Description:
There is a fundamental spatial mismatch in the data available for modeling human population from satellite imagery. Spectral reflectances are available for each pixel of an image, but ground reference population data are available only for larger zones. The general response has been to build models for the average population density of the zones, utilizing spatially aggregated spectral data. This approach has limitations, both for the modeling process and for the utilization of the resulting spatially aggregated population estimates. A pixel-based alternative is described. Pixels of a Landsat TM image were classified as residential or non-residential using standard techniques. Initial reference populations were assigned by uniformly distributing the population of each zone across its residential pixels. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm was used to iteratively regress pixel population on spectral indicators and re-estimate pixel populations. Predictive validity was tested by applying the fitted regression equation to a second image. The pixel-based model produced population estimates of comparable accuracy to those resulting from a much more complex zone-based modeling procedure. The pixel-based procedure was also more robust and more amenable to refinement, particularly at the extremes of population density. The relative error in the estimated total urban population of both primary and secondary study areas was less than 1 percent. Median relative error in the population of individual zones was 16 percent in the primary study area (14 percent for urban zones) and 21 percent in the secondary study area (17 percent for urban zones).
Description:
In this first chapter we felt it important to introduce the editors of the book via a series of short autobiographical stories. In each case the author has chosen a few influential experiences that they believe have been crucial in shaping the development of their socio-ecological outlook as educators and researchers. In other words, in this first section of the book we are putting practical, lived experience prior to the theoretical explanation of what it means to be a socio-ecological educator. In this first chapter of Part I we want to lead with example and narrative. We then explore and reinforce the message with sound theoretical discussion of the crucial concepts that make up this unique perspective on educational philosophy and practice. In Part II of the book, different authors from a variety of backgrounds and work contexts explore socio-ecological ideas and practices via a range of case studies. Finally, in the conclusion chapter we summarise the book and reflect on the incorporation of a socio-ecological approach into educational and research settings.
Description:
This paper highlights the tensions evident in maintaining ethical principles while simultaneously responding to interpersonal and cultural demands in an intercultural research setting. The tensions reflect the intersections of relationships between ethical principles and practice, between a researcher and her research participants, and between people in the same or different cultural communities. The intricacies of cultures encompass unpredictable expectations for many aspects of research, as shown in the sociological perspectives, which are at the very centre of deliberations in this paper. It is argued that ethics, interpersonal relationships and cultural considerations are representative of the complexity of considerations that researchers negotiate throughout the conduct of an intercultural study. Therefore, it is important that the positioning of ethical practices is considered as central to the wider research process.
Description:
This chapter advances the contention raised throughout the book, that reflective practice, despite its pervasiveness in teaching and teacher education, is often applied to a wide range of distinct, and sometimes incongruent practices. In this chapter, the work of the authors contributing to this volume is drawn upon, alongside extant literature in the field, to examine what is meant by “reflective practice” and what forms of reflective practice are appropriate for whom, and when. Consideration is also given to who and what is driving the reflective practice agenda evident in teaching and teacher education, globally. The implications for teacher education and teacher professional learning of these considerations is examined, and a call for less politicized and more authentic and transformative approaches to reflective practice and its concomitant outcomes is argued.
Description:
The purpose of this chapter is twofold – first, to examine the ways in which critical incident identification and analysis can reveal more about the sophisticated complexity of teaching and, second, to provide an exemplar of reflective practice inquiry in teacher education based primarily on experience and reflection (Dewey J, How we think: a restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Henry Regenry Co., Chicago, 1933). In this chapter we examine the influence of using critical incident identification and analysis to reflect in and on our practice as teacher educators. Critical incidents were defined as incidents in our practice as teacher educators that caused us to pause and reflect on our work and were collated during an intense period of institutional change. Using self-study methodology, we collated and analysed 32 critical incidents and identified key themes including: the tensions evident in institutional and personal expectations, contrived versus organic collaboration and valuing the teacher as a researcher. In this chapter, we highlight the way the combination of a reflective inquiry lens, a research methodology (self-study of practice) and custom-designed strategies and tools highlights the practicalities and powerful influence of reflective practice.
Description:
This book offers a detailed examination of reflective practice in teacher education. In the current educational context, where reflective practice has been mandated in professional standards for teachers in many countries, it analyses research-based evidence for the power of reflective practice to shape better educational outcomes. The book presents multiple theoretical and practical views of this often taken-for-granted practice, so that readers are challenged to consider how factors such as gender and race shape understandings of reflective practice. Documenting approaches that enhance learning, the contributions discuss reflective practice across the globe, with a focus on pre-service, in-service and university teachers. At a time when there is pressure to measure teachers’ work through standardised tests, the book highlights the professional thinking that is integral to teaching and demonstrates ways it can be encouraged in beginning teachers. Aimed at the international community of teacher educators in schools and universities, it also includes a critical examination of methodological issues in analysing and evaluating reflective practice and showcases the kind of reflective practice that empowers teachers and pre-service teachers to make a difference to students.