JoTTER - volume 11
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Investigating Talk in Year 9 Group Composing: A Case Study(Faculty of Education, 2020-01-05) Bourne Swinton Hunter, CatrionaThis study investigates the co-constructed nature of collaborative composing, examining how two pairs of Year 9 students compose a film underscore. The findings indicate that the process of composing required experimentation, demonstration and use of technical vocabulary. While both groups created a similar volume and quality of musical material, there was a disparity in whether students took equal roles. I suggest that this was not due to lack of engagement, but to: (i) mismatched levels of experience using required technology, (ii) students' individual preference for working alone or with others and (iii) relationships between students. The study highlights the need to establish a better knowledge of students' preferences for working as individuals or in groups, as well as the extent of their informal learning. The findings also reinforce the importance of ensuring students learn how to use appropriate terminology, both through teacher modelling of vocabulary and demonstration of musical concepts.Item Open Access An exploration into Year 4 pupils’ perspectives surrounding how their parents help them to learn(Faculty of Education, 2020-01-05) Galvin, ElinorThis small- scale case study explores the perspectives of Year 4 pupils surrounding how their parents help them to learn. Initially, participants were asked to draw and annotate a picture of an adult who helps them to learn. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to further explore pupils' drawings and annotations and to allow access to richer data. Pupils' responses were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) comprehensive guide to thematic analysis. Most notably, findings appeared to indicate that children may possess narrow perceptions of learning as they predominantly focused on traditionally academic areas when asked how their parents help them to learn.Item Open Access “Mark it yourself, it’s good for you!” A case study examining the impact of self-assessment on student learning and motivation in a year 12 physics class studying energy(Faculty of Education, 2020-01-04) Moore, JamesSelf-assessment is a complex metacognitive process with widely reported benefits for students in secondary education. This paper explores the impact of self-assessment on the learning and motivation of a year 12 physics class in a Cambridgeshire secondary school over a sequence of lessons covering the topic of energy. The use of self-assessment appeared to benefit students by providing them with timely, insightful feedback and promoting self-reflection and self-regulation, whilst also enabling differentiation and promoting mastery. Incorporating self-assessment in homework emerged as an opportunity for developing future practice and research, in particular using online platforms that enable students to guide their own learning.Item Open Access 'The concept that dares not speak its name': Can we rehabilitate 'empathy' as a disciplinary concept by re-theorising its curricular goals and value to pupils in light of the 'cultural turn' in history? A theory-seeking case study with Year 9 exploring the experience of a soldier in the First World War.(Faculty of Education, 2020-01-04) Benger, AlexanderThis paper explores a theory-seeking case study that aimed to investigate the potential for rehabilitating the troubled concept of empathy as a curricular construct by re-theorising it in close relation to the cultural turn in academic history. The case study centred on an eight-lesson enquiry in which Year 9 pupils engaged with an extended historical source in a manner inspired by cultural history, using the concept of 'historical perspective' – a re-theorisation of the concept of empathy developed throughout the enquiry. Findings suggest that empathy re-theorised as 'historical perspective' can provide a rigorous means of rehabilitating the aims of empathy and translating the complementary aims and approaches of cultural history into school history. Ultimately, the paper argues for the value of rehabilitating empathy in such a way and concludes with recommendations for further development of 'historical perspective' as a concept and for the wider inclusion of cultural history within school history.Item Open Access Scientific personal epistemology of students aged 11-12: A case study(Faculty of Education, 2020-01-04) Linale, JamieThe intention of the study was to explore the scientific personal epistemology (SPE) of students aged 11-12. A student's SPE is how they conceive the nature of knowledge and knowing in science. Personal epistemology, Nature of Science (NOS) and Scientific Inquiry (SI) research informed methodology and analysis. The case-study employed a battery of instruments, including concept cartoons, closed-form and open-form questionnaires, and inductive and deductive coding of responses. Consistent with previous findings, students entering secondary school have a nebulous and unstable conception of the discipline of science, and a rudimentary and inconsistent SPE. Developing more sophisticated SPEs is essential in science education, and educators should be sensitive to students' likely rudimentary conceptions at and before age 12. As students have the potential to hold more sophisticated epistemologies after appropriate intervention, both primary and secondary science educators should encourage explicit engagement with personal epistemology, NOS and SI in the classroom.'