Teacher Pedagogical Choice

This chapter examines teachers’ pedagogical decisions and how routinization of practice can lead to the ineffective application of pedagogy that hinders student development and achievement. Identification of tacit knowledge that supports routinization can enable teachers to critique their teaching practice and identify pedagogies that are more appropriate for the students they teach. The work of Bourdieu and Giddens provides a sociological framework to analyse the influences on pedagogical decision-making. Evidence from a case study is used to illustrate how teacher professional habitus, motivation, ontological security, routinization and time and space interact to inhibit or enable expansion of teachers’ knowledgeability and the frames of practice inform their choice and development of pedagogy

Una agenda de investigación sobre la búsqueda de modelos espaciales de lo general a lo particular

The paper sets up a nesting spatial regression model incorporating\ud heteroskedastic shocks, and discusses hypothesis testing in both nested and nonnested cases in a quasi-likelihood framework, suggesting directions for future research effort.El artículo propone un modelo de regresión espacial anidado en el\ud cual se incorporan también shocks heteroscedásticos. Sobre este modelo se analizan contrastes de hipótesis tanto en casos anidados como no anidados, utilizando métodos de cuasi-verosimilitud y proponiendo líneas futuras de investigación

Expanding Pedagogical Horizons: A case study of teacher professional development

Development of pedagogies within schools that inform adolescent learning has been an ongoing struggle within education systems. A novel approach to this issue was taken by the Non Government Organisation (NGO) \u27Evolve’ based in Victoria, Australia, who worked in partnership with disadvantaged secondary schools to develop a multi-faceted curriculum. This curriculum incorporated traditional outdoor learning approaches of residential experiences and expeditionary journeys, alongside school based inquiry projects. Data collected over three years found that the different educational settings of the program exposed teachers to a range of teaching practices. This exposure combined with the collaborative development of curriculum with Evolve staff broadened the pedagogy used by teachers. This study indicates that programs collaboratively implemented by schools with external providers can expand the development of teachers’ teaching practice. The process is most effective when external providers work directly with teachers and students collaborating on the development and delivery of the curriculum

Testing for breaks in the weighting matrix

A weighting matrix, W, say, connecting pairs of observation sites, is a key element in the specification of many spatial models. Typically this matrix is fixed a priori by the investigator, which is seldom satisfactory. Recent proposals advocate a more data-driven approach in which W may be estimated. Where panel data are available it may be possible not only to estimate W but also to test its constancy through time. When the time dimension of the panel is large there is a non-negligible risk of breaks in model parameters, including possibly the weights. Ignoring such breaks when they are present will produce at best inefficient parameter estimates, and in most cases, biases. The paper focuses on the stability of W by adapting to the spatial panel context tests for the constancy of covariance matrices developed in the multivariate statistics literature. Information provided by these tests is a prerequisite for a satisfactory analysis of models in which W appears. The utility of our approach is illustrated by two case studies of the contemporary Spanish economy

Questions of engagement: improving the learning experiences of students in Years 5 to 8

This report describes a collaborative two-year action research project, Questions of Engagement, which aimed to identify influences on engagement and disengagement with learning of students in Years 5 to 8. This collaboration between Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley Local Learning and Employment Network, Victoria University (VU) and five schools in the inner west of Melbourne commenced in 2014. A participatory action research approach was used, with the phases of the research encompassing: 1.    Reconnaisance This phase developed strategies and measures on the level of engagement and disengagement amongst students: School-level data such as school demographics, attendance rates, parent satisfaction surveys, student satisfaction surveys, NAPLAN scores, and teacher and AusVELS assessments. Student focussed data - a Motivation and Engagement Survey (MES) (Martin 2013) and small group interviews of students. 2.    Plan This phase involved each school considering the reconnaissance findings and developing improvement strategies. The school level data shed little light on the level of student engagement. The student-focussed data was rich, and catalysed reflective discussions with teachers and the identification of school-specific projects to improve results. The MES data showed that students have high self-belief and are generally focussed on schooling. However, a number of students are struggling with Planning, Task Management, Anxiety and Uncertainty Control, and many are undermining their own learning through self-sabotage and disengagement. The student interview data identified what students experience as ‘boosters’ and guzzlers’, and led to two additional themes of significance - Learning and School. 3.    Enact Four schools carried out a plan of action during 2015. Two schools implemented specific programs --Student Voice and the GANAG lesson planning approach. The other two schools undertook continuous improvement processes, one at a whole-of-school level and the other at the level of the individual classroom. Student-focussed data were collected in May and October of 2015 to examine student responses. 4.    Reflect This phase involved the research teams critically evaluating the intended and unintended consequences of the action taken. The changes in the MES data were found generally small and, due to the small numbers of students surveyed, could provide only indications of change. The interview data provided greater insight into students’ responses to changes in practices. 5.    Re-plan Reflection took three of the participating schools into this next loop of participatory action research. The VU researcher linked the first-loop findings to current literature and tailored suggestions to each school’s context and needs. Self-regulated learning underpinned the recommended pedagogical approach -  Assessment for Learning, Student as Researcher and Funds of Knowledge. 6.    Enact (2) A revised plan of action was developed by the schools in response to the recommendations. Two attributes of participatory action research were critical to the project’s success: the collaborative approach; and its focus on the teaching practices and student learning occurring in each school. The Case Study demonstrates the power of the student voice in bringing about system-wide change

A Systematic Review of International Clinical Guidelines for Rehabilitation of People With Neurological Conditions: What Recommendations Are Made for Upper Limb Assessment?

Conclusions: We present a comprehensive, critical, and original summary of current recommendations. Defining a core set of measures and agreed protocols requires international consensus between experts representing the diverse and multi-disciplinary field of neurorehabilitation including clinical researchers and practitioners, rehabilitation technology researchers, and commercial developers. Current lack of guidance may hold-back progress in understanding function and recovery. Together with a Delphi consensus study and an overview of systematic reviews of outcome measures it will contribute to the development of international guidelines for upper limb assessment in neurological conditions.This review formed part of the COST Action TD 1006A European Network on Robotics for Neurorehabilitation. It was an interdisciplinary EU-funded research network concentrating on the coordination of European research in the area of rehabilitation robotics

Quantifying rooting at depth in a wheat doubled haploid population with introgression from wild emmer

Background and aims The genetic basis of increased rooting below the plough layer, post-anthesis in the field, of an elite wheat line (Triticum aestivum cv. Shamrock) with recent introgression from wild emmer (T. dicoccoides), is investigated. Shamrock has a non-glaucous canopy phenotype mapped to the short arm of chromosome 2B (2BS), derived from the wild emmer. A secondary aim was to determine whether genetic effects found in the field could have been predicted by other assessment methods. ● Methods Roots of doubled haploid (DH) lines from a winter wheat (cv. Shamrock x Shango) population were assessed using a seedling screen in moist paper rolls, in rhizotrons to the end of tillering, and in the field post-anthesis. A linkage map was produced using single nucleotide polymorphism markers to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for rooting traits. ● Key results Shamrock had greater root length density (RLD) at depth than Shango, in the field and within the rhizotrons. The DH population exhibited diversity for rooting traits within the three environments studied. QTL were identified on 5D, 6B and 7B, explaining variation in RLD post-anthesis in the field. Effects associated with the non-glaucous trait on RLD interacted significantly with depth in the field and some of this interaction mapped to 2BS. The effect of genotype interacted greatly with the method of root assessment: e.g. glaucousness expressed in the field was negatively associated with RLD in the rhizotrons, but positively associated with length in the seedling screen. ● Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify QTL for rooting at depth in field-grown wheat at mature growth stages. Within the population studied here, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that some of the variation in rooting is associated with recent introgression from wild emmer. The expression of genetic effects differed between the methods of root assessment

Using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the protein and energy digestibility of lupin kernel meals when fed to rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

This study examined the potential of using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict the nutrient composition, energy density and the digestible protein and digestible energy values of lupin kernel meals when fed to rainbow trout. A series of 136 lupin kernel meals were assessed for their protein and energy digestibilities using the diet-substitution approach in a series of 10 experiments over a 6-year period from 2002 to 2008. Two reference diets were also included in each experiment. Minimal variance in the digestibility parameters of both reference diets was observed among the experiments ensuring that there was a high degree of robustness in the across-experiment evaluations. The same lupin kernel meal samples were also scanned using a diode array near infrared spectrophotometer (DA-NIRS). The spectra obtained by the DA-NIRS were chemometrically calibrated against both the chemical composition and the digestible value data using multivariate analysis software. The cross validation tests used in this study provide a valid indication of the potential to predict the nutrient composition, energy value and digestible protein and energy values of the lupin kernel meals as used in diets for rainbow trout. That the standard errors of cross validation (SECV) of the parameters investigated were generally commensurate with the cross trial variation seen in the reference sample indicating robust calibrations for the two target parameters of digestible protein and digestible energy. Therefore this study demonstrates that within one raw material type that not only does significant variability in the digestible value of the raw materials exist, but that it is possible to use NIRS technology to provide rapid estimates of the digestible value of those raw materials in near real-time. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Random Neighbor Theory of the Olami-Feder-Christensen Earthquake Model

We derive the exact equations of motion for the random neighbor version of the Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model in the infinite-size limit. We solve them numerically, and compare with simulations of the model for large numbers of sites. We find perfect agreement. But we do not find any scaling or phase transitions, except in the conservative limit. This is in contradiction to claims by Lise & Jensen (Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2326 (1996)) based on approximate solutions of the same model. It indicates again that scaling in the Olami-Feder-Christensen model is only due to partial synchronization driven by spatial inhomogeneities. Finally, we point out that our method can be used also for other SOC models, and treat in detail the random neighbor version of the Feder-Feder model.Comment: 18 pages, 6 ps-figures included; minor correction in sec.