Using the multimodal affordances of the interactive whiteboard to support students’ understanding of texts

The purpose of the study reported on here was to explore ways in which the interactive whiteboard (IWB) can support students’ understanding of texts. A Year 3 and a Year 4 primary school class in New South Wales, Australia, is the focus of the research. A qualitative case study was carried out using multimodal analysis focusing on the use of an e‐book displayed via the IWB. The results of the study indicate that the IWB can support students’ understanding of a narrative to prepare them to write a whole‐class response through providing increased access to a range of resources that are multimodal in nature. The way the interactive features of the IWB can facilitate access to multimodal resources to cater for student needs is also discussed.     

A Classroom Exercise to Examine the Trade‐off between Mission Capacity and Life Cycle Cost

This article presents a classroom exercise, centered on a simulation that has been used for 4 years in an MBA program to help students develop an understanding of the trade‐offs involved in managing capital assets in the public sector. Though often ignored in business schools, mission is a key criterion that must be considered when managing such assets, and acts as a surrogate for profit. The case presents a rich environment in which the impact of cost reductions (or additional investments) on mission can be quantified, and trade‐offs can be assessed and discussed. It gives students a chance to develop creative ideas for process improvement, and provides sufficient data for them to analyze the impact of their suggestions in a rigorous way.     

Grade 7 Students Reading Graphic Novels: ‘You Need To Do a Lot of Thinking’

A multifaceted, classroom‐based research project explored how developing Grade 7 students’ knowledge of literary and illustrative elements affects their understanding, interpretation and analysis of picturebooks and graphic novels, and their subsequent creation of their own print texts. Analysis of two sources of data, the students’ written responses to Amulet ( Kibuishi 2008 ), one of the graphic novels read and discussed during the study, and the students’ opinions about the knowledge that is required to read and understand a graphic novel, indicated how the instruction about various graphic novel conventions had impacted the students’ awareness of and knowledge about the structural design of these multimodal texts.     

Neuro‐linguistic programming and altered states: encouraging preparation for learning in the classroom for students with special educational needs

In seeking to identify the processes associated with the immediate engagement of learning for students with mild special educational needs, this study examined the responses of an extraction group (n = 7) of 11‐ to 13‐year‐old students who participated in a number of lessons in which the opening episode involved the use of visualisation techniques and language associated with representational systems as identified within neuro‐linguistic programming (NLP). Students endeavoured to alter their negative state to a positive state via this intervention. The study, by Voldis Kudliskis of South Dartmoor Community College, was of a naturalistic research design, and the students' experiences were explored by means of formal interviews, semi‐structured interviews, questionnaires and observations. The implications for altering state through techniques associated with NLP are described and evaluated in terms of student comments. The case is made for the process of altering state as a strategy to empower students to engage with their learning from the outset of the lesson.     

当前我国体育人口流动模式及发展研究

以《2001年中国群众体育发展现状调查》研究成果为基础，对1996，2000年两次群众体育现状调查的数据资料进行对比，研究当前我国体育人口流动模式中出现的“沙漏”问题，分析促使当前我国体育人口可持续发展的关键所在，并从推动体育人口健康发展，推动全民健身计划纲要的深入实施的角度出发，提出当前我国体育人口流动模式的发展建议。     

Language play in the classroom: encouraging children's intuitive creativity with words through poetry

This article begins by identifying that children have a spontaneous predilection for playing with language, engaging in poetic discourse even before their first poetry lesson. Although children's language play is relatively unresearched in the classroom, in a case study of two groups of pupils aged between 10 and 11, it was observed that children engaged in creative word play, and that this was generated in response to interaction with poetry and each other. This article suggests that children's poetical experiences may best be nurtured by building bridges between children's existing knowledge of language play and the specialised knowledge of poetry taught in the classroom through a teaching methodology based on socio‐constructivist principles.