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In order for children to understand and reason about the world in an adult-like fashion, they need to learn that conceptual categories are organized in a hierarchical fashion (e.g., a dog is also an animal). While children learn from their first-hand observation of the world, social knowledge transmission via language can also play an important role in this learning. Previous studies have documented several cues in parental talk that can help children learn about conceptual hierarchy. However, these studies have used different datasets and methods that have made it difficult to compare the relative usefulness of various linguistic cues to conceptual knowledge and to test whether they scale up to naturalistic speech. Here, we study a large-scale corpus of English child-directed speech – collected in North America and the UK – and used a unified classification-based evaluation method which allowed us to investigate and compare cues that vary in terms of how explicit the information they offer is. We found the more explicit cues to be too sparse or too noisy in child-directed speech, making them unlikely to support robust learning. In contrast, the implicit cues offered a more reliable source of information. Further, we investigated developmental changes from 3 to 6 years of age, and we found no differences in the availability of these cues in the input. Our work confirms the utility of caregiver talk for conveying conceptual information and supporting the development of early taxonomic knowledge. It provides a first step toward a cognitive model that would combine perceptual- and language-based mechanisms, leading to a more comprehensive account of children's conceptual development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common pitfalls in quantitative research were examined with two audiences using a Game-Based Learning (GBL) approach to support the engagement and interaction of participants. The researcher asked the UK mathematics and statistic community to determine the game's answers. This approach ignited an enthusiasm to discover the benefits, which was later delivered at the CETL/MSOR annual conference. The paper explores the design and delivery of the Game-based learning session and evaluates how this action research can benefit teaching quantitative concepts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is now being increasingly used as a tool to evidence excellence in teaching (Hutchings & Shulman, 1999; Kreber, 2002), support for academic promotion (Hutchings et al, 2011) and professional recognition within UK Higher Education (UKPSF, 2011). However, SoTL is not yet fully embedded in the typical academic role in the UK. In an environment where research is often 'king' the recent survey by Pritchard & McGowan (2016) demonstrates that even with growing recognition for teaching in universities, SoTL is often seen as the poorer sibling of REF-able research, and poorly understood (Gunn et al, 2014). Despite this, the value, impact and esteem associated with SoTL is growing with suggestions that SoTL should become better defined and 'REF-able', and that universities should act to better support and incentivise the practice of SoTL and its growth in institutions (Fanghanel et al, 2016). So how can SoTL capacity be grown within a research-intensive university in the UK and to what extent can a shared understanding of SoTL, along with a sustained engagement in SoTL be successfully cultivated? This study explores these issues by examining the perceptions of academic staff related to SoTL whilst studying a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, a professional development programme related to teaching and learning in higher education, and determining the impact of learning related to SoTL on sustained engagement in the activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current literature suggests that wrong-level spine surgery is relatively common with far-reaching consequences. This study aims to assess the current practices of spinal surgeons across the UK with respect to the techniques implemented for correct level verification. Methods: To assess the current practices of spinal surgeons across the UK with respect to the techniques implemented for level verification. The authors hypothesise the absence of a standardised technique used across spine surgeons in the UK. Practices amongst respondents will be ascertained via an electronic questionnaire designed to evaluate current practices of spinal surgeons whom are members of the British Association of Spinal Surgeons (BASS). The study data will include key information such as; the level of surgical experience, specific techniques used to perform level checks for each procedure and prior involvement with wrong-level spine surgery. Responses were collected over the period of 1 month with a reminder sent 2 weeks prior to closure of the survey. The data were collated and descriptive analyses performed on multiple-choice question answers and common themes established from free text answers. Results: A total of 27% (n = 105/383) members responded. The vast majority had greater than 10 years' experience. Intraoperative practices varied greatly with varying practices present for cervical, thoracic and lumbar level surgery. Only 38% (n = 40) of respondents re-checked the level intra-operatively, prior to instrumentation. Of the respondents 47.5% (n = 29/61) of surgeons had been involved in wrong level spinal surgery. Conclusion: This study highlights the varying practices amongst spinal surgeons and suggests root cause for wrong-level spine surgery; where the level identified pre-incision was subsequently not the level exposed. We describe a novel safety-check adopted at our institute using concepts and lessons learnt from the WHO Checklist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines a methodology for using uncatalogued archive material in a design history learning setting. The study references concepts such as experiential learning 1 and object-based or object-centred learning, 2 and draws on student reports and interviews to explore the potency of the learning experience. Using a specific case study addressing archives relating to Basic Design pedagogy at the Central School of Arts and Crafts it summarises the practicalities of enabling students to work with uncatalogued archive material and explores the pedagogic frameworks required to engage with curatorial practices in this context. Based on the case, the article recommends a flexible approach to archive material that has not yet been subject to formal archiving processes, viewing this as a time when a rich range of narratives can be uncovered through collaborative practice. It also references the history of design history and argues for more attention to be paid to the impact of design pedagogies on the creative and production processes. While the contents of the article are relevant to archival practice beyond the UK it is worth noting that the perspectives and stories considered in the article are UK-centred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK will need a skilled IT work force to maintain its position as a world leader in computing research and development. This study investigated the experience of learning communities amongst first year undergraduate computing students at a UK university. The concept of a learning community was used to examine its influence on student academic and social integration, the issues students need to overcome and the knowledge they need to acquire to become successful. A qualitative approach was employed using the 'unfolding matrix', which was completed during group interviews. The data analysis results revealed that learning communities critically affect students' academic and social integration. Specifically, the importance of student support and guidance from academic staff was considered, as well as student relationships with other students and academic staff. Furthermore, developing a sense of personal awareness and the need to develop an effective academic skill-set to succeed were identified as critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study investigated how a brief professional development session on the science of learning impacted teachers' attributions of usefulness to both scientific and performative concepts about teaching. Ratings were collected from teachers attending five events across the United Kingdom (N = 585) before and after receiving a 90‐min training session. Initial ratings of scientific concepts were positively correlated with age, while initial ratings of performative concepts were negatively correlated with years of experience. Immediately following professional development, the value teachers attributed to scientific concepts for understanding their practice increased, while their valuing of performative concepts decreased. A follow‐up study with a subsample (N = 153) revealed the impact was reduced but persisted 6–12 weeks later. Results are discussed in terms of the potential for a scientific understanding of learning to empower educators as expert professionals. Lay abstract: We asked teachers to rate the usefulness of scientific concepts about learning and statements about teaching that were "performative"‐ i.e. encouraging "teacher‐like" behaviours but offering little insight into learning. Initial ratings of scientific concepts were positively associated with age, with performative statements negatively associated with experience. A 90‐minute training session on the science of learning produced change in directions associated with age and experience, supporting the value of such training for teacher education and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Critically discusses the concept of experiments for learning about innovation and the concept of failure within experiments. • Draws on original research of two UK sustainability experiments of mass energy retrofit. • Finds that both projects were perceived to have failed, and that opportunities for learning were curtailed. • Argues that failure in transition experiments can be damaging in practice and hinder sustainability transitions. Scholars of sustainability transition have given much attention to local experiments in 'protected spaces' where system innovations can be initiated and where learning about those innovations can occur. However, local project participants' conceptions of success are often different to those of transition scholars; where scholars see a successful learning experience, participants may see a project which has failed to "deliver". This research looks at two UK case studies of energy retrofit projects – Birmingham Energy Savers and Warm Up North, both in the UK, and the opportunities they had for learning. The findings suggest that perceptions of failure and external real world factors reducing the capacity to experiment, meant that opportunities for learning were not well capitalised upon. This research makes a contribution to the sustainability transitions literature which has been criticised for focusing predominantly on successful innovation, and not on the impact of failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of analysing the main theoretical fundamentals underlying future lawyers’ professional training in the context of university education in Canada and Great Britain. It shows that the development of educational and professional training programs in the field of law in the higher education system of the countries under study is based on a combination of such philosophical and pedagogical theories as cognitivism, constructivism, pragmatism and progressivism. The essence of the abovementioned theories is revealed and their influence on the organization of educational activity for training highly qualified lawyers is emphasized. The paper identifies and characterizes the principle ideas and concepts that are effectively implemented in the process of legal specialists’ professional training at Canadian and British universities, namely: active learning, student-centred learning and service learning. In this respect, attention is focused on the transformation of the role and functions of a teacher and a student in the educational process. The importance of applying a student-centred approach to training future lawyers, which shifts the emphasis from teaching to learning, is highlighted. It is established that the strategy of active training of law students at the universities in Canada and Great Britain is implemented through the use of discussion, problem-solving methods, case method and various types of simulations. It is noted that the concept of service learning is embodied by combining classroom learning with participation in the work of legal clinics and volunteer programs in these countries. The expediency of conducting further comparative and pedagogical research on this issue to outline the possibilities of using constructive ideas and to improve the future legal specialists’ training in higher legal educational establishments in Ukraine is substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Patient safety is an important issue in health care. In the United Kingdom, wrong site tooth extraction contributes to a significant proportion of adverse or harmful events, coined "never events." Therefore, patient safety within the field of dentistry is of paramount importance. This novel study aims to explore the teaching of patient safety to undergraduate dental students and their current attitudes to the subject. Methods: Focus groups were held at Barts' and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL in 2018 to ascertain the views and opinions of thirteen third‐year dental undergraduate students. Results: Thematic analysis was performed on verbatim transcripts. Key themes were highlighted. All students could provide a complete definition of patient safety and of "never events," with examples. There was a strong emphasis upon awareness of one's own competence and the need for effective communication to maintain patient safety. Small group teaching and the requirement for standardization of teaching were encouraged. The challenge of incorporation of the patient safety concept into the clinical routine without causing repetition during teaching was highlighted. Conclusion: The results show a positive attitude towards the concept and the teaching of patient safety. All students understood patient safety concepts and techniques used to prevent adverse or harmful events. This study proves that teaching on the subject was thought to be of value. It is crucial that the teaching of patient safety is introduced and built upon within the early years of dental undergraduate training so that its practice becomes second nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspects of chemistry content knowledge held by 265 UK-based pre-service teachers (PSTs) were probed using 28 diagnostic questions in five chemistry concept areas,Particle theory and changes of state,Mass conservation(taught to 11–14-year-olds), andChemical bonding,Mole calculationsandCombustion reactions(taught to 14–16-year-olds). Data were collected over six years from academically able science graduates starting a full-time, university-based teacher education programme of one academic year duration. PSTs in three sub-cohorts (‘chemists', ‘physicists' and ‘biologists' on the basis of their undergraduate degrees) demonstrated similar levels of content knowledge (CK) forParticle theory and changes of stateandMass conservation.Biologists demonstrated statistically significantly weaker understanding than chemists and physicists inChemical bonding,Mole calculationsandCombustion reactions. Forty-four ‘triads' each comprising one chemist, physicist and biologist, matched by academic and personal backgrounds, showed that chemists outperformed biologists and physicists inChemical bondingandCombustion reactions. The findings suggest that non-chemists' CK is insufficient for teaching these chemistry concepts in high schools, despite their possession of ‘good' Bachelor of Science degrees. These data have implications for science teacher education, including how best to prepare science graduates from diverse backgrounds for teaching specialist science subjects to 11–16-year-olds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When learning with abstract and scientific multiple external representations (MERs), low prior knowledge learners are said to have difficulties in using these MERs to achieve conceptual understanding. Yet little is known about what these limitations precisely entail. In order to understand this, we presented 101 learners with low prior knowledge of abstract scientific MERs to see (a) how many, and what kind of ideas (propositions) learners remembered from these MERs and (b) what the impact of these ideas is on conceptual understanding of the content. Propositional analysis indicates that learners created flawed internal representations. The discussion analyses the potentials that the learners have in using abstract representations to increase their understanding of scientific information and possible effects of instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Just over 10 years ago, Educational Review published an article “Reconceiving argument” by Richard Andrews. In the article, Andrews traced some of the changes in the conception of argument that had taken place within educational contexts (primarily within the UK) over the previous few years. An important aim of the authors' article is to consider whether there is any evidence that the (re)conceptualization of argument discussed in Andrews' article has permeated educational theory and practice in the last 10 years. Specifically they will consider his invocation of new metaphors to conceive of the argumentation process as more akin to a dialogic exchange in contrast to adversarial combat. They question whether such a framing diminishes the value of conflict and confrontation in the argumentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concept mapping is described repeatedly in the literature as a tool that can support and enhance students' learning in science classrooms. Despite such endorsements, the use of concept mapping as a basis for classroom activities in UK secondary schools does not seem to be widespread. Some of the flaws in the supporting literature are highlighted. The two main barriers to the extensive adoption of concept mapping as an integral component of typical classroom strategies are seen as the epistemological beliefs of classroom teachers and the underlying philosophy of the curriculum that they are asked to deliver. In conclusion, concept mapping is seen as a tool that may support learning within an appropriate teaching ecology. Such an ecological perspective may require, for some, a re-conceptualization of the teacher's role in which teaching, learning and change are seen as integrated components of effective teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on student learning in higher education has highlighted the central role that students‘ conceptions of learning play in influencing their approaches to learning. This article reports on a study of conceptions of learning among engineering students on a one-year foundation course. Students were interviewed about their conceptions of learning at three intervals during their academic year. The data was analysed using a phenomenographic perspective and from the data five qualitatively different conceptions of learning were identified. The resulting characterisation of these conceptions of learning is presented using excerpts from the interviews and some implications for student learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides the author's comments on the paper focusing on the classification and framing of chimerical concepts in educational research in Great Britain. The author states that the researchers made a misleading quality of the technical language of the study which they could more powerfully plead for the use of concepts drawn from everyday language which will more directly and authentically reveal the nature of relationships and procedures of social groups engaged in maintaining distinctions in educational experience.

The article offers approaches on the compatibility and revalidation of the needs of general practitioners in Great Britain. It mentions methods including the enhanced appraisal in which assessment are discussed between two colleagues with onward planning for a further cycle of development, the formative model which appraisers use qualities in order to utilize enhanced appraisal and PDP in enhanced appraisal. In conclusion, these concepts is helpful to the doctor in the revalidation process.