Museums at the crossroad: Contributing to dialogue, curiosity and wonder in natural history museums

The first natural history collections opened to the public were inspired by a sense of curiosity and wonder about the products of nature. They were ‘cabinets of curiosities’ that offered a first-hand interaction between owner and visitors. Nowadays, these two facets of the museum experience—dialogue and wonder—have been lost, in part, due to the information overload coming via the media and the impersonal nature of the museum visit. This paper offers some reflections on the evolution of the museum visit, suggests some ways to rediscover this ‘sense of wonder’ and provides ideas on how to promote two-way communication with museum visitors. Two examples of exhibitions are offered as illustrations of the points discussed.     

Perceived efficacy of teachers in Macao and their alacrity to engage with inclusive education

ABSTRACT

This paper reports findings of a mixed methods study examining private school teachers’ perceptions of efficacy in dealing with the challenges presented by inclusive education in Macao. This is highly pertinent after the Government invited consultation to propose changes to amendments of the Decree Law of 1996 concerning the education of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) which will likely see private schools being required to accept these students in the future. Within the context of teacher preparedness for inclusive education, the study found that a number of teachers felt that they were not at all prepared to teach students with SEN. Whilst some teachers suggested that they lacked skills and knowledge in teaching in inclusive classrooms, some felt overwhelmed with the challenges. The teachers proposed that they would need to know how to provide instructional adaptations and modifications to support students with SEN. Implications for continuous development of teacher training and education are discussed within the context of improving teacher efficacy and how private school teachers could better respond to the challenges of inclusive education in Macao.     

Emergent Supervisors: Comparing Counseling Center and Non‐Counseling‐Center Interns' Supervisory Training Experiences

Predoctoral interns' responses to an internship supervision training questionnaire indicated that counseling center interns supervised more trainees, received more supervision in their supervisory roles, reported more supervision training activities, and yielded higher supervisor development scores than did non‐counseling‐center interns. A qualitative analysis of participants' responses showed that non‐counseling‐center interns desired more supervision training and opportunities to provide supervision during their internship year than did counseling center interns.     

Learning while playing: Children's Forest School experiences in the UK

Children's outdoor play is declining, despite clear links between play, learning and development. Alternative learning initiatives which provide children with a diversity of play opportunities, including the chance to play outdoors, are therefore needed. One such programme, Forest School, is increasing in popularity in the UK and internationally, yet little is understood about its impact on children's learning, or how alternative approaches are informing learning in mainstream settings. This novel study examined primary school children's experiences of engaging in a Forest School programme in relation to this intersection between formal and informal approaches to learning. It explored how children interpret their experiences when faced with a fusion of learning environments and critically evaluates the benefits children realise, when asked to reflect on their learning engagement in both classroom and outdoor settings. Interviews were conducted with 33 children from two mainstream primary schools in England who had recently completed a 6-week Forest School programme. A rigorous phenomenological thematic analysis revealed three inter-related themes: a break from routine; learning through play; collaboration and teamwork. The findings suggest that the blending of Forest School with mainstream settings contributes to children's social, cognitive, emotional and physical skill development through experiential learning using play. These findings are significant because they not only emphasise the values of social constructivist play-pedagogy which underpin Forest School practice, but also highlight the need for primary schools to consider learning outside of the classroom as an effective pedagogy.     

“Crossing the Rubicon”: Understanding Chinese EFL students’ volitional process underlying in-class participation with the theory of planned behaviour

An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign language classroom anxiety and face-saving) frequently discussed in the literature about Chinese EFL classroom dynamics. A total of 199 Chinese students enrolled in a Sino-American international branch campus were surveyed. The results of a partial least squares (PLS) path modelling analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy, and face-saving explained 46% of the variance in intentions to participate in English in class. Perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy fully mediated the negative indirect effect of foreign language classroom anxiety on intentions. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed for implementation purposes.     

The rating of perceived exertion predicts intermittent vertical jump demand and performance

The aims of this study were (a) to assess the ability of the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) to predict performance (i.e. number of vertical jumps performed to a fixed jump height) of an intermittent vertical jump exercise, and (b) to determine the ability of RPE to describe the physiological demand of such exercise. Eight healthy men performed intermittent vertical jumps with rest periods of 4, 5, and 6 s until fatigue. Heart rate and RPE were recorded every five jumps throughout the sessions. The number of vertical jumps performed was also recorded. Random coefficient growth curve analysis identified relationships between the number of vertical jumps and both RPE and heart rate for which there were similar slopes. In addition, there were no differences between individual slopes and the mean slope for either RPE or heart rate. Moreover, RPE and number of jumps were highly correlated throughout all sessions (r = 0.97-0.99; P < 0.001), as were RPE and heart rate (r = 0.93-0.97; P < 0.001). The findings suggest that RPE can both predict the performance of intermittent vertical jump exercise and describe the physiological demands of such exercise.     

Critical moments: pre-service mathematics teachers’ narrative arcs and mathematical orientations over 20 years

This study explores narratives about critical moments in mathematics learning written by K-8 pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) in the United States over a 20-year period. These critical moments, such as a single memorable task, course, test, or comment from a teacher, had a powerful and sustained impact on PSTs’ mathematics identities, which they carried with them as they entered the teaching profession. We classified narratives using McCulloch et al. (Sch Sci Math 113(8):380–389, 2013) and Drake’s (J Math Teach Educ 9(6):579–608, 2006) categories and found a potentially new category, Taking the Reins. We also classified PSTs’ mathematics orientations as either relational (oriented toward creative problem solving and conceptual understanding) or instrumental (enacting rote procedures without meaning) (Skemp in Math Teach 77(1):20–26, 1976). Many PSTs identified a causal relationship between their mathematics orientations and narrative arcs: relational learning opportunities encouraged positive narratives, while instrumental learning opportunities either resulted in negative narrative arcs or positive but fragile mathematics identities that crumbled under minor stress. We found little variation over time in the nature and prevalence of the narrative arcs and mathematics orientations, suggesting that any changes in mathematics teaching practices over time were not reflected in students’ learning experiences.

     

How full is your luggage? Background knowledge of zoo visitors regarding sharks

For the general population, sharks have a reputation that does not really fit with their biological and ecological nature. Informal surveys often classify sharks as dangerous, aggressive and/or man-eaters. This apparent common knowledge seems difficult to detach from the conscience of many worldwide zoo visitors, even with the help of shark-focused educational programmes. As so, how can zoos and aquariums contribute to a change in this paradigm? Are the education and conservation strategies effective to the average zoo visitor? In this study, young visitors’ perceptions regarding sharks were assessed with the goal of identifying a valid Learning Progression, thus helping to update and develop different and more effective educational strategies and methodologies. The study took place at Zoomarine, an oceanographic park located in southern Portugal, with visitors aged between 8 and 16. A case study was conducted using a qualitative research approach (drawings and interviews) resulting in a Learning Progression Hypothesis. The proposed Learning Progression is composed of three knowledge levels for the participants’ biological perceptions regarding sharks. The results of this study showed a clear predominance of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric visions, as well as a utilitarian view of sharks and ecosystem, thus conditioning the visitors’ epistemological knowledge.     

The abuse-related beliefs questionnaire for survivors of childhood sexual abuse

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure, the Abuse-Related Beliefs Questionnaire (ARBQ), designed to assess abuse-related beliefs among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Study 1 examined the structure of the scale, and Study 2 evaluated its reliability and validity. METHOD: One hundred and seventy female CSA survivors recruited into a group psychotherapy intervention study were administered the ARBQ in Study 1. A subsample of 45 women completed the ARBQ again 12 months later. In Study 2, 70 women from a health maintenance organization who identified themselves as survivors of CSA completed the ARBQ along with the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (TSC-40) and the Symptom Checklist 90R (SCL-90-R). RESULTS: Three reliable ARBQ subscales emerged in Study 1: Guilt, Shame, and Resilience. Twelve-month test-retest reliability was high (r=.60-.64). The internal consistency of the subscales was further supported in Study 2, and validity was demonstrated by moderate to high correlations with the distress measures. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the ARBQ has good psychometric characteristics, supporting the feasibility of its use in measuring abuse-related beliefs in research on survivors of CSA. A next step for validation of the ARBQ would be to evaluate its sensitivity in measuring changes in studies of interventions for treating CSA survivors.