Inside research,inside ourselves: teacher educators take stock of their research practice   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Neil Houston  Hamish Ross  Jannet Robinson  Heather Malcolm 《Educational Action Research》2013,21(4):555-569

This paper tells the story of how a group of teacher educators in a university education department used action research to examine their research situation, and what conclusions they reached. Some recent historical background puts the study in context, identifying tensions between university expectations and time‐heavy teaching demands that operated as obstacles to research activity. This context is shared by many academics who provide training for practitioners in UK universities that seek substantial funding through their performance in national research quality assessments. The project was initially organised in Spring 2007 by new research staff who had investigated staff perceptions of and interests in research through semi‐formal interviews, observations and documentation. An invited group turned to action research as a possible way forward. They asked the question ‘What kind of research culture do we want, and how can we get it?’ Over a year, all participants gathered at semi‐formal meetings for collaborative reflection and discussion, engaged in a diversity of micro‐researches that experimented with ways of researching around the barriers, and wrote a collaborative paper about what they had learned. This gave rise to a series of national and international conference presentations that drew several of the group members into the wider research community. The group members grew to realise that the kind of research that they perceived the institution to value was not necessarily a kind that was readily built into their identities as teacher educators. But this realisation itself was empowering, exposing previously opaque assumptions that had left a felt irreconcilability that had been difficult to articulate.  相似文献   

Educating for well-being in Scotland: policy and philosophy,pitfalls and possibilities     

Malcolm Thorburn 《牛津教育评论》2013,39(2):206-222

In recent years there has been a heightened interest in educating for well-being; the belief that even when beset by economic gloom, schools can be a civilising force for good and can help make young people’s lives more fulfilling and meaningful. However, the relative lack of conceptual analysis on well-being values and how they can flourish in schools coupled with ambiguities on curriculum implementation plans have limited progress to date. The paper addresses these concerns, through analysing recent theorising on values which contain a focus on personal growth, relationships with others and engagement with activities of interest. In reviewing these values in relation to the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE) policy context in Scotland, the paper discusses ways in which current policy and practice uncertainties could be improved by greater philosophical clarity on well-being values and by the development of pedagogical models which highlight how effective learning could take place. These improvements, if supported by key policy revisions and by commissioning practitioners to design more appropriate teaching resources, could provide the basis for greater teacher engagement with well-being agendas and the avoidance of policy stasis.  相似文献   

Finding Direction When the Ground Is Moving: Science Education Research in South Africa     

Cliff Malcolm  Busi Alant 《Studies in Science Education》2013,49(1):49-104

Dynamic visualisations capture aspects of scientific phenomena that are difficult to communicate in static materials and benefit from well-designed scaffolds to succeed in classrooms. We review research to clarify the impacts of dynamic visualisations and to identify instructional scaffolds that mediate their success. We use meta-analysis to synthesise 47 independent comparisons between dynamic and static materials and 76 comparisons that test the effect of specific instructional scaffolds. These studies show that dynamic visualisations are better than static visuals at promoting conceptual inferences about science, consistent with the success of inquiry instruction in science. To realise this potential of dynamic visualisations, instruction needs to help students use the dynamic visualisation to make sense of their own ideas. Scaffolds that are most successful include prompts for reflection, prompts to distinguish among parts of the visualisation, visual cues that identify salient features, multiple visualisations presented sequentially, and interactive features that govern the pacing of activities. We extract guidelines from this research to help researchers plan future studies of visualisations, designers create and refine instructional materials using visualisations, and practitioners customise instruction that features visualisations.  相似文献   

Engaging Non-participants in Formal Education: Considering a contribution from trade union education     

Malcolm Ball 《Studies in Continuing Education》2013,35(2):117-131

This paper contributes to the debate about participation and non-participation in formal education by supporting the importance of context as a key factor mediating the engagement of non-participants. Adult women and men who are not engaged in formal education may have no ambition and see no relevance for learning in their lives. They may pass their local college, adult education centre or university with little or no recognition/awareness that it is there and no awareness of the benefit that they could get from its activity. This paper draws on evidence from a study of one group of participants in trade union education that suggests the importance of voluntary engagement in trade union practice was the driver for their enrolment in formal education.  相似文献   

The Relationship of Selected Community College Faculty Attitudes,Socialization Experiences,and Reference Group Identities     

Malcolm Hill  Dr. James L. Morrison 《Community College Journal of Research & Practice》2013,37(1):25-50

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the relationship of selected attitudinal variables among community college faculty members, using a framework derived from symbolic interaction of theory. A survey questionnaire was administered to 627 faculty members in five Pennsylvania community colleges in autumn of 1973. Attitudinal variables are operationally defined through the use of factor analysis, and are related to one another and to socialization experience and reference group identity proxy variables through multiple and partial correlational analysis. Hypotheses concerning variations in attitudes toward the community college philosophy and orientations toward education as consequences of differences in socialization experiences and reference group identities are supported.  相似文献   

Implementing Recommendations for Introductory Biology by Writing a New Textbook     

Mark J. Barsoum  Patrick J. Sellers  A. Malcolm Campbell  Laurie J. Heyer  Christopher J. Paradise 《CBE life sciences education》2013,12(1):106-116

We redesigned the undergraduate introductory biology course by writing a new textbook (Integrating Concepts in Biology [ICB]) that follows first principles of learning. Our approach emphasizes primary data interpretation and the utility of mathematics in biology, while de-emphasizing memorization. This redesign divides biology into five big ideas (information, evolution, cells, emergent properties, homeostasis), addressing each at five levels of organization (molecules, cells, organisms, populations, ecological systems). We compared our course outcomes with two sections that used a traditional textbook and were taught by different instructors. On data interpretation assessments administered periodically during the semester, our students performed better than students in the traditional sections (p = 0.046) and exhibited greater improvement over the course of the semester (p = 0.015). On factual content assessments, our students performed similarly to students in the other sections (p = 0.737). Pre- and postsemester assessment of disciplinary perceptions and self-appraisal indicate that our students acquired a more accurate perception of biology as a discipline and may have developed a more realistic evaluation of their scientific abilities than did the control students (p < 0.05). We conclude that ICB improves critical thinking, metacognition, and disciplinary perceptions without compromising content knowledge in introductory biology.  相似文献   

Ideokinetic Imagery as a Postural Development Technique     

Malcolm M. Fairweather  Ben Sidaway 《Research quarterly for exercise and sport》2013,84(4):385-392

Abstract

In two experiments we examined the effectiveness of ideokinetic imagery and flexibility combined with abdominal strength training as methods for improving the spinal angles of lordosis and, kyphosis and reducing low back pain. Ideokinetic imagery is a postural development technique that involves using movement images to gain subcortical control over the spinal musculature. Experiment 1 investigated the effectiveness of these treatments for males with a previous history of low back pain. Findings indicated that only ideokinetic imagery had a positive effect on the spinal column and low back pain. Experiment 2 extended these findings by investigating males and females using a noninvasive video analysis technique to record changes in spinal angles. The study further supports the effectiveness of ideokinetic imagery as a postural development technique in males with acute spinal angles. In these subjects spinal angles improved significantly, and the subjects reported compute cessation of low back pain. The research supports the use of ideokinetic imagery as an inexpensive and. noninvasive technique to improve poor posture and reduce low back pain.  相似文献   

Gymnastics and child abuse: an analysis of former international Portuguese female artistic gymnasts     

Maria Claudia Pinheiro  Nuno Pimenta  Rui Resende  Dominic Malcolm 《Sport, Education and Society》2013,18(4):435-450

The growing competitiveness of modern sport means that children, from very early ages, are increasingly submitted to intensive training programmes. These programmes are problematic for young athletes not only because their developing bodies are particularly susceptible to different kinds of injuries, but because athletes are also particularly vulnerable to experiences of different kinds of abuses. Using data collected through semi-structured interviews this study examines the various kinds of abuse that former Portuguese female gymnasts underwent during their sporting careers. Interviewees were asked to reflect on their past experiences and discuss aspects of the gymnastics subculture. Weight control, training/competing with injuries and corporal punishment emerged as key themes. The study therefore shows that the physical and psychological abuse of young athletes occurs even beyond the confines of elite professional sport, and thus that a broader spectrum of athletes learn to consider these forms of exploitation and abuse as normal.  相似文献   

Computer support for the development of writing abilities     

Mike Sharples  Malcolm Evans 《Instructional Science》1992,21(1-3):99-108

This paper discusses children's development of writing abilities and suggests ways in which children can be helped to develop their writing abilities by exploring the patterns, constraints and possibilities of language and by developing an awareness of the processes of written composition. The paper describes Boxes, a program to explore patterns in language and reports a small study of the program in use with children aged 9 to 10.  相似文献   

The reconstruction of educational studies     

Malcolm Pritchard 《Cambridge Journal of Education》1987,17(1):56-61

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