Epistemological and interpersonal stance in a data description task : findings from a discipline-specific learner corpus

This article examines the stance options used by writers responding to a data description task in the discipline of Statistics. Based on a small learner corpus, it uses inductive qualitative content analysis to explore both the content propositions that students included in their writing, and the ways in which they expressed evaluative stance vis-à-vis such propositions. In the light of an interview with a specialist informant, the article discusses the appropriacy of the content choices and stance options taken by students. It then discusses the potential exploitation of the learner corpus for pedagogic purposes

The practitioner perspective on the modeling of pedagogy and practice

The promotion of e-learning in policies internationally has led to questions about how best to employ technology in support of learning. A range of models has since been developed that attempts to relate pedagogy to technology. However, research into the effectiveness of such models in changing teaching practice is sparse, and work that compares these models to practitioners’ own representations of their practice is absent. The study described here involved asking practitioners to model their own practice, and to compare these with a model developed by a government organisation. Practitioners were adept at using existing models and repurposing them to suit their own context. Our research provided evidence of broad acceptance of the existing model with practitioners, but indicated that practitioners would take this tool and remodel it for their own contexts of learning to make it meaningful, relevant and useful to them

Current Trends in Educational Research in Europe

The author deals with the “issue of the impact of educational research on educational policy and practice with special regard to teacher education” and asks how “educational research is to be defined concerning its content, method and objective.” Since “in respect of these three features, one has to draw a line from normative foundations of philosophical or religious nature and individual experience, on the one hand, to the modem approaches, both of quantitative and qualitative character, on the other”, he says, he first gives an historical overview over the development of educational history in Europe. After discussing a “considerable diversity” of educational research within the international spectrum and analyzing “organisational patterns and issues” as well as “typological and methodological issues” he finally points out the “impact of educational research on decision-making”. (DIPF/ ssch

Implementing learning analytics for learning impact: Taking tools to task

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Learning analytics has the potential to impact student learning, at scale. Embedded in that claim are a set of assumptions and tensions around the nature of scale, impact on student learning, and the scope of infrastructure encompassed by ‘learning analytics’ as a socio-technical field. Drawing on our design experience of developing learning analytics and inducting others into its use, we present a model that we have used to address five key challenges we have encountered. In developing this model, we recommend: A focus on impact on learning through augmentation of existing practice; the centrality of tasks in implementing learning analytics for impact on learning; the commensurate centrality of learning in evaluating learning analytics; inclusion of co-design approaches in implementing learning analytics across sites; and an attention to both social and technical infrastructure

Proposed Principles for Promoting Pre-service Teacher Transfer of Group-based Learning to the Classroom: A Discussion Paper

The effective ‘transfer’ of knowledge and skills from university to the workplace is of global interest, yet this area of inquiry lacks research. Teacher educators, for example, require information on how to advance pre-service teachers’ transfer of group-based learning to the primary school classroom (Scott & Baker, 2003). Group-based learning (GBL) is a valued means of developing learners’ group work, personal attributes and interpersonal skills, and in the case pre-service teachers their professional skills.. Graduate teachers do not necessarily generalise GBL pedagogy to the classroom. This discussion paper draws from a qualitative case study that examined this pedagogy in a pre-service teacher education program at a University. The case study revealed three core GBL issues: ‘consistency and coherence’; ‘equity and fairness’; ‘pragmatism and adding value’. This paper proposes four principles of effective transfer and examines how, in relation to these three issues, these principles can promote effective transfer

Lost in translation? – The “integration of theory and practice” as a central focus for senior schooling Physical Education Studies

In February 2007 a new senior secondary Physical Education Studies (PES) was introduced in Western Australia (WA). The course was one of some 50 new courses that were developed in conjunction with the introduction of a new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). Notably, the rationale for PES claimed that the “integration of theory and practice is central to studies in this course” (Curriculum Council of WA [CCWA], 2009, p. 2). Focusing on the initial years of implementation this study explored curriculum change and reform within the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Learning Area and specifically, in the context of PES in Western Australia (WA), to consider the extent to which this significant course intention has been realised. Accordingly, the study investigated the discourse(s) that formed PES in WA, before using this as a backdrop to examine the notion of integrated theory and practice in “enactment” (Ball, Maguire, Braun, Hoskins, & Perryman, 2012, p. 6). In particular, the study addressed the dynamic relationship between curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, and sought a better understanding of the policy making and course design intentions that formed PES, and the representation, expression and contestation of varied discourse. The study had the ultimate aim of identifying “creative and original” (Ball et al., 2012) practice in the field of senior school physical education (PE), and specifically integrated theory and practice pedagogy. Literature that locates the study in the context of policy and enactment is reviewed, before attention turns to the field of pedagogical practice in PE as linked to senior secondary school, and in particular Bernstein’s conceptualisation of pedagogic discourse (1990) and Arnold’s (1979) concepts or dimensions, namely ‘in, through and about’ movement. The study employed a phased approach, investigating three research questions with findings from Phase 1 (research question one) informing and providing a backdrop to Phase 2 (research questions two and three). The methodology for the phased study was informed by Bernstein’s conceptualisation of pedagogic discourse, and specifically the Recontextualising and Secondary Fields, and utilised qualitative research methods, including semi structured interviews, document analysis and a series of case studies in schools. The research findings from phase one of the study established that the new PES course in WA emerged on the back of significant educational reform that enabled a series of varied overarching discourse(s) pertinent to contemporary debate in the broader education and PE context, both in Australian and Internationally to be advanced. The study then explored how one of these overarching discourses, namely the \u27integration of theory and practice\u27 was interpreted and enacted in schools and the factors influencing the various approaches and responses identified. The data highlighted that teachers in the context of PES in WA, broadly interpreted the ‘integration of theory and practice’ in terms similar to Arnold’s conceptualisation. The study generated data that suggests evidence of some, or what might be called “modest” (Brown & Penney, 2013), examples of integrated theory and practice teaching and learning arrangements. These varied considerably and consequently there was little or no sign of established ‘integrated theory and practice’ pedagogy across the schools involved in the study. Accordingly this thesis focuses on examples of these various arrangements. This study extends understanding of the various discourses impacting “integration”, most notably Arnold’s conceptualisation of learning in/through/about movement, and emphasises the need for more work that engages with the complexities of how curriculum and assessment discourses can be effectively mediated through pedagogical practice. A series of recommendations, which utilise Bernstein’s conceptualisation as a central organiser, are made. These focus on ‘how’ conditions in the recontextualising fields can be arranged to create a curriculum, assessment and pedagogic environment where integrated theory and practice as a centre piece for PES could prosper, and ‘what’ pedagogically can be done to develop practice in this area. The recommendations address curriculum, assessment and pedagogy at multiple levels and while specifically related to the context of PES in WA, are typically pertinent to senior secondary school courses nationally and internationally

Feeding back to feed forward:formative assessment as a platform for effective learning

Students construct meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs, 2003) which are largely determined by the type, amount, and timing of feedback (Carless, 2006). The aim of the present study was to develop a greater awareness and understanding of formative assessment and feedback practices and their relationship with learning. During 2011 five focus group discussions were undertaken with students and academic staff involved with a range of modules and degree pathways at a UK University. Three of the focus groups were with undergraduate students (one at each level of study), and one was with taught postgraduate students. Discussions focussed on integration of formative assessment and feedback into modules, as well as an exploration of the effectiveness of feedback on future learning. The findings revealed that in order to emphasise continuous learning – feeding back to feed forward (Rushton, 2005) – and to encourage self-regulated learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006), students need to have opportunities to make mistakes and to learn from them prior to summative assessment (through formative assessment and feedback). There was also firm evidence of different approaches to learning, emphasising in particular the transitional importance of the first year of study as the foundation upon which future achievement is built