The second curriculum opera : Arias, assessment and methodological traces

Drawing on contemporary forms of qualitative research such as performance ethnography (McCall, 2000), autoethnography (Ellis &amp; Bochner, 2000; Ellis &amp; Flaherty, 1992) and using narrative and writing as forms of inquiry (Richardson, 1990; 1992; 1995a; 1995b; 1997; 1999; 2000), this research project constructs a \u27learning through\u27 (Gardner, 1983; 1993; 1995; 1999; 2003a; 2003b) approach to curriculum within pre-service teacher education. During 2002 we initiated the first curriculum opera (Dixon &amp; White, 2003; Dixon, White, &amp; Smerdon, 2003) in our Faculty of Education with thirty-seven students. In 2003 we developed this learning and teaching approach with twice as many students. We also reconsidered assessment of students involved in the opera for overall theoretical consistency. As students increasingly took control, they \u27imagined curriculum\u27 (Doll &amp; Gough, 2002) and transformed their exploration of identity in the \u27process of becoming\u27 teachers (Britzman, 2003). In this paper, we outline the project and the learning involved. We also indicate future directions for learning and teaching in preservice teacher education as well as the potential uses and misuses of teacher assessment through portfolio.<br /

Gelatinization Properties of Starches from Three Successive Generations of Six Exotic Corn Lines Grown in Two Locations

The objectives of this research were to evaluate the intra- and interpopulation variability in gelatinization properties of starches from exotic corn lines and their derivatives when grown 1) during two successive years in the same location; and 2) in both temperate and tropical environments. Six novel exotic corn lines (two 100% exotic and four 25% exotic derived from a breeding cross developed by crossing an exotic hybrid with Corn Belt lines) were selected for this research because their starches have significantly different (and potentially useful) thermal properties from those found in starch from normal Corn Belt corn. The Sn (n = 3 for 25% exotic lines and n = 1 for 100% exotic lines) generations of the six exotic lines were self-pollinated and grown in the winter nursery in Puerto Rico. Two successive generations (Sn+1 and Sn+2) of lines selected for low onset of gelatinization temperature were self-pollinated and grown in the same environment near Ames, IA. To evaluate the effect of environment, the Sn+2 generation also was self- pollinated and grown in the winter nursery in Puerto Rico. Thermal prop- erties of starches from 10 single kernels from each line were analyzed by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at a ratio of 4 mg of dry starch to 8 mg of distilled water. After subsequent generations, the differences in DSC gelatinization properties between selected kernels within each progeny line narrowed, suggesting increased homogeneity of starch structural properties within each line. Unusual thermal properties were fixed in some progeny lines. Environmental factors also affected the thermal properties of starch and a significant interaction between environment and genotype was observed. These results suggest that introgression of adapted germplasm with useful genes from exotic corn would increase the available genetic variability for starch functionality and allow the development of hybrids with important value-added traits

Learning \u27Through\u27 or Learning \u27About\u27? The Ridiculous and Extravagant Medium of Opera : Gardner\u27s Multiple Intellegences in Pre-Service Teacher Education

In recent years, pre-service teacher education has attempted to incorporate into programs an understanding of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences as it applies to schools. In this paper the tension between ‘learning about’ multiple intelligences and ‘learning through’ multiple intelligences supports Gardner’s (1993) distinction between ‘understanding’ and ‘coverage’. This paper examines the use of the performing arts in the professional studies component of our teacher education program. During 2002 at The University of Melbourne, a group of education students were offered the opportunity to develop an opera in order to learn about assessment and curriculum. Thirty-seven of the students volunteered to be involved and over a period of six months met this challenge. Our action research study asked two critical questions. To what extent is the understanding of multiple intelligences by pre-service teachers improved by ‘learning through’? Can pre-service teachers address fundamental issues in curriculum and assessment through the development of a performance? This experience would be of value to other teacher educators

Learning \u27Through\u27 or Learning \u27About\u27? The Ridiculous and Extravagant Medium of Opera : Gardner\u27s Multiple Intellegences in Pre-Service Teacher Education

In recent years, pre-service teacher education has attempted to incorporate into programs an understanding of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences as it applies to schools. In this paper the tension between ‘learning about’ multiple intelligences and ‘learning through’ multiple intelligences supports Gardner’s (1993) distinction between ‘understanding’ and ‘coverage’. This paper examines the use of the performing arts in the professional studies component of our teacher education program. During 2002 at The University of Melbourne, a group of education students were offered the opportunity to develop an opera in order to learn about assessment and curriculum. Thirty-seven of the students volunteered to be involved and over a period of six months met this challenge. Our action research study asked two critical questions. To what extent is the understanding of multiple intelligences by pre-service teachers improved by ‘learning through’? Can pre-service teachers address fundamental issues in curriculum and assessment through the development of a performance? This experience would be of value to other teacher educators

Monitoring and evaluation of family interventions (Information on families supported to March 2010) RR044

Josie Dixon, Vera Schneider, Cheryl Lloyd, Alice Reeves, Clarissa White, Wojtek Tomaszewski, Rosie Green and Eleanor Irelan

Monitoring and evaluation of family interventions: information on families supported to March 2010 (Research report DFE-RR044)

"This report updates and builds on the previous research by presenting and analysing FIIS [Family intervention Information system] data provided by family intervention staff up to and including 31 March 2010. The report is primarily based on simple descriptive statistics which provide a summary of the quantitative evidence. In addition statistical modelling (logistic regression) was used to look at the factors associated with successful and unsuccessful outcomes." - Page 14

Autonomous Integrated Receive System (AIRS) requirements definition. Volume 2: Design and development

Functional requirements and specifications are defined for an autonomous integrated receive system (AIRS) to be used as an improvement in the current tracking and data relay satellite system (TDRSS), and as a receiving system in the future tracking and data acquisition system (TDAS). The AIRS provides improved acquisition, tracking, bit error rate (BER), RFI mitigation techniques, and data operations performance compared to the current TDRSS ground segment receive system. A computer model of the AIRS is used to provide simulation results predicting the performance of AIRS. Cost and technology assessments are included

Note on Constrained Cohomology

The cohomology of the BRS operator corresponding to a group of rigid symmetries is studied in a space of local field functionals subjected to a condition of gauge invariance. We propose a procedure based on a filtration operator counting the degree in the infinitesimal parameters of the rigid symmetry transformations. An application to Witten's topological Yang-Mills theory is given.Comment: appendix and refs adde

Narrative and portfolio approaches to teacher professional standards

This paper analyses various uses of narrative in the exploration of teacher identity. It highlights the way many contemporary education writers use terminology such as &lsquo;storying lives&rsquo; and &lsquo;storied landscapes&rsquo; to describe teacher processes of reflection on practice. In this paper the authors discuss some recent approaches to narrative that incorporate or suggest systematic uses of narrative theory (Conle 2003, Kamler, 2001, Richardson, 2003). Consideration is also given to the links between critical ethnography and narrative in order to critique the use of teacher portfolios, as in a recent Australian initiative for the appraisal of beginning teachers. The authors conclude with an argument for the rehabilitation and refinement of narrative theory in the &lsquo;writing&rsquo; of teacher identity.<br /