Learning to use the Internet as a study tool: a review of available resources and exploration of students' priorities     

Bond CS  Fevyer D  Pitt C 《Health information and libraries journal》2006,23(3):189-196

BACKGROUND: The Internet is a valuable information tool, but users often struggle to locate good quality information from within the vast amount of information available. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify the online information resources available to assist students develop Internet searching skills, and to explore the students' priorities in online guides. METHODS: A qualitative approach was adopted with two phases. The first was a structured search of available online study skills resources. The second comprised 10 group interviews with a total of 60 students at all stages of five undergraduate health and social care related courses at a UK university. RESULTS: The study found that there were good online guides available, but that, perversely, the better guides tended to require the best searching skills to locate them. A few students were enthusiastic about using online support, however the majority felt that if they had the skills to locate such resources they wouldn't use a study guide to improve these skills, and if they did not have the skills they would not think of using an online guide to develop them. CONCLUSIONS: Students wanted assistance when they had problems or questions, rather than sites that offered structured learning experiences. Personal support rather than virtual support was also considered to be most important to the students in this study.  相似文献   

From special to inclusive education in Macau (SAR)     

Chris Forlin 《International Journal of Inclusive Education》2013,17(4):433-443

The education for learners with special education needs (SEN) in Macau (SAR), China, has gradually transitioned over the past 30 years from a completely segregated approach to a more inclusive one. Following a review of the development of special education and the transition towards inclusion in Macau, consideration is given to the enactment of inclusive education in mainstream schools. Interviews with the leaders in a primary and secondary mainstream government school in Macau outline the ways in which learners with SEN are included in mainstream schools. The discussion focuses on a range of issues regarding the inclusion movement in Macau, including management, schooling and the inclusive model that is applied.  相似文献   

Reading the Local and Global: Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools in Australia     

Larissa McLean Davies  Brenton Doecke  Philip Mead 《Changing English: An International Journal of English Teaching》2013,20(3):224-240

Recently Australia has witnessed a revival of concern about the place of Australian literature within the school curriculum. This has occurred within a policy environment where there is increasing emphasis on Australia’s place in a world economy, and on the need to encourage young people to think of themselves in a global context. These dimensions are reflected in the recently published Australian Curriculum: English, which requires students to read texts of ‘enduring artistic and cultural value’ that are drawn from ‘world and Australian literature’. No indication, however, is given as to how the reading and literary interpretation that students do might meaningfully be framed by such categories. This essay asks: what saliences do the categories of the ‘local’, the ‘national’ and the ‘global’ have when young people engage with literary texts? How does this impact on teachers’ and students’ interpretative approaches to literature? What place does a ‘literary’ education, whether conceived in ‘local’, ‘national’ or ‘global’ terms, have in the twenty-first century?  相似文献   

Sustaining technological innovation: The example of videoconferencing in English Schools     

Chris Comber  Tony Lawson 《Education and Information Technologies》2013,18(4):641-659

The main factors associated with technology integration have been the subject of research for over a decade. However, the conditions which sustain technological developments have been less frequently investigated. This paper explores this issue in the context of the use of videoconferencing in schools in England. The research took a multiple case-study approach by returning to schools with a reputation for demonstrating innovative policy and practice in videoconferencing, which were the subject of an earlier investigation. Analysis of developments in the interim five-year period led to the construction of a five-level typology of change. Further analysis identified critical dimensions associated with the sustainability of videoconferencing. These included technical and structural factors, as well as policy frameworks and personnel status. The perceived usefulness and relevance of videoconferencing as a learning technology emerges as a central determinant of sustainability, with the conclusion that for policymakers and schools, videoconferencing has become an ‘orphan’ technology.  相似文献   

When ‘becoming a 50% school’ is success enough: a principal–agent analysis of subject leaders’ target setting     

Peter Davies  Gwen Coates  Linda Hammersley-Fletcher  Jean Mangan 《School Leadership & Management》2013,33(5):493-511

Using the perspective of principal–agent theory, we suggest that the target setting process imposed by the government has shifted teachers’ focus away from their personal educational priorities. Our evidence suggests that schools with a higher proportion of students with high academic achievement differ in their practice of target setting from schools with a below average proportion of students achieving high examination grades. We examine possible explanations for variations in teachers’ practice and suggest some implications for policy and school leadership and management.  相似文献   

The Purpose and Functions of Budgets – Some Theoretical Perspectives for Education Managers     

K. B. Davies Senior Lecturer 《School Leadership & Management》2013,33(2):143-148

While educational leadership and management has experienced impressive development over the last three decades the fact that a robust comparative branch of the field has failed to emerge is equally conspicuous. This article builds a case for comparative and international educational leadership and management, arguing that the development of conceptual frameworks and instrumentation are imperative if the field is to keep abreast of globalisation of policy and practice. Accordingly, a conceptual framework is described and justified based on a cultural and cross-cultural approach focusing on the school level as the baseline unit for analysis. Specifically, the proposed framework is architectured around the interrelationship between two levels of culture, societal and organisational, and four elements comprising schooling and school-based management, namely, organisational structures, leadership and management processes, curriculum, and teaching and learning. Finally, limitations and implications of the model are discussed, including the need for the framework to be operationalised by developing appropriate research instruments.  相似文献   

Analysing the Role of the Subject Head of Department in Secondary Schools in England and Wales: Towards a theoretical framework     

Chris Turner  Ray Bolam 《School Leadership & Management》2013,33(3):373-388

This paper argues that contingency theory offers a useful basis on which to consider the work of subject heads of department (HoDs) in secondary schools, particularly if they are pro-active in attempting to influence the quality of teaching and learning in their curriculum area. We have developed a provisional model which may shed more light on how HoDs actually work with other departmental staff.  相似文献   

Primary school students' metacognitive beliefs about religious education     

Theo van der Zee  Chris Hermans  Cor Aarnoutse 《Educational Research and Evaluation》2013,19(3):271-293

So far scholars have researched beliefs about knowledge, knowing, and learning mainly in the areas of science and mathematics and among secondary school students. In this article, we explore primary school students' metacognitive beliefs about religious education. The article reports on a study involving 656 fifth- and sixth-grade students. We investigated their metacognitive beliefs, how these beliefs interrelate, and which students agree with which beliefs. In the minds of young students 7 categories are discernible: realistic learning, the transformative power of religion, social learning, intrinsic task value motivation, learning satisfaction motivation, the teacher's empathic orientation to learning, and the teacher's respect for students' contributions. These categories and their interrelationships open up new perspectives for the construction of a metacognitive beliefs system and for an interconnected network of beliefs across domains. We also outline implications for religious education in schools.  相似文献   

Incorporating creativity into teachers practice and self-concept of professional identity     

Trevor Davies 《Journal of Educational Change》2013,14(1):51-71

The study explores what happens to teachers practice and professional identity when they adopt a collaborative action research approach to teaching and involve external creative partners and a university mentor. The teachers aim to nurture and develop the creative potential of their learners through empowering them to make decisions for themselves about their own progress and learning directions. The teachers worked creatively and collaboratively designing creative teaching and learning methods in support of pupils with language and communication difficulties. The respondents are from an English special school, primary school and girls secondary school. A mixed methods methodology is adopted. Gains in teacher confidence and capability were identified in addition to shifts in values that impacted directly on their self-concept of what it is to be an effective teacher promoting effective learning. The development of their professional identities within a team ethos included them being able to make decisions about learning that are based on the educational potential of learners that they proved resulted in elevated standards achieved by this group of learners. They were able to justify their actions on established educational principles. Tensions however were revealed between what they perceived as their normal required professionalism imposed by external agencies and the enhanced professionalism experienced working through the project where they were able to integrate theory and practice.  相似文献   

The generative paradigm     

Chris Loynes 《Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning》2013,13(2):113-125

This research highlights the learning of female offenders on a 20-day tailor-made experiential adventure education course (Women in Action) delivered by Outward Bound New Zealand. The aims of the course were to increase self-awareness, to develop an understanding of the concept of choice and self responsibility, to improve communication skills and to effectively influence others. Twenty-seven women were interviewed immediately after the course and 14 of these, three months post-course. Most women indicated that their self-confidence had increased and they had become more self-aware. Key factors in facilitating learning opportunities for the women were the instructors and the course environment both physical and social. The holistic course approach provided physical, creative, emotional and reflective opportunities, enabling all the women to develop personally. The challenge of applying their learning on return to prison was highlighted by some participants.