The impact of curriculum change on health sciences first year students’ approaches to learning

This study aimed to use a learning inventory (the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, ASSIST) to measure the impact of a curriculum change on students’ approaches to learning in two large courses in a health sciences first year programme. The two new Human Body Systems (HUBS) courses were designed to encourage students to take a deep approach to learning. ASSIST was completed by 599 students enrolled in a biology class in 2006 that was part of the old curriculum, and by 705 students at the beginning and end of the new HUBS courses in 2007. Changes in students’ approaches to learning over time were examined. The ASSIST scores for both HUBS courses reflected the dominance of a surface approach, followed by a strategic and then a deep approach. However, by the end of the year, students were taking a deep and strategic approach to their studies to a greater extent, and a surface approach to a lesser extent. Moreover, students enrolled in the new course adopted a deep approach to their studies to a significantly greater degree than those studying the old curriculum. Despite the predominance of a surface approach, the results suggest that it is possible to bring about small but significant positive changes in students’ learning behaviour in a very large class through curriculum change. The proportion of students preferring a surface approach, and results showing that high performance on the final exam was significantly correlated with a surface approach, probably reflected contextual factors, including assessment, and is the focus of ongoing curriculum development.     

Implementation fidelity of MyTeachingPartner literacy and language activities: Association with preschoolers’ language and literacy growth

There is surprisingly little empirical research examining issues of fidelity of implementation within the early childhood education literature. In the MyTeachingPartner project, 154 teachers were provided with materials to implement a supplemental classroom curriculum addressing six aspects of literacy and language development. The present study examines the degree of variability in three aspects of implementation fidelity – dosage, adherence, and quality of delivery – and whether these components of fidelity were associated with children's growth in language and literacy skills across the preschool year. Findings indicate that teachers reported using the curriculum fairly often (dosage) and that they were observed to generally follow curricular lesson plans (adherence). In contrast, the quality of delivery, defined as the use of evidence-based teacher–child interactions for teaching literacy and language, was much lower. Children in classrooms in which activities were observed to last for longer (dosage) and in which teachers exhibited higher quality of delivery of literacy lessons made significantly greater gains in early literacy skills across the preschool year. Also, teachers’ use of higher quality language interactions was associated with gains for children who did not speak English at home. Results have implications for teacher professional development and the supports provided to ensure that curricula are delivered most effectively.     

A whitewashed curriculum? The construction of race in contemporary PE curriculum policy

Analyses of curricula in a range of countries show how they tend to reinforce, rather than challenge, popular theories of racism. To date, we know little about the contribution of physical education (PE) curriculum policy to the overall policy landscape. This paper examines the construction of race and racism in two national contexts (Norway and England) as a means of putting race and anti-racism on the PE policy research agenda. It adopts a critical whiteness perspective to analyse how whiteness, as a system of privilege, contributes to the racialisation of valued knowledge in PE and asks, who potentially benefits and/or is marginalised within the learning spaces available in the texts? The discourse analysis reveals that two discursive techniques of whiteness combine to privilege white, Eurocentric knowledge content. Unmarked white PE practices and students are constructed as universal, normative and contingent. As a result, non-white PE practices and students are positioned on the margins in contemporary policy texts. By revealing the racialisation processes evident in the texts, we aim to trouble the profession's taken-for-granted truths about race in PE as integral to working towards the development of an antiracist subject.     

Autism spectrum disorder assessment and evaluation research in 10 school psychology journals from 2007 to 2017

School psychologists are increasingly engaged in service provisions for students eligible for special education services under the eligibility category of autism, including conducting school‐based assessments and evaluations. Evaluations occur for a variety of reasons such as special education eligibility decision‐making, treatment and intervention planning, and progress monitoring. Publications in school psychology journals emphasizing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment and evaluation are vital to quality training and practitioner utilization of quality practices. In the current study, researchers conducted a systematic review of publicaftions in 10 school psychology journals from 2007 to 2017 to assess the current state of ASD assessment and evaluation research in the field of school psychology. Implications for researchers, trainers, and practitioners are discussed.     

‘Doing’ gender in a rural Scottish secondary school: an ethnographic study of classroom interactions

This article draws on data from an ethnographic case study that examined how pupils’ gendered identities are constructed in one rural secondary school in Scotland. We utilise the work of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to provide theoretical insight into how and why pupils take up particular gendered positions in school, focusing on the influence of teacher–pupil interactions. The findings suggest that some teachers reinforce traditional constructs of masculinities and femininities, and fail to disrupt boys’ views of girls as objects of desire. Teachers are also seen to reinforce gender stereotypes in their understandings of the rural landscape as an exclusive site for constructing masculine identities. We claim that this potentially limits pupils’ educational experiences. We conclude by suggesting that there is a need for teachers to develop deeper, more sophisticated understandings of gender, an area currently neglected in Scottish educational policy and teacher education programmes.     

Supporting Veteran Transitions to the Academic Setting: VA on Campus

In this case study, we assessed academic functioning, service satisfaction, and needs of student veterans at a community college who had accessed the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Student Veteran Health Program (SVHP) (n = 36). The SVHP provides outreach and behavioral health services directly on a large community college campus to overcome common barriers to engagement in mental health care (e.g., distance from a VA medical center). Academic difficulties that were most commonly reported were in the areas of retention of information, meeting deadlines, and cooperation with other students. Overall, the majority of student veterans who received services in the SVHP were satisfied (76.5%). Services targeting attention and concentration and utilization of educational benefits were highlighted as important by student veterans. This case study of VA services delivered within the community college setting provides important insights into how to design VA services to target the needs of student veterans. Specific recommendations for supporting student veterans on a community college campus are discussed.     

Strength training: Isometric training at a range of joint angles versus dynamic training

Strength training with isometric contractions produces large but highly angle-specific adaptations. To contrast the contractile mode of isometric versus dynamic training, but diminish the strong angle specificity effect, we compared the strength gains produced by isometric training at four joint angles with conventional dynamic training. Thirty-three recreationally active healthy males aged 18?–?30 years completed 9 weeks of strength training of the quadriceps muscle group three times per week. An intra-individual design was adopted: one leg performed purely isometric training at each of four joint angles (isometrically trained leg); the other leg performed conventional dynamic training, lifting and lowering (dynamically trained leg). Both legs trained at similar relative loads for the same duration. The quadriceps strength of each leg was measured isometrically (at four angles) and isokinetically (at three velocities) pre and post training. After 9 weeks of training, the increase in isokinetic strength was similar in both legs (pooled data from three velocities: dynamically trained leg, 10.7%; isometrically trained leg, 10.5%). Isometric strength increases were significantly greater for the isometrically trained leg (pooled data from four angles: dynamically trained leg, 13.1%; isometrically trained leg, 18.0%). This may have been due to the greater absolute torque involved with isometric training or a residual angle specificity effect despite the isometric training being divided over four angles.