Brian Hudson

Holding complexity and searching for meaning: Teaching as reflective practice

This paper explores differences between traditions in relation to teaching and learning. As a relative newcomer from the Anglo/American curriculum tradition, I seek to highlight the ways in which Central and Northern European tradition of Didaktik has offered a new dimension and fresh insights to the notion of reflective practice. In particular, the paper seeks to emphasize the significance of Klafkis notion of Didaktik analysis, with its focus on meaning and its aim to re-enact the rationale for subject matters. Against this background, teaching is seen as a moral and reflecting activity that is primarily concerned with a search for meaning.

A Social Perspective on Teaching and Learning in the Context of Computer-Mediated Communication in Teacher Education

Abstract In a context where ever greater emphasis is placed on the need to exploit the potential of information and communications technology, this article argues the need for a theoretical underpinning to such developments. In higher education, the emphasis is often placed on the assumed improved cost-effectiveness associated with ‘flexible’ and ‘independent’ student learning as one of the major benefits, although such notions as flexible and independent learning tend to be taken for granted. It is argued further that even where benefits to learning are emphasised, these are often founded on relatively impoverished views of learning. Often such views fit with a technocentric and positivist perspective on learning, emphasising as they do individualism, information delivery and a limited role for the tutor. This article outlines an alternative theoretical perspective based upon Vygotskian social psychology, activity theory and social practice. Such a perspective is characterised by an emphasis on interacti...

Group Work with Multimedia in Mathematics: The Role of the Technology and of the Teacher

This paper reports on a study involving the evaluation and use of the National Curriculum Council sponsored multimedia package World of Number. The project was carried out in a South Yorkshire comprehensive school during the Spring Term of 1994. The intended mode of use of the package was unclear from the initial evaluation and also from initial teacher feedback. In addition little attention seemed to have been given to the role of the teacher. Examples of episodes of classroom interaction between the teacher/researcher and a small group of pupils working at the multimedia system are presented and an interpretation, which takes account of the role of the technology and of the teacher from a Vygotskian perspective, is offered.

Open and Flexible Learning? An Evaluation of Student and Tutor Experiences in a European e-Learning Community.

The paper presents an evaluation of student and tutor experiences in the introductory module of a European Masters programme in e‐Learning, Multimedia and Consultancy. The aims and outline of the Masters programme are described, together with the pedagogical approach adopted in the introductory module which explores open and flexible learning environments with students and tutors from four European countries. The second part of the paper evaluates the success of the teaching and learning that occurred in this unit, from the perspective of both the students and tutors. Data collected include student and tutor written evaluations, reflections on the authors’ own roles in the programme, and analysis of the products contained in the environment. The paper concludes by detailing future developments in the Masters programme that have been influenced by this cycle of evaluation.

Didaktik Design for Technology Supported Learning

This paper builds on earlier work which has explored differences between traditions in relation to teaching and learning. It outlines the development of an approach to the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support learning and teaching based on the notion of Didaktik analysis. The focus is on the design of teaching situations, pedagogical activities and learning environments which aims to address the what, why and how of ICT use. Discussion focuses on the nature of design, the conception of teaching as a design profession, subject didactics as design science and Didaktik design for technology supported learning as a generic field of didactics which is applicable across the range of specific subject didactics. The role of research is discussed at a range of levels from the macro to the micro involving consideration of its role at the course or curriculum level. These ideas form the basis of an Integrative Didaktik Design (IDD) framework, and an example of the application of this philosophy and approach to development of ICT for learning in the field of teacher education at a national level is presented.

Developing mathematical thinking in the primary classroom: liberating students and teachers as learners of mathematics

This paper reports on a research study conducted with a group of practising primary school teachers (n = 24) in North East Scotland during 2011–2012. The teachers were all participants in a newly developed Masters course that had been designed with the aim of promoting the development of mathematical thinking in the primary classroom as part of project supported by the Scottish Government. The paper presents the background for this initiative within the context of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence reform. Particular attention is given to the epistemological positioning of the researchers as this influenced both the curriculum design process and also the theoretical framing of the research study which are both described. The project was set up within a design research framework, which aimed to promote classroom-based action research on the part of participants through the course and also research by the university researchers into the process of curriculum development. The research questions focused on the teachers’ confidence, competence, attitudes and beliefs in relation to mathematics and their expectations and experiences of the impact on pupil learning arising from this course. Empirical data were drawn from pre- and post-course surveys, interviews and observations of the discussion forums in the online environment. Findings from this study highlight the way the course had a transformational and emancipatory impact on these teachers. They also highlight ways in which the ‘framing’ of particular aspects of the curriculum had an oppressive impact on learners in the ways that suppressed creativity and limited the exercise of learner autonomy. Furthermore, they highlight the ways in which a number of these teachers had experienced mathematics as a school subject in very negative ways, involving high levels of ‘symbolic violence’ and of being ‘labelled’.

Promoting collaboration in an international online learning community

This paper describes the background context of the International MSc in E‐Learning Multimedia and Consultancy. The programme aims to develop the profile of “problem solver”/team co‐ordinator at the interface of pedagogical, technological and organisational/cultural dimensions of development and these aims are reflected in the programme content. The origins of this development in a European Commission‐funded project are outlined. An overview of the programme design is provided that emphasises peer and formative assessment practices and also of the pedagogical approach that aims to foster group collaboration in international teams. The features and benefits of the programme are described and supported by feedback and commentary from participating students. Finally some reflections are offered on potential future developments and suggestions are made for further reading.

VISUALISATION AND THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ‘A’ LEVEL MATHEMATICS: A CLASSROOM INVESTIGATION

The study reported here is part of a wider study, which aims to investigate the potential of the graphical calculator for mediating the development of students’ abilities to visualise the graphs of functions at GCE Advanced level. This paper focuses on how the graphical calculator influenced six particular students’ work with functions. Initial results have illuminated ways in which the technology can have a positive impact on students’ visualisation capabilities. It is proposed that visual thinking forms a significant part of many students’ mathematical reasoning, enabling students to derive richer meaning from given problems. It is suggested further that use of the technology mediates the development of students’ visual capacities, by helping to highlight the links between complementary modes of representation.

Learning Mathematically As Social Practice In A Workplace Setting

This chapter reports on a small-scale case study involving 15-16 year old secondary school students participating in a vocational module under the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) scheme that operated in England during the late 1990s. The development was a pilot study involving experience in the workplace in a small-scale light engineering context. An initial aim of the study was to explore the potential of the setting for the development of numeracy practices. The theoretical framework adopted is based on a social perspective on learning and a view of learning mathematically as social practice. Of particular interest were the differences between everyday and school mathematical practices. The analysis focuses on differences in the practices between the settings of workplace and school in particular. Finally issues to emerge from this study are discussed in relation to the wider context of policy and practice. These include issues of relevance, questions of purpose, learner confidence and approaches to assessment in mathematics.

Group work with Multimedia in Mathematics: contrasting patterns of interaction

This paper outlines the use of the UK National Curriculum Council sponsored multimedia package World of Number with a Year 9 mathematics class. The classroom research was conducted in a South Yorkshire comprehensive school during the Spring term of 1994. The class worked on graphs of relationships between distance, speed and time. The resulting activity is illustrated through examples of the discourse from some of the groups working on the multimedia-based activities. Despite initial impressions of effective collaboration, contrasting patterns of interaction are highlighted, with some examples of rich interaction about the problem in several cases but also with examples of much lower levels of engagement with the problem in others.