2001/2002 CeNTRE Research Seminar Programme

Special relationships between ICT and Subject Disciplines (Part 1)

 

Learning Science with ICT: How do teachers make a difference?	Laurence Rogers, University of Leicester
Tuesday 14 May 2002

In many applications of ICT use in the classroom, the role of the teacher has a considerable influence on the learning outcomes. The purpose of the seminar is to analyse the pedagogical skills and methods employed by science teachers and consider how they might be adapted to exploit the learning opportunities afforded by ICT. Such an analysis poses fundamental questions about teaching and learning styles in the broadest sense. The range of potential learning benefits of ICT to science will be reviewed and discussed with reference to recent research into teachers’ practice fostered in the NOF funded ICT training programme.

Laurence Rogers is joint author with Leonard Newton of ‘Teaching Science with ICT’ published by Continuum Books (September 2001).

Computer Assisted Learning - Situation specific artefacts and notations	Meurig Beynon & Chris Roe, Dept Computer Science University of Warwick
Thursday 21 March 2002

This Seminar will consider and illustrate the potential for applying computer-based modelling methods based on generalised spreadsheet principles, to the development of computer-based environments to scaffold learning.

 

What is the impact of ICT on literacy learning in English 5 - 16?	Richard Andrews, University of York
ay 22 January 2002

The Department for Education and Skills established the ‘Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice Initiative in 2000’ to bring research, policy and practice closer together. In the first phase of its development, six groups have been set up around the country to review research in the fields of gender, assessment, post-16, leadership, inclusive education and English teaching.

The English Review Group is co-ordinated by Richard Andrews and is based at the University of York. In 2001 it has undertaken a systematic review of international research on the impact of ICT on literacy learning in the English language for 5-16 year olds. The seminar reports on what has been found, on the methods of finding it, and on implications for practice and policy.

Richard Andrews is Professor of Education at York with responsibility for language, arts and humanities education. He is author of books on argument and poetry education, associate editor of the new journal ‘Education, Communication & Information’ and editor of a forthcoming book from Routledge Falmer, ‘The Impact of ICT on Literacy Education’.

 

Mathematical Learning and ICT: A special relationship?	Dave Pratt, Director CeNTRE University of Warwick
Tuesday 13 November 2001

There is a general belief amongst both politicians and parents that computers are ‘a good thing’ in education. Much of this belief stems from a prestige that seems to be associated with modernity, and the dramatic impact that digital technologies have made on the worlds of home and work. This seminar starts from the assumption that the unthinking use of computers in mathematics education, whether at policy (macro) or classroom (micro) level, is likely to be at best ineffective, and possibly harmful.

I will present a fundamental analysis of computer-based mathematical activity to propose that there are a small number of elements of such activity that are special, perhaps even unique, to mathematical learning. We can use these special elements to guide the development of mathematics education at both micro and macro levels. These special elements will be illustrated through examples from my own research and experience, and through the writings of others.

An implicit challenge to the audience is to reflect on their own work with computers, whether in mathematics education or in other disciplines, with the aim of enriching the analysis presented.

The seminar should be of interest to teachers and researchers who have an interest in the use of computers in learning contexts across the range of disciplines.