Assessing knowledge growth in a psychology curriculum: which students improve most?

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into determinants of knowledge growth among first-year psychology students in a curriculum that uses the Progress Test (an assessment method for long-term retention of knowledge and knowledge growth) as its main assessment tool. To that end, the relation between the level of initial learning, prior knowledge, class attendance and individual study time, and Progress Test scores was analysed. The data showed that level of initial learning was positively associated with prior knowledge and class attendance. Further, level of initial learning was positively related to knowledge growth at the end of the first year of the curriculum. Students with higher levels of initial learning had a more extended knowledge base at the end of the first year of their curriculum than students with lower levels of initial learning. Prior knowledge, class attendance and individual study time did not have a significant relation with knowledge growth.     

Assessing attitude towards religion: the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith. The scale properties of this new instrument, established among a sample of 284 (200 female and 84 male) 16–18-year-old students, commend it for use in future research.     

Single-cell yolk-shell nanoencapsulation for long-term viability with size-dependent permeability and molecular recognition

Like nanomaterials, bacteria have been unknowingly used for centuries. They hold significant economic potential for fuel and medicinal compound production. Their full exploitation, however, is impeded by low biological activity and stability in industrial reactors. Though cellular encapsulation addresses these limitations, cell survival is usually compromised due to shell-to-cell contacts and low permeability. Here, we report ordered packing of silica nanocolloids with organized, uniform and tunable nanoporosities for single cyanobacterium nanoencapsulation using protamine as an electrostatic template. A space between the capsule shell and the cell is created by controlled internalization of protamine, resulting in a highly ordered porous shell-void-cell structure formation. These unique yolk-shell nanostructures provide long-term cell viability with superior photosynthetic activities and resistance in harsh environments. In addition, engineering the colloidal packing allows tunable shell-pore diameter for size-dependent permeability and introduction of new functionalities for specific molecular recognition. Our strategy could significantly enhance the activity and stability of cyanobacteria for various nanobiotechnological applications.     

Early Experiences Matter: A Relationships-Based Curriculum for the Birth-to-Three Age Group

The paper discusses some research findings in Singapore that investigated if a relationships-based curriculum extended the active involvement of the infants, toddlers, and young children (up to the age of three) in their learning. Using a relationships-based curriculum, a study conducted over a year involved the use of a well-tested, traditional before-and-after methodology to find out if any change had occurred in the phenomenon under study between two points in time. A sample of 58 infants, toddlers and young children (up to the age of three) in an experimental cohort and 59 of comparable ages in a control cohort, were measured using the Laevers’ Active Involvement scale before and after a curriculum intervention. The results showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the active involvement of the children in the experimental cohort as compared to no improvement in the control cohort. It is proposed that the relationships-based approach has the potential to raise the quality of curriculum and could be considered for application in child care centres in other countries.     

Student-staff partnerships in academic development: the course design studio as a model for sustainable course-wide impact

ABSTRACT

Sector-wide research has shown the benefits of student-staff partnerships in course design whilst highlighting the complexity of this work, and the difficulties in gaining traction to create sustained ways of working. Reflections by academic developers on the roles and partnerships in course design at one Australian university reveal the critical three-way partnership among academic developers, students, and academics. The benefits brought by a Course Design Studio model in providing a liminal space to sustain positive three-way collaborations are outlined. This paper offers a conceptual argument that addresses areas of concern often encountered in traditional course design student-staff partnership relationships.     

Comparing problem-based learning students to students in a lecture-based curriculum: learning strategies and the relation with self-study time

In educational theory, deep processing (i.e., connecting different study topics together) and self-regulation (i.e., taking control over one’s own learning process) are considered effective learning strategies. These learning strategies can be influenced by the learning environment. Problem-based learning (PBL), a student-centered educational method, is believed to stimulate the use of these effective learning strategies. Several aspects of PBL such as discussions of real-life problems, selecting literature by the students themselves, and formulating answers to learning issues encourage students’ use of deep processing and self-regulation. In the present study, third-year PBL law students were compared to third-year law students of a lecture-based program with respect to their learning strategies, which were measured with the Inventory Learning Styles (ILS; Vermunt in British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 149–171, 1998). In addition, the relation between time invested in self-study and learning strategies, when taking the instructional method into account, was explored. Results showed that PBL students reported to apply deep processing, self-regulation, and external regulation more frequently than their non-PBL counterparts. PBL seems to contribute to the use of effective learning strategies, but PBL students also relied more often on external sources for their regulation, such as teachers, course material, and assessment.     

Simulations for the Assessment of Counselling Skills

Assessment of students’ communication skills after a course in counselling, in which the students are prepared for work practice, requires another assessment method than the traditional written examination. In this paper we describe the construction and evaluation of simulations. The results of an investigation into the quality of the simulations show that they enable objective assessment of students’ mastery of skills in the situation which is simulated. In order to achieve generalisable scores, i.e. scores which indicate how well a student will perform in counselling interviews in general, more than one simulation has to be administered. Although the simulation is not an efficient instrument, its benefits are high: weaknesses in students’ performances will be detected so that remedial teaching can be offered, and clinical practice can be preserved for counsellors with a less than sufficient ability in counselling skills     

How inclusion became exclusion: policy,teachers and inclusive education

ABSTRACT

It is almost two decades since a concept of inclusion as selective segregation was proposed as an alternative to the concept of full inclusion and inclusive education was reconfigured as providing children with varied educational settings in order to meet their needs. A version of this model of inclusive education subsequently gained political traction in England where the issue of segregated or mainstream provision is now constructed as a matter of parental choice and child voice. Meanwhile, the implications of this latest model of inclusive education for teachers and schools in a rapidly changing wider educational landscape have largely been ignored or reduced to a question of training. This paper explores how the inclusive education landscape has changed in England in recent years, charting recent key developments in areas such as policy, statutory guidance and teacher training, with particular reference to teacher workload and the positioning of teachers within political and polemical educational discourse.