Curricular orientations to real-world contexts in mathematics

A common claim about mathematics education is that it should equip students to use mathematics in the ‘real world’. In this paper, we examine how relationships between mathematics education and the real world are materialised in the curriculum across a sample of eleven jurisdictions. In particular, we address the orientation of the curriculum towards application of mathematics, the ways that real-world contexts are positioned within the curriculum content, the ways in which different groups of students are expected to engage with real-world contexts, and the extent to which high-stakes assessments include real-world problem solving. The analysis reveals variation across jurisdictions and some lack of coherence between official orientations towards use of mathematics in the real world and the ways that this is materialised in the organisation of the content for students

Young people and the evaluation of information on the World Wide Web: Principles, practice and beliefs

A recurrent theme in LIS literature is the tendency of young people not to evaluate rigorously the information with which they come into contact. Although many information literacy models stress the need to take a critical approach, the reality of behaviour is often very different. Recent research conducted in an English high school has explored the importance that teenagers attach to ten particular evaluative criteria. 149 youngsters contributed data via an online questionnaire. Participants felt that information on the Web should be current/topical, free from spelling and grammatical errors and easily verifiable elsewhere but authorship was much less of a priority to them. The findings are likely to be of special relevance to information literacy teachers who are defining priorities for their own programmes

ADVANCING INFORMATION LITERACY USING THE CRAAP PROCESS IN THE PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS COURSE

This paper illustrates the information literacy strategy in an undergraduate program at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The paper exemplifies a sequential approach to advancing information literacy skills with the goal of improving students’ capabilities to evaluate and apply information in a specifically designed learning environment, while generating new knowledge in undergraduate coursework. The paper emphasizes how information literacy can be developed within coursework through a six-step process, including defining, locating, selecting, organizing, presenting, and assessing. Moreover, the proposed information literacy process consists of five key components with related informational questions allowing completion of the information literacy tasks with the CRAAP process. The five elements of the CRAAP process comprise currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose, which must be advanced and mastered across a four-year undergraduate program. The paper concluded that information literacy requires the development of a specially designed framework of information literacy learning that must be applied across coursework using specifically designed assignments

Enrichment clusters: educating for the real world

Over the last three decades, there has been a dramatic change in the expectations the society holds about compulsory education. Contemporary education is expected to cultivate highorder thinking as well as to develop life skills and functional literacy in school graduates. However, public satisfaction and student performance on international testing are far below these expectations. Enrichment clusters (EC), which are group projects aimed to connect students to address real-life issues, could be an alternative solution to bridge the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that schools provide. This paper, therefore, aims to justify the importance of life skills education, to highlight the necessity to improve the quality of Kazakhstani secondary education, to compare two current models of life skills education, and to argue for EC to become an integral part of the secondary school curriculum to promote functional literacy

Understanding Engagement within the Context of a Safety Critical Game

One of the most frequent arguments for deploying serious games is that they provide an engaging format for student learning. However, engagement is often equated with enjoyment, which may not be the most relevant conceptualization in safety-critical settings, such as law enforcement and healthcare. In these contexts, the term ‘serious’ does not only relate to the non-entertainment purpose of the game but also the environment simulated by the game. In addition, a lack of engagement in a safety critical training setting can have serious ethical implications, leading to significant real-world impacts. However, evaluations of safety-critical games (SCGs) rarely provide an in-depth consideration of player experience. Thus, in relation to simulation game-based training, we are left without a clear understanding of what sort of experience players are having, what factors influence their engagement and how their engagement relates to learning. In order to address these issues, this paper reports on the mixed-method evaluation of a SCG that was developed to support police training. The findings indicate that engagement is supported by the experience situational relevance, due to the player’s experience of real-world authenticity, targeted feedback mechanisms and learning challenges

Providing a law degree for the real world : perspective of an Australian law school

As a result of a two year curriculum review, QUT’s undergraduate law degree has a focus on first year student transition, integration of law graduate capabilities throughout the degree and work integrated learning. A ‘whole-degree’ approach was adopted to ensure that capabilities were appropriately embedded and scaffolded throughout the degree, that teaching and learning approaches met the needs of students as they transitioned from first year through to final year, and that students in final year were provided with a capstone experience to assist them with transition into the work place. The revised degree commenced implementation in 2009. This paper focuses on the ‘real world’ approach to the degree achieved through the first year program, embedding and scaffolding law graduate capabilities through authentic and valid assessment and work integrated learning to assist graduates with transition into the workplace

A case study of case studies: producing real world learning within the business classroom

Teaching and learning about business organisations and the environment in which they operate is contained within a curriculum but context and events in which they operate is constantly changing. In responding to this context one solution is to construct and use case-studies, but these are (a) time-consuming and expensive to produce (b) need constant up-dating (c) may be unsuited for classrooms. This paper shows how these problems have been overcome by using a innovative methodology based in a continuing public-private partnership (1994-present) between H.E., schools and business organisations. The organisations pay to contribute - and distribute - the case-studies which must conform to requirements which ensure classroom materials are relevant, rigorous, up-to-date, and unbiased: cross-referenced to the curriculum; both practical and theoretical; designed to enrich classroom experiences; ethically-based, taking into account the advice of teachers. The paper argues for a way of producing curriculum materials which itself constitutes a methodological contribution to the uses of case-study in research-based learning

Teaching Accounting and Finance to non-specialists: revealing the students' perspective on the learning experience

This study is concerned with the non-specialist accounting and finance students’ perspective on the usefulness, scope, and practical application of relevant modules within their program of study. It also evaluates relevant teaching and learning approaches adopted by accounting academics teaching non-specialist - instead of introductory - accounting modules, through revealing the students' perceptions on the effectiveness of these approaches in creating a high quality learning experience. Lectures' teaching competencies are rated first in terms of importance for their learning experience by the vast majority of students. Issues relevant to the curricula's 'real world' application, as well as, the development of clear links between lecture material and assessment practise, engrossed considerable attention by the respondents. Education technology and reading material on the other hand appeared to be of prior importance for a smaller number of students

Policy Problems: Preparing Students for the “Real World”

Employability of students has risen as a key indicator of success of institutions, alongside an increased focus on policy for skills development in Canada. In Ontario, a hub for Canada’s economy, the issue of the “skills gap” has sustained interest as a significant but contested policy issue in public post-secondary education (Viczko, Lorusso, & McKechnie, 2019). Directed by policy and by public demand, significant resources at universities are invested into efforts to increase students’ skills capacities, career prospects, and overall employability. For student affairs staff (SAS), developing student career readiness and employability is central to many portfolios of our work (CACUSS, 2011). In my master’s thesis research, I conducted a qualitative study with SAS, with the intention of understanding how skills development policy discourses extend into the everyday reality of SAS who are ultimately responsible for its realization in post-secondary institutions. In this article, I present findings related to one of four themes that emerged from analysis of policy documents and interviews with SAS: preparing students for the “real world.

Digital Literacy is Health Literacy

This article explores the means through which Academic Librarians at Leeds Beckett University develop digital literacy – and through it health literacy – in students, supporting good personal, professional and institutional healthcare practice. Through a case-study of the role of two Health and Social Sciences-orientated Academic Librarians, the article describes practical aspects of their work developing the digital literacy of a diverse range of academic students and staff. It then goes on to outline specific practical challenges associated with this task, relating to the support of evidence-based practice, the Open Access movement and eBook accessibility, demonstrating how their continuing relevance of traditional professional principles to healthcare information provision resolution can be used to further support digital literacy. Overall, the article provides an example of the, even where the practical issues and methodologies have evolved