Small Group Of Pupils Research Articles

Improving Critical Thinking by Using Technology in the Learning Process

Improving Critical Thinking by Using Technology in the Learning Process

Editorial

Editorial

Pursuing Social Justice in Educational Robotics

In educational systems that make their first attempt to incorporate STEAM concepts in their teaching, educational robotics is typically the place to start; robotics kits are purchased, and a small group of pupils is typically selected to develop a project and perhaps to also take part in some local or national robotics competition. Whilst this can be a very stimulating and rewarding experience for the participating pupils, it does little to introduce STEAM to the rest of the pupils in the school. In this article, we present our work towards a more fair and socially just approach to educational robotics. Compared with the conventional approach to educational robotics, our work introduces the following novelties: (A) shorter educational programs so that equipment can be re-used, (B) out-of-school implementation so that the programs are accessible to pupils from all schools, even from those schools that do not have teachers willing to be involved in STEAM programs and (C) scaling via the training of teachers who then act as multipliers of our action. The approach was applied, before being interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a specially developed innovation hub, and the initial results are reported herein. Based on those findings, the potential of our approach to achieve a broader societal impact is highlighted.

Management and outcomes of the small pupil in cataract surgery: iris hooks, Malyugin ring or phenylephrine?

To investigate outcomes for small versus large pupils in cataract surgery using different pupil expansion techniques. Retrospective case-series reviewing 20,175 patients' cataract surgery electronic medical records at Moorfields Eye Clinic in Bedford Hospital NHS Trust from January 2010 to April 2020. Outcomes such as visual acuity (VA), intraocular pressure, intraoperative, post-operative complications were recorded and small pupil expansion device outcome. One thousand, four hundred twenty-six patients were identified as having small pupil (SP). Of these, 1110 patients (77.8%) had interventions to expand the pupil including 447 (31.3%) with intracameral phenylephrine (IC PE) alone, 194 (13.6%) with iris hooks and 469 (32.9%) with a Malyugin ring. The large pupil (LP) group had a statistically significant greater gain in VA than the SP group (p < 0.05). SPs had a significantly higher rate of intraocular complications including posterior capsular rupture (PCR) with vitreous loss (OR 2.75, p < 0.001). There was also a significantly higher rate of post-operative complications such as corneal oedema (OR 2.64, p < 0.001) and anterior uveitis (OR 2.11, p < 0.001) in the SP group. However, VA improvement and complications between the different pupil expansion groups showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) except for a greater rate of iris tears in the Malyugin group (p < 0.05). To date, this is the largest reported case-series comparing Malyugin rings and iris hooks with other pupil expansion techniques. The various techniques to expand pupil size appear to be safe and equally effective in improving VA with a similar rate of complications except for a greater rate of iris tears with Malyugin ring.

Application of a prechop technique using a reverse chopper in small pupil cataract surgery.

BackgroundTo analyze the value of a prechop technique for splitting the nucleus of the lens using a reverse chopper in small-pupil cataract surgeries. A prospective case-control study. Thirty-four cataract patients (34 eyes) who were treated in our center from March 2019 to December 2019 were enrolled and then divided into two groups: small pupil group (18 patients; 18 eyes) and normal pupil group (16 patients; 16 eyes).MethodsThe prechop technique was applied in both groups, and the patients were followed up for three months. The best-corrected visual acuity (BVCA), surgical complications, corneal endothelial cell loss, pupil function, operative time, and cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) were compared between these two groups, and the safety of the nucleus-chopping technique was evaluated. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 software packages. BVCA, surgical complications, rate of corneal endothelial cell loss, pupil function, operative time, and CDE.ResultsThe surgery was smooth in all cases. The operative time, intraoperative ultrasound energy consumption, BVCA, and surgical complications indicated no significant difference between the two groups (all P>0.05). In the small pupil group, BVCA was significantly improved after surgery and achieved its optimal value three months after surgery (χ2=49.38; P=0). The diameter of the pupil was about 3.22 mm in the small pupil group before nucleus chopping. The postoperative pupil morphology was not statistically different from that before surgery (pupil morphology: χ2=0.131; P=0.717); however, the pupillary light reflex was significantly improved after surgery (χ2=8.378; P=0.004), and the pupil diameter was significantly increased (T=−3.494; P=0.003). The rate of corneal endothelial cell loss was higher in small pupil group than in the normal pupil group in the 3rd postoperative month, but the difference was not statistically significant (T=−0.023; P=0.982).ConclusionsThe prechop technique using a reverse chopper in small-pupil cataract surgery occupies a similar operative time, cumulative energy consumption during operation, BVCA, pupil morphology, and rate of corneal endothelial cell loss, comparing with those in normal-pupil cataract surgery. To such a degree, it is a safe, high-efficiency, a simple and easy-to-operate nucleus-chopping technique that can be used in small-pupil cataract surgery.

Effets d’un dispositif d’aide à la résolution de problèmes géométriques : un exemple avec les programmes de construction

Working with a small group of pupils on a problem-solving task before it is presented to the whole class is not a common way of dealing with mathematical difficulties. We conducted an experiment in a French primary school in order to study the impact of a small group intervention on the student’s learning, and on their topos i.e. their capacity to play the role as any other student during the whole class lesson. We have observed positive effects on both, under certain conditions.

Network Analysis Methods to Measure Sociometric Status

This paper proposes an innovative methodological approach to measure sociometric status in small groups of pupils. Although it uses indirect data collected by interview, in this study the sociometric status is analysed by direct observation. This method is specifically suitable when the target population concerns pre-school children. Their cognitive competence, in fact, is not as well developed as their relational abilities. Hence, the indicators constructed are more reliable than the measures derived by the subjective perception of interviewed pupils. The Network Analysis methods allow for the definition of sociometric status by means of regular equivalence. Employing lambda sets and cliques, then, we specify further roles into distinctive small groups. The results show that sociometric status can be revealed by regular equivalence. Besides, the Network Analysis approach allows for the observation of further relational skills, not strictly associated with traditional social roles, detectable only through lambda sets and cliques.

An evaluation of Fresh Start as a catch-up intervention: a trial conducted by teachers

This paper describes a randomised controlled trial conducted with 10 secondary schools in England to evaluate the impact and feasibility of Fresh Start as an intervention to help new entrants with low prior literacy. Fresh Start is a synthetic phonics programme for small groups of pupils, here implemented three times per week over 22 weeks. The intervention was led by the schools themselves and assessed in cooperation with the independent evaluators. A group of 433 year 7 pupils (first year of secondary school) were identified by schools as having literacy attainment below “secure” KS2 level 4, and individually randomised to a treatment group or a waiting-list control. The pupils were assessed via GL’s New Group Reading Test. Missing data at pre- and post-test amounted to 3% of the total. The overall “effect” size in terms of gain scores from pre- to post-test was +0.24, and this was repeated in a sub-group analysis involving only FSM-eligible pupils. However, there was some imbalance between the two groups at the outset, and this must lead to a slight caution about the findings, and to some doubts about whether one or more schools unwittingly subverted the randomisation. Other than this, the aggregated trial shows that schools can conduct evaluations of their own interventions with firm guidance from experts, and under favourable conditions such as individual randomisation and lack of extended involvement by developers with a conflict of interests.

A self-made disposable iris retractor in small pupil phacoemulsification.

To explore a simple and low-cost self-made disposable flexible iris retractor and study its clinical efficacy and safety in small pupil phacoemulsification. Polyproplyene suture and scalp acupuncture were used to make iris retractor. A prospective study were carried on 50 patients (50 eyes) with a maximally dilated pupil size of 2.5-4.0 mm which underwent phacoemulsification using this self-made iris retractor. Another 50 cases of phacoemulsification with normal pupil size sever as control group. The mean operation time, ultrasound time and ultrasonic power, volume of irrigation fluid were documented intraoperatively. The visual acuity, pupil size and complication were observed on 1d, 1wk, 1mo and 1y after operation. Corneal endothelial cell was measured at 1mo postoperatively. Pupils could be expanded to approximately 4.5-5.5 mm with our self-made iris retractor in operation. No serious postoperative complication was found. Most (88%) of the pupils returned round or oval shape, light reflex restored to varying degrees at the first day after surgery. Best corrected visual acuity stabilized in 37 eyes (74%) at one day, in 43 eyes (86%) at one week, in 44 eyes (88%) at one month and 46 eyes (92%) at one year. Compared with the control, more time was needed to complete the operation in the small pupil group. There was no significant difference of the mean ultrasound time, ultrasonic power, volume of irrigation fluid required and corneal endothelial cell loss in 1mo follow up between the two groups. Our self-made disposable flexible iris retractor could be easy obtained preoperatively or intraoperatively. It performed both safety and efficacy in our clinical trials. This simple self-made device has shown economic and practical values, especially in primary care hospital of the less developed districts.

Beyond stereotypes? Talking about gender in school booktalk

The Swedish educational system states that work in schools should depict and mediate equality. One way of achieving this is through fiction, which according to the syllabus provides students with knowledge about the living conditions of women and men during different epochs and places. The present paper examines gender in a Swedish school, analysing ‘book club’ discussions, using a discursive approach. The data consist of video-recorded teacher-led booktalk sessions, involving small groups of pupils in grades 4–7. It was found that the teachers and/or the pupils invoked gender issues in all book club sessions. The fictive events were, at times, discussed in gender-stereotyped ways. Yet, the teachers and pupils also transcended gender stereotypes in several cases. In many of those cases, there was a generational pattern, in that the participants tended to apply less stereotyped thinking when talking about fictive characters of their own age.

Pupil Size Influence on the Intraocular Performance of the Multifocal AMO-Array Intraocular Lens in Elderly Patients

To study the relationship between pupil size and AMO-Array multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL) performance in a population of elderly patients. This prospective trial included 62 patients (mean age 76 years; range 70 to 86) undergoing bilateral cataract phacoemulsification and MIOL (AMO-Array SA-40N, Allergan) implantation. Patients were divided into two groups based on preoperative pupil diameter: small pupil group (pupil size of 2.5-2.9 mm; 45 subjects) and large pupil group (pupil size of 3-5 mm; 17 subjects). The analysis included uncorrected (UC) and best-corrected (BC) near and distance visual acuity (VA), spectacle dependence, and photic phenomena complaints (postoperative follow-up 16.6+/-6.2 months; range 11-26 months). Patients in the small pupil group showed postoperatively significantly higher distance UCVA and BCVA, but lower near UCVA compared to those in the large pupil group (Mann-Whitney test, p< or = 0.02). Patients with small pupils also tended to: be more (not statistically significant) spectacle independent for distance (73.3% versus 47.1%) and spectacle-dependent for near vision (55.6% versus 28.4%); report significantly less photic phenomena complaints (37.8% versus 93.1%, chisquare test, p<0.001); and, more satisfied with the surgery (95.5% versus 76.5%). Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) was observed in 19.4% of the patients. Bilateral AMO-Array MIOL implantation in elderly patients seems to be an effective and safe surgical procedure that improves distance and near UCVA, providing spectacle independence in many cases. The use of these MIOLs, however, can induce photic phenomena and cause PCO. Patients with small preoperative pupils (<3 mm) presented less photic phenomena complaints and expressed a higher visual outcome satisfaction after surgery.

Wireless keyboards and mice: could they enhance teaching and learning in the secondary English classroom?

This paper reports on the first year of a pilot study on the use of wireless keyboards and mice by student teachers with small groups of pupils across the 11–16 age range in the secondary English classroom. It investigates the equipment’s suitability for use with a range of teaching and learning strategies including collaborative writing and textual analysis and considers the affordances which may be offered to the learning context through use of the technology. Provisional findings reveal some technical difficulties with the equipment but suggest that it has the potential, particularly when used as a motivational tool, to develop pupils’ creative engagement with composition processes during small group collaborative writing.

'We're really lucky': Co-creating 'us' and the 'Other' in school booktalk

This article addresses how 'Otherness' is co-construed in booktalk in a Swedish school. The data consist of video-recorded teacher-led booktalk sessions, involving small groups of pupils in grades 4–7. Seven of the eight books discussed were, at least partly, set in settings foreign to the pupils. We found that a basic teacher device for constructing the 'Other', was to implicitly or explicitly compare a group of others with the participant children themselves, 'us Swedish children', accomplishing 'Otherness' by foregrounding dif ferences, setting up a series of implicit or explicit contrasts between 'them' and 'us'. Such contrasts concerned: literacy and language skills (Extracts 1 and 2), ways of 'sticking together' (Extracts 3 and 4), as well as contrasts in terms of the distribution of material educational resources and work demands on children (Extracts 5–8). Moreover, the last extracts also illustrate how pupils co-construct the teachers' implicit or explicit underlying moral agendas.

The Teaching of Physics and Cartoons: Can they be interrelated in secondary education?

Given the progressive loss of influence for the school relative to television in youngsters’ everyday lives, this article describes the procedure and the results of including cartoons in the physics curriculum in secondary education. Work was carried out intensively with a small group of pupils and sporadically with a larger group. In the first case, cartoons were used for identifying and discussing fictitious phenomena, problem‐solving, and assessment of the learning. In the second case, for identifying and discussing fictitious phenomena, a quasi‐experimental research design was followed. The results back the use of this didactic tool as an element for motivating and invigorating the classroom, for identifying the pupils’ alternative ideas and the assessment of their learning, as well as for a more critical way of watching television.

Primary pupils’ recall of interactive storybooks on CD‐ROM: inconsiderate interactive features and forgetting

AbstractThe use of interactive storybooks in the primary classroom has the potential to facilitate pupils’ reading, in small groups or individually. However, critics have expressed concern at the exposure of pupils to interactive storybooks. In particular, concern has been expressed that the interactive animations and sound effects in such storybooks may adversely affect pupils’ responses to the written text. These small scale studies examined whether story recall of small groups of pupils, respectively in Year 5 and Year 4, was affected by the provision of cued animations and sound effects. Consideration of the outcomes of both studies indicates that access to cued animations and sound effects did have adverse effects on pupils’ story recall.

Booktalk Dilemmas: Teachers' organisation of pupils' reading

The syllabus for mother tongue teaching in Sweden states that an essential goal is that pupils, in conversation with others, should be able to express feelings and thoughts evoked by literature. The present paper addresses how schools try to promote pupils' reading, examining authentic school-run booktalk conversations from a discursive approach. The data consists of video-recorded sessions with small groups of pupils in Grades 4-7. A series of booktalk dilemmas were identified. The so-called book clubs studied were aimed at promoting reading for pleasure. Yet, literary practices were, at times, transformed into calculating tasks, vocabulary lessons or reading aloud exercises. Another complication concerned the synchronising of the pupils' reading, which led to extensive negotiations on the part of teacher and pupils.

TEACHING NOTES

TEACHING NOTES

Pupillary Functions After Cataract Surgery Using Flexible Iris Retractor in Patients With Small Pupil

Purpose: To quantitatively assess pupillary functions after small pupil cataract surgery using the flexible iris retractor. Methods: Subjects were 11 patients (12 eyes) with small pupils who underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. Pupils were enlarged using the flexible iris retractor intraoperatively, and postoperative iriscorder data were compared with the data of 20 normal controls who underwent standard phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. Results: Although pupillary area before light stimulus did not differ between the groups, contraction rate after light stimulus was significantly lower in the small pupil group than in the normal controls. The velocity of contraction and dilation was also significantly slower in the small pupil group. Wider pupillary stretching during surgery resulted in deteriorated pupillary functions after surgery. Eyes of patients on long-term miotic therapy with pilocarpine showed poorer pupillary reaction postoperatively. Conclusion: Inappropriate use of the flexible iris retractor causes an atonic, chronically enlarged postoperative pupil. To avoid postoperative pupillary complications, miotic pupils should not be stretched to larger than a 5.0 × 5.0 mm square.

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.

Large-scale exploration of pupils' understanding of the nature of science

Summary The methodology of this research tried to span the small scale and the large, the qualitative and the quantitative, present knowledge and proximal development. It took into account the results of previous small scale questionnaire studies, interviews ofgroups of students and action research in the classroom. These informed the results ofa large-scale questionnaire study of the nature of science. Few questions were asked which referred to knowledge acquired from two different domains: a. out-of-school images of science and scientist; b. ideas drawn from their own school experiences of science in the classroom and the laboratory. Knowing the strong effect of context we were anxious to keep the questions as general as possible. They were to probe the connection between theory and experiment in terms which, we had found, students ofage 15 years, could understand. The results showed a strikingly significant relation between the class teacher and the responses to most questions. The exceptions were in out-ofschool knowledge and confirmed our hypothesis about the two origins of students' knowledge about the nature of science. Looking for significant correlations between the students' answers to different questions revealed the presence of two interesting groups of students: the 'Explainers' and the 'Imaginers'. The first of these seemed to be reflective, and as having a more explanatory perception of science. However this was limited to their own laboratory experiences and did not extend to other cultures, or to the use of imaginative mental models. The second group - the 'imaginers' - were far fewer in the large sample of 15 year olds, but comparatively more numerous in a small sub-group ofolder students at age 17. Separating out this disappointingly small group of pupils we found that they were more interested in what goes on in the minds of scientists. From