School Report Cards: Review of the use of school report cards internationally
One of the proposals within the recent white paper, 'Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system', is the introduction of a School Report Card to measure school progress. This resource is a report of a small research project conducted by NFER into how these are used in other countries, and is intended to complement the work already undertaken in this area by the DCSF.
Sci-tutors: Active Learning
This Sci-tutors article provides an insight into a constructivist approach to learning and teaching; the teacher is a very important facilitator of the learning process. A framework of learning through talking and doing, through reading and through writing is provided, together with suggestions for assignment activities for trainee teachers that could be adapted for use in particular contexts. In addition, there is a brief introduction to learning theory including the work of Ausubel and Bruner.
Governing by Numbers? Shaping Education through Data
This resource is a CES (Centre for Educational Sociology) briefing paper sketching an analysis of the effects of European Union-sponsored collection of data on the education systems of the member states. The analysis is part of a study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), "Governing by Numbers", itself part of a larger study funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF), Fabricating Quality in European Education Systems (FabQ).
Mapping Education Research in the United Kingdom/The Social Organisation of Education Research in En
These two articles are from a European peer-reviewed education journal, European Educational Research Journal (2007). This particular issue maps education research in the UK. The first, Mapping Education Research in the United Kingdom, provides an introduction to the issue, relating the educational research in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The second, The Social Organisation of Educational Research in England, considers the “structural, historical and educational factors” wh
Sci-tutors: Materials and their Properties: Patterns of Behaviour
This unit on the Sci-tutors website extends the ideas covered in the first two ‘materials' units and is specifically aimed for teachers engaged with teaching chemistry at KS5 (A-level) although there is relevance at KS4 too (as well as for teachers' personal knowledge development). The introduction touches upon the natures of science and then focuses upon the patterns of ideas involved in modelling atomic structure and the Periodic Table of the elements and chemical bonding. This is followed b
Methods: Observation
Professor Jerry Wellington provides a commentary on a sample chapter on observation from 'Research Methods in Early Childhood Education' by Mukherji and Albon. This chapter provides a helpful introduction to the use of observation, its historical background, different types of observation and some of the problematic issues involved in doing it - such as recording, reporting and the avoidance of bias.
Mixed Methods Research
Professor Jerry Wellington provides a commentary on a sample chapter on mixed methods research from 'Introduction to Research Methods in Education' by Keith Punch. Most research projects into an aspect of teaching and learning (i.e. educational research) will quite rightly employ a mixture of methods. Indeed, the very nature of most important research questions in education (usually what, how or why questions when it comes down to it) actually demands that a range of methodologies and methods wi
Sci-tutors: Ethnicity and Gender Issues in Science
This article on the Sci-tutors website stresses the importance of ensuring that trainees have access to appropriate ideas and resources to enable them to engage with ethnicity and gender issues. An introduction to the legal framework is provided together with examples of course related activities and resources. These have been used in both primary and secondary training programmes.
The Rhetoric of ICT and the New Language of Learning: a critical analysis of the use of ICT in the c
This academic paper, published in the European Educational Research Journal, is a study of how information and communication technologies (ICT) are perceived in educational settings. It seeks to establish a critical link between the political rhetoric of ICT within the Norwegian education system and what the authors refer to as a new 'language of learning' that ICT can help to facilitate.
What is the Weather Song
This simple song and video poses the question "What is the Weather Today?". The song is sung two times accompanied by images of various types of weather. It is extremely short, but could be useful in an early childhood classroom as an introduction to discussing weather each day.
Arctic terns, satellites and conker trees
As the map of Earth's gravity -- as revealed by the European Space Agency's sleek GOCE satellite -- comes into sharper focus, Richard Hollingham speaks to a researcher who tells us what early results from the satellite show.
Differences in the neural basis of Chinese and English reading
Introduction: Previous functional imaging studies comparing Chinese and English reading have reported that a left middle frontal region is more activated by Chinese reading and the left superior temporal cortex is more activated by English reading (Tan et al. 2001; 2003). We investigated this finding and its interpretation by conducting a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of reading in China and England using monolingual adolescents who spoke Mandarin or English respectively. Ou
Differences in the neural basis of Chinese and English reading
Introduction: Previous functional imaging studies comparing Chinese and English reading have reported that a left middle frontal region is more activated by Chinese reading and the left superior temporal cortex is more activated by English reading (Tan et al. 2001; 2003). We investigated this finding and its interpretation by conducting a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of reading in China and England using monolingual adolescents who spoke Mandarin or English respectively. Ou
City history and multi-scale spatial master-planning
The UK and Chinese Governments have agreed at the highest level to collaborate through the China-UK Sustainable Development Dialogue on research and knowledge exchange to help ensure that the way we develop our cities will become truly sustainable. As a part of that initiative a group of related networks has been funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, inspired by the Dongtan Eco-city development north of Shanghai.
The specific network which is the subject of th
UCJC 2007: Beyond Biology
Daniel Medwed gives the conference introduction. Katie Monroe speaks about the work of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center in regard to the exoneration and assistance bill in Utah.
UCJC 2007: Beyond Biology
Daniel Medwed gives the conference introduction. Katie Monroe speaks about the work of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center in regard to the exoneration and assistance bill in Utah.
2008.09.10-iPhone Programming Association (Video)
Introduction to Objective-C
2008.09.10-iPhone Programming Association (Audio)
Introduction to Objective-C
2008.06.22 - Monet to Picasso
Dr. William Robinson, Curator of modern European art at the Cleveland Museum of Art introduces the "Monet to Picasso" exhibit which runs from 6/23 to 9/21 at the UMFA. The UMFA is one of only four North American venues to host the exhibit.
2008.01.25-Hinckley Forum: U.S. - European Union Relations
John Bruton, Ambassador of the European Nation to the United States, talks about U.S. - European Union Relations.
