Is rapprochement between positivism and other paradigms possible and/or desirable without being re-colonised?’, raises a number of key issues that, although relatively new to science education, are of increasing interest to cultural studies researchers keen to embrace alternative research paradigms with which to create culturally inclusive science curricula. The discussants reveal their personal experiences of being marginalised by the hegemony of positivism and give voice to a range of opinions about how best to respond. The integral perspective of spiral dynamics is proposed as a model of paradigm evolution, our fundamental assumptions about modern progress are questioned, and the non-dualist logic of dialectics is explored as a more inclusive rationality for researchers. In the spirit of counter-hegemonic cultural studies, the discussants draw on their personal Buddhist and Hindu perspectives to open new doorways into complex ontological systems lying beyond the simplistic materialism of crypto-positivism. We are given a glimpse of powerful means of generating new insights into the emergent universe (within and without) that an evolving science endeavours to explain.     

Recovering Predictor–Criterion Relations Using Covariate-Informed Factor Score Estimates

Although it is currently best practice to directly model latent factors whenever feasible, there remain many situations in which this approach is not tractable. Recent advances in covariate-informed factor score estimation can be used to provide manifest scores that are used in second-stage analysis, but these are currently understudied. Here we extend our prior work on factor score recovery to examine the use of factor score estimates as predictors both in the presence and absence of the same covariates that were used in score estimation. Results show that whereas the relation between the factor score estimates and the criterion are typically well recovered, substantial bias and increased variability is evident in the covariate effects themselves. Importantly, using covariate-informed factor score estimates substantially, and often wholly, mitigates these biases. We conclude with implications for future research and recommendations for the use of factor score estimates in practice.     

The Self-Model of Humanistic Supervision

The Self-Model of Humanistic Supervision (SMHS) entails the integration of humanist and postmodern epistemology and ontology into a model of clinical supervision. The SMHS offers five core-selves, five enactors of self, and the cyclical process of enactment as a working framework for supervisors and counselor educators. This model provides supervisors with a culturally responsive, holistic, co-constructed, and relational way to assist supervisees in personal and professional growth.     

Factors Contributing to Improved Teaching Performance

This article focuses upon the quality and scholarship of teaching as it pertains to educational and faculty development. We outline what more than 200 faculty members at one institution have done over a 3-year period to make significant and sustained improvements in their teaching, surprisingly with minimal effort. The top three factors leading to improvement were active/practical learning, teacher/student interactions, and clear expectations/learning outcomes. We provide practical applications for change and suggestions for future research. Whitney Ransom McGowan  is a Ph.D. candidate at Brigham Young University (BYU), and she received an M.S. degree in Instructional Psychology & Technology from BYU. She is currently a research assistant for the Assistant to the Academic Vice President at BYU and also performs research at the Center for Teaching & Learning. She can be contacted at whitney.ransom@gmail.com. Charles R. Graham  is an Associate Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University with a focus on technology-mediated teaching and learning. Graham received his Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. He received his M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois and his B.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, from BYU. He is particularly interested in studying the design and evaluation of blended learning environments. He can be contacted at charles_graham@byu.edu.     

Strategy instruction in writing for adult literacy learners

This study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction in writing with adult literacy learners. Three middle-aged African-American adults participating in adult education with the goal of passing the GED received tutoring in a strategy for planning, writing, and revising persuasive essays along with self-regulation strategies. The study used a multiple-baseline design across participants with multiple probes. All the adults made consistent gains from baseline to posttest in the quality and organization of their essays. Mean gains in overall quality from baseline to posttest for the three students were 2.7, 1.9, and 1.7 on a 7-point scale. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) was 100% for text structure organization and 89% for quality. The results demonstrate that strategy instruction, which has had positive effects with school-age students, has potential for adult literacy learners as well.     

Teaching Knowledge Application: Advances in Theoretical Conceptions and their Professional Implications

We describe and examine a view of knowledge application in schooling developed from aspects of contemporary learning theory. To situate our perspective in contemporary practice, we establish the significance of the issue of knowledge application as an educational challenge. We then review some enduring theoretical conceptions of the problem and their educational ramifications following which we introduce some developments in educational learning theory and consider their implications for teaching knowledge application.     

Intelligent information retrieval: diagnosing information need. Part II. Uncertainty expansion in a prototype of a diagnostic IR tool

This article is part II of a three part series. In part I we described the theoretical framework for developing an “intelligent information retrieval” tool, based on three principles from medical diagnosis theory. In part II, the present article, we outline a prototype of an “intelligent” IR tool, whose purpose is to facilitate information access for an undergraduate seeking information for a history term paper. Our objective is to create a tool that will (i) draw-out the undergraduate's query to the information system by taking the student through the task of doing the term paper and (ii) diagnose the student's information need by measuring his or her degree of topic integration. The degree of integration indicates a class of information need. The classes of information need are based on Kuhlthau's six stage information search process (ISP) model (each stage is a separate information need, demanding different information to satisfy it). The measurement instrument is based on (i) principles from Shannon's mathematical theory of communication and (ii) principles of uncertainty expansion and reduction from differential diagnosis theory.     

Discipline in Schools

Debate about 'discipline'in schools almost invariably takes the form of empirical enquiry about which methods are most effective in securing it. This is to neglect a substantial part of the problem – the prior moral issue about the proper way to educate children. The main difficulties here are conceptual. Two rival ways of conceptualising 'educational order'are identified and examined. The received, traditional way is found to be disingenuous, incoherent and unworkable. The alternative – a reconstructed child-centred approach – escapes these problems and is commended. This conclusion is tested by investigating how each maps on to the project of moral education, for which school discipline is a neglected central arena.