University press publishing and the ecology of disciplinary fluidity: General observations

Academic book and journal publishing constitutes the majority focus of university presses. Besides commercial scholarly publishers, academic scholars and researchers view the opportunities provided by university presses as important venues for the dissemination of their research. This discussion focuses on the disciplinary imperative to publish scholarship that is ever more fluid and specialized as academic disciplines continue to become further nuanced in their response to the increasing knowledge produced by humanities and social science inquiry. The focus is on university presses and not commercial scholarly presses, although constitute a significant locus of scholarly publishing. What are the general characteristics of academic specialization and university press publishing? Further, how is disciplinary fluidity, especially evolving specialization, reflected in university press book publishing nomenclature and how scholarship is tied to the intellectual preoccupations of academic specialization? Multi- and inter-disciplinarities further articulate disciplinary publishing, accelerating disciplinary fluidity. Examples from disciplinary and emerging configurations of disciplinary nomenclature utilized by university presses offers insight into specialization and publishing. Academic history publishing is used to illustrate newly emerging fluid disciplinary configurations.     

Longitudinal assessment of progress in reasoning capacity and relation with self-estimation of knowledge base

The aim of the study was to investigate progress in reasoning capacity and knowledge base appraisal in a longitudinal analysis of data from summative evaluation throughout a medical problem-based learning curriculum. The scores in multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case and multiple choice questionnaires (MCQs) were studied longitudinally for 213 students from years 2 to 5. The capacity of core knowledge delimitation was calculated as the difference between the levels of average ascertainment degrees given for correct and incorrect answers at MCQ. For both multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case evaluation and self-estimation of core knowledge, the capacity increases throughout the curriculum. The reasoning capacity assessed through multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case is positively correlated with MCQ scores and the capacity to discriminate the mastered core knowledge. In conclusion, this study indicates that self-estimation of core knowledge is associated with an increase in reasoning performance through a well-organised knowledge base. Since that ability is related to success or failure, it is suggested that student awareness about delimitation of mastered core knowledge is considered as part of learning.     

To perceive and to be perceived: challenges of ethnography in elite schools

Drawing on a larger study on “Gender practices and violence between peers: the stakes of mixed-sex education”, this paper examines the methodological challenges specific to carrying out ethnography in an elite high school. The researcher’s subjective experience in the field reveals the power dynamics at play in the elite setting. We also examine how interdisciplinary collective analysis of the observation journals unveils less-examined challenges to conceptualization in the research process. We call for the heuristic value when contradiction and subjectivity are acknowledged and implicated both in the field and data analysis, which leads us to articulate different social identities in the elite school environment.     

Improving K-12 pedagogy via a Cloud designed for education

Cloud computing offers an opportunity to improve K-12 pedagogy with services tailored to teachers’ needs in individual classrooms. The Cloud can deliver services such as remote access to learning tools in a cost effective manner to school systems struggling with reductions in local and state funding. This article explores the distinct ways that a Cloud designed specifically for education can be applied to K-12 education's academic mission. It uses observations from a case study in North Carolina rural high schools using an educational Cloud called the Virtual Computing Lab to access dynamic geometry and algebra software.     

Managing the Change From On-Site to Online: Transforming ESL courses for teachers

In Canada, all regular K-12 teachers face the challenge of teaching both native and non-native English speaking students. Consequently, working with students who use English as a second language (ESL) has become everybody's business, irrespective of whether they are teaching language or mathematics, at elementary or secondary levels. As a result, it is essential for in-service teachers to gain knowledge and develop skills in working with ESL students. Teaching English as a second language (TESL) courses have been delivered traditionally at the Faculty of Education at Queen's University through on-site training and with opportunities for working with ESL students. These courses, however, are now delivered online to teachers in different locations across the province and even in other parts of the world. This paper addresses the challenges of converting the on-site courses to an online format.     

Towards a humanism of knowledge, action and cooperation

This article begins by looking at two reports, commissioned in the second half of the 20th century to investigate the impact of social change on education and to propose strategies for tackling new challenges arising from this. The first report, published in 1972, was the so-called Faure report (named after French lawyer and politician Edgar Faure), and the second one, published in 1996, was the so-called Delors report (named after French economist and politician Jacques Delors). Using these two reports as their starting point, the authors of this paper consider the effects of modern information technology on our cultural environment. Today we are experiencing an increasingly virtual world with very real effects. This paper argues that Edgar Faure already foresaw the emergence of a new cultural world in which virtuality would both add to and compete with reality. The authors stress that now, more than ever, access to lifelong education needs to be ensured for everyone, permanently enriched by research and innovation, addressing creativity and entrepreneurship, in addition to continuously evolving skills and competences.