“Good” organisational reasons for “ineffectual” research: Evaluating summative evaluation of museums and galleries

New displays, galleries and exhibitions in museums and galleries are increasingly subject to summative evaluations, wide-ranging investigations that examine how visitors respond to and engage with particular initiatives. These evaluations provide insights into the behaviour and attitudes of visitors and the ways in which particular exhibitions, exhibits and information resources facilitate engagement, participation and learning. Unfortunately, however, summative evaluation has relatively little impact either on the particular initiative or more generally in contributing to our knowledge of visitor behaviour and understanding of best practice. In this paper, we suggest that the relative lack of impact of summative evaluation is not primarily due to any methodological shortcomings or the idiosyncrasies of some of the approaches that are used. Rather, the organisational and institutional context in which summative evaluation is commissioned, undertaken and received can impose contradictory demands and undermine the opportunity of learning from and applying the findings of evaluation.     

Calibration of two objective measures of physical activity for children

A calibration study was conducted to determine the threshold counts for two commonly used accelerometers, the ActiGraph and the Actical, to classify activities by intensity in children 5 to 8 years of age. Thirty-three children wore both accelerometers and a COSMED portable metabolic system during 15 min of rest and then performed up to nine different activities for 7 min each, on two separate days in the laboratory. Oxygen consumption was measured on a breath-by-breath basis, and accelerometer data were collected in 15-s epochs. Using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, cutpoints that maximised both sensitivity and specificity were determined for sedentary, moderate and vigorous activities. For both accelerometers, discrimination of sedentary behaviour was almost perfect, with the area under the ROC curve at or exceeding 0.98. For both the ActiGraph and Actical, the discrimination of moderate (0.85 and 0.86, respectively) and vigorous activity (0.83 and 0.86, respectively) was acceptable, but not as precise as for sedentary behaviour. This calibration study, using indirect calorimetry, suggests that the two accelerometers can be used to distinguish differing levels of physical activity intensity as well as inactivity among children 5 to 8 years of age.     

Choices and Expectations at Primary and Secondary Stages in the State and Private Sectors

This paper examines a range of issues concerned with the process of choosing schools in the private and state sectors at the primary/pre‐preparatory stage and at the time of transfer to secondary/senior school. The findings indicate that choices about schools are made at different times and in different ways by parents who use the state and private sectors. One of the key findings is that the process of choosing a school begins earlier in the private than in the state sector; another is that quality of education is cited more frequently as one of the ‘top three’ essential factors by parents of children in the private sector. At both the primary and transfer to secondary stages, very high percentages of parents consider it essential that their child should be happy. A discussion of the different notions that private school and the state school parents may have of ‘happiness’ is offered.     

A person-centred life in action. A perspective on my life and work

This is a personal perspective of the teaching experience of Haydn Davies. He has worked for 40 years as a teacher in Primary, Secondary, Further and Higher Education, delivering programmes, courses and lectures focused on social education, pastoral care guidance and counselling. He shares his conclusions about education and in particular identifies the work of Carl Rogers as offering the most important guiding principles. From these principles Haydn Davies has worked out a series of activities and outcomes that this article offers for others to explore.     

Temperament and Interparental Conflict: The Role of Negative Emotionality in Predicting Child Behavioral Problems

This study examined temperamental irritability and fearful distress as moderators of the association between interparental conflict and child behavior problems in a disadvantaged sample of two hundred and one 2‐year‐old children and their mothers. Using a multimethod, prospective design, findings revealed that the relation between interparental conflict and changes in child behavior problems over a 1‐year period were moderated by temperamental irritability. Consistent with differential susceptibility theory, children high in irritable temperament not only exhibited poorer outcomes in contexts of high interparental conflict but also better adjustment in contexts of low levels of interparental conflict. Mediated moderation analyses revealed that fearful reactivity partly accounted for the greater susceptibility of irritable children, particularly in explaining why they fared better when interparental conflict was low.     

STUDENT VOICES IN THE TRANSFER PROCESS: DO WE HEAR THEM? DO WE LISTEN?

The “baby boomer echo” is increasing the number of traditional age students attending higher education, yet funding from both state and federal is remaining constant. In order to provide a higher education future for all who desire it, fiscal resources must be even more carefully allocated. Improving the transfer process from community colleges to four‐year colleges and universities will conserve our fiscal and our human resources and provide a higher education for more of our citizens. Statistics alone will not improve the transfer process; the voices of students experiencing this process must also be heard. A Fall 1994 cohort group of students transferring from Colorado's 15 community colleges to Colorado State University (CSU) was identified. Within this Fall 1994 cohort, two groups of students were formed based on their earned grade point average (GPA) at CSV at the end of Fall 1995 semester: students who achieved a 3.25 GPA or better and students who were placed on academic probation. The focus group discussions were transcribed and qualitatively coded. The thematic units that evolved centered on the students’ perceptions of their pre‐transfer experience, post‐transfer experience, and recommendations for improving the transfer process. The implications for practice include the processing and disseminating of transfer information, the advising function in the transfer process, and the need for on‐going evaluation of the process.     

Learning to play the seminar game: students’ initial encounters with a basic working form in higher education1

This paper demonstrates how the introduction of the word scholarship in respect to teaching has become confused and misplaced and used to sustain and enhance a particular type of credibility to activities related to the enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education. Bourdieu's concept of symbolic culture is used to construct the argument and show how the use of the term ‘Scholarship of Teaching’ needs to be re‐examined and conceptualized. Twenty‐five academics from a variety of disciplines were interviewed to give their perceptions on the notion of scholarship, the scholarship of teaching, and the scholarship in teaching. These data were used to develop a framework for understanding and possibly reconsidering the role of the scholarship of teaching.     

Documenting diversity: an early portrait of a collaborative teacher education initiative

This article documents a two‐year journey developing and implementing a teacher education programme that required preservice teachers and teachers, administrators, and students in six cooperating schools to address issues of diversity, multi‐/transculturalisms, inclusion, anti‐racism/anti‐oppression and social justice. We describe approaches and analyse changing attitudes, commitment and activism among those who participated in this ‘Diversity’ cohort initiative—a collaboration between the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education and the Vancouver School Board. We profile the courage and commitment of those who began to see themselves as important allies and agents of change in Canada’s most multicultural environment. We acknowledge the less successful aspects, and generate implications for teacher education partnerships that seek to embrace ‘critical’ multicultural, inclusive, and social justice education.