Manipulatives: Practicality over pedagogy?

Manipulatives (concrete resources) are used widely in English primary classrooms; this is nothing new. However, due partly to the emphasis by Maths Hubs using the Teaching for Mastery (TfM) approach as well as promotion within commercial schemes of learning, their use since the introduction of the National Curriculum 2014 has received a renewed level of scrutiny. This presentation will consider if the influx of two-sided counters into our classrooms has encouraged primary teachers to consider the pedagogical principles behind using these tools or is it the case that a manipulative in a scheme of work which is also available in the classroom cupboard is rationale enough for its use in a primary mathematics lesson? This presentation by an early-career researcher and recent primary mathematics leader will explore if there is a need to redress this balance towards a more pedagogically-informed approach

Manipulatives: practicality, pedagogy or preference?

Manipulatives (concrete resources) are used widely in English primary classrooms, due partly to the emphasis by Maths Hubs using the Teaching for Mastery (TfM) approach as well as promotion within commercial schemes of learning. Has the influx of two-sided counters into our classrooms encouraged primary teachers to consider the pedagogical principles behind using these tools? Or is it the case that a manipulative in a scheme which is also available in the cupboard is rationale enough for its use in a lesson? Personal preference can also play a large role in selecting manipulatives with factors such as perceptual richness or the perceived versatility of a particular resource becoming important. This presentation and interactive discussion will explore if there is a need to redress this balance towards a more pedagogically-informed approach

Comparison of DNA quantification methodology used in the DNA extraction protocol for the UK Biobank cohort

Correlation between UV/Vis (Trinean) and PicoGreen® methods of DNA quantification for DNA concentration < 60 ng/μL. Correlation plot showing all data points (442,859 samples) where DNA concentration measured via UV/Vis is < 60 ng/μL. Samples quantified via one method < 2 ng/ μL and with another method > 10 ng/μL are highlighted with a black cross. (PDF 166 kb

Computing education theories : what are they and how are they used?

In order to mature as a research field, computing education research (CER) seeks to build a better theoretical understanding of how students learn computing concepts and processes. Progress in this area depends on the development of computing-specific theories of learning to complement the general theoretical understanding of learning processes. In this paper we analyze the CER literature in three central publication venues -- ICER, ACM Transactions of Computing Education, and Computer Science Education -- over the period 2005--2015. Our findings identify new theoretical constructs of learning computing that have been published, and the research approaches that have been used in formulating these constructs. We identify 65 novel theoretical constructs in areas such as learning/understanding, learning behaviour/strategies, study choice/orientation, and performance/progression/retention. The most common research methods used to devise new constructs include grounded theory, phenomenography, and various statistical models. We further analyze how a number of these constructs, which arose in computing education, have been used in subsequent research, and present several examples to illustrate how theoretical constructs can guide and enrich further research. We discuss the implications for the whole field

Going SOLO to assess novice programmers

This paper explores the programming knowledge of novices using Biggs' SOLO taxonomy. It builds on previous work of Lister et al. (2006) and addresses some of the criticisms of that work. The research was conducted by studying the exam scripts for 120 introductory programming students, in which three specific questions were analyzed using the SOLO taxonomy. The study reports the following four findings: when the instruction to students used by Lister et al. - "In plain English, explain what the following segment of Java code does" - is replaced with a less ambiguous instruction, many students still provide multistructural responses; students are relatively consistent in the SOLO level of their answers; student responses on SOLO reading tasks correlate positively with performance on writing tasks; postgraduates students manifest a higher level of thinking than undergraduates. Copyright 2008 ACM

Reliably Classifying Novice Programmer Exam Responses using the SOLO Taxonomy

Abstract: Past papers of the BRACElet project have described an approach to teaching and assessing students where the students are presented with short pieces of code, and are instructed to explain, in plain English, what the code does. The student responses to these types of questions can be analysed according to the SOLO taxonomy. Some students display an understanding of the code as a single, functional whole, while other students cannot âsee the forest for the treesâ . However, classifying student responses into the taxonomy is not always straightforward. This paper analyses the reliability of the SOLO taxonomy as a means of categorising student responses. The paper derives an augmented set of SOLO categories for application to the programming domain, and proposes a set of guidelines for researchers to use

Video-enhanced dialogic assessment of teaching practice portfolios

Our guiding research question asks "what evidence of practice is co-constructed through the video-enhanced dialogic assessment interview process?" Initial teacher education in the UK is arguably characterised by the signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) of lesson observation and evidence portfolios that demonstrate how far a trainee’s practice meets the criterion-referenced teachers’ standards (DfE, 2011). To fully understand and assess professional practice on an international independent distance learning (IDL) teacher education programme requires a change in assessment practices, one that brings assessor and assessee closer together, and closer to practice. In this session, we present the Video-Enhanced Dialogic Assessment (VEDA) process and research project. VEDA can most easily be imagined as an online viva voce oral examination. We share two key case studies from the ongoing project. One focuses on the trainee teacher for whom formative video-stimulated recall, reflection and dialogue is part of their learning i.e assessment for learning. The other case study will present the summative high-stakes VEDA interview where the assessor must be confident that all the evidence presented demonstrates that the candidate meets the necessary teachers’ standards

Video-Enhanced Dialogic Assessment: online vivas for teacher assessment

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is usually gained at the end of a course in initial teacher education in the UK. It can be gained by overseas teachers if they meet the eligibility criteria. The assessment-only route to QTS for teachers in overseas British curriculum schools is characterised by interviews, lesson observations and assessment of an evidence portfolio that together demonstrate the extent to which a candidate’s practice meets the UK Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2011). In 2020, international travel for assessors to carry out QTS assessments in British schools overseas was halted because of Covid-19. Against this backdrop most assessments are currently undertaken using a video-enhanced dialogic assessment process (VEDA), incorporating video-enhanced lesson observation and feedback and a digital portfolio assessment. In order to complete the process, a dialogic assessment interview is carried out. It can most easily be imagined as an online viva examination using video-calling software. The VEDA process has the advantage of connecting candidate and assessor in a shared online dialogic space, as outlined by Wegerif (2007), in a process of video-stimulated recall, reflection and dialogue (Nind et al., 2015) combined with exploration of artefacts and evidence of practice. From this perspective, dialogue can encourage reflection on video captured during lessons, elicit tacit knowledge through questioning and discussion, help construct additional evidence and lead to a negotiated appreciation of strengths and areas for development