Effectiveness of Group Supervision Versus Combined Group and Individual Supervision

This study investigated the effectiveness of large group supervision, small group supervision, and combined group and individual supervision with counseling students. Sixty‐four participants in a master's‐level practicum were divided into 3 treatment groups that received supervision over 10 weeks. Using a pretest/posttest method, counselors were rated on growth in effectiveness and development according to self‐report, supervisor, client, and objective rater responses. Analyses of covariance revealed that all supervision formats resulted in similar progress in counselor effectiveness and counselor development. Large group supervision produced a significant result on the factor Autonomy/Dependency. However, participants showed a marked preference for individual feedback and supervision.     

The unit of analysis for situated assessment

We begin with a discussion of contemporary approaches to assessment highlighting their reliance on a static, linear model of knowledgeable performance. Next we describe an ecological psychology approach to problem solving. Then, we propose the adoption of an agent-environment interaction as the unit of analysis. We continue by describing the problem-solving process from an ecological psychology perspective, to clarify the intentional unit. We close with a discussion of functional validity, the value added by access to assessment information during the problem-solving process.     

Three Educational Scenarios for the Future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge

This article draws on social realist approaches in the sociology of knowledge and in light of them constructs three scenarios for the future of education in the next decades. The primary focus of the article is on one of the most crucial questions facing educational policy makers — the relationship between school and everyday or common sense knowledge. The different possibilities for how the school/non-school knowledge boundaries might be approached are expressed in three scenarios —'boundaries treated as given', 'a boundary-less world' and the idea of 'boundary maintenance as a condition for boundary crossing'. The curriculum implications of each are explored and the article makes the case for the third scenario. The factors likely to make one or other scenario dominate educational policy in the next 20–30 years are also considered.     

Problem solving in schools and beyond: Transitions from the naive to the neophyte to the master

Techniques emerging from the considerable research on cognitive aspects of survey methodology include various forms of probing and cognitive interviewing. These techniques are used to examine whether respondents' interpretations of self-report items are consistent with researchers' assumptions and intended meanings given the constructs the items are designed to measure. However, although informal procedures are common, such developments have not been systematically applied in educational research. We describe how information derived from the systematic application of cognitive pretesting can contribute to determining the validity—designated cognitive validity—of self-report items. Examples are presented from prominent motivation-related instruments that assess real-world instructional practices, mastery classroom goal structure, and student self-efficacy. The implications and pragmatics of adopting this approach are discussed.     

“When I Grow Up I'd Like to Work in a Place Like This”: Museum Professionals' Narratives of Early Interest in Museums

As part of an exploratory research study, museum professionals were asked to share their stories about pivotal learning experiences in museums. Several offered personal narratives of how they first became interested in museums and started down the path toward careers in museum work, or had their imaginations opened to the possibility of broader life horizons. This group of stories seemed to be grounded in particularly vivid memories and frequently elicited strong emotions in the telling. The narratives are evidence of the impact of early museum experiences on people who later found their way into museum careers, and suggest avenues for further study of the roots of museum careers as well as other ways museums profoundly affect people's lives. The stories can also reveal to the teller, as well as to researchers and others, what stands out in their memories and the importance they assign to those memories. By attending to the thematic and emotional content of these narratives, both narrator and colleagues can find clues about where their beliefs and values really lie and, therefore, where their and the profession's time and resources might be most productively invested.