Using professional practice frameworks to evaluate consultation

Within the United Kingdom (UK), recent socio-legislative changes have led to increased trading of educational psychology services (EPSs) and greater focus on accountability. However, the impact of educational psychologists’ (EPs’) practice can be difficult to ascertain, particularly within consultation where resultant actions are often implemented by other professionals. This action research, conducted within two EPSs, sought first to find possible frameworks for evaluating consultation, via literature review. Thereafter, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed with EPs, leading to the identification of two preferred frameworks: Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and the Constructionist Model of Informed Reasoned Action (COMOIRA), which were piloted and reviewed. In the final research phase, focus groups considered their usefulness as evaluation tools. Despite some promising findings, variation amongst EPs’ views about their applicability, perhaps influenced by previous familiarity with the frameworks, suggested the need for further research in this area.     

Popular Structural Equation Modeling Programs for Behavior Genetics

Behavior genetic modeling is a prominent application of multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM). It decomposes phenotypic variance into genetic and environmental sources by leveraging the covariation within and between kin pairs. Although any SEM program with multi-group capabilities can be employed, the software program, Mx, has dominated behavior genetics research. Indeed, even though Mx has not been maintained since 2011, it remains the most popular SEM program in Behavior Genetics articles published in 2016 and 2017. Given the persistence of Mx, the aim of this article is to understand Mx’s performance relative to other popular behavior genetic programs. Through this process, programs employed in behavior genetics research are identified, and their relevant technical features and accessibility are compared. Finally, the relative strengths and limitations of the programs are discussed, and recommendations are provided for behavior genetics researchers.     

Off-side front foot drives in men's high performance cricket

We investigated the techniques used by nine right-handed, international batsmen to perform front foot off-side drives in first class and international matches. All strokes were captured using two synchronised high-speed video cameras; nine were selected for kinematic analysis. These movement sequences were then manually digitised at a sampling frequency of 125 Hz using APAS motion analysis software. The results of this study indicated that the batsmen used movement patterns that enabled important aspects of stroke production, such as the front stride and the downswing of the bat, to be delayed so that additional information from ball flight could be assimilated. Front upper limb segments were constrained to work in a unitary fashion, with the peak horizontal end point speed of each segment occurring almost simultaneously just before impact. It has been suggested that these strategies serve to enhance stroke accuracy. Other aspects of their techniques included a distinctively looped bat path, a front foot placement that occurred only just before impact, and a front ankle that was positioned well inside the line of the ball at impact. Various technical parameters, such as the alignment of the trunk relative to ground and the continuous flow of the bat between the backswing and downswing, were similar to findings in previous batting research. Other characteristics of stroke production not previously addressed, including the path of the bat and the timing of the front stride, may challenge some long held beliefs evident in current coaching literature.     

Responses to anomalous data on controversial topics and theory change

This qualitative study was concerned with the role of anomalous data on controversial topics in the process of theory change. Its main aim was to identify the types of reasons that eighth graders gave for accepting or refusing evidence conflicting with their held theory and to see whether those types of reasons fitted into the taxonomy of responses proposed by Chinn and Brewer (Journal of Research in Science Teaching 35 (1998) 623–654). Two controversial topics were chosen: the extinction of the dinosaurs and the construction of the great pyramids in Giza, Egypt. The results showed that the 24 categories of reasons given by the participants, who were much younger than those involved in the study by Chinn and Brewer, fitted into their revised taxonomy, which consists of eight responses, with the exception of the response “ignoring”. Educational implications are drawn.     

We Look More, Listen More, Notice More: Impact of Sustained Professional Development on Head Start Teachers�� Inquiry-Based and Culturally-Relevant Science Teaching Practices

Despite many scholars?? recommendations, science is often avoided during early childhood education. Among the reasons provided by early childhood teachers for the exclusion of science from their daily routines included science anxiety, low self-efficacy with respect to teaching science, lack of experience participating in science activities as students, or the notion that literacy and language are more important during the early years. In minority populations the problem is even greater due to identification of science with the ??culture of. This article presents results from Ah Neen Dush, a sustained and transformative professional development program for Head Start teachers on an American Indian Reservation. The goal of the program is to support early childhood teachers in developing inquiry-based and culturally-relevant teaching practices. Through analysis of teachers?? classroom practices, surveys and interviews, we explore changes in teachers?? attitudes toward science and inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations were conducted using CLASS (Classroom assessment Scoring System), a tool used to evaluate the quality of classroom interactions. After 1 year of professional development teachers?? attitudes were found to improve and after 2 years teachers classroom practices were more inquiry-based with statistically significant increases in CLASS observation scores.