The Disciplines and Discipline of Educational Research

This paper starts from the point in the early 1970s at which educational theory and research was temporarily structured under the 'foundation' disciplines of psychology, sociology, philosophy and history of education. It observes the way the intellectual resources of educational research have become enlarged and enriched and these disciplines themselves fragmented and hybridised to a degree that prompts talk not just of interdisciplinarity but of 'postdisciplinarity'. The paper argues, however, that without discipline, in the sense of a shared language, a rule governed structure of enquiry—something 'systematic'—we lose the conditions that make a community of arguers possible. Further, we lose the basis for the special claim which research might otherwise make on our attention and on our belief.     

Modelling the flight of a soccer ball in a direct free kick

This study involved a theoretical and an experimental investigation of the direct free kick in soccer. Our aim was to develop a mathematical model of the ball's flight incorporating aerodynamic lift and drag forces to explore this important 'set-play'. Trajectories derived from the model have been compared with those obtained from detailed video analysis of experimental kicks. Representative values for the drag and lift coefficients have been obtained, together with the implied orientation of the ball's spin axis in flight. The drag coefficient varied from 0.25 to 0.30 and the lift coefficient from 0.23 to 0.29. These values, used with a simple model of a defensive wall, have enabled free kicks to be simulated under realistic conditions, typical of match-play. The results reveal how carefully attackers must engineer the dynamics of a successful kick. For a central free kick some 18.3 m (20 yards) from goal with a conventional wall, and initial speed of 25 m·s^?1, the ball's initial elevation must be constrained between 16.5° and 17.5° and the ball kicked with almost perfect sidespin.     

Measurement error in short-term power testing in young people

The aim of this study was to examine the consistency or reproducibility of measuring cycling peak power in children and adults. Twenty-seven pre-pubertal girls and boys and 27 female and male physical education students (age 9.8±0.5 and 24.4±4.3 years, respectively; mean±s) participated in the study. All participants performed five tests over 15 days and underwent a habituation session before the study. Each test included four sprints against four different braking forces. We found that braking forces of 7.5% of body weight in children and 10% of body weight in adults were too high for most of the participants to elicit maximal cycling power. Unlike the children, the physical education students improved their performance between session 1 and session 2 (1025±219 vs 1069±243 W; P<0.001). Therefore, to obtain reproducible measures of cycling peak power, a habituation session including a complete test protocol (i.e. warm-up plus three sprints) is highly recommended. When the protocol included three sprints in children and at least two sprints in adults, measurement of cycling peak power was found to be highly reliable (test-retest coefficient of variation ～3%). Finally, to avoid performance fluctuations, especially over several consecutive evaluations (e.g. longitudinal studies), it is necessary to maintain high motivation in children.     

Accountable Supervision Through Systematic Data Collection: Using Single-Case Designs

Single-case designs rarely appear in the counseling supervision literature. The authors illustrate and provide a rationale for their use as a supplement to rating scales and speculate on the reasons for their infrequent use.     

A Liminal Space: Challenges and opportunities in accreditation of prior learning in Judaic Studies

The accreditation of prior learning (APL) attests to the value of learning that takes place in a non-accredited institution. In the process of accrediting such learning, criteria have to be established and assessment methodologies selected. Accreditation deals with definitions, values, ideals, searches for equivalency, and similarities in the examined learning. However, such values and examinations are located within distinctive structures of learning: the greater the difference between these structures of learning the more problematic the accreditation process. While generally true, this proposition is highlighted in the evaluation of prior learning of Judaic Studies. Such accreditation brings into contrast the learning structures of both the rabbinical ('sacred') and Western liberal higher learning ('secular'). We review the difficulties of criterion selection, current accreditation techniques, and detail those elements of the ultra-Orthodox structure of learning that are salient and problematic in accreditations. Drawing metaphorically on the works of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, we encourage a more theoretical, humble, and sensitive exploration of the liminal space that lies beyond structures.     

The Lure of Evil: Exploring Moral Formation on the Dark Side of Literature and the Arts

The moral potential of works of art, for good or ill, has been recognised from philosophical antiquity: on the assumption that the moral effects of art are invariably negative, Plato advised the exclusion of artists from any rationally ordered state. Arguably, however, the problem of the moral status of art has become yet more acute in contexts of post-Romantic and other modern artistic exploration of moral ambiguity, and even of some apparent contemporary celebration of the immoral and amoral. Indeed, some tension between commitment to liberal-democratic openness and freedom, on the one hand, and fear about the potential literary and artistic corruption of the young, on the other, is evident in latter-day moralistic trends in children's literature. However, in the light of some basic exploration of conceptual relationships between the artistic, the aesthetic and the moral, this paper argues that such moralising trends in particular and arguments for artistic censorship in general are mostly wrongheaded and unsustainable.