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This paper presents the rationale for incorporating engineering design into project-based laboratory learning. To ensure an effective and efficient pedagogy for the new laboratory format, we placed the emphasis of the pedagogical framework on constructivist learning for deep laboratory learning, and integrated experiential learning cycle with cyclic engineering design to formulate a sequential instruction and formative assessment methodology. The implementation of the pedagogy was exemplified using a case study of a concrete distillation design consisting of conceptualizing the design, reasoning the adequacy and experiment-based validation of the design correlations, and verifying the final design as per experimental observations. The impact of the novel lab format on student learning experience was surveyed and compared to that of a traditional laboratory. The survey results revealed that the project-based laboratory with design resulted in an improved learning experience in addressing high-level learning outcomes and engineering skills. Evidence of the survey also suggested that the sequential instruction and formative assessment methodology was effective with every stage of the experiential learning and formative assessment essential for the successful and efficient implementation of the project-based laboratory learning. • Project-based laboratory (PBL) with design promotes deep laboratory learning. • Integration of experiential learning with design for an effective instruction pedagogy. • A practical distillation design case exemplifies implementation of the novel pedagogy. • PBL with design improves students' learning experience in laboratory learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authenticity is one of the central components of the tourist experience and has been the subject of substantial academic research. Despite this attention, debate on the notion is ongoing. This paper aims to enhance the analytic potential of the largely Western-centric notion of authenticity by examining the value and meaning of Suzhou food authenticity, from the perspective of producers and suppliers of food and food tourism experiences. Using semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis, this study finds that the broad notion of authenticity has considerable relevance to supply-side stakeholders' perceptions of food tourism experiences in Suzhou, however in describing certain foods, local stakeholders do not use a term that directly translates to "authentic", and instead rely on many other Chinese concepts and expressions to authenticate food attractions and experiences. This study confirms the significance of authenticity to food tourism experiences from the producer and supplier perspective but also suggests that authenticity is a culturally specific notion and, fundamentally, there is great utility in applying a constructivist epistemology to study the Chinese concepts of authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper takes as its point of departure David Olson's contention (as expressed in The Mind on Paper , (2016) CUP, Cambridge) that writing affords a meta-representation of language through allowing linguistic elements to become explicit objects of awareness. In so doing, a tradition of suspicion of writing (e.g. Rousseau and Saussure) that sees it as a detour from and contamination of language is disarmed: writing becomes innocent, becomes naturalised. Also disarmed are some of the concerns given rise to by the observation made in the title of Per Linell's book of a 'written language bias in linguistics' (2005, Routledge, London) with its attendant criticisms of approaches (e.g. Chomsky's) that assume written language to be transparent to the putative underlying natural object. Taking Chomsky's position (an unaware scriptism) as a representative point of orientation and target of critique, the paper assembles evidence that problematises the first-order, natural reality of cardinal linguistic constructs: phonemes, words and sentences. It is argued that the facticity of these constructs is artefactual and that that facticity is achieved by way of the introjection of ideal objects which the mind constructs as denotations of elements of an alphabetic writing system: the mental representation of language is transformed by engagement with writing and it is this non-natural artefact to which Structuralist/Generativist linguistics has been answering. Evidence for this position from the psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic literature is presented and discussed. The conclusion arrived at is that the cultural practice of literacy re-configures the cognitive realisation of language. Olson takes writing to be a map of the territory; however, it is suggested that the literate mind re-constructs the territory to answer to the features of the map. Highlights • The facticities of the phoneme, word and sentence are artefacts of alphabetic writing. • Chomskyan linguistics answers to these artefacts, they are not natural kinds. • Writing is a cognitive niche which transforms mental representations of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whenever masculinity and school violence are considered in South African research, the focus is often on the high school. In this paper, we consider a different direction by drawing on Connell’s (1995) concept of hegemonic masculinity to understand the workings of power and violence amongst a group of South African primary school boys. Little is known about how forces of hegemonic masculinity operate to shape every day gender relations amongst younger boys. Against this background, this paper focuses on a particular group of boys, between 10 and 13 years old, who attend a ‘black’, working-class primary school in South Africa. In addition, they identify themselves as ‘real boys’, where being a ‘real boy’ is inextricably linked to violent ‘performances’ of hegemonic masculinity on the school playground during break time. The paper explores how these boys use forms of violence to claim control of the playground space and to exclude, marginalise and denigrate the other group of boys whom they construct as ‘unmasculine’ and ‘gay’. The findings raise implications for ways of curbing the violence, such as working with the boys to promote non-violent interpretations of performing, being and becoming a ‘real boy’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental stages in general and Piaget's stages in particular have given rise to considerable controversy. Much of this controversy revolves around the responses that have been given to the following five central questions: (1) Do developmental stages exist? (2) If they exist, where are they? (3) What features define a developmental sequence as a sequence of developmental stages? (4) What psychological processes underlie developmental change? (5) Should we abandon the concept of developmental stages? The main goal of this paper is to present a critical review of such responses, while arguing for a strong conception of development and a “non-received” view of Piaget's theory. After an introduction section, we elaborate on each of the five questions. Finally, we present several reasons why this paper often appeals to Piaget's theory, and why his theory has been greatly misunderstood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper qualifies previous assumptions on the link between physiology and learner states during constructivist learning, employing a study design where electrodermal activity data (EDA) is collected across two distinctive pedagogies -- direct instruction and hands-on learning. Our results are surprising in that higher arousal during hands-on learning is not indicative of higher learning gains, nor is the strength of the EDA response clearly different when transitioning across pedagogies. However, qualitative investigations show that varying sources of physiological arousal likely to be present in hands-on learning, such as stress, may have led to this mixed connection between EDA and learning during hands-on learning. Moreover, identical tests for the direct instruction section show that higher EDA during this more passive form of learning is indeed indicative of higher learning gains. Our machine learning prediction models achieved fair performance for both learning gains and engagement, providing support for the use of physiological data in gauging and supporting learner states despite its polysemy. We conclude with informed suggestions for building theory-based, nuanced connections between EDA and constructivist learning. • Learners' electrodermal activity (EDA) levels and peaks were positively associated with learning gains. • EDA levels did not clearly differ between direct instruction and hands-on learning; however, EDA synchrony levels did. • EDA synchrony did not have consistent ties with learning outcomes, contrary to findings in previous peer dyad research. • An EDA-based predictive model achieved substantial explanatory power for key learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of meeting in a relevant empirical setting with the purpose of co-writing an academic book. A writing seminar is used to explore how such encounters impact scholars’ motivations and actions regarding writing. Data were collected through participant observation, discussions, and in-depth interviews. Based on experiential and learning theories, the study led to the identification of four categories of academic co-writing, reflected through data from formal and informal meeting contexts: writing to process information; to develop knowledge; to play, socialize, and have fun; and to present oneself. The study findings suggest that academic institutions should arrange and support scholarly meetings to fulfill goals such as knowledge building, publication, and networking. At the individual level, being together and discussing and clarifying topics, constructs, and ideas motivate scholars to write and to publish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implicit feedback such as users’ examination behaviors have been recognized as a very important source of information in most recommendation scenarios. For recommendation with implicit feedback, a good similarity measurement and a proper preference assumption are critical for the quality of personalization services. So far, the similarities used in the state-of-the-art recommendation methods include the predefined similarity and the learned similarity ; and the preference assumptions include the well-known pairwise assumption . In this paper, we exploit the complementarity of the predefined similarity and the learned similarity via a novel mixed similarity model. Furthermore, we develop a novel recommendation algorithm, i.e., pairwise factored mixed similarity model (P-FMSM) , based on the mixed similarity and pairwise preference assumption. Our P-FMSM is able to (i) capture the locality of the user-item interactions via the symmetric predefined similarity, (ii) model the global correlations among items via the asymmetric learned similarity, and (iii) digest the uncertain implicit feedback via the pairwise preference assumption. Empirical studies on four public datasets show that our P-FMSM can recommend significantly more accurate than several state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a graduate course project on humanoid robotics offered by the University of Padova. The target is to safely lift an object by teleoperating a small humanoid. Students have to map human limbs into robot joints, guarantee the robot stability during the motion, and teleoperate the robot to perform the correct movement. We introduce the following innovative aspects with respect to classical robotic classes: i) the use of humanoid robots as teaching tools; ii) the simplification of the stable locomotion problem by exploiting the potential of teleoperation; iii) the adoption of a Project-Based Learning constructivist approach as teaching methodology. The learning objectives of both course and project are introduced and compared with the students’ background. Design and constraints students have to deal with are reported, together with the amount of time they and their instructors dedicated to solve tasks. A set of evaluation results are provided in order to validate the authors’ purpose, including the students’ personal feedback. A discussion about possible future improvements is reported, hoping to encourage further spread of educational robotics in schools at all levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our paper, we take a constructivist approach to early forms of ‘academic language’, based on a conversation analytic framework. Adopting an interactional linguistic framework that is based on ethnomethodological and conversation analytic theoretical thinking, we aim to describe the social and linguistic norms that emerge in so-called ‘morning circles’, a highly ritualised interactional routine that transfers part of the interactional responsibility to the children and at the same time teaches the prerequisites for specific communicative practices. As morning circles are turned into language teaching lessons on a regular basis, we describe the linguistic features that emerge as learning objects, and some of the learning practices in which they are embedded. We will argue that language learning practices are situated practices, connecting the use of linguistic forms with ideologies of linguistic and social appropriateness. Our analysis is based on video recordings of three sessions in a first grade class in a primary school in a medium sized town in Germany, which have been transcribed and qualitatively analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the learning and professional development of 15 Bachelor of Education student teachers and the kinds of knowledge they gained through a cohort model of teaching practice during a four week residential practicum in a rural South African school. Drawing on concepts around socio-constructivism and teacher knowledge, data were collected from the student teachers’ reflective journals and audio-taped collaborative reflection sessions. Content analysis indicates that these pre-service teachers gained general pedagogic knowledge and, pedagogic content knowledge from, subject specialization collaborations, collaborative reflections and personal reflections and journaling. Reflections on their observations and participation in school activities, offered them knowledge of context. The paper illustrates that a cohort approach to student teaching practice, promotes learning and professional development and, adds value to their practicum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authentic learning is learning that is constructivist, inquiry-based and has work value. As issues with graduate employability have, in recent years, come to the fore, educators in a range of disciplines are interested in engaging their students in authentic activities that reflect the experiences of real-world practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to share the redevelopment of a postgraduate tourism course using an authentic, problem-based learning approach, and to reflect on the impact this learning approach had on student learning, particularly in relation to contemporary student and workforce needs related to employability. Designed around a focal 'consultancy project' with an international partner, the course aims to provide students with a unique opportunity to engage in real-world learning, while facilitating career-relevant activities for students that will help them develop stronger employability skills, including problem-solving, decision making, communication, collaboration, and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the analysis of a large body of video data of trainee teachers who were learning mathematical dialogue techniques. We explore some of the ways in which trainee teachers can make better use of children's own contributions to foster learning and increase pupil motivation – taking a number of analytic principles from conversation analysis. While the importance of dialogue in mathematics education has drawn increased attention in recent years, there is still relatively little work on how teachers may learn to make better use of dialogue in the classroom. This paper aims to address that lacunae. • Shows how trainee teachers manage small group teaching in different ways. • Identifies different styles of trainee-teacher interaction with pupils. • Provides suggestions on how to help pre-service teachers maintain equity. • Shows how spaces to construct understanding may be managed in maths education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]