The Magical Number 7

This article describes an interactive activity that involves students participating in a memory recall test. Data collected from the activity may be used to illustrate the one‐sample t test or one‐sample sign test.     

Development of mentor teacher role inventory

This study aimed to develop and investigate the validity and reliability of the Mentor Teacher Role Inventory (MTRI). A total of 1843 student teachers in the Distance English Teacher Training Program participated in the study. The 58 items of the Mentor Teacher Role Inventory underwent principal factor analysis, which revealed nine factors relating to mentorship and explained 52.971% of the total variance. The KMO value of the MTRI was calculated as .968. The Cronbach's alpha was .951. These results indicated that a reliable and valid MTRI could be used for both the distance English teacher training programme and other distance teacher education programmes.     

Performativity,well‐being,social class and citizenship in English schools

A range of initiatives to promote well‐being and empowerment have been introduced into English schools. These ostensibly support the citizenship curriculum that seeks to foster a more active and engaged populace. Whilst children are being encouraged to view their own well‐being as a personal project (and as a badge of successful citizenship), this process is being undermined by an informal curriculum of citizenship, embedded within the culture of performativity, that is promoting a climate of misrecognition within schools. This form of “symbolic violence” (that affects working‐class families disproportionately) is encroaching into the private sphere, traditionally a potential refuge providing opportunities for the development of forms of well‐being that were not dependent on institutional endorsement. It is suggested that some of the counter‐hegemonic values developed in the face of marginalisation might usefully inform issues of citizenship and well‐being in schools in ways that would encourage genuinely empowered forms of citizenship.     

Research engagement and educational decentralisation: problematising primary school English teachers’ research experiences in China

Teachers are encouraged to enhance professional competence through reflective practice and they are also asked to undertake research to generate evidence for their professional practices. This paper reports on an inquiry into a group of primary school English language teachers’ research engagement in the province of Guangdong on the Chinese mainland. The inquiry explored the effect of educational reforms on the participants’ research engagement through the use of an open‐ended questionnaire and group interviews. The inquiry revealed that research engagement had become an important part of the teachers’ professional lives. Emerging findings from the inquiry also problematised their research engagement as it was found to have been undermined by a competitive promotion mechanism, the teachers’ conceptualisations of research and challenges in the knowledge dissemination process. The paper ends with reflections on how to make teacher research “educational” for teachers and serve as an effective way for professional development.     

Team-based learning in anatomy: an efficient, effective, and economical strategy

Team-based learning (TBL) strategy is being adopted in medical education to implement interactive small group learning. We have modified classical TBL to fit our curricular needs and approach. Anatomy lectures were replaced with TBL that required preparation of assigned content specific discussion topics (in the text referred as "discussion topics"), an individual self-assessment quiz (IRAT), analysis of the discussion topics, and then the team retaking the same quiz (GRAT) for discussion and deeper learning. Embryology and clinical correlations were given as lectures. Unit examinations consisted of graded IRAT and GRAT. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Subject Examination was the comprehensive final examination. To evaluate the effect of TBL on student performance we compared the departmental and NBME subject examination scores between the traditional and TBL curricula. We collected five years of data on student performance in TBL-based anatomy and lecture-based preclinical courses. Our results show that departmental and NBME subject examination scores for TBL-based anatomy were higher than those for lecture-based anatomy. We subsequently compared average NBME scores for anatomy with those in other preclinical courses that were lecture-based. Average NBME anatomy scores were significantly higher than those for all the lecture-based preclinical courses. Since the introduction of TBL in anatomy, student performance has progressively improved in the NBME subject examination. Students perceived TBL as a motivator to be a responsible team member and to contribute to collective learning by the team. Further, it reinforced self-directed learning and fostered an appreciation for peer respect. Interestingly, these perceptions were uniform irrespective of student course performance.     

The virtual anatomy laboratory: usability testing to improve an online learning resource for anatomy education

An increasing number of instructors are seeking to provide students with online anatomy resources. Many researchers have attempted to identify associations between resource use and student learning but few studies discuss the importance of usability testing in resource design and modification. Usability testing provides information about ease of use and resource flexibility and indicates navigational issues that contribute to extraneous cognitive load for the user. An example of usability testing for modification of an online anatomy resource called the "Virtual Lab" is presented. Usability testing was used to determine whether increased content would impair navigation through the interface. Subjects with varying levels of experience with anatomy content were recruited to assess efficiency and effectiveness (defined by usability standards) of the original resource and of the redesigned resource. Comparisons between usability evaluation of the original "Virtual Lab" (OVL) and of the redesigned "Virtual Lab" (RVL) revealed that subjects were better able to successfully complete tasks using the RVL than they were with the OVL. Results also demonstrated that subjects did not take significantly more time to successfully complete tasks with the RVL. Additionally, usability testing revealed that subjects were able to successfully complete tasks using the RVL regardless of whether they possessed prior experience with anatomy content or not. Results of this study suggest that the modified resource is more effective for users. The example presented here underscores the need for usability testing prior to resource implementation and whenever significant changes are made to a resource interface.     

Measures used in assessing outcomes of school‐wide positive behaviour support

School‐Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is increasingly becoming a popular approach to managing challenging behaviour in schools. However, several issues still have to be addressed facilitate successful implementation of this approach in schools. One of these issues pertains to the appropriateness of the different measures used to determine the efficacy of the approach. Because many schools are using indirect measures to assess the effects of SWPBS implementation, determining which measures more accurately reflect the effectiveness of the SWPBS components may increase the effectiveness of school measurement systems. The purpose of this study was to examine the measures used in evaluating the efficacy of positive behaviour support. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of outcome measures regarding problem behaviour, prosocial behaviour, and implementation fidelity.     

Parameterising expertise in coaching: Past,present and future

Abstract

Research into expertise is increasing across a number of domains pertinent to sport. Whilst this increase is particularly apparent in coaching, a key question is how to identify an expert coach? Accordingly, this paper draws upon existing studies into expert coaches to address this issue; in particular, the criteria used to select expert coaches for research purposes and the methods used in expert coach research. Based on these data, we contend that the elements of expertise are not fully reflected within currently accepted criteria which, in turn, results in expert coaching research not necessarily identifying the appropriate individuals to study. The paper concludes with recommendations for more rigorous criteria for selecting expert coaches and highlights the associated implications for the future training and development of expert coaches.     

Distance education in an era of eLearning: challenges and opportunities for a campus‐focused institution

The growth of eLearning technologies has blurred the boundaries of educational modes to a point where distance education programs can be offered without drawing particular notice on campus. The experience of distance education staff working in campus‐focused universities and their perceptions of their chances of successfully planning and teaching by distance should inform evaluation of a university’s quality framework. In this case study, we report on the experience of distance educators at an Australian campus‐focused university. We identify organisational structure and culture as critical success factors for quality in distance education, with technology a, perhaps surprisingly, minor consideration. While the eLearning era has opened the door to a distance education cottage industry, eLearning strategy has failed to comprehensively prepare the way for the issues unique to distance education. The paper recommends that campus‐focused universities must protect their reputation by systematically assuring the quality of their (inevitable) distance offerings.     

Teacher and child talk in active learning and whole‐class contexts: some implications for children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds

This paper reports the experiences of 150 children and six primary teachers when active learning pedagogies were introduced into the first year of primary schools. Although active learning increased the amount of talk between children, those from socio‐economically advantaged homes talked more than those from less advantaged homes. Also, individual children experienced very little time engaged in high‐quality talk with the teacher, despite the teachers spending over one‐third of their time responding to children's needs and interests. Contextual differences, such as the different staffing ratios in schools and pre‐schools, may affect how well the benefits of active learning transfer from pre‐school contexts into primary schools. Policy‐makers and teachers should pay particular attention to the implications of this for the education of children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds.