An evaluation of the effectiveness of exercises for teaching classification skills in grade 1

Thesis (Ed. M.)--Boston University, 195

Is there hope for action research in a 'directed profession'?

In this conceptual article, we explore the idea that neo-liberalism has created a ‘directed profession’ with consequences for action research. There are dominant discourses of compliance and performativity which have diminished teachers’ capacity to ask research questions that are disruptive of existing orthodoxies and restricted curriculum and pedagogical models. The article explores the implications of this for teachers as they reflect on practice and wish to make meaningful change to learning and teaching. It has been written from the perspective of four teacher educators who have first-hand experience of developing inquiry-based projects with teachers. First, we consider how action research has been appropriated by policymakers and is in many cases a long way from emancipatory traditions. We explore the importance of dialogue in generating ‘cognitive conflict’ and ‘values– practice dissonance’ among action researchers. Finally, we discuss a ‘dialogic framework’ as a protocol that can help to generate critical perspectives among teachers. We highlight the ‘incubation phase’ of action research, and we suggest that such a protocol has a role in the early stages of thinking about a focus for action research projects. It may help to reclaim action research from bending to the pressures of accountability and performativity in what it sets out to change

Neural network-based classification of X-ray fluorescence spectra of artists' pigments: an approach leveraging a synthetic dataset created using the fundamental parameters method

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy is an analytical technique used to identify chemical elements that has found widespread use in the cultural heritage sector to characterise artists' materials including the pigments in paintings. It generates a spectrum with characteristic emission lines relating to the elements present, which is interpreted by an expert to understand the materials therein. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are an effective method for automating such classification tasks—an increasingly important feature as XRF datasets continue to grow in size—but they require large libraries that capture the natural variation of each class for training. As an alternative to having to acquire such a large library of XRF spectra of artists' materials a physical model, the Fundamental Parameters (FP) method, was used to generate a synthetic dataset of XRF spectra representative of pigments typically encountered in Renaissance paintings that could then be used to train a neural network. The synthetic spectra generated—modelled as single layers of individual pigments—had characteristic element lines closely matching those found in real XRF spectra. However, as the method did not incorporate effects from the X-ray source, the synthetic spectra lacked the continuum and Rayleigh and Compton scatter peaks. Nevertheless, the network trained on the synthetic dataset achieved 100% accuracy when tested on synthetic XRF data. Whilst this initial network only attained 55% accuracy when tested on real XRF spectra obtained from reference samples, applying transfer learning using a small quantity of such real XRF spectra increased the accuracy to 96%. Due to these promising results, the network was also tested on select data acquired during macro XRF (MA-XRF) scanning of a painting to challenge the model with noisier spectra Although only tested on spectra from relatively simple paint passages, the results obtained suggest that the FP method can be used to create accurate synthetic XRF spectra of individual artists' pigments, free from X-ray tube effects, on which a classification model could be trained for application to real XRF data and that the method has potential to be extended to deal with more complex paint mixtures and stratigraphies

Sexuality Education and International Standards: Insisting Upon Children’s Rights

The #MeToo movement has exposed the need for education about consent, power dynamics and positive relationships. International human rights instruments oblige states to provide sexuality education, and there have been some legal challenges to state provision of such education. Courts at regional and domestic levels have focused on the benefits to the state of sexuality education, holding it permissible if it is "objective" and if parents may educate privately to avoid it. It is argued in this article however that greater focus is required on sexuality education as primarily a child's human right, independent of state discretion and/or parental rights

Imagery and Meaning Making: Preparing for and Learning about a Large-Scale Object Performance Event in Community

This study examines the narratives of All Souls artists and performers in Tucson, Arizona asking how artists learn about, share information on, and make meaning through a large-scale event and in their art. This work focuses on, in particular, the idea that objects are more than material products, they are a center point in the meanings attached to as well as the learning processes involved in the performance itself. Methodologically, this paper builds on in-depth qualitative interviews with artists – both expert and novice – involved in the procession. This research is based on observational notes taken at differing temporal points leading up to the event, across two years of parades, preparation, and celebration. Interview transcripts are treated as narratives and examined in light of notes taken in the field to address the following research question: What does it mean for artists to teach about, learn about, and engage in object performance when representing their experiences of death and dying through the All Souls Procession?ye