Emergences and affordances as opportunities to develop teachers’ mathematical content knowledge

Teachers’ mathematical content knowledge has been under scrutiny for some time. This development is in the wake of learners’ unsatisfactory performance in national examinations and international achievement tests. A widely held belief is that one, if not the most important, of the efforts to improve and enhance the performance and achievement in mathematics of learners is addressing teachers’ mathematical content and pedagogical content knowledge through continuous professional development initiatives. The focus of this article is on the former. It describes how emergent and affording opportunities are brought to the fore from classroom observations and interactions in workshops and institutes with practising teachers. It concludes that this in situ dealing with mathematical content knowledge holds much promise for buy-in by teachers because it addresses an immediate need related to their practice

Changes of intracellular sodium and potassium ion concentrations in frog spinal motoneurons induced by repetitive synaptic stimulation

A post-tetanic membrane hyperpolarization following repetitive neuronal activity is a commonly observed phenomenon in the isolated frog spinal cord as well as in neurons of other nervous tissues. We have now used double-barrelled Na+- and K+-ion-sensitive microelectrodes to measure the intracellular Na+- and K+-concentrations and also the extracellular K+-concentration of lumbar spinal motoneurons during and after repetitive stimulation of a dorsal root. The results show that the posttetanic membrane hyperpolarization occurred at a time when the intracellular [Na+] reached its maximal value, intracellular [K+] had its lowest level and extracellular [K+] was still elevated. The hyperpolarization was blocked by ouabain and reduced by Li+. These data support the previous suggestion that an electrogenic Na+/K+ pump mode may be the mechanism underlying the post-tetanic membrane hyperpolarization

Collaboration between academics and teachers : a complex relationship

Collaboration between academics and teachers has become increasingly prevalent over recent years. Whether its aim is joint research or continuing professional development for teachers, collaboration seems to offer a realistic opportunity for reducing the perceived gap between theory and practice. However, collaboration is not merely academics and teachers working together on a common project. It is complex in nature and involves a range of requirements that must be satisfied in order to maximise the potential of the relationship. In this paper we will theorise on the nature of academics and teachers working together and suggest that a working relationship between academic researchers and teachers can be one of three models: client–supplier, a coercive relationship or a collaborative relationship. We identify and unpack specific factors that underpin collaboration and suggest a number of concrete actions to establish collaboration between academics and teachers. We draw heavily from existing literature and our own reflections on two collaborative projects with which we have recently been involved. We use data from these projects to provide a number of anecdotes from the teachers who participated to support our own reflections. Finally, we suggest that further research should investigate the different ways attempts to collaborate fail, to build a more complete sense of the problems and potential of this special relationship. Keywords: collaboration; continuing professional development; action research; science teacher

Reflecting on professional development

This paper describes how a cluster of ten secondary science teachers from six different schools and colleges in the UK designed and undertook small-scale action research projects as an approach to their own Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The participating teachers identified a range of topics for investigation such as student voice, engagement and motivation in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) learning and effective practical work. They brought their research into practice either as individuals, pairs or within a team. Central to each project was the use of reflection as a primary tool for ensuring the impact of the professional development and for stimulating a teacher-led process. Reflective practice was developed through the use of three approaches; audio sound bites, reflective blogs, and reflective discussions. The teachers used reflection as a means of self-evaluation as well as evaluation of their action research interventions. The reflective practice which the teachers engaged in enabled them to think carefully about what was taking place in a given situation during their designed interventions, to identify suitable options, and to make conscious choices about what to do in order to make a difference. The participating teachers all concluded that reflective methods that enable self-reflection as well as reflection upon designed classroom interventions are hugely beneficial to effective CPD for teachers

Teacher fabrication as an impediment to professional learning and development: the external mentor antidote

This paper reports findings from a study of the work of 'external mentors' associated with three programmes of support for the professional learning and development (PLD) of secondary science teachers in England. Focusing on outcomes from analyses of data derived from interviews with 47 mentees and 19 mentors, the paper supports and extends existing research on the construction and maintenance of fabrications in schools, and identifies omissions in the evidence base relating to teacher PLD. It is argued that the kinds of fabrications revealed by the teachers interviewed for this research present a serious impediment to their opportunities for school-based PLD, and that the deployment of external mentors (i.e. those not based in the same schools as the teachers they support) can provide a potentially powerful antidote to this. A number of implications for policy and practice in teacher professional learning and development are discussed. Amongst these, it is argued that more teachers should have the opportunity to access external support for their PLD, and that policy makers and head teachers should seek to reduce the degree to which teachers' 'performance' is observed, inspected and assessed

Bringing installation art to reconnaissance to share values and generate action

The English education system has recently seen something of a revival of enthusiasm for the use of research both to develop educational practices and to gather evidence about their effectiveness. These initiatives often present action research as a model of individual problem-solving, which, we argue, communicates a limited conception of action research. In this paper we propose an alternative to this ‘problem-solving’ conception of action research that acknowledges the complex, messy nature of action research through the use of arts installations. Specifically, we present the reconnaissance phase of a project which brought together a partnership comprising a water heritage museum, university staff, teachers and artists. A pedagogical adaptation of contemporary installation art theory and practice fostered the exploration of individual and collective understandings of water, and also established a shared approach to curriculum development and ownership of the project among all participants. We propose that this creative practice enhanced and changed the process of reconnaissance; it allowed the group to establish and share commitments to the value of water conservation and generated a wide range of options for our action research

Astrocytic Ion Dynamics: Implications for Potassium Buffering and Liquid Flow

We review modeling of astrocyte ion dynamics with a specific focus on the implications of so-called spatial potassium buffering, where excess potassium in the extracellular space (ECS) is transported away to prevent pathological neural spiking. The recently introduced Kirchoff-Nernst-Planck (KNP) scheme for modeling ion dynamics in astrocytes (and brain tissue in general) is outlined and used to study such spatial buffering. We next describe how the ion dynamics of astrocytes may regulate microscopic liquid flow by osmotic effects and how such microscopic flow can be linked to whole-brain macroscopic flow. We thus include the key elements in a putative multiscale theory with astrocytes linking neural activity on a microscopic scale to macroscopic fluid flow.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Ten years of different crop rotations in a no-tillage system – what happened to plant diseases and nematode pests?

Aim To study the long-term effects of crop rotation and residue level on diseases and nematodes in Western Australian no-tillage systems

Understanding continuing professional development:The need for theory to impact on policy and practice

This article reflects on my 2005 article in this journal, entitled ‘Models of Continuing Professional Development: a framework for analysis’. Having been invited to reflect on the original article as part of Professional Development in Education’s 40th anniversary celebrations, I have taken the opportunity not only to reflect on the structure and content of the original framework, but also to position it within the current state of literature in the area of teacher professional learning. In so doing, this article proposes an updated framework for analysis, focusing more explicitly on the purpose of particular models than the categorisations of the models themselves. It then goes on to expand on this by considering how various aspects of continuing professional development policies might be analysed according to what they reveal about underlying perspectives on professionalism. The article concludes with some thoughts on how theory about teacher professional learning might better help us to understand policy and impact positively on practice

The Effects of Acute Anaerobic Exercise on the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Response to the Cold Pressor Test in Healthy Adult Males

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(3): 1729-1740, 2020. Little is known about the physiological response to the cold pressor test (CPT) when in a clinically-induced state of autonomic nervous system (ANS) imbalance, despite its utility in various disease- and injury-states. To date, research in this area is limited to acute aerobic and isometric exercise, with a paucity of research investigating the effects of anaerobic exercise on the physiological response to the CPT. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to assess the effects of the Wingate anaerobic cycle test (WAT) on cardiovascular (CV) and metabolic recovery following the CPT in a group of healthy adult males. A pre-post intervention study was conducted, whereby 10 healthy adult males (age = 29 ± 4 years, height = 182 ± 7 cm, mass = 83 ± 9 kg) completed a baseline cold pressor test (CPT-only) and a follow-up cold pressor test preceded by a Wingate anaerobic exercise test (WAT+CPT). Recovery slopes for various CV and metabolic variables, including heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and relative oxygen consumption (O2) were analyzed using single-subject analysis, with celeration line slopes calculated for all participants in the CPT-only and WAT+CPT testing sessions. Celeration line slopes were compared between testing sessions using paired t-tests. No differences were identified for recovery slopes for HR (p = .295), diastolic BP (p = .300), and relative O2 (p= .176) when comparing CPT-only and WAT+CPT testing sessions. Our results suggest that the CPT elicits a CV and metabolic response beyond that elicited solely by an acute bout of anaerobic exercise. As such, the CPT may be able to serve as a surrogate test for anaerobic exercise for individuals where high-intensity exercise may be contraindicated. Future research is warranted however, as the specific physiological mechanisms governing the observed responses have yet to be elucidated