Engineering Design and Conceptual Change in Science: Addressing thermal energy and heat transfer in eighth grade

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of engineering design classroom activities on middle‐school students’ conceptions of heat transfer and thermal energy. One eighth‐grade physical science teacher and the students in three of her classes participated in this mixed‐methods investigation. One class served as the control receiving the teacher’s typical instruction. Students in a second class had the same learning objectives, but were taught science through an engineering design curriculum that included demonstrations targeting specific alternative conceptions about heat transfer and thermal energy. A third class also used the engineering design curriculum, but students experienced typical demonstrations instead of targeted ones. Conceptual understandings of heat transfer and thermal energy and attitudes towards engineering were assessed prior to and after the interventions through interviews, observations, artefact analysis, a multiple choice assessment, and a Likert scale assessment. Results indicated that the engineering design curriculum with targeted demonstrations was significantly more effective in eliciting desired conceptual change than the typical instruction and also significantly more effective than the engineering curriculum without targeted demonstrations. Implications from this study can inform how teachers should be prepared to use engineering design activities in science classrooms for conceptual change.     

Learning in context: Technology integration in a teacher preparation program informed by situated learning theory

This investigation explores the effectiveness of a teacher preparation program aligned with situated learning theory on preservice science teachers' use of technology during their student teaching experiences. Participants included 26 preservice science teachers enrolled in a 2‐year Master of Teaching program. A specific program goal was to prepare teachers to use technology to support reform‐based science instruction. To this end, the program integrated technology instruction across five courses and situated this instruction within the context of learning and teaching science. A variety of data sources were used to characterize the participants' intentions and instructional practices, including classroom observations, lesson plans, interviews, and written reflections. Data analysis followed a constant comparative process with the goal of describing if, how, and why the participants integrated technology into their instruction and the extent to which they applied, adapted, and innovated upon what they learned in the science teacher preparation program. Results indicate that all participants used technology throughout their student teaching for reform‐based science instruction. Additionally, they used digital images, videos, animations, and simulations to teach process skills, support inquiry instruction, and to enhance student engagement in ways that represented application, adaptation, and innovation upon what they learned in the science teaching methods program. Participants cited several features of the science teacher preparation program that helped them to effectively integrate technology into their instruction. These included participating in science lessons in which technology was modeled in the context of specific instructional approaches, collaborating with peers, and opportunities for feedback and reflection after teaching lessons. The findings of this study suggest that situated learning theory may provide an effective structure for preparing preservice teachers to integrate technology in ways that support reform‐based instruction. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:348–379, 2013     

SWIMMING PERFORMANCE IN A COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

This research note reports an investigation into the relationship between date of birth and early performance at school and especially into whether there were more ‘poor achievers’ born during the summer months than in other months. A sample of ‘poor achievers’ was compared with a number of ‘average’ pupils, all selected on the basis of teacher reports. Contrary to previous research evidence, there was not a significantly greater number of poor‐achieving children born between May and August. The influence of one starting date for school entrance is discussed and implications for other school systems are raised.     

Reliability of power output measurements during repeated treadmill sprinting in rugby players

The non-motorized treadmill system initially reported by Lakomy in 1984 has been used extensively to assess sprinting performance. However, there has been limited research into the reliability of power output measurement using such systems. The aim of this study was to design a system and protocol capable of measuring treadmill sprinting performance in rugby players and to assess the reliability of this system for measuring power output. Twenty-seven rugby players, all of whom were familiar with treadmill sprinting, performed three maximal 6 s sprints with 2 min recovery between sprints, on two occasions 1 week apart. Both tests were performed on a non-motorized Woodway tramp treadmill, interfaced to a data acquisition system. There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) between power output for repeated trials on the same day (between trials) or for repeated trials on different days (between days). Limits of agreement for maximum average power (the average of 100 readings per second) were 4 - 98 and 30 - 157 W for between trials and between days, respectively. When reported as ratio limits of agreement, these were 1.07 (*/ 1 1.12) and 1.03 (*/ 1 1.16), respectively. The limits of agreement for maximum instantaneous power (the highest of 100 readings per second) were 51 - 464 and 105 - 588 W for between trials and between days, respectively. When reported as ratio limits of agreement, these were 1.02 (*/ 1 1.20) and 1.04 (*/ 1 1.21) for between trials and between days, respectively. The coefficients of variation for all measures of power output were less than 9.3%. Hence, the treadmill system and protocol developed in this study provide a reliable measure of power output for rugby players.