Methods for studying family visitors in art museums: A cross-disciplinary review of current research

This paper examines current trends in family studies research, details the methodological and topical perspectives that are emerging, and reflects on how these findings could be integrated to provide a more coherent approach to researching the leisure, learning and recreational aspects of family visitors to art museums. Research findings from disciplines such as sociology, ethnography, education, design and marketing are of interest to the field of visitor studies, and this paper contributes to the wider research agenda by providing an overview of family research methods from a range of other disciplines, as well as those used within visitor studies.Over the last decade, there has been a growth of research in family learning in science museums, leading to an emerging disciplinary matrix, whilst many aspects of family visits to art museums remain relatively unexplored. The paper discusses the problems of gathering meaningful data from adults and children in family groups, and concludes by suggesting that a challenge for art museums is to learn from what is happening in other areas of cultural research into families, and to develop a framework for research which builds on the methodological strengths and practical experience of robust studies.     

WIDENING AND INCREASING POST-16 MATHEMATICS PARTICIPATION: PATHWAYS, PEDAGOGIES AND POLITICS

This paper explores the potential impact of a national pilot initiative in England aimed at increasing and widening participation in advanced mathematical study through the creation of a new qualification for 16- to 18-year-olds. This proposed qualification pathway—Use of Mathematics—sits in parallel with long-established, traditional advanced level qualifications, what we call ‘traditional Mathematics’ herein. Traditional Mathematics is typically required for entry to mathematically demanding undergraduate programmes. The structure, pedagogy and assessment of Use of Mathematics is designed to better prepare students in the application of mathematics, and its development has surfaced some of the tensions between academic/pure and vocational/applied mathematics. Here, we explore what Use of Mathematics offers, but we also consider some of the objections to its introduction in order to explore aspects of the knowledge politics of mathematics education. Our evaluation of this curriculum innovation raises important issues for the mathematics education community as countries seek to increase the numbers of people that are well prepared to apply mathematics in science and technology-based higher education courses and work places.     

Performance Indicators and Quality Review in Australian Universities

This paper examines the relationship between sets of quantitative performance and diversity indicators and the qualitative banding of Australian universities made by the Committee for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Using factor analysis, three performance factors (Traditional Research University Performance, Teaching Performance and Competitive Research Performance) and four diversity factors (Size, Equity, Student Staff Ratios and Access) were obtained. Strong association was found between quality ranking and composite measures of performance. When factor‐based composite measures were used, quality rankings were significantly correlated with Traditional Research University Performance, Teaching Performance and Size, and negatively with Equity.     

Teaching in inclusive classrooms: efficacy and beliefs of Canadian preservice teachers

This study provides a Canada-wide snapshot of the self-efficacy and beliefs of 1490 preservice teachers in relation to inclusive teaching using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice and the Beliefs about Learning and Teaching Questionnaire. At the time of data collection, these preservice teachers were in the final stages of their teacher education programmes. Based on the results of surveys in 11 Faculties of Education, men have higher self-efficacy than women for managing behaviour in the classroom, elementary preservice teachers have higher self-efficacy in collaboration than those teaching in secondary schools, those enrolled in the 1-year post-degree programme show lower self-efficacy than those enrolled in programmes of other durations, and those who have experience with people with special education needs show higher self-efficacy than those who do not. Differences illustrated that women were more inclusive than men, 1-year post-degree preservice teachers were less inclusive than others, and those who have experience with people with special education needs are more inclusive than those who do not. Recommendations for teacher education and limitations surrounding the practical significance of the findings are discussed.     

Exergames ‘as a teacher’ of movement education: exploring knowing in moving when playing dance games in physical education

Background: A fundamental dimension of school physical education (PE) is arguably movement and movement activities. However, there is a lack of discussion in the context of PE regarding what can be called the capability to move in terms of coordinative abilities, body consciousness and educing bodily senses.

Purpose: This article explores and articulates what there is to know, from the mover's perspective, when knowing how to move in specific ways when playing exergames (dance games). Taking different ways of moving as expressing different ways of knowing as a point of departure, the following questions are the focus of this article: (i) How do students move when imitating movements in a dance game, and what different ways of knowing the movements can be described in the student group? (ii) What aspects of the movements are discerned simultaneously through the different ways of knowing the movements? (iii) What aspects seem critical for the students to discern and experience in order to know the movements in as complex a way as possible?

Design and analysis: The theoretical point of departure concerns an epistemological perspective on the capability to move as knowing how with no distinction between physical and mental skills, and also knowing as experiencing aspects of something to know. The data in this study comprise video recordings of students playing Nintendo Wii dance games in PE lessons in a compulsory school (for children aged between 7 and 16 years) in a small Swedish town. There were three PE lessons with four different stations, of which one was Nintendo Wii dance games (Just Dance 1 and 2). In total, the videoed material covers three 60-minute PE lessons, recorded during the autumn of 2012 and in which just over twenty students participated. In the study, we have used video observation as a data collection method. Jordan and Henderson maintain that video observation removes the gap between ‘what people say they do and what they, in fact, do’ (51). To conduct a systematic and thorough analysis of how the students experienced the avatar's movements, we looked for moments where all the students and the avatar could be simultaneously observed. Two video sequences were chosen, showing four students imitating two distinct and defined movements which constituted the basis for a phenomenographic analysis.

Conclusion: The result of the phenomenographic analysis shows different ways of knowing the movements as well as what aspects are discerned and experienced simultaneously by the students. In other words, these aspects also describe knowing in terms of discerning, discriminating and differentiating aspects of ways of moving. By examining a certain exergame's role ‘as a teacher,' we have emphasized the capability to move, from the mover's perspective, as an intrinsic educational goal of PE while highlighting the need for systematically planning movement education.     

Women,adult education and literacy: A Caribbean perspective

The main function of agricultural extension is generally thought to be the transfer through nonformal educational means of practical knowledge to agriculture and the enhancement of rural development. Agricultural extension has received renewed attention in recent years from international development agencies and considerable discussion has ensued regarding the appropriate role for extension programmes. Much of the attention has been directed towards improving the functions of existing services. This article discusses the policy considerations of extension within the broader context of agricultural development goals and the overall direction of the country's development objectives and strategies. A framework is presented for analysing important characteristics of different extension development options. The issues raised are relevant to the larger concerns of adult education policy and the promotion of lifelong learning strategies within society. They include the relationship of sectoral goals and policies to broader national objectives, the audience the public sector should target, the role of the private sector, the structural arrangements best suited to meet certain objectives and the correct mixture and co‐ordination of various services and programmes.