The student-produced electronic portfolio in craft education

The authors studied primary school students’ experiences of using an electronic portfolio in their craft education over four years. A stimulated recall interview was applied to collect user experiences and qualitative content analysis to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that the electronic portfolio was experienced as a multipurpose tool to support learning. It makes the learning process visible and in that way helps focus on and improves the quality of learning. © ISLS.Peer reviewe

Retrieval-, Distributed-, and Interleaved Practice in the Classroom:A Systematic Review

Three of the most effective learning strategies identified are retrieval practice, distributed practice, and interleaved practice, also referred to as desirable difficulties. However, it is yet unknown to what extent these three practices foster learning in primary and secondary education classrooms (as opposed to the laboratory and/or tertiary education classrooms, where most research is conducted) and whether these strategies affect different students differently. To address these gaps, we conducted a systematic review. Initial and detailed screening of 869 documents found in a threefold search resulted in a pool of 29 journal articles published from 2006 through June 2020. Seventy-five effect sizes nested in 47 experiments nested in 29 documents were included in the review. Retrieval- and interleaved practice appeared to benefit students’ learning outcomes quite consistently; distributed practice less so. Furthermore, only cognitive Student*Task characteristics (i.e., features of the student’s cognition regarding the task, such as initial success) appeared to be significant moderators. We conclude that future research further conceptualising and operationalising initial effort is required, as is a differentiated approach to implementing desirable difficulties

Remote access laboratories for preparing STEM teachers: A mixed methods study

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory provided the conceptual framework for this mixed methods investigation of pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) self-efficacy to teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-B (STEBI-B) was modified to create the Technology Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (T-TEBI). Pre-test and post-test T-TEBI scores were measured to investigate changes in PSTs’ self-efficacy to teach technology. Interviews and reflections were used to explore the reasons for changes in pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. This paper reports results from a pilot study using an innovative Remote Access Laboratory system with PSTs

The persuasiveness of British accents: Enhancing parental self-efficacy to manage children's oral health behaviours

PhD thesisThis interdisciplinary research builds on Pine et al.’s (2016) oral health intervention, ‘Bedtime Brush and Read Together to Sleep’ (BBaRTS), conducted among families in Tayside, Kent and Newham. It uses children’s storybooks to improve parents’ self-efficacy to manage their child’s oral health behaviours. The storybooks are being adapted into animated cartoons with voice-overs. Therefore, my research question is: What are the persuasive effects of British accents in each BBaRTS trial area? Study one tests the persuasiveness of six British accents (Received Pronunciation (RP), Multicultural London English (MLE), Yorkshire English, Dundee English, Irish English and Estuary English) among 114 parents (Tayside, n = 46; Kent, n = 34; Newham, n = 34). It was hypothesised that there would be a persuasive effect of accent, which differs by area. Participants completed an accent identification task, along with implicit and explicit measurement procedures. In Tayside, Estuary English was more persuasive than MLE (p = 0.002). In Newham, MLE was more persuasive than Dundee English (p = 0.001), Yorkshire English (p = 0.011) and RP (p = 0.011). In Kent, there was no persuasive effect of accent. Findings are examined in the context of Gawronski and Bodenhausen’s (2006, 2011) Associative-Propositional Evaluation model. This study also explores individual differences and reaction time in relation to accent persuasiveness, but results suggest that neither factor plays a fundamental role. Study two applies the most and least persuasive accent in Newham (MLE and Dundee English) to animated versions of the BBaRTS storybooks. 37 participants from Tower Hamlets – a demographically similar East London borough – completed an experiment based on the self-validation hypothesis (Petty et al. 2002). It was hypothesised that accent would affect participants’ confidence in their thoughts about the oral health messages, and in turn their attitudes. MLE was indeed associated with higher thought confidence than Dundee English (p = 0.001), but not with more favourable attitudes to the oral health messages. Results are discussed in relation to the participants’ English proficiency. This research contributes to the growing work on implicit cognition in sociolinguistics, and furthers our understanding of how accent interacts with persuasion. Crucially, it emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary research by connecting linguistics and public health

Pedagogical opportunities for mindful practice: engaging the visual arts classroom.

This thesis research contends that the focused and practiced acquisition of a mindful attitude to visual arts-making offers innovative possibilities of thought and engagement. The interaction with phenomena within the classroom is hermeneutically interpreted and influenced by selected elements of Deleuzian theory enabling insights into creative processes.<br /