Simultaneous Delivery of a Face-to-Face Course to On-Campus and Remote Off-Campus Students

The purpose of this case study was to determine the feasibility of delivering a course on-campus and in real time, simultaneously transmitting it to students who were remotely accessing the same course. In future years, it is anticipated that universities will have inadequate physical facilities to meet the demands of an increasing student population. Additionally, with warnings of impending pandemics, universities need to be prepared to deliver courses in alternative ways to ensure continuity of instruction. Thus, this pilot project was designed to deliver a course to a large section of students while also allowing off-campus students access to the course in real time. The planning and delivery of the course is described, including the technology used, the support provided by the university and technology support staff, the course that was used for the pilot project, and how students were selected to participate as the off-campus students. The perspectives of the instructor, teaching assistant, students (both on- and off-campus), and technology support personnel are summarized.     

Developmental co‐ordination disorder (DCD): more than just a movement difficulty

Developmental co‐ordination disorder (DCD) also known as dyspraxia, is characterised by severe impairment of movement that has a detrimental effect on activities of daily living. This impairment of movement can be the result of poor planning or execution during an action. An assessment for DCD usually comprises of a standardised test for movement skills and clinical observations, but an assessment may not always consider both planning and/or execution components. This study used an ecologically valid task to examine how typically developing children compared with children with DCD plan and execute their movements in response to a novel movement challenge. Children were asked to cross a ‘river’ using as few ‘stepping stones’ (carpet tiles) as possible without falling in. The study measured a number of variables in order to construct a profile of the child's ability to plan and execute movements, including pattern and consistency of movement, and distance travelled by each child, as well as the ability to formulate and correct their plan. The results of this pilot study showed both differences and similarities between the two groups, with the DCD group showing more difficulties in planning, executing and in correcting their movements, as well as being more inconsistent in their movement patterns. The results are discussed in terms of the need for multiple measures for a complete assessment of a child, the implications for educational practice and the potential of an additional clinical tool to aid intervention in children with DCD.     

Changing cognitions in parents of two‐year‐olds attending Scottish Sure Start centres

The study examined how preschool intervention programmes set up by three Scottish local authorities changed parents’ cognitions. Quantitative parent outcomes were measured using Parenting Daily Hassles Scales (N = 88). A matched comparison group of parents (N = 55) recruited from the same areas of disadvantage but whose children did not attend the intervention programmes also completed questionnaires. Qualitative outcomes were evaluated using semi‐structured interviews (N = 30). A significant group × time interaction effect was found for daily hassle cognitions, Parenting Task–Intensity, Challenging Behaviour–Frequency and Challenging Behaviour–Intensity, with comparison group parents showing an increase in their experience of hassles during the ‘terrible twos’ compared with intervention group parents. Complementary qualitative data indicated that intervention group parents had gained valuable new insights into their children’s behaviour, changing how they thought about their role as parents and their behavioural and developmental expectations of their children. Implications for parental engagement in preschool programmes are discussed.     

Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis in comparative education: A case study

Since the 1970s, using his world-systems analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein has developed a wide-ranging framework for the social sciences, with potential applications for comparative educational research. In this paper we outline key aspects of Wallerstein’s theorising, and then analyse the uptake, understandings, and applications of his analysis in the field of comparative and international education, through a case study of the Comparative Education Review (CER) journal from 1980 to 2008. This paper examines how, and how widely, his analysis has been adopted and interpreted. Our analysis highlights significant and—given the broader emphasis in comparative education on questions of education and development—surprising absences in the application of this approach. We conclude by arguing for the use and development of three critical features of his analysis in comparative work, as relevant and timely interventions in the field.     

Collective self-efficacy expectations in Co-teaching teams – what are the influencing factors?

Scholars have studied collective teacher efficacy mainly at the school level. The present study also focuses on collective teacher efficacy expectations, but it emphasises the collaborative teaching of two teachers working together in one classroom. This study investigates personal, contextual, and systemic factors (e.g. experience, gender, class composition, pleasure with Co-teaching and its standards, knowledge about specific Co-teaching skills, the way how the team partner was chosen, etc.) that may influence collective self-efficacy expectations of Co-teacher teams. For the present study, 264 teachers who were part of a Co-teaching team finished an online questionnaire. Results from multiple regression analysis indicated that team characteristics influenced the subjective evaluation of efficacy expectations in teams much more than individual characteristics or the social context in which Co-teaching teams worked.     

Dancing in the Hall

Originally written 30 years ago, this paper is an analysis of the central challenge of schooling—that of engaging fully the powers of students’ minds in classroom learning. This challenge maintains its relevance today. The work of engaging what John Dewey referred to as students’ “inner attention” becomes the focus of an investigation of students’ current ideas in a variety of subject matters. This investigation reveals areas in which their ideas diverge from the established curriculum. It uses the methodology of Critical Exploration, which was developed by Eleanor Duckworth as a teaching and research methodology that both reveals learners’ ideas and encourages their active creation of meaning. This methodology provides students with rich and complex curriculum materials for their own manipulation; it also provides them the freedom to express, however tentatively, their ideas, to take them seriously, and to follow them through. As a result of these studies of learning, I put forward the view that a significant part of the responsibility for students’ alienation from classroom learning lies with a conception of knowledge, often reflected in curriculum, that is too rigid to take their ideas into account. I elaborate this view in an analysis of the aspects of particular subject matters that alienate students if the students are not given adequate ways of entering them. I make the case that these same complexities can be used as compelling invitations into deeper knowledge.     

From Pleasure Rows and Plashing Sculls to Amateur Oarswomanship: The Evolution of Women’s Amateur Rowing in Britain

Abstract

This paper considers the emergence of amateur women’s rowing between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in light of contemporaneous social norms relating to gender and sport. It does not seek to identify a foundational point for women’s rowing, nor does it offer a comprehensive survey of the development of the sport over this period. Instead, it considers women’s rowing in three key contexts: women’s university colleges, at the end of the nineteenth century; the first women-only rowing club on the Thames, established in 1896 by Dr Frederick Furnivall; and the formation of a governing body for the women’s sport in 1923. Analysis of the conditions within the sport in these environments, and their implications, leads to more nuanced consideration of the women’s sport, and of gender as a normative social construct more widely. Discussion focuses on gendered influences on sporting behaviour, manifested in institutional regulation and hegemonic authority, and the intersection of class and gender.     

Attending to Precision: Mathematical Definitions in Courses for Pre-Service and Practicing Teachers

In this article we address the Common Core State Standard for Mathematical Practice: Attend to Precision. We describe work in mathematics content courses for pre-service and inservice teachers focused on developing teachers’ understanding of mathematical definitions. We discuss teachers’ work in developing definitions for students at various levels of mathematics, in generalizing a definition in order to extend the domain to which it may be applied, and in correcting teachers’ misconceptions. The work discussed in this article is consistent with the recommendations of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences for the mathematics education of teachers. In explicit response to contemporary mathematics education research, the author presents constructive assessment prompts which lend themselves to formal study by mathematics education researchers.