Informal learning spaces and their impact on learning in tertiary education: Framing new narratives of participation

Evaluating informal learning spaces in higher education institutions needs to respond to the complex conceptual orientation underpinning their intention and design. This article outlines a model of participatory analysis that accounts for the conceptual complexity, lived experience and broad intentions of informal learning space. Further, the article contributes an educational language and orientation to the learning space narrative to inform post-occupancy evaluations and future projects

Engaging boys through self-reflection using an online journaling tool

The study reported here investigated whether Year 6 boys were engaged through the use of an online journaling tool. This journaling tool allowed the students to self reflect on their behaviour and affective reaction in an online environment. Case study methodology was used with twelve boys from a regional primary school in Victoria, during the one school term of ten weeks. This online journaling website allowed the boys to log in securely, set goals, reflect on their goals as well as keep a reflective journal measuring their cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement. The results suggest that the online journaling tool does prompt self reflection by the students. Online journaling was also shown to provide a means to engage students

Enablers and Constraints in Achieving Integration in a Teacher Preparation Program

There is broad consensus that effective teacher preparation programs should enable pre-service teachers to integrate learning experiences at university and school. However, as noted in many reviews and studies, achieving this integration remains a significant challenge. In this study we aimed to identify factors that influence developmental coherence in pre-service teachers’ learning in the first eight weeks of a one-year preparation program, entailing university-based and school-based experiences. The pre-service teachers were expected to integrate learning in both contexts as preparation for their first five-week practicum. Our study aimed to identify their judgements of the value of various components of the course in preparing for this teaching experience, as well as factors affecting their sense of learning integration. We found that their responses, while mainly positive about their program in terms of practicum preparation, reflected diverse needs and expectations. We conclude by outlining various implications for further effective integration of learning across both contexts

Workplace-Based Practicum: Enabling Expansive Practices

Effective pre-service teacher education integrates theoretical and practical knowledge. One means of integration is practicum in a school workplace. In a time of variable approaches to, and models of, practicum, we outline an innovative model of school immersion as part of a teacher preparation program. We apply Fuller and Unwin’s (2004) expansive and restrictive conceptual framework of workplace learning to a case study of an immersive practicum experience to discuss themes of participation, personal development and institutional arrangements in relation to school-based practicum. Enablers and constraints are identified for our immersion model of workplace-based practicum. Based on the data analysis a number of implications for structuring an expansive practicum learning experience are outlined

Student engagement in the middle years: A year 8 case study

Various explanations and solutions have been proposed over the last ten years in relation to the ongoing problem of student lack of engagement with the middle years' curriculum in Australia. Identified contributors to this problem include an irrelevant or trivial curricular focus and ineffectual teaching and learning strategies. In this paper we report on a case study of a group of Year 8 teachers' beliefs and practices about what promotes or constrains this engagement. We found that while the teachers sought to introduce less directive approaches to topics, and were trying to encourage students' sense of task ownership and direction, they struggled to develop effective student self-regulatory practices. We conclude by identifying some practical strategies that support the growth of these practices as one aspect of student engagement

Achieving Teacher Professional Growth Through Professional Experimentation and Changes in Pedagogical Practices

To facilitate the professional learning of teachers and bring about changes in pedagogical practices, it is necessary to understand the process by which teachers grow professionally. Professional growth can be achieved when teachers work together to engage in professional experimentation and see results in terms of salient outcomes for their students. This paper reports on a study of teachers’ pedagogical practices as they introduced adaptations to focus on personalising students’ learning in mathematics. Two cases are presented to demonstrate how teachers in two schools used student mathematics test data to determine students’ strengths and needs, in order to personalise learning experiences. The findings highlight how shared responsibility and purposeful use of student data can lead to positive professional growth for teachers and improved learning outcomes for students

Junior secondary students\u27 perceptions of influences on their engagement with schooling

Various explanations and solutions have been proposed over the last decade in relation to the implications of students’ apparent lack of engagement with middle years schooling in Australia. In this article we report on responses to a questionnaire by 333 Year 8 students (aged about 13, the second year of high school) on perceptions of factors relating to their engagement with the academic curriculum. We found that while the majority of students reported a strong sense of the importance of, and opportunities in, schooling, and saw English, mathematics and science connected to those opportunities, this orientation was not matched by corresponding positive engagement with these same subjects. We also found that there was diversity in the responses of students, and recommend that schools take steps to identify individual students’ perceptions of factors influencing their engagement, and where appropriate, address those perceptions

Emerging roles for hyaluronidase in cancer metastasis and therapy

Hyaluronidases are a family of five human enzymes that have been differentially implicated in the progression of many solid tumor types, both clinically and in functional studies. Advances in the past five years have clarified many apparent contradictions, (1) by demonstrating that specific hyaluronidases have alternative substrates to hyaluronan (HA) or do not exhibit any enzymatic activity, (2) that high molecular weight HA polymers elicit signaling effects that are opposite those of the hyaluronidase-digested HA oligomers, and (3) that it is actually the combined overexpression of HA synthesizing enzymes with hyaluronidases that confers tumorigenic potential. This review examines the literature supporting these conclusions and discusses novel mechanisms by which hyaluronidases impact invasive tumor cell processes. In addition, a detailed structural and functional comparison of the hyaluronidases is presented with insights into substrate selectivity and potential for therapeutic targeting. Finally, technological advances in targeting hyaluronidase for tumor imaging and cancer therapy are summarized