Understanding student learning in context: relationships between university students’ social identity,approaches to learning,and academic performance

This research focuses on understanding how socio-psychological dimensions such as student social identity and student perceptions of their learning community affect learning at university. To do this, it integrates ideas from phenomenographic research into student learning with ideas from research on social identity. In two studies (N = 110, and N = 97) the relationships between student social identity, perceptions of the learning community, approaches to learning, and academic performance were explored. Our findings suggest that a strong student social identity is associated with a deep approach to learning, which in turn is linked to higher academic performance. Also, perceptions of learning community mediate the relationship between student social identity and deep approaches to learning. Significantly, a surface approach turns out not to be associated with student social identity or perceptions of the learning community, but it is negatively related to academic performance. Our research argues for the value of an integration of complementary frameworks, emphasising social and psychological aspects of the learning experience that can be used to improve our understanding of how and why students vary in the quality of their learning.     

The effect of student aid on the duration of study

In this paper I evaluate the effect of student aid on the success of academic studies. I focus on two dimensions, the duration of study and the probability of actually graduating with a degree. To determine the impact of financial student aid, I estimate a discrete-time duration model allowing for competing risks to account for different exit states (graduation and dropout) using individual level panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1984-2007. My findings suggest that the duration of study is responsive to the type of financial support a student receives. There are three main results. First, student aid recipients finish faster than comparable students who are supported by the same amount of parental/private transfers only. Second, although higher financial aid does on average not affect the duration of study, this effect is (third) dominated by the increased probability of actually finishing university successfully.     

The Development of Scientific Thinking in Elementary School: A Comprehensive Inventory

The development of scientific thinking was assessed in 1,581 second, third, and fourth graders (8‐, 9‐, 10‐year‐olds) based on a conceptual model that posits developmental progression from naïve to more advanced conceptions. Using a 66‐item scale, five components of scientific thinking were addressed, including experimental design, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science. Unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory analyses supported the instrument's reliability and validity and suggested that the multiple components of scientific thinking form a unitary construct, independent of verbal or reasoning skills. A partial credit model gave evidence for a hierarchical developmental progression. Across each grade transition, advanced conceptions increased while naïve conceptions decreased. Independent effects of intelligence, schooling, and parental education on scientific thinking are discussed.     

Orthographic Neighborhood-Size Effects on the Reading Aloud of Italian Children With and Without Dyslexia

This study examines the effects of orthographic neighborhood size (N-size) in relationship with word frequency on the reading aloud of children with and without dyslexia whose language has a consistent orthography. Participants included 22 Italian fourth-grade children with dyslexia and 44 age-matched typically developing readers. Children with dyslexia read low-frequency words with high N-size faster than words that had no neighbors; by contrast, typically developing readers showed no N-size effects, irrespective of word frequency. The facilitating effect of N-size on low-frequency word reading in children with dyslexia indicates that they benefit from lexical activation spreading from dense neighborhoods.     

Escape From Metaignorance: How Children Develop an Understanding of Their Own Lack of Knowledge

Previous research yielded conflicting results about when children can accurately assess their epistemic states in different hiding tasks. In Experiment 1, ninety‐two 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds were either shown which object was hidden inside a box, were totally ignorant about what it could be, or were presented with two objects one of which was being put inside (partial exposure). Even 3‐year‐olds could assess their epistemic states in the total ignorance and the complete knowledge task. However, only children older than 5 could assess their ignorance in the partial exposure task. In Experiment 2 with one hundred and one 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds, similar results were found for children under 5 years even when more objects were shown in partial exposure tasks. Implications for children’s developing theory of knowledge are discussed.     

Anthropological status of international calibre speed skaters

The purpose of the study was to determine the anthropological status of elite male and female speed skaters, who were members of the 1985–7 Canadian national teams. The data were compared to those for a control group of University students. The subjects were 8 males and 6 females between 19 and 27 years of age. Nine breadth, 14 girth, 16 length and 15 skinfold measurements were used to compute parameters of body build and the composition; corrected diameters, masses, volumes and fat‐free volumes of the upper arm, forearm, thigh and calf. The speed skaters were found to be similar in body height and mass (males: 178 ± 7.6 cm and 75.5 ± 5.5 kg, females: 165.8 ± 3.8 cm and 62.3 ± 5.8 kg) to the student controls, but they had relatively and absolutely shorter legs and longer trunks. The speed skaters had a lower amount of body fat and higher FFM than their respective student controls and significantly greater relative (P ≤ 0.01) and absolute (P ≤ 0.05) total muscle mass. Analysis of composition within segments indicated that the additional muscle mass is located entirely in the lower extremity. The volume and mass of the thigh was greater (P ≤ 0.01 for the males) than that of the respective controls while the estimated volume of fat was lower. The female speed skaters were found to have more fat on their thigh than either the male speed skaters or male controls. The corrected diameter and mass of the thigh were greater (with respect to the sex) than those reported for 400 m sprinters, marathon runners, cross‐country skiers and figure skaters. The results of the initial assessment were compared to the two consecutive tests of the men's team (conducted 8 and 12 months later) and to one repeated test of the women's team (3 months later). Changes were recorded in skinfold measurements and the muscle component of the thigh.     

Foot strike patterns of recreational and sub-elite runners in a long-distance road race

Abstract

Although the biomechanical properties of the various types of running foot strike (rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot) have been studied extensively in the laboratory, only a few studies have attempted to quantify the frequency of running foot strike variants among runners in competitive road races. We classified the left and right foot strike patterns of 936 distance runners, most of whom would be considered of recreational or sub-elite ability, at the 10 km point of a half-marathon/marathon road race. We classified 88.9% of runners at the 10 km point as rearfoot strikers, 3.4% as midfoot strikers, 1.8% as forefoot strikers, and 5.9% of runners exhibited discrete foot strike asymmetry. Rearfoot striking was more common among our sample of mostly recreational distance runners than has been previously reported for samples of faster runners. We also compared foot strike patterns of 286 individual marathon runners between the 10 km and 32 km race locations and observed increased frequency of rearfoot striking at 32 km. A large percentage of runners switched from midfoot and forefoot foot strikes at 10 km to rearfoot strikes at 32 km. The frequency of discrete foot strike asymmetry declined from the 10 km to the 32 km location. Among marathon runners, we found no significant relationship between foot strike patterns and race times.