Exploring Metacognition in Primary School Classrooms

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of metacognition within primary school classrooms. The value of metacognition for academic performance has been demonstrated extensively in research, leading to the belief that metacognition is powerful for achieving educational success. Whilst the vast body of evidence is compelling, there are fundamental gaps in understanding about how the construct of metacognition relates to the ways students think about and manage their own thinking in classrooms. Seeking to characterise metacognition, this project formed three distinct yet related studies. Metacognition was investigated through observations of everyday classroom tasks, specific ‘metacognitive’ tasks (Structured Thinking Activities), and teacher interviews. Data were analysed using a distinctive thematic approach firmly grounded in practice, but clearly guided by psychological theory. Analysis revealed that metacognition is practiced in primary school classrooms, although not always in ways suggested by psychological theory. Metacognition was conceptualised as elements of knowledge and regulation employed before, during and after tasks in an iterative fashion, with a critical role of interaction in constructing metacognition. The re-conceptualisation of metacognition within the applied context of primary school classrooms makes an original contribution to psychological and educational fields; emphasising the iterative and relational nature of metacognition in the applied educational context. Given the identified critical role of teachers for facilitating metacognition through interaction, interviews revealed a surprising lack of explicit knowledge of the term by teachers. A critical factor in the adoption of metacognitive approaches was the perceived changing tide of restrictive ‘top-down’ policy, leading to a diminishing sense of agency. A novel ecological approach explains why there may be limited impact of metacognition research into the classroom, producing recommendations relating to future directions of university-based and classroom-based research

Supporting Information: Influence of Carbon and Lipid Sources on Variation of Mercury and Other Trace Elements in Polar Bears (\u3ci\u3eUrsus maritimus\u3c/i\u3e)

MATERIALS AND METHODS Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis and Quality Control Fatty Acids Analysis and Quality Control Mercury and Other Trace Metal and Element Analysis and Quality Control REFERENCE SECTIO

Structural priming in artificial languages and the regularisation of unpredictable variation

We present a novel experimental technique using artificial language learning to investigate the relationship between structural priming during communicative interaction, and linguistic regularity. We use unpredictable variation as a test-case, because it is a well-established paradigm to study learners’ biases during acquisition, transmission and interaction. We trained participants on artificial languages exhibiting unpredictable variation in word order, and subsequently had them communicate using these artificial languages. We found evidence for structural priming in two different grammatical constructions and across human-human and human-computer interaction. Priming occurred regardless of behavioral convergence: communication led to shared word order use only in human-human interaction, but priming was observed in all conditions. Furthermore, interaction resulted in the reduction of unpredictable variation in all conditions, suggesting a role for communicative interaction in eliminating unpredictable variation. Regularisation was strongest in human-human interaction and in a condition where participants believed they were interacting with a human but were in fact interacting with a computer. We suggest that participants recognize the counter-functional nature of unpredictable variation and thus act to eliminate this variability during communication. Furthermore, reciprocal priming occurring in human-human interaction drove some pairs of participants to converge on maximally regular, highly predictable linguistic systems. Our method offers potential benefits to both the artificial language learning and the structural priming fields, and provides a useful tool to investigate communicative processes that lead to language change and ultimately language design

Rheumatoid arthritis and the role of oral bacteria

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontal disease (PD) have shown similar physiopathologic mechanisms such as chronic inflammation with adjacent bone resorption in an immunogenetically susceptible host; however, PD has a well-recognized bacterial etiology while the cause of RA is unclear. Some reports have indicated that an infectious agent in a susceptible host could be one possible trigger factor for RA, and it has been suggested that oral microorganisms, specialty periodontal bacteria could be the infectious agent (mainly Porphyromonas gingivalis). It has been reported that PD is more frequent and more severe in patients with RA, suggesting a positive association between both diseases. There have been reports regarding the detection of antibodies against periodontal bacteria while other studies have identified periodontal bacterial DNA in serum and synovial fluid of RA patients and have explored the possible pathways of transport of periodontal bacterial DNA. In conclusion, there is no question that RA and PD have pathologic features in common and there is strong evidence of an association between both diseases, but further studies, including experimental models, are needed to demonstrate the arthritogenicity of oral microorganisms

The hidden phenomenon of financial abuse of women

In September 2004 the Coburg-Brunswick Community Legal and Financial Counselling Centre released the findings of research with 64 women who had experienced financial abuse. This article describes how financial abuse can entrench the poverty and dependence of women and children. It discusses some of the common themes in the women's stories and shows how financial abuse continues to occur after separation

GROW: Fundraising for social good - how to upskill, empower, and support your volunteers to raise money for your organisation [workshop]

Abstract not available

His money or our money? Financial abuse of women in intimate partner relationships

Financial abuse based around gendered issues of power, coercion and control may have severe, long term impacts that are not fully recognised. This article explains what financial abuse is and discusses women's experiences of financial abuse

'But how can you prove it?': issues of rigour in action research

Many of the people who are involved with the Stronger Families Fund projects, as well as those in government departments and the wider research community, may be coming into contact with action research for the first time through the Australian Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. The question of whether action research is rigorous is often raised when people encounter action research for the first time. Although action research has a different kind of methodology from some of the more scientific or experimental forms of research with which people may be more familiar, it is still a rigorous method of research. This article explains how action research achieves rigour in its careful application of multiple methods techniques

'Who pays in the end?': the personal and political implications of financial abuse of women in intimate partner relationships

Women in intimate partner relationships may experience financial abuse in a variety of forms. In this article the author examines the pre-conditions under which financial abuse of women occurs and persists. She employs a number of first hand narratives to illustrate both the severity and the invisibility of such abuse. The costs of this abuse to women and children are explored and recommendations offered for policy solutions to redress the problem