The Impact of a Geospatial Technology-Supported Energy Curriculum on Middle School Students’ Science Achievement

Geospatial technologies are increasingly being integrated in science classrooms to foster learning. This study examined whether a Web-enhanced science inquiry curriculum supported by geospatial technologies promoted urban middle school students’ understanding of energy concepts. The participants included one science teacher and 108 eighth-grade students classified in three ability level tracks. Data were gathered through pre/posttest content knowledge assessments, daily classroom observations, and daily reflective meetings with the teacher. Findings indicated a significant increase in the energy content knowledge for all the students. Effect sizes were large for all three ability level tracks, with the middle and low track classes having larger effect sizes than the upper track class. Learners in all three tracks were highly engaged with the curriculum. Curriculum effectiveness and practical issues involved with using geospatial technologies to support science learning are discussed.     

Triple translation: academic and managerial discourses of knowledge transfer policy in a new university in Scotland

Higher education systems in many parts of the world are experiencing the emergence of policies for knowledge transfer (KT). KT policy discourse reflects attempts to make universities more responsive to the needs of the knowledge economy and can be seen as a trend towards extracting a greater contribution from universities to the economy and society as a whole. This paper explores some of the practical tensions associated with operationalisation of KT policy with an institutional case study. Discourse analysis of university documents, and interviews with managers and academics, highlight the struggle between policymakers and academics around development of a KT strategy. The case reveals the potential pitfalls of adopting a commercially-oriented approach to KT in a service-oriented academic community. Effectively capturing the academic community's sense of service to the community in policy design may be one way of ensuring success and ensuring that KT policy is not ‘lost in translation’.     

Dietary supplements

For the athlete training hard, nutritional supplements are often seen as promoting adaptations to training, allowing more consistent and intensive training by promoting recovery between training sessions, reducing interruptions to training because of illness or injury, and enhancing competitive performance. Surveys show that the prevalence of supplement use is widespread among sportsmen and women, but the use of few of these products is supported by a sound research base and some may even be harmful to the athlete. Special sports foods, including energy bars and sports drinks, have a real role to play, and some protein supplements and meal replacements may also be useful in some circumstances. Where there is a demonstrated deficiency of an essential nutrient, an increased intake from food or from supplementation may help, but many athletes ignore the need for caution in supplement use and take supplements in doses that are not necessary or may even be harmful. Some supplements do offer the prospect of improved performance; these include creatine, caffeine, bicarbonate and, perhaps, a very few others. There is no evidence that prohormones such as androstenedione are effective in enhancing muscle mass or strength, and these prohormones may result in negative health consequences, as well as positive drug tests. Contamination of supplements that may cause an athlete to fail a doping test is widespread.     

SIDE-VIEW: Evaluation of a system to develop team players and improve productivity in Internet collaborative learning groups

This paper briefly summarizes the initial development of a computer-supported collaborative learning environment and evaluates its effects in relation to the productivity of CSCL groups. The design of the SIDE-VIEW system is driven by the social identity approach to understanding group behaviour and is premised upon the need to establish congruity between the self-definition of group members and their collaborative learning tasks. We begin by outlining the rationale for the system in relation to productivity and the emergence of team players within collaborative learning groups. We then describe aspects of the design that are intended to enhance both, and report on a field trial of the initial prototype on international groups of higher education students. The preliminary results of the field study indicate that aspects of the design encourage the emergence and influence of team players within groups, with consequential improvements to the quality of the group output. The role of team players in CSCL groups is contrasted with that of group leaders.     

What Schools Need to Know About Fostering School Belonging: a Meta-analysis

Belonging is an essential aspect of psychological functioning. Schools offer unique opportunities to improve belonging for school-aged children. Research on school belonging, however, has been fragmented and diluted by inconsistency in the use of terminology. To resolve some of these inconsistencies, the current study uses meta-analysis of individual and social level factors that influence school belonging. These findings aim to provide guidance on the factors schools should emphasise to best support students. First, a systematic review identified 10 themes that influence school belonging at the student level during adolescence in educational settings (academic motivation, emotional stability, personal characteristics, parent support, peer support, teacher support, gender, race and ethnicity, extracurricular activities and environmental/school safety). Second, the average association between each of these themes and school belonging was meta-analytically examined across 51 studies (N?=?67,378). Teacher support and positive personal characteristics were the strongest predictors of school belonging. Results varied by geographic location, with effects generally stronger in rural than in urban locations. The findings may be useful in improving perceptions of school belonging for secondary students through the design of policy, pedagogy and teacher training, by encouraging school leaders and educators to build qualities within the students and change school systems and processes.     

Using Young Adult Literature to Develop Content Knowledge of Autism for Preservice Teachers

This promising practice explores the use of young adult literature as a supplement to texts in an undergraduate introduction to a special education course. Literature portraying adolescent characters with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were used to build schema of preservice teachers. Participants' knowledge and attitudes about ASD were examined before and after reading a young adult novel of their choice. Results indicated that students in the literature group out-performed peers in the control group on measures of ASD content. Exemplars of students' responses suggested students who read the novel expressed increased knowledge and interest, recognition of commonalities, and complex and nuanced views of ASD. Participant satisfaction with reading the novels outside of class was also high, suggesting students found the authentic literacy experience enjoyable.     

Investigating Urban Eighth-Grade Students’ Knowledge of Energy Resources

This study investigated urban eighth-grade students’ knowledge of energy resources and associated issues including energy acquisition, energy generation, storage and transport, and energy consumption and conservation. A 39 multiple-choice-item energy resources knowledge assessment was completed by 1043 eighth-grade students in urban schools in two cities in Pennsylvania, USA. Mean scores for the entire assessment measure indicated low conceptual energy knowledge of the eighth-grade students. Subscale means revealed that student understandings of energy resource acquisition, energy generation, storage and transport, and energy consumption and conservation are not satisfactory. Distractor analysis identified many misunderstandings that eighth-grade students hold with regard to energy resources. Findings revealed that students did not have a sound knowledge and understanding of basic scientific energy resources facts, issues related to energy sources and resources, general trends in the US energy resource supply and use, and the impact energy resource development and use can have on society and the environment. Implications for teacher enactment of energy resources curriculum activities are discussed.