Research in physics teaching has supported the use of analogies as an effective instructional tool that can be used to facilitate students’ understanding of physics concepts. The effectiveness of analogies lies in that they allow students to form cognitive links between what they already know and what they are learning, harmoniously integrating, in this way,…Continue Reading Extending the Role of Analogies in the Teaching of Physics
Category: Schools and Education
Review of Richard Hall (2018). The Alienated Academic. The Struggle for Autonomy Inside the University.
Recent literature on English higher education has documented a number of incremental policy changes over the last four decades that have led towards the marketisation of the sector. The Browne Review (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2010), HE White Paper (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2016) and Higher Education and Research Act (Higher Education and…Continue Reading Review of Richard Hall (2018). The Alienated Academic. The Struggle for Autonomy Inside the University.
Chain Reaction: Critical Theory Needs Critical Mass—Contradiction, Crisis and the Value-Form, Mike Neary
Krystian Szadkowski and Jakub Krzeski have written a significant paper, In, Against and Beyond: A Marxist Critique for Higher Education in Crisis (2019), setting out a critical framework ‘to render visible what lies beyond the current form of higher education’ (1). Their critical framework attempts to reveal the trigger for ‘a chain reaction’, setting off a process for…Continue Reading Chain Reaction: Critical Theory Needs Critical Mass—Contradiction, Crisis and the Value-Form, Mike Neary
Making a Co-operative University: a new form of knowing – not public but social
Calls to establish public education avoid the fact that public education is provided by the capitalist state whose real purpose is the market-based model of private gain. Public against private education is a false dichotomy; rather, public and private are complementary forms of capitalist regulation. Radical alternatives require a more foundational…Continue Reading Making a Co-operative University: a new form of knowing – not public but social
Does Paired Mentoring Work? A study of the effectiveness and affective value of pairing students aged 16 with undergraduate students in England
This reports on a paired mentoring pilot study aimed at supporting disadvantaged students who were taking their compulsory General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) science examination in their final year of secondary education in England (Year 11 – aged 15 to 16) by pairing them with undergraduate mentors from a university. The study was set…Continue Reading Does Paired Mentoring Work? A study of the effectiveness and affective value of pairing students aged 16 with undergraduate students in England
From enrolment to completion: An exploration of psychological wellbeing in doctoral students during the PhD journey
Recent research in Europe (Levecque et al., 2017) and Australia (Barry et al., 2018) has drawn significant attention to the increased prevalence of psychological distress in PhD students Psychological distress is a widely used indicator of the mental health of a population (Drapeau et al., 2012) Defined as a state…Continue Reading From enrolment to completion: An exploration of psychological wellbeing in doctoral students during the PhD journey
Pathways to educational engagement: an exploratory study of outcomes from an Australian school-based youth mentoring program
School-based mentoring (SBM) programs are seen as a way of preventing the disengagement of young people from education. However, existing research points to a complex relationship between SBM programs and improved engagement outcomes. There is therefore a need for greater understanding of the pathways through which SBM leads to outcomes for young people. This paper…Continue Reading Pathways to educational engagement: an exploratory study of outcomes from an Australian school-based youth mentoring program
In the field with two rural primary school head teachers in England
The research focuses on the complexities associated with contemporary rural primary school leadership. The paper draws on in-depth ethnographic research undertaken in two contrasting English rural primary schools and their surrounding community over a period of three years and in particular the experiences and perspectives of the two head teachers from these schools. The paper…Continue Reading In the field with two rural primary school head teachers in England
Scientific Literacy: Who Needs it in a ‘Black Box’ Technological Society?
This paper will question the widely accepted position that there is a need for widespread, scientific literacy that spans a broad range of topics if that literacy lacks the conceptual depth, and/or intellectual rigor, to provide any basis for rational, scientifically informed, choices. The paper will present an argument that, in fact, it would be…Continue Reading Scientific Literacy: Who Needs it in a ‘Black Box’ Technological Society?