Evaluation of the Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners

Purpose: From 1996 to 2013, a 6-day Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners has been offered yearly in the United States. An evaluation was conducted to assess the impact of the course on building public health capacity for physical activity and on shaping the physical activity and public health careers of fellows since taking the courses. Method: An evaluation quantified time that fellows spent in different course offerings and surveyed fellows. Results: From 1996 to 2012, 410 fellows attended the course, and in 2013, 186 participated in the Web-based survey (56% response rate). The number of fellows attending the course ranged from 15 to 33 yearly. From 1996 to 2012, the course averaged 38 hr of instructional time that included topics on interventions and environment/policy work to increase physical activity, program evaluation, public health research, and health disparities. The course included consultations, collaborative work, and field-based experiences. Fellows who participated in the survey agreed that the course had a positive impact on the physical activity research or practice work they did (98%), met their expectations (96%), helped them with research/practice collaborations with other physical activity professionals (96%), assisted them in conducting higher-quality interventions/programs (95%), helped increase their professional networking in the field (93%), and had a positive impact on other work they did (91%). Following the course, 66% and 56% had further contact with faculty and other fellows, respectively. Conclusion: The Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners made important contributions toward building the capacity of physical activity and public health practitioners.     

‘What about the community impact?’: The Corpus Christi ‘hook’

This case study draws on theory in the following areas (1) public financing of sport facilities and in particular, the method of bonds and the impact on and involvement of local taxpayers, (2) community impact of minor league sport teams, and (3) leveraging of sport teams and facilities. This case is centered on Justin Drew, the president of the Corpus Christi Hooks, who must work with city officials to ensure that his minor league baseball team does not lose local support. The city of Corpus Christi helped finance the Hooks’ stadium a few years prior, and now with new members on City Council, tough economic times, and a history of folded professional sports teams in the city, Drew must be proactive in seeing that the Hooks do not meet a similar fate.The case presents a common challenge confronted by communities that host professional sport teams. In many cases, cities must provide some level of public financing for sport facilities in order to attract or retain a team. To gain public support, various promises are made about the potential for the team to transform the community. However, once public funding is secured and a team and facility is in place, it is unclear who has the responsibility for delivering on these promises. The situation presented in this case is not unique. In fact, similar claims are made about the impact of a sports team, regardless of the size of the host community or the type of team. This case gives students the opportunity to measure impact and also think critically about how to leverage a sports team to create value for the community. Although the characters in the case are fictitious the case draws upon actual facts and data from public records regarding Corpus Christi and their minor league baseball team, the Hooks; thus, providing students with a realistic dilemma to consider. The case is intended for use in Sport Finance/Economics and Sport Policy courses, but could also be adapted for other courses such as Sport Marketing, Sport Communication, Facilities and Event Management or even Research Methods.     

Towards a Radical Pedagogy: Provisional Notes on Learning and Teaching in Art & Design

This paper presents a personal perspective on some of the ideas and issues that currently surround learning and teaching in art and design within higher education. It aims to stimulate debate and to raise questions about the direction in which an increasingly monolithic educational culture is moving. It identifies a number of beliefs and values that the author considers to be particularly important to the development of a radical pedagogy and argues that the sector needs to counter the drift towards a technocratic and overly deterministic approach to education. While being intentionally wide–ranging and polemical the paper seeks to bring together a number of disparate ideas into a useful and coherent interaction. The continuing relevance of education as an emancipatory and transformative project is affirmed, while certain features of modernism inscribed into current educational practices are questioned (for instance, exclusivity, subjectivism and absolutism). Changes in the ways in which knowledge is viewed are discussed in relation to assessment, learning, research and the construction of the ‘self’. A re–orientation of learning and teaching is suggested around a process–based pedagogy that places particular emphasis on indeterminacy, pluralism, revisibility and dialogue.     

A longitudinal investigation of reading development from kindergarten to grade eight in a Spanish-speaking bilingual population

This longitudinal study used latent growth curve modeling to investigate English literacy development in a sample of Spanish-speaking language minority students from third through eighth grade. This study also compared the sample’s literacy development to the entire population of California students using state standardized test data. Second, this study examined the contributions of a variety of bilingual measures of kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary to literacy development. Results demonstrated the present sample scored below average in literacy compared to the overall population of California students across years, but made slight gains to narrow the achievement gap. The greatest gains were obtained between fourth and fifth grade, but plateaued thereafter. Results concerning the second research questions showed that the third grade literacy intercept was predicted by kindergarten English letter knowledge, Spanish onset, Spanish word reading, and English vocabulary. However, English literacy development through eighth grade was only predicted by kindergarten English and Spanish vocabulary. Findings support arguments for educational efforts to target oral language instruction for these students in early elementary and instruction in both languages may provide the greatest benefit. Instructional implications are discussed.     

Creative Knowledge: The Centrality of Creativity in Teachers’ Conceptions of Subject English

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the notion of creativity as a core concept in English teachers’ knowledge and valuing of their subject. It draws on research from a broader investigation into teachers as writers and discusses one of the key findings of the study: that creativity is not only crucial to how teachers approach their pedagogy and subject content, but that contexts in which creativity is minimised in English teachers’ lives results in struggle or even a departure from the profession. The paper concludes with a call for teachers and bureaucrats to affirm creative knowledge as foundational to English teachers and their profession, and the ability of teacher narratives to offer a powerful contribution to debates in English teaching.     

Investigating the effect of an adaptive learning intervention on students’ learning

Educators agree on the benefits of adaptive learning, but evidence-based research remains limited as the field of adaptive learning is still evolving within higher education. In this study, we investigated the impact of an adaptive learning intervention to provide remedial instruction in biology, chemistry, math, and information literacy to first-year students (n = 128) entering a pharmacy professional degree program. Using a mixed methods design, we examined students’ learning in each of the four content areas, their experience using the adaptive system, and student characteristics as related to their choice of participating in the intervention. The findings showed the adaptive learning intervention helped address the knowledge gap for chemistry, but the same effect was not observed for the other three content areas. Math anxiety was the only student characteristic that showed a significant relationship with students’ participation. While the students reported an overall positive experience, the results also revealed time factor and several design flaws that could have contributed to the lack of more student success. The findings highlight the importance of design in adaptive learning.     

Agencies,educators, communities and wildfire: partnerships to enhance environmental education for youth

We studied seven programs that engage youth from 10 to 18 years old in wildfire risk reduction in their communities in the United States through in-depth interviews to examine the nature and role of community-school partnerships in resource-focused environmental education. While the programs use a variety of strategies, from Scout badge to summer school, they exhibit several common dimensions: they all engage youth in community projects; they all arise from partnerships between resource agencies, community organizations, and educators; they all began when people familiar with both wildfire and youth education saw an opportunity to improve the community and educate youth through action; and all partners are able to contribute to the common program yet retain their individual identity as they meet their own mission-based goals. We use themes and quotes to illustrate these common dimensions for establishing community-school partnerships that could build action competence through environment-based education projects.     

Impacts of an Early Childhood Mathematics and Science Intervention on Teaching Practices and Child Outcomes

abstract

This randomized controlled trial examined effects of the MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science intervention on the quality and quantity of teachers’ mathematics and science instruction, and children’s mathematics and science outcomes in 140 pre-kindergarten classrooms. Teachers participated in the intervention for two years with consecutive cohorts of children. Results from Year 1 are considered experimental, however due to high levels of attrition, results from Year 2 are considered quasi-experimental. Across both years, intervention teachers exhibited higher quality and quantity of instruction. In Year 1, there were no significant effects of the intervention on children’s outcomes. In Year 2, children in intervention classrooms made greater gains in teachers’ ratings of mathematics and science skills and performed better on a spring assessment of science skills. These results have implications for designing and evaluating professional development aimed at supporting children’s mathematics and science knowledge and skills.     

Connecting Urban Youth with their Environment: The Impact of an Urban Ecology Course on Student Content Knowledge, Environmental Attitudes and Responsible Behaviors

This study explores the impact of an urban ecology program on participating middle school students?? understanding of science and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. We gathered pre and post survey data from four classes and found significant gains in scientific knowledge, but no significant changes in student beliefs regarding the environment. We interviewed 12 students to better understand their beliefs. Although student responses showed they had learned discrete content knowledge, they lacked any ecological understanding of the environment and had mixed perceptions of the course??s relevance in their lives. Students reported doing pro-environmental behaviors, but overwhelmingly contributed such actions to influences other than the urban ecology course. Analyses indicated a disconnect between the course, the environment, and the impact on the students?? lives. Consequently, this suggests the importance of recognizing the implications of context, culture, and identity development of urban youth. Perhaps by providing explicit connections and skills in urban environmental programs through engaging students in environmental scientific investigations that stem from their own issues and questions can increase student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy of environmental issues.     

Students’ conceptions of knowledge, information, and truth

In this study, everyday conceptions of knowledge, information, and truth were investigated as 161 US undergraduates completed three online tasks that investigated understandings of these foundational constructs. For the first task, respondents graphically represented the interrelations of knowledge, information, and truth; the second task required them to justify those representations; and the third involved defining each term. Representations were compared to written justification to gauge consistency and data were analyzed to identify relational patterns, with six stable patterns emerging from the conceptions (e.g., knowledge establishment and truth establishment). A content analysis was performed to: (a) identify the specific language frequently used to define these terms, and (b) contrast definitions as a whole to conceptions that populate the psychological and related literatures. The significance of the resulting patterns is considered in light of the literature in epistemic beliefs and empirical implications and practical relevance are discussed.