Unconscious and unnoticed professional practice within an outstanding school for children and young people with complex learning difficulties and disabilities

This article describes a three‐year project undertaken at Pear Tree School for children and young people with severe and multiple and profound learning difficulties. Lesley Sullivan, the school's head teacher, believed that much of the value within the work of this outstanding school went unidentified by existing approaches to planning, monitoring and evaluation. Richard Crombie, educational psychologist, was engaged to work on the project. Also involved were Kate Walker and Rebecca Warnock, deputy head teachers, as well as the whole staff, children and some parents. The project takes as its starting point that essential, but very often unnoticed and unconscious, professional practice is rooted in implicit processes learnt experientially. We set ourselves the task of finding meaningful frameworks for identifying and developing that practice. This meant close observation within and outside school coupled with feeding back to staff, and their subsequent engagement with and use of explanatory frameworks.     

Managing What We Can Measure: Quantifying the Susceptibility of Automated Scoring Systems to Gaming Behavior

As methods for automated scoring of constructed‐response items become more widely adopted in state assessments, and are used in more consequential operational configurations, it is critical that their susceptibility to gaming behavior be investigated and managed. This article provides a review of research relevant to how construct‐irrelevant response behavior may affect automated constructed‐response scoring, and aims to address a gap in that literature: the need to assess the degree of risk before operational launch. A general framework is proposed for evaluating susceptibility to gaming, and an initial empirical demonstration is presented using the open‐source short‐answer scoring engines from the Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP) Challenge.     

档案记录方式和载体形式对档案管理工作的影响——实体档案与电子档案管理刍议

当今,现代信息技术对传统实体档案管理产生了深远影响,如何做好实体档案与电子档案管理,笔者认为:首先要厘清实体档案管理的历史发展及其特征;其次要弄清档案馆(室)在实体档案保护与信息化管理中的角色定位;三是档案馆(室)应在实体档案管理与信息化管理交互并存中赢得主动。任何一个时期的档案记录与管理方式,都与人类文明和技术进步相适应,电子档案同样是档案存在的一种形态,同实体档案还有一个长期并存的过程。因此,我们对实体档案不能轻易言弃,而要注重把信息技术运用到不同形态的档案管理中,确保实体档案安全和信息化条件下档案事业发展。     

Exploring an intervention’s impact on everyday school activities

The focus of this paper is on a group of pupils with reading and writing difficulties who have been participating in an intervention study using assistive technology. That intervention study contained supervised training sessions with reading and writing tasks using an iPad with special supportive applications. The current study is a qualitative investigation of whether there has been any transfer from the intervention, to the pupils’ everyday school activities. Interviews with pupils and their teachers and observations during classroom lectures have been used to collect data. The results show that the pupils were positive to the assistive technology (the applications on the iPads), they found the apps easy to learn how to use and they appreciated the benefits they could give. Even so, only a few of the pupils had found use for and continued to use the tools after the intervention period finished. Possible reasons are that when the novelty wore off, students reverted to their usual study habits and that older students with many teachers and different classrooms were less able to adapt to using the apps. To improve transfer, it is suggested to introduce assistive technology earlier to students, in the younger grades, before study habits have been formed and to inform teachers about the use of AT in the classroom, including what is available and how it can benefit students.     

The Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Student Learning and How Schools Can Respond

There is no denying the impact that the coronravirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has had on many aspects of our lives. This article looks at the potential impact of COVID-19 on student learning as schools abruptly morphed into virtual learning environments using data from several instructional, practice, and assessment solutions offered by Renaissance. First, three hypothetical learning scenarios are considered using normative data from Star assessments to explore the potential impact on reading and math test performace. Next, data on Focus Skills are used to highlight which grades may have missed the most foundational math and reading content if instruction was stopped or reduced. Last, data from two of Renaissance's practice tools are used to evaluate whether students were practicing key skills following school closures. The article concludes that academic decline will likely occur but may be tempered by the increased use of practice tools; effects may look different for math and reading; and may impact grades and schools differently. As such, schools may need to leverage decision-making frameworks, such as the Multi-tiered Systems of Support/Response-to-Intervention (MTSS/RTI) framework, more than ever to identify needs and target instruction where it matters most when school begins in fall 2020.     

Preservice secondary subject teachers incorporating movement integration into classroom practice

The present study explores Finnish preservice subject teachers’ perspectives and experiences with movement integration in academic classrooms. In the study, 44 subject teachers applied an integrated approach to infuse physical activity into a required teacher-preparatory course. The program’s framework is the constructivist learning approach. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations and field notes. The findings show that movement integration was a new concept for the preservice teachers and that their experience positively influenced their beliefs regarding the use of that concept in academic lessons. Thus, it is possible to support implementation of movement integration into secondary academic classrooms.     

Strength,Weakness, Opportunity,Threat (SWOT) Analysis of the Adaptations to Anatomical Education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has driven the fastest changes to higher education across the globe, necessitated by social distancing measures preventing face-to-face teaching. This has led to an almost immediate switch to distance learning by higher education institutions. Anatomy faces some unique challenges. Intrinsically, anatomy is a three-dimensional subject that requires a sound understanding of the relationships between structures, often achieved by the study of human cadaveric material, models, and virtual resources. This study sought to identify the approaches taken in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland to deliver anatomical education through online means. Data were collected from 14 different universities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and compared adopting a thematic analysis approach. Once themes were generated, they were collectively brought together using a strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analysis. Key themes included the opportunity to develop new online resources and the chance to engage in new academic collaborations. Academics frequently mentioned the challenge that time constrains could place on the quality and effectiveness of these resources; especially as in many cases the aim of these resources was to compensate for a lack of exposure to cadaveric exposure. Comparisons of the actions taken by multiple higher education institutions reveal the ways that academics have tried to balance this demand. Discussions will facilitate decisions being made by higher education institutions regarding adapting the curriculum and assessment methods in anatomy.     

Blended learning in higher education: professional development in a Hong Kong university

ABSTRACT

Online learning has become a ubiquitous part of the educational landscape and how teachers are supported in developing approaches to teaching online is a fundamental aspect of the students’ learning experience. Based on the implementation of a professional development course on becoming an online teacher offered in a blended learning mode at one university in Hong Kong, this article proposes that offering this type of professional development in a blended mode is very effective in facilitating enhanced usage of the university’s learning management system. In a blended mode, teachers are actively engaged with blended learning and were found to make more extensive use of features/tools in Blackboard after they attended the professional development course. Results support that offering professional development in a blended mode provides teachers with an authentic student perspective, at the same time as they take guided steps in the teacher’s role in blended learning.     

电机学精品在线开放课程校企合作初探

工程教育专业认证背景下,电机学省级精品在线开放课程注重校企合作,收集丰富的生产现场教学资源,聘请企业专家录制教学视频,开展网上讨论、网上直播课等。下阶段校企合作重点是编写理论和实践教材、共建电机科技活动实训室、企业专家指导网上PBL项目、指导学生选取企业真题申报大创项目。     

Implementing Student‐Centered Learning Practices in a Large Enrollment,Introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

Informed by the latest research on how people learn, effective teachers address both aspects of the teaching–learning equation—they engage students in the course material by implementing best teaching practices and they prepare students for learning by sharing best learning practices. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of student‐centered learning practices on students’ perceptions of their ability to learn, specifically in a large enrollment, introductory food science and human nutrition course. Featured student‐centered learning practices included required assignments, optional study tools, and supplemental learning resources. A mixed method survey instrument with 5‐point Likert scales and qualitative, open‐ended questions was used to determine students’ (1) use of optional study tools and supplemental learning resources; (2) perceptions as to the quality and impact of required assignments, optional study tools, and supplemental learning resources to enhance their ability to learn; (3) perceptions as to the usefulness of required assignments, optional study tools, and supplemental learning resources to help them perform better in this course; and (4) overall satisfaction, as a learner, in this course. Overall, students identified study guides (developed using Bloom's taxonomy action verbs) (Mean = 4.34), microthemes (Mean = 4.27), and quizzes (Mean = 4.11) as the most beneficial resources to enhance their learning of the course material. Overall, 85% of students said they were extremely or very satisfied as learners in the course and nearly 75% of the students said the student‐centered learning practices should be offered to future FSHN 101 students.