The Relationship Between Teacher Behaviours and Student Talk in Promoting Quality Learning in Science Classrooms

This paper distils 24 years of classroom research into promoting quality learning in science classrooms to develop an overall framework for better understanding and describing both the learning and the teaching approaches that stimulate and support it. For me, quality learning is characterised by adjectives such as informed, purposeful, reflective, intellectually active, metacognitive and independent. Central to quality learning is the role of talk, and central to promoting talk which promotes quality learning are certain teacher behaviours. I first focus on the ways that teachers behave in the classroom in order to promote, react to and use student talk. These behaviours are summed up in a list of twelve principles for quality teaching. Each of these principles requires, as well as appropriate teacher behaviours, the use of effective teaching procedures. I then focus on four kinds of student talk that exemplify informed, purposeful, reflective and intellectually active thinking. These variously involve students’ existing ideas and explanations; increasing student ownership of practical activities; constructive challenges to the teacher (or text’s) idea, and lateral, reflective ‘thinking’ questions.     

Effects of timing of signal indicating jump directions on knee biomechanics in jump-landing-jump tasks

A variety of the available time to react (ATR) has been utilised to study knee biomechanics during reactive jump-landing tasks. The purpose was to quantify knee kinematics and kinetics during a jump-land-jump task of three possible directions as the ATR was reduced. Thirty-four recreational athletes performed 45 trials of a jump-land-jump task, during which the direction of the second jump (lateral, medial or vertical) was indicated before they initiated the first jump, the instant they initiated the first jump, 300 ms before landing, 150 ms before landing or at the instant of landing. Knee joint angles and moments close to the instant of landing were significantly different when the ATR was equal to or more than 300 ms before landing, but became similar when the ATR was 150 ms or 0 ms before landing. As the ATR was decreased, knee moments decreased for the medial jump direction, but increased for the lateral jump direction. When the ATR is shorter than an individual’s reaction time, the movement pattern cannot be pre-planned before landing. Knee biomechanics are dependent on the timing of the signal and the subsequent jump direction. Precise control of timing and screening athletes with low ATR are suggested.     

The effect of switching to mandatory online course assessments on response rates and course ratings

Increasingly, student assessments of courses are being conducted online as opposed to administered in class. A growing body of research compares response rates and course ratings of courses evaluated online versus on paper. The present study extends this research by comparing student course assessments before and after the University of South Florida made online evaluations mandatory for all courses. This change only directly affected courses taught on-campus, as online courses were already being assessed online. However, we examine the effect of this change on courses taught on-campus and online, because we expect this change in policy to have differential effects. We hypothesise that by making online assessments mandatory for all courses, online assessments went from a novel method of evaluation to the norm; and, therefore, increased response rates for online courses, but had the opposite effect for on-campus courses. We find mixed support for our hypothesis.     

Relationships between highly skilled golfers’ clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during vertical jumps and an isometric mid-thigh pull

Whilst previous research has highlighted significant relationships between golfers’ clubhead velocity (CHV) and their vertical jump height and maximum strength, these field-based protocols were unable to measure the actual vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may correlate to performance. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) vGRF variables and CHV in highly skilled golfers. Twenty-seven male category 1 golfers performed IMTP, CMJ, SJ and DJ on a dual force platform. The vertical jumps were used to measure positive impulse during different stretch-shortening cycle velocities, with the IMTP assessing peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD). Clubhead velocity was measured using a TrackMan launch monitor at a golf driving range. Pearsons correlation coefficient analyses revealed significant relationships between peak CHV and CMJ positive impulse (r = 0.788, p < 0.001), SJ positive impulse (r = 0.692; p < 0.001), DJ positive impulse (r = 0.561, p < 0.01), PF (r = 0.482, p < 0.01), RFD from 0–150 ms (r = 0.343, p < 0.05) and RFD from 0–200 ms (r = 0.398, p < 0.05). The findings from this investigation indicate strong relationships between vertical ground reaction force variables and clubhead velocity.     

An Investigation of High-Achieving African-American Students Attending Community Colleges: A Mixed Methods Research Study

While much more research has been conducted about African-American college students in recent decades, there still exists a need for further explorations concerning factors related to student success and retention. For example, articles often explore the experiences of African-American students at four-year institutions and often use deficit frameworks instead of focusing on the experiences of successful students. To add to what is known, this article summarizes the findings of a multi-institutional mixed methods research study that explored the experiences of high-achieving African-American students attending community colleges. Specifically, the researchers explored noncognitive factors that influenced high academic achievement—defined as grade point average (GPA) higher than 3.00, why students considered leaving an institution, and why students decided to remain enrolled. Findings suggested that studying alone promoted a high cumulative GPA and increased the likelihood students never seriously considered leaving their institution. Studying alone, family relationships, hours spent studying with family, engaged and supportive faculty, financial aid, and the strive to succeed also promoted persistence. Relating to sex differences, student organizational involvement appeared to be more important for male persistence than female persistence at a significant level. The article closes with implications for future research and practice.     

Threshold frequency of an electrically induced cramp increases following a repeated,localized fatiguing exercise

Abstract

Though clinical observations and laboratory data provide some support for the neuromuscular imbalance theory of the genesis of exercise-associated muscle cramps, no direct evidence has been published. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of local muscle fatigue on the threshold frequency of an electrically induced muscle cramp. To determine baseline threshold frequency, a cramp was electrically induced in the flexor hallucis brevis of 16 apparently healthy participants (7 males, 9 females; age 25.1 ± 4.8 years). The testing order of control and fatigue conditions was counterbalanced. In the control condition, participants rested in a supine position for 30 min followed by another cramp induction to determine post-threshold frequency. In the fatigue condition, participants performed five bouts of great toe curls at 60% one-repetition maximum to failure with 1 min rest between bouts followed immediately by a post-threshold frequency measurement. Repeated-measures analysis of variance and simple main effects testing showed post-fatigue threshold frequency (32.9 ± 11.7 Hz) was greater (P < 0.001) than pre-fatigue threshold frequency (20.0 ± 7.7 Hz). An increase in threshold frequency seems to demonstrate a decrease in one's propensity to cramp following the fatigue exercise regimen used. These results contradict the proposed theory that suggests cramp propensity should increase following fatigue. However, differences in laboratory versus clinical fatiguing exercise and contributions from other sources, as well as the notion of a graded response to fatiguing exercise, on exercise-associated muscle cramp and electrically induced muscle cramp should be considered.     

Teacher Perceptions of a Physical Education Statewide Assessment Program

Abstract

A statewide program assessment was established to make positive change in physical education school programs in South Carolina. Reform efforts depend both on balancing accountability for change and teacher support for change (Odden &Anderson, 1986). The purpose of the study was to determine teacher perceptions of the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program and its effects across six related themes including: changes in teaching and learning, changes in curriculum and instruction, teacher awareness of the assessment program, teacher support for the program, work place conditions, and the advocacy role of the program. It was also the purpose of this study to determine if the survey responses were in any way related to teacher and school variables. The overall results of the study indicated positive change and support for the assessment program, supporting the viability of the standards, assessment, and accountability reform effort to positively impact physical education programs.     

In my life: youth stories and poems on HIV/AIDS: towards a new literacy in the age of AIDS

This article comes out of an HIV and AIDS prevention and education project with young people in two townships in the Western Cape of South Africa. As part of that project, a small anthology—In my life: youth stories and poems on HIV/AIDS—was produced and distributed locally as well as in several districts in other provinces. The avid consumption of In my life by local youth in Khayelitsha and Atlantis but also as far away as Durban in KwaZulu‐Natal speaks to the power of a youth‐to‐youth connection. In the article I examine some of the ways in which literacy is changing in the age of AIDS in an area of the world which has been ravaged by the AIDS pandemic.     

Inquiry-Learning with WebLab: Undergraduate Attitudes and Experiences

The Microelectronics WebLab at MIT allows students to do actual (not simulated) laboratory research on state-of-the art equipment through the Internet. This study assesses the use of WebLab in a junior-level course on microelectronic devices and circuits in 2004–05 and 2005–06. In quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, students and faculty reported that WebLab was effective as an instrument of learning, and grew more so with refinements of the program. WebLab allowed undergraduates to learn at their own pace and on their own schedules. It enabled them to use different processes of learning (intuitive, visual, abstract), and it gave them an opportunity to link individual and collaborative effort in creative combinations. Online laboratories on this model have broad applications in the experimental sciences and in other research-oriented disciplines.