The impact of dynamic assessment: an exploration of the views of children,parents and teachers

A qualitative research project was carried out to explore the views of children with special educational needs, their parents and teachers about one aspect of educational psychology practice: the dynamic assessment of cognitive skills. The research was carried out in a highly diverse and inclusive borough in East London, by Nicola Lawrence from Hounslow Educational Psychology Service, and Sharon Cahill from the University of East London. The views of nine children were sought through semi‐structured interviews regarding the process of dynamic assessment, supported with tools and techniques to facilitate discussion. The views of eight parents and seven teachers were also sought, through semi‐structured interviews and focus groups, regarding the psychological reports produced from dynamic assessment. Of the original findings acquired through thematic analysis of the data, those pertaining to the perceived impact of dynamic assessment of cognitive skills are reported. Dynamic assessment was reported to impact positively upon the child's emotional well‐being, self‐perceptions, approach to learning and social relationships, both directly, and through the subsequent intervention of parents and educators. Dynamic assessment, as well as providing instructionally useful information for parents and teachers, encouraged them to move beyond locating the problem within the child, to reconceptualising their special educational needs in context. As a result, parents and teachers became more positive and optimistic about the child, the current situation and the child's future. Dynamic assessment impacted upon the child's holistic needs, parenting and the development of inclusive practice in the classroom. It is concluded that from the perspective of service users, dynamic assessment forms a worthwhile and valuable part of educational psychology practice.     

Student school elections and political engagement: A cradle of democracy?

Studies have found that prior involvement in student politics while in school seems to be a good predictor of adult political engagement. While most studies of adults have obtained retrospective data on participation in school elections, there have been few studies of students about this activity. We contribute to this latter relatively unexplored area by reporting the results from a national survey of Australian secondary school students about the relationship between participation in school elections and future intended political engagement activities. We found that voting in school elections is positively related to feeling prepared to vote as an adult, to being committed to vote when 18, to political knowledge, and to engagement in forms of peaceful activism. Running for student government office is related to political knowledge and participation in peaceful activism. These results reinforce the findings of adult retrospective studies, and show that participation in school elections serves as a beneficial experience in the preparation of students for life as an active adult citizen. The implications of these findings for the structure and conduct of student elections in schools are discussed.     

Concept Development and Meaningful Learning Among Electrical Engineering Students Engaged in a Problem-Based Laboratory Experience

This phenomenographic study documented changes in student-held electrical concepts the development of meaningful learning among students with both low and high prior knowledge within a problem-based learning (PBL) undergraduate electrical engineering course. This paper reports on four subjects: two with high prior knowledge and two with low prior knowledge. Subjects were interviewed at the beginning and end of the course to document their understanding of basic electrical concepts. During the term, they were videotaped while solving problems in lab. Concept maps were generated to represent how subjects verbally connected concepts during problem-solving. Significant to PBL research, each subject’s body of meaningful learning changed with each new problem, according to how the subject idiosyncratically interpreted the activity. Prior knowledge among the four subjects was a predictor of final knowledge, but not of problem-solving success. Differences in success seemed related more to mathematical ability and habits of mind. The study concluded that, depending on context, meaningful learning and habits of mind may contribute significantly to problem-solving success. The article presents a testable model of learning in PBL for further research.