Student leadership in small group science inquiry

Background: Science educators have sought to structure collaborative inquiry learning through the assignment of static group roles. This structural approach to student grouping oversimplifies the complexities of peer collaboration and overlooks the highly dynamic nature of group activity.

Purpose: This study addresses this issue of oversimplification of group dynamics by examining the social leadership structures that emerge in small student groups during science inquiry.

Sample: Two small student groups investigating the burning of a candle under a jar participated in this study.

Design and method: We used a mixed-method research approach that combined computational discourse analysis (computational quantification of social aspects of small group discussions) with microethnography (qualitative, in-depth examination of group discussions).

Results: While in one group social leadership was decentralized (i.e., students shared control over topics and tasks), the second group was dominated by a male student (centralized social leadership). Further, decentralized social leadership was found to be paralleled by higher levels of student cognitive engagement.

Conclusions: It is argued that computational discourse analysis can provide science educators with a powerful means of developing pedagogical models of collaborative science learning that take into account the emergent nature of group structures and highly fluid nature of student collaboration.     

Careers in dairy: adolescents perceptions and attitudes

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of Irish adolescents towards potential careers in dairy farming within the context of generational renewal for a dynamic agri-food sector.

Design/methodology/approach: The lens of occupational choice theory was used to present a framework within which potential careers are considered. A questionnaire-survey was undertaken with 490 Irish adolescents (15–18 yrs).

Findings: While parents have the greatest influence on the career choices of adolescents, there was a positive correlation between studying agricultural science in school and considering an agricultural related career. Adolescent's attitudes towards careers in dairy farming were subject to perceptions about gender, farm ownership, potential income and work-life balance. There was a high degree of openness to gaining work experience on dairy farms.

Practical implications: With an increased interest in agricultural science in second level schools in Ireland, the findings point to opportunities to influence awareness and attitudes of adolescents and their parents about career possibilities in dairy farming and to encourage both familial and non-familiar generational renewal.

Theoretical implications: The paper contributes an understanding of career choices and aspirations in adolescence to add to the growing body of literature on generational renewal in farming.

Originality/value: This paper focuses specifically on dairy farming, providing more detailed information about adolescents’ perceptions of dairy farming careers. The study highlights the positive relationship between studying agricultural science in school and subsequent interest in agricultural related careers. The results indicate that generation renewal in agriculture can be enhanced by giving increased attention to agriculture in school curricula.     

Twelve Years of English in Six Weeks

Abstract

Is This a College? City on a Hill: Testing the American Dream at City College By James Traub Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 371 pages, 1994, $25. Reviewed by Martha E. Kendall.     

Inclusive and democratic practices in primary school classrooms: A multiple case study in Spain

ABSTRACT

Background: In order to offer all students the opportunity to progress and grow to their full potential, teachers must positively recognise and value the different expressions of diversity of all the class members. One of the biggest educational challenges that teachers face today is how to address classroom practices from a truly inclusive and democratic perspective.

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to explore, in a Spanish context, how primary school teachers articulate and implement inclusive and democratic practices in their classrooms.

Design, sample and methods: The methodological design of this study was situated within a qualitative research approach. A multiple case study structure, comprising three case studies, was utilised. Data collection was carried out via interviews, classroom practices inventories, scientific observation and analysis of documentation. The study was carried out over three academic years and had three phases. Data were analysed thematically.

Findings: In the three cases analysed, the analysis identified different possibilities in terms of the implementation and articulation of pedagogical differentiation (the structures, content, process and product) and democratic classroom management (collaborative culture, a shared leadership, democratic participation and school linked to environs).

Conclusions: The analysis highlights the need to support the formation of a critical citizenship within inclusive contexts, as well as the need to develop a sense of belonging to the educational community.     

Remarkable rate acceleration of SmI3-mediated iodination of acetates of Baylis-Hillman adducts in ionic liquid： facile synthesis of （Z）-allyl iodides

Stereoselective transformation of Baylis-Hillman acetates I into corresponding （Z）-allyl iodides 2 has been achieved by treatment of I with samarium triiodide in THF. Remarkable rate acceleration of samarium triiodide-mediated iodination of 1 was found when ionic liquid 1-n-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluroborate （[bmim]BF4） was used as reaction media in stead of THF. This novel approach proceeds readily at 50 ℃ within a few minutes to afford （Z）-allyl iodides 2 in excellent yields. A mechanism involving stereoselective iodination of the acetates of Baylis-Hillman adducts by samarium triiodide is described, in which a six-membered ring transition state played a key role in the stereoselective formation of 2.     

Books in brief

Raising Our Sights: Improving U.S. Achievement in Mathematics and Science John O'Neil for the ASCD Panel on U.S. Achievement in Mathematics and Science Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) 1991 40 pp. $6.50

Ready to Learn: Early Childhood Education and the Public Schools National School Boards Association (NSBA) 1990 48 pp.

Developing and Supporting Teachers for Science Education in the Middle Years The National Center for improving Science Education 1990 86 pp.     

On the supranational spell of PISA in policy

Abstract

Background: PISA results appear to have a large impact upon government policy. The phenomenon is growing, with more countries taking part in PISA testing and politicians pointing to PISA results as reasons for their reforms.

Purpose: The aims of this research were to depict the policy reactions to PISA across a number of jurisdictions, to see whether they exhibited similar patterns and whether the same reforms were evident.

Sources of evidence: We investigated policy and media reactions to the 2009 and 2012 PISA results in six cases: Canada, China (Shanghai), England, France, Norway and Switzerland. Cases were selected to contrast high-performing jurisdictions (Canada, China) with average performers (England, France, Norway and Switzerland). Countries that had already been well reported on in the literature were excluded (Finland, Germany).

Design and methods: Policy documents, media reports and academic articles in English, French, Mandarin and Norwegian relating to each of the cases were critically evaluated.

Results: A policy reaction of ‘scandalisation’ was evident in four of the six cases; a technique used to motivate change. Five of the six cases showed ‘standards-based reforms’ and two had reforms in line with the ‘ideal-governance’ model. However, these are categorisations: the actual reforms had significant differences across countries. There are chronological problems with the notion that PISA results were causal with regard to policy in some instances. Countries with similar PISA results responded with different policies, reflecting their differing cultural and historical education system trajectories.

Conclusions: The connection between PISA results and policy is not always obvious. The supranational spell of PISA in policy is in the way that PISA results are used as a magic wand in political rhetoric, as though they conjure particular policy choices. This serves as a distraction from the ideological basis for reforms. The same PISA results could motivate a range of different policy solutions.     

Concepts before coding: non-programming interactives to advance learning of introductory programming concepts in middle school

ABSTRACT

Background and Context: Learners struggle with conceptual understanding of introductory programming concepts such as variables, expressions, and loops.

Objective: We examine whether and how designed activities for conceptual exploration support preliminary engagement with and learning of foundational and often hard-to-grasp programming concepts for students in grades 6–8.

Method: Drawing on principles from dynamic mathematics, we developed a suite of non-programming digital and unplugged activities embedded in a curriculum before students engage in Scratch block-based programming. We conducted empirical research in three middle school classrooms in diverse urban US schools and examined student performance through mixed qualitative and quantitative methods.

Findings: Learning gains were significant and not predicted by grade, gender or prior academic preparation. Free-choice projects of students showed statistically greater (correct) use of key concepts compared to those not in the study.

Implications: Our work demonstrates the promise of novel approaches such as interactive non-programming activities for deeper understanding of programming concepts.     

Facilitating conditions for farmer learning behaviour in the student-to-farmer university outreach

Purpose: This study elucidates on how faculty supervision support to students during farm placements and other facilitating conditions influence farmer learning in the student-centred university outreach.

Methodology/Design/Approach: Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 283 farmers who had previously hosted students of Gulu University in the student-to-farmer university outreach. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse how faculty supervision support to students in combination with other facilitating conditions affect the formation of intentions for learning and actual farmer learning behaviour.

Findings: Faculty supervision support in the student-to-farmer outreach was found to significantly influence formation of intentions for learning (β?=?0.380; t?=?5.263; P?β?=?0.182; t?=?2.081; P?Practical implications: Faculty supervision support to students is critical to fostering lasting learning relationships in university outreach. Thus, it needs to be a part of the transformation agenda of the higher education sector for improved community linkages and innovation.

Theoretical implications: Empirical data obtained from the context of student-centred university outreach is used to extend the model of facilitating conditions.

Originality/Value: The study addresses how faculty supervision support together with farmers’ perception of student attitudes and the value of the learning content influence farmers’ learning behaviour during university outreach.     

Knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers regarding sexual health education in England

Objective To assess the sexual health knowledge of teachers who contribute to secondary school sexual health education in order to determine whether teachers are adequately prepared to implement present government education and public health policies.

Design Results were obtained from a questionnaire as part of a two‐phase intervention study.

Setting Nineteen mixed‐sex, state secondary schools in central England.

Participants One hundred and fifty‐five teachers (94 female, 61 male) participated.

Main outcome measures The questionnaires were distributed to teachers to assess their knowledge of sexual health, contraception and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, teachers' attitudes on the subject of sex and relationships education were evaluated.

Results The results suggest that teachers have insufficient sexual health knowledge to effectively teach sexually transmitted infections or emergency contraception, although their general sexual health knowledge was good. Therefore, at present teachers do not have adequate specialist knowledge in sexual health to contribute to current recommendations for sex and relationships education in secondary schools. There were no statistically significant differences in the results regarding location of school, area of residence, gender or age of the participant.

Conclusions Many teachers are being expected to contribute to secondary school sexual health education programmes at a time when they do not have sufficient knowledge to provide young people with adequate sexual health education and when they do not feel prepared to teach, and in many cases would prefer not to teach, these programmes.     

Secondary school students’ attitudes to practical work in biology,chemistry and physics in England

ABSTRACT

Background: In England, practical work is a major part of secondary school science and yet little research has examined students’ attitudes specifically to practical work.

Purpose: To examine students’ attitudes to practical work in biology chemistry and physics in secondary schools in England.

Sample: The study involved 607 students from Year 7 to Year 10 (aged 11–15) drawn from three state-maintained secondary schools in England. The schools were, broadly speaking, representative of schools in England in terms of academic measures such as GCSE outcomes, value-added performance and socio-economic area.

Design and methods: The research considered students’ attitudes in terms of an established analytical framework incorporating the affective, behavioural and cognitive (ABC) domains and used a mixed methods approach involving questionnaires, lesson observations, and focus group discussions.

Results: Whilst secondary students’ attitudes to practical work were, generally speaking, positive they were not constant and homogenous but change over time. The affective value of practical work was found to vary by subject although in all three sciences this value decreased, albeit at different rates, as students approached their General Certificate in Secondary Education examinations (GCSE) taken at age 16.

Conclusion: The affective value of practical work needs to be considered on a subject by subject basis, rather than, as is often the case currently in school, in terms of a generic attitude to science practical work. Furthermore, the affective value of practical work can be maximised by using more at the start of secondary education (Key Stage 3 – ages 11–14) with a gradual, subject-specific, reduction as students approach their summative public examinations (age 16) when their preference for non-practical, exam orientated, teaching increases.     

Current Issues in Pastoral Management

REVIEW ARTICLE

The Health-Related Behaviour Questionnaire Service from the Schools Health Education Unit: Some Comments on the Review by Lambourn, reviewed by Davis Regis

REVIEWS

The Effective Teacher, by Cedric Cullingford. London: Cassell, 1995. 205pp. pb ISBN 0 304 33177 5, £13.99, hb ISBN 0 304 33180 5, reviewed by Don Baines

Cooperation in the Multi-Ethnic Classroom: The Impact of Cooperative Group Work on Social Relationships in Middle Schools, by Helen Cowie, Peter Smith, Michael Boulton and Rema Laver. London: David Fulton Publishers, 1994. 214+viiipp. pb ISBN 1 85346 284 5, £14.99, reviewed by Andrew Wright

Areas for Growth, by James Hanratty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 108pp. pb ISBN 0 521 46910 4, £25.95, reviewed by Joy Widdows

Refugee Children in the Classroom, by Jill Rutter. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books, 1994. 288pp. pb ISBN 185856 008 X, £13.95, reviewed by Caroline Lodge     

Improved Social Communication Abilities and Reduced Autism Severity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Highly Sensitive Mothers

SYNOPSIS

Objective . To explore whether maternal sensitivity is associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) severity in children with and without ASD. Design . The samples consisted of 25 Mexican dyads of children with ASD (aged 3.1-6.9 years) and their mothers (aged 20-47 years) and 24 Mexican dyads of children without ASD (aged 3.4-6.7 years) and their mothers (aged 24-45 years). Maternal sensitivity and ASD severity symptoms were scored from 2-h videos of mother-child daily interactions. Results . A between-group comparison showed a trend toward less severe ASD in children with highly sensitive mothers, specifically in the Nonverbal Communication subdomain. Conclusions . Greater maternal sensitivity is associated with improved social ability in children with ASD.     

African American perspectives on racial disparities in child removals

BackgroundAfrican American children are overrepresented in foster care at twice to three times the rate of white children. Scholars argue that racism and oppression underlie disproportionality (Križ & Skivenes, 2011).ObjectiveThis study explored disproportionality as seen through the eyes of African American parents in the child welfare system. The aim was to understand why African American families are over-represented in child custody statistics and to improve family and parenting support for African American communities.Participants & SettingParticipants included twenty-one African Americans--12 women and 9 men, two of whom were foster parents and 19 of whom were parents involved with child welfare services. All participants reside in two impoverished areas in southern United States. Focus groups were used to collect data and were conducted at a community center.MethodsThe method of analysis was constant comparison analysis (Strauss) and thematic analysis of the focus group discussions in the context of institutional policy.FindingsSix themes (profound lack of trust; overwhelming trauma; severe and persistent poverty; health and mental health; socio-economic conditions; and sense of social isolation were identified, along with three participant suggestions to improve child welfare services (family support services, economic revival, and better communication).ConclusionsIn the current study we note the strong link between poverty, child maltreatment, and child removal and conclude with an exploration of practice and policy implications with recommendations for a way forward. The need for culturally competent and trauma informed child welfare services is also discussed.     

Identifying underlying constructs of childhood adversity in a low-income population

BackgroundExtensive research has documented the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor outcomes later in life, as well as the high prevalence of ACEs in the American population. Studies consistently find that over half of American adults have experienced at least one ACE. Despite this, research on the long-term impacts of ACEs is challenging due to the complex nature of adversity.ObjectiveOur study aimed to define underlying constructs of adversity, and explore how they changed throughout childhood, in a low-income population.Participants and SettingWe fielded a survey to Medicaid-enrolled adults in the Portland, OR metropolitan area.MethodsOur survey captured different experiences in childhood, including relationships and support, educational challenges, housing and employment stability, neighborhood environment, discrimination, abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction; questions were asked for 6–12 and 13–18 years of age. We then used factor analysis to identify underlying constructs of adversity in the two age ranges.ResultsWe identified two factors - Inadequate Emotional Support and Instability – in each age range. Inadequate Emotional Support remained consistent in both time periods while the Instability factor changed, expanding from household-centric experiences in childhood to a wider variety of experiences in adolescence. Additionally, a number of variables did not load on either factor in either age range.ConclusionsThese results underscore the importance of expanding how we think about instability specifically, and childhood adversity in general.     

Infant Crying Levels Elicit Divergent Testosterone Response in Men

SYNOPSIS

Objective. Lower baseline testosterone (T) among men is generally associated with more sympathetic and nurturant responses to infant stimuli. The effect of exposure to infant crying on men’s levels of T, however, is not well understood. The present study aimed to measure men’s T responses to high and low levels of infant crying. Design. Changes in fathers’ (n = 18) and non-fathers’ (n = 28) salivary T levels from baseline were measured in response to caring for an infant simulator programmed to cry often (high-demand condition) or infrequently (low-demand condition) during a 20-min caregiving simulation. Results. Men exposed to low-demand conditions exhibited significant T reductions from baseline, whereas men in high-demand conditions exhibited increases in T. Compared to men who displayed decreases in T following the caregiving simulation, men who displayed increases in T provided less sensitive care. Conclusions. Results suggest a potential role of high levels of crying in provoking physiological reactions among men that may set the stage for hostile or aggressive responses. More research is needed to illuminate contextual factors that contribute to men’s variable responses to infant crying.     

Secondary school students who drop out of school in rural Pakistan: The perspectives of fathers

ABSTRACT

Background: The problem of students dropping out of school is one of the barriers to improving educational outcomes in poor and developing countries.

Purpose: This small scale, in-depth study sought to explore the phenomenon of students who drop out from secondary education, through the perspectives of fathers of such students in a rural district of Pakistan.

Method: Primary data were collected through detailed, individual interviews with 14 fathers whose sons had dropped out from secondary education. The study adopted a framework involving push and pull factors to analyse qualitatively the processes and examine the reasons for dropping out that prevailed inside and outside school.

Findings: The analysis suggested that, from the perspectives of the fathers, family poverty, poor academic performance and issues relating to teachers’ engagement with teaching at school were main factors involved in a student dropping out of school.

Conclusions: The findings from this small scale, detailed analysis of data draw attention to the issues arising from a tension in mainstream teachers’ educational roles in and beyond the school. It further highlights the need for greater investment in secondary education, in order to help to reduce rates of student drop out in the remote rural areas of Pakistan.     

A systematic literature review of student engagement in software visualization: a theoretical perspective

ABSTRACT

Background and Context: In spite of the decades spent developing software visualization (SV), doubts still remain regarding their effectiveness. Furthermore, student engagement plays an important role in improving SV effectiveness as it is correlated with many positive academic outcomes. It has been shown that the existing SV has failed to engage students effectively.

Objective: Therefore, there is a need to understand the theories behind SV design from the engagement perspective to produce a roadmap for future tool construction. The aim of this study was to identify the theories have been used in literature to explain or construct student engage- ment with SV in computer science courses for novices.

Method: We performed a systematic literature review that identified a total of 58 articles published between 2011 and 2017, which were then selected for the study. However, among them, only 18 articles had discussed their theoretical framework.

Findings: The results of this study show a richness in the theoretical framework obtained from different disciplines, however, constructivism is still dominant in the computing education research (CER) domain. It is evidently clear from the findings that the theories generated from the CER domain are needed to enhance the effectiveness of SV.

Implications: As a result of this review, we suggest several design principles and engagement attributes to be considered while creating an engaging SV.     

Current Tobacco-Smoking and Neural Responses to Infant Cues in Mothers

Objective. Smoking has a detrimental impact on maternal physical health and exposes children to secondhand smoke, but the extent to which it affects maternal brain and behavior is not well-known and may have implications for parent and child development. We examined how current smoking status might relate to maternal neural responses to infant cues using event-related potentials. Design. Current smoking (n = 35) and non-smoking (n = 35) mothers viewed photographs of emotional infant faces while electroencephalography was simultaneously recorded. Results. The latency of the face-specific N170 event-related potential component was delayed in smoking mothers compared to non-smoking mothers, and the P300 was differentiated by smoking status. Conclusions. Postpartum smoking is associated with event-related potential measures that may reflect modulation of infant face perception in motherhood.