An application of dynamic assessment to school mathematical learning

This study is in response to the documented need to develop alternative assessment procedures which reflect current conceptions of the nature of school mathematical learning. From the literature a conceptual framework was developed that reflected key aspects of assessment of school mathematics. The nature of school mathematical learning was defined and the types of educational decisions arising from assessment were identified. The nature of conventional and alternative assessment paradigms was also defined

Effectiveness guidance document (EGD) for Chinese medicine trials: a consensus document

Background: There is a need for more Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) on Chinese medicine (CM) to inform clinical and policy decision-making. This document aims to provide consensus advice for the design of CER trials on CM for researchers. It broadly aims to ensure more adequate design and optimal use of resources in generating evidence for CM to inform stakeholder decision-making. Methods: The Effectiveness Guidance Document (EGD) development was based on multiple consensus procedures (survey, written Delphi rounds, interactive consensus workshop, international expert review). To balance aspects of internal and external validity, multiple stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, researchers and payers were involved in creating this document. Results: Recommendations were developed for “using available data” and “future clinical studies”. The recommendations for future trials focus on randomized trials and cover the following areas: designing CER studies, treatments, expertise and setting, outcomes, study design and statistical analyses, economic evaluation, and publication. Conclusion: The present EGD provides the first systematic methodological guidance for future CER trials on CM and can be applied to single or multi-component treatments. While CONSORT statements provide guidelines for reporting studies, EGDs provide recommendations for the design of future studies and can contribute to a more strategic use of limited research resources, as well as greater consistency in trial design

StopV: A Five Minute Assessment of Place Value

When exploring the learning needs of young children in literacy we look at how well they understand and can manipulate our system of written language. We can do the same in numeracy by assessing understanding and manipulation of our place value number system. This set of tasks, the Six Tasks of Place Value (STOPV), takes five minutes to administer and can give you direct insight into a student's understanding of our number system and therefore what teaching is needed. It can be administered to students generally from Year 3, as this is when this understanding is expected to be achieved by most students (Board of Studies, NSW, 1998). This is also when some students' conceptual understanding and procedural learning of arithmetic becomes less integrated and can contribute to mathematical learning difficulties (Hopkins, 2011). The highly integral nature of understanding place value numeration as it is applied in arithmetic and problem solving is acknowledged (Kamii, 1989; Steffe & Cobb, 1988; Wright, 1996) as is the range of ages at which students can establish this understanding, if they do (Cockcroft, 1982). This set of tasks therefore aims to support teachers in validly exploring their students' understanding so teachers can ensure this crucial conceptual aspect of mathematical learning is well established

Utility of a conceptual framework within doctoral study: A researcher's reflections

The author of this paper provides an example of a conceptual framework that supported her doctoral study and written dissertation in the field of educational psychology. The study was carried out prior to the more recent explicit emphasis on conceptual frameworks in postgraduate research texts and academic literature. The instigation for the development of an explicit conceptual framework was a change in supervisors and their need to be meaningfully included in the journey of the student. The conceptual framework supported the explanation of the multiple theoretical frameworks and literature base, as well as the professional educational context of the study. It also explicitly responded to the literature search in each area, clearly articulating theory and practice in school curriculum and assessment. This in turn supported the definition of research themes and research questions, and the research methodology (data gathering and analysis), from which the meaningful consideration of results could emerge and be shown to be conceptually coherent. The conceptual framework served as a reference for the supervisory relationship, and an organising structure for the written thesis. It also provided a tool of metacognition for the author as she actively constructed and used her conceptual framework to support her doctoral study

Responsive teaching for students experiencing learning difficulties

The diagnostic category of 'learning disability' has much less relevance in Australia than it does in the United States of America where it is tightly tied to the provision of funding. In Australia, the broad term 'learning difficulties' is most commonly used to refer to those students who experience academic and school-related problems. Although there are obvious parallels with the approach taken in the USA, there are significant divergences. The major difference is that there is no assumption in Australia that students classified as experiencing learning difficulties have an underlying impairment, although some of them certainly may. Students with learning difficulties tend to be a diverse group who demonstrate low achievement in academic subjects for a myriad of reasons. Thus, in Australia and New Zealand, under this broad definition of learning difficulties, at least 20 per cent of school students are considered to have problems in academic areas. Of these students, approximately five per cent are considered to have learning disabilities in a specific area, most commonly reading (Westwood & Graham, 2000). The latter percentage is comparable to the seven per cent of school-aged children in North America considered to have some form of learning disabilities (Graham & Bailey, 2007). This article focuses on the five per cent of students with significant learning disabilities in Australia's school-age population

Literacy Snapshots: Closing the Gap Evaluation 2012

Using funding from a 'Closing the Gap' grant (2011/2012), students from Minimbah Primary School were given a disposable camera and asked to take photos of "reading in their lives". This was a rich way of starting a discussion about the importance of reading and of exploring the reading experiences enjoyed by students and their families. This book brings together photos selected by the students and their stories about reading. Inside are all kinds of wonderful illustrations of READING: Reading alone; with a family member; to a younger brother or sister. This collection also shows students and their family members reading books; newspapers; recipes; magazines; on the computer screen. Reading everywhere and anytime

Cultural dissonance in tertiary education: History repeating itself

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the largest growing cohort of Mäori engaging in tertiary education at degree level is mature Mäori women. For most Mäori beginning university there are considerable challenges to achieving a university-level education and qualification.This paper reports on a study that used Kaupapa Mäori and Mana Wähine research approaches to give voice to five mature Mäori women who shared aspects of their first year at university, highlighting the cultural dissonance they experienced and how they overcame the challenges they faced as students. Attitudes to education as the result of the colonising effects of assimilation and educational policies contributed to the lives of these wähine as children and also later in life as tertiary students. This paper contributes to the understanding of tertiary education experiences from mature Mäori women's worldviews and explores the role cultural dissonance plays in educational engagement

Responsive teaching for sustainable learning: A practical conceptualisation of inclusive education

Inclusive education is about learning for all. It depends on teaching that is appropriate for each student who presents at the classroom door and aims to contribute to the growth and development of every learner. Inclusive education no longer refers only to teaching children with disability. It is a much broader notion within which schools are expected to respond to a wide variety of learning needs: to focus on both the group of learners that make up a class, and individual learners

Learning Intervention: Educational Casework and Responsive Teaching for Sustainable Learning

This book explores what learning intervention means in inclusive classroom settings. It provides educational professionals with the knowledge and skills they require to reflect on, and respond to students’ individual learning needs, and enables them to choose, implement and evaluate evidence-based strategies for learning intervention. Taking an ecological perspective, and placing a capability framework at its core, the book considers how responsive teaching and educational casework combine to create intricate layers of learning intervention, and recommends tailored teaching and support strategies that can be used to address a wide variety of student learning needs. Learning intervention is thus understood in its broadest sense, and educational professionals are equipped with a range of interactive and adaptive strategies to support student learning. Chapters introduce and unpack numerous frameworks for practice, provide an extension to Response to Intervention models, and bring together key evidence-based ideas in an accessible format. Effective teaching in response to clearly defined learning needs is central to the achievement of all students. Learning Intervention will provide future and current educational professionals with the structures, knowledge, insight and skills they need to respond effectively to each and every student

Inclusive Practice Through Layers of Learning Intervention

In this chapter, we, from our position as educators in Australia, outline an approach to inclusive practice that is flexible and adaptable. Instead of systems reacting to developmental delays and student learning difficulties by classifying learners and allocating them to alternative specialist programs, we advocate system responses that deliberately focus on removing potential barriers to learning from classrooms, thus making learning accessible for all learners. We believe that classroom teaching is enhanced by incorporating practices that have been shown to be most effective, such as an increased focus on individual learning needs, and the continual assessment of students' responsiveness to teaching. Collaborative educational casework processes through which the expertise of specialists in development and intervention are accessed, also strengthen the core business of effective classroom teaching, and support students with disabilities inclusively and responsively