History of music.

Breve reseña de la historia de la música en Occidente desde la Edad Medial hasta el Siglo XX. Hace especial énfasis en el reconocimiento de estilos y épocas para ayudar a los estudiantes del General Certificate Secondary Education (GCSE) a identificar el período y el compositor de obras musicales desconocidas.

Explaining history to children: Otto and Marie Neurath’s work on the ‘Visual history of mankind’

This essay traces the development of Otto Neurath’s ideas that led to the publication of one of the first series of children’s books produced by the Isotype Institute in the late 1940s, the Visual History of Mankind. Described in its publicity material as ‘new in content’ and ‘new in method’, it embodied much of Otto Neurath’s thinking about visual education, and also coincided with other educational ideas in the UK in the 1930s and 1940s. It exemplified the Isotype Institute’s approach: teamwork, thinking about the needs of younger readers, clear explanation, and accessible content. Further, drawing on correspondence, notes and drawings from the Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection at the University of Reading, the essay presents insights to the making of the books and the people involved, the costs of production and the influence of this on design decisions, and how the books were received by teachers and children.

The Development of Dalton`s Atomic Theory as a Case Study in the History of Science: Reflections for Educators in Chemistry

The inclusion of the history of science in science curricula-and specially, in the curricula of science teachers-is a trend that has been followed in several countries. The reasons advanced for the study of the history of science are manifold. This paper presents a case study in the history of chemistry, on the early developments of John Dalton`s atomic theory. Based on the case study, several questions that are worth discussing in educational contexts are pointed out. It is argued that the kind of history of science that was made in the first decades of the twentieth century (encyclopaedic, continuist, essentially anachronistic) is not appropriate for the development of the competences that are expected from the students of sciences in the present. Science teaching for current days will benefit from the approach that may be termed the ""new historiography of science"".

Children’s conceptions about mathematics and mathematics education

This paper deals with younger students’ (grade 2 and 5) conceptions about mathematics and mathematics education. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: (1) statements with a Likert-scale; (2) open-end questions where the students could explain further their conceptions; and, (3) a request to draw a picture of yourself doing mathematics. The results from the statements were summarised and the pictures were analysed. Most students in grade 2 had a positive attitude towards mathematics whereas a larger proportion in grade 5 gave negative answers. All students presented mathematics as an individual activity with a focus on the textbook. The elder students narrow the activity down to calculating. A post-questionnaire confirmed the results.

Total factor productivity and efficiency in Australian colleges of advanced education

The former colleges of advanced education were an important component of the higher education sector in Australia. Uses the Malmquist total factor productivity index to investigate the efficiency and productivity of Australian colleges of advanced education during the 1980s. The results from this analysis indicate that these colleges recorded modest growth in technical change and total factor productivity, but did not fare all that well in terms of growth in technical and scale efficiency during the 1980s. As a group, however, the former colleges of advanced education had attained high levels of technical and scale efficiency.

Easier analysis and better reporting : modelling ordinal data in mathematics education research

This article presents an examination of the use of Rasch modelling in a major research project, 'Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science' (IMYMS). It is unarguable that it is important to take students' perceptions, or views, into account when planning learning and teaching for them. The IMYMS student perceptions survey is an attempt to make visible these student viewpoints, and report them in a way that is accessible to teachers and researchers involved in the project. The project involves four clusters of schools from urban and regions of Victoria to investigate the role of mathematics and science knowledge and subject cultures in mediating change processes in the middle years of schooling. There are five secondary and twenty-eight primary schools. The project has generated both qualitative and quantitative data, with much of the qualitative data being ordinal in nature. Reporting the results of analyses for a range of audiences necessitates careful, well-designed report formats. Some useful new report formats based on Rasch modeling -the Modified Variable Map, the Ordinal Map, the Threshold Map, and the Annotated Ordinal Map - are illustrated using data from the IMYMS project. The Rasch analysis and the derived reporting formats avoid the pitfalls that exist when working with ordinal data and provide insights into the respondents' views about their experiences in schools unavailable by other approaches.

Progressive discourse in mathematics classes - the task of the teacher

This paper uses data from two mathematics lessons to explore the nature of progressive discourse and examine critical features of teacher actions that contribute to mathematics classrooms functioning as communities of inquiry. Features found to promote progressive discourse include a focus on the conceptual elements of the curriculum and the use of complex, challenging tasks that problematised the curriculum; the orchestration of student reporting to allow all students to contribute to progress towards the community's solution to the problem; and a focus on seeking, recognizing, and drawing attention to mathematical reasoning and justification, and using this as a basis for learning.

Listening to students' voices in mathematics education

In many tertiary institutions, mathematics education staff teach courses from early childhood education through to professional development courses at Masters level. Similarly, research into teacher education processes spans these contexts. Common principles that underpin this work include staff willingness to be responsive to students’ needs. This symposium focuses on the importance of listening to students’ voices in mathematics teaching and research – no matter how old students are.

Fun or profit : primary students' perceptions of mathematics and science

As the number of students pursuing mathematics and science in higher education decline, it becomes imperative· that we look for the causes of the decline. As part of the Australian Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science (IMYMS) project, students were asked to rate their perceptions of classroom practice in mathematics and science and their attitudes to these subjects. Results of this survey reveal little difference in perceptions of classroom practice, but significant differences in students' attitudes between mathematics and science. Differences were particularly evident for items relating to the usefulness of mathematics and science (mathematics was more useful) and enjoyment of the subjects (science is more fun). If teachers are aware of such perspectives, it may be possible to change students' attitudes.

Effective student engagement depends on students enjoying their studies in mathematics and science, being confident in their ability and recognising the relevance of these subjects to everyday life, now and in the future.
(Education Training Committee, 2006, p. xvii)

Science and technology are the widely acknowledged foundation of Australia's future development. Underpinning these are the key learning areas of mathematics and science. However, Australia is experiencing a decline in numbers of mathematics and science students in higher education. Moreover, studies over the last two decades have shown a general decline in Australian students' interest and enjoyment of science across the compulsory secondary school years, with a particularly sharp decline across the primary to secondary school transition (e.g. Adams, Doig, & Rosier 1991; Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 200 I) and a decline in the numbers of students studying' advanced mathematical courses in upper secondary school (Thomas, 2000).

Improving teaching and learning in the middle years of schooling (Years 5 to 9) is receiving particular attention because of the coincidence of the disengagement of students with the significance of these years for the preparation of students for their future role in society. Thus the Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science: The role of subject cultures in school and teacher change (IMYMS) project, which is the source of data for this paper, is investigating the role of mathematics and science' knowledge and subject cultures in mediating change processes in the middle years of schooling.

Mathematics and science are sometimes seen as "love-hate" subjects, rating highest for subjects disliked, but also rating relatively highly among preferred subjects (Hendley & Stables, 1996). Students, even primary aged students, can often shed light on what constitutes good practice (see, for example, 'van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, 2005). Students' attitudes towards mathematics and science and their perceptions of what they regard as positive aspects of classroom practice have been shown to decline from the primary years to junior secondary (Race, 2000). The decline in interest in science in the early years of secondary school is of particular concern, since it is in these years that attitudes to the pursuit of science subjects and careers are formed (Speering & Rennie, 1996). Students' negative attitude towards the relevance of science ,content for their lives was a strong theme in the report by Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie (2001) on the status and quality of teaching and learning of science.

As part of the IMYMS project, the IMYMS Student Survey was administered to all students in 2004 and 2005. The survey included a 36 item section on students' perceptions of classroom practice and attitudes towards mathematics and science, and a 24 item section on students' learning preferences. Students completed separate, parallel surveys for mathematics and science.

This paper focuses on students' perceptions and attitudes. It explores the differences in 700 Year 5 and 6 students' perceptions of their learning environment and their attitudes to mathematics and science during 2005, the second (and final) year of schools , involvement in the IMYMS project.

The contexts of mathematics tasks and the context of the classroom: are we including all students?

Mathematics teachers are encouraged to use realistic contexts in order to make mathematics more meaningful and accessible for all students. However, the focus group research reported in this article shows that decisions on the suitability of contexts are complex and multidimensional. Similarly, the way the task contexts are presented, and the way the tasks are incorporated into classroom routines have potential to alienate some groups of students. We suggest that teachers and researchers should be sensitive to difficulties that students might experience as a result of both the task and classroom contexts, and take specific steps to avoid or overcome the difficulties.

The Strider Years: An Extension of the History of Colby College

Beloved Colby historian Ernest Cummings Marriner '13 documents Robert E. Lee Strider's nineteen years as president of Colby College. Marriner is also the author of the definitive History of Colby, which covers the period up to the Strider presidency.

Using word problems in Malaysian mathematics education: looking beneath the surface

This paper reports on aspects of a project that investigated the influence of Chinese Malaysian students’ schooling in a tradition of abstract, technical mathematics and rote learning on ways that they responded to mathematical word problems. Data from an action research project are reported. Supposedly “shallow” and “ deep” learning are shown to be interlinked, and assumptions frequently made by Western educators about modelling and practice are questioned.