Relevance and the Romantic Imagination

It is a widespread belief that students will more readily learn and understand material if it is made relevant to their everyday experience. This truism is com- monly interpreted to exclude students' imaginative life as an element of everyday experience. This article explores students' imaginative lives and considers impli- cations for attempts to make material ``relevant.' It further explores implications for the planning of teaching to engage students' imaginations. On entend souvent dire que la matière est plus facile à apprendre et à comprendre si elle a un lien avec la vie quotidienne des élèves, mais quand on énonce cette évidence, on exclut souvent l'imaginaire du vécu des élèves. Cet article explore certaines des caractéristiques de l'imaginaire des élèves et tire des conclusions, d'une part, sur les efforts qui sont faits en vue de rendre la matière ``pertinente' et, d'autre part, sur la planification d'un enseignement visant à faire travailler l'imagination des élèves.

Morphology, structure and electronic properties of CdTe surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

A scanning tunneling microscope has been used to study the surface properties of CdTe crystals. Coupled with scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and atomic force microscopy, the surface morphology, structure and electronic properties of CdTe and CdZnTe surfaces have been studied. We have systematically investigated the three low index surface planes of the cubic crystal, that is the {100}, {110} and {111} surface planes. In addition, wet chemically treated surfaces were also examined. Clean surfaces were prepared in ultra-high vacuum conditions using argon ion sputtering and annealing. For each surface we imaged and recorded the surface reconstructions and morphologies. For the (100) surface, a mixed c(2x2)+(2x1) surface phase was found, where steps on the surface were found to preferentially align along directions. For the (110) surface, tunneling spectroscopy was used to investigate the surface electronic structure of the (1x1) reconstruction. Using theoretical calculations of the tunneling current, we were able to match theory to experiment and discern the various vacuum tunneling processes for both n-type and semi-insulating material. For the (111) surface, a (2x2) reconstruction consisting of a cadmium vacancy structure was found. For the (-1-1-1) surface, a very disordered c(8x4) reconstruction was observed, consisting of a complicated tellurium terminated chain structure. For both faces, a large amount of faceting was observed to occur with the facets formed by {311} planes. Finally, wet chemically treated surfaces, important for the construction of many semiconductor devices, were investigated. Here the change in surface morphology for a variety of different common surface preparation methods was observed and, using STS, various surface electronic states were identified

GRUNDPROBLEME DER PÄDAGOGISCHEN FORSCHUNG: VERWECHSLUNG DES ANALYTISCHEN MIT DEM EMPIRISCHEN

Herbert Spencer je, pišući u 1850-ima, predložio da bi primjena znanstvenih metoda na obrazovne fenomene omogučila obrazovanju da napreduje poput drugih područja u koja su te metode uvedene. Mnogi tvrde da nas složenost obrazovnih fenomena onemogućava u postizanju uspjeha koji bi odgovarao npr. onom u području fizike. U ovom članku navodimo još jedan razlog: u oblikovanju problema pedagoških istraživanja često pobrkamo analitičke elemente, koji ne zahtijevaju istraživanja i koji osiguravaju pozitivne rezultate, s izvorno empirijskim pitanjima koja često nije moguće generalizirati. Ta zbrka naše rezultate obično čini neuspješnima.Herbert Spencer, writing inthe 1850s, suggested that the application of the methods of sci ence toeducational phenomena would enable education to progress as have otherareas where the methods of science have been brought into play. Manyargue that the complexity of educational phenomena prevent our beingable to achieve equivalent success to that of, say, physics. In thisarticle another reason is given; that in framing educational researchquestions we very often confuse an a lyt ic elements-which do notrequire research and which guarantee positive results-with genuinelyempirical issues—which are commonly not generalizable. The confusionmakes our re sults commonly fruitless.In seinen Schriften aus den 1850-er Jahren legte Herbert Spencer einen Vorschlag vor, demnach die Anwendung von wissenschaftlichen Methoden auf die Bildungsphänomene der Erziehungswissenschaft ermöglichen würde, einen ähnlichen Fortschritt zu machen wie andere Disziplinen, in denen diese Methoden eingeführt wurden. Viele behaupten, dass die Komplexität der Bildungsphänomene uns daran hindert, einen mit den Fortschritten auf dem Gebiet der Physik vergleichbaren Erfolg zu erzielen. In diesem Artikel wird noch ein Grund dafür angeführt: Bei der Formulierung von Problemen der pädagogischen Untersuchungen werden analytische Elemente, die keiner Untersuchung bedürfen und positive Ergebnisse sicherstellen häufig mit den ursprünglich empirischen Fragen verwechselt, die nicht verallgemeinert werden können. Diese Verwechslung macht unsere Bemühungen ergebnislos

La imaginación: una olvidada caja de herramientas del aprendizaje

The article presents the research of the Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) and the current piece of work focuses on children’s imagination and emotions and the ways in which they can influence daily learning in class. This research work shows how these tools can be included in class planning in a simple and innovating way (having the form of stories, by using binary opposites which, in turn, have to be abstract and emotional). The work ends with a brief example of the use of these tools in the planning of a mathematics class about the position value of numbers. El artículo presenta la investigación del Grupo de Investigación de Educación Imaginativa (GIEI) en su trabajo que enfoca en la imaginación y en las emociones de los niños, la maneras en que las mismas se pueden comprometer en el aprendizaje diario en la clase. El trabajo muestra de qué modo estas herramientas se pueden insertar en un marco de planificación novedoso y sencillo (con forma de cuento, usando oposiciones binarias, que a su vez, tienen que ser abstractas y poseer carga emocional). El trabajo finaliza con un breve ejemplo del uso de estas herramientas en la planificación de una clase de matemática sobre el valor posicional de los números. 

Transition from Primary to Secondary School and More Able and Talented (MAT) Disadvantaged Pupils: Evidence from South-east Wales

In Wales, as in many other education systems, there is an increasing focus on the impact that poverty can have on the educational achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Educational research in this area has included a focus on boys (compared to girls), ethnic minority groups and those with additional learning needs. Little attention, however, has been paid to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been identified as being more able and talented (MAT). This article reports on a mixed-method research evaluation of such pupils in a sample of schools in south-east Wales in relation to the impact of their transition from primary to secondary education. The findings from the research highlight variations in the definition and identification of MAT learners between primary and secondary schools and a lack of attention to this specific group of learners in school transition plans and policies. This leads the researchers to argue for the need for schools to specifically identify this group of pupils through the transition process and to suggest specific areas where transition practice might be strengthened to cater for their needs. The study supports the limited research that has been undertaken in this area that specific groups of more vulnerable pupils, such as those who are MAT but come from disadvantaged backgrounds, may suffer from shortcomings in the primary to secondary transition process such that it hampers their progression and the realisation of their potential

Engaging students’ imaginations in second language learning

Imagination is rarely acknowledged as one of the main workhorses of learn- ing. Unfortunately, disregarding the imagination has some clearly negative pedagogical impacts: Learning is more ineffective than it should be and much schooling is more tedious than it need be. In this paper, we outline a somewhat new way of thinking about the process of students’ language ed- ucation. We focus on the kinds of “cognitive tools” or learning “toolkits” human beings develop as they grow up, which connect emotion and imagi- nation with knowledge in the learning process. We show how employing these tools—indeed, how their central employment in all aspects of plan- ning—can make learning other languages engaging and meaningful

Adaptándose a nuevas formas de enseñanza dentro del programa “Aprender en Profundidad” / Adapting to new forms of teaching in the “Learning in Depth” program

It has long been argued that being educated entails satisfying two criteria: first, one must know many things about the world and, second, that one must know something in significant depth. There have been a number of proposals for attaining the depth criterion, none of them either clear or clearly successful. A curriculum innovation from Canada called “Learning in Depth” is a simple and practicable program for ensuring depth learning for all students, and it seems to merit wider experimental implementations. It also requires somewhat new forms of teaching.Por mucho tiempo se sostuvo que estar educado implica cumplir con dos criterios: en primer lugar, uno debe conocer muchas cosas acerca del mundo y, en segundo lugar, uno debe conocer algo en profundidad significativa. Para alcanzar el criterio de profundidad se han propuesto una cantidad de posibilidades, ninguna de las cuales resultó clara o claramente exitosa. Una innovación curricular desarrollada en Canadá y llamada “Aprender en Profundidad” constituye un programa simple y practicable para asegurar a todos los estudiantes un aprendizaje en profundidad y merece, en ese sentido, que se realicen implementaciones experimentales más amplias. Asimismo, requiere nuevas formas de enseñanza.