Concept maps as assessment in science inquiry learning - a report of methodology

Increasing availability of technologies, such as CD ROMs and the World Wide Web, in schools means that more teachers will have the potential to implement student-centred, inquiry-based approaches to learning. Assessing what each student knows in a broad subject area, such as science, is difficult. Assessing students' understanding in circumstances where each student may pursue different topics of study, where there is no way to predict in advance what those topics of study will be and where the possible topics of study include natural phenomena which are only beginning to be studied by professional scientists, is even more difficult. The authors recently faced such a challenge. To meet the challenge, the authors chose to assess student learning using an open-ended concept map activity combined with a rubric which extracts quantitative information about the quality of understanding from each map. This article describes the method the authors developed, including tests of reliability and validity.     

Altitude and wind effects on long jump performance with particular reference to the world record established by Bob Beamon

An analysis of long jump performance, including both the approach and aerial phases, is applied to Bob Beamon's legendary leap at the Mexico City Olympic Games of 1968. It is shown that the combined effects of altitude and wind assistance yielded an increment in the length of the jump of about 31 cm, compared to a corresponding jump at sea level under still air conditions. The main factor is shown to be the increased sprinting speed attained under favourable conditions of wind and altitude.     

Review and criticism

An earlier version of this paper was presented to the AEJ convention at Boulder, Colorado in 1973 by Dr. Milan Meeske for the authors. Dr. O'Keefe is an associate professor of communication at Florida Technological University where Mr. Sheinkopf is a student.     

Keeping a good Wo/man down: Normalizing Deborah Sampson Gannett

Deborah Sampson Gannett's 1802 lecture tour has been hailed as an important beginning for feminist public address. Previous critics have approached Sampson Gannett's lecture too narrowly, offering a “celebratory” reading that does not fully address the contradictions raised by her anti‐feminist statements. My analysis illuminates those contradictions through an alternative reading based in theories of gender performance. I conclude that attention to the performative aspects of Sampson Gannett's discourse allows critics to understand the feminist potential of her ultimate disruption of the rigid confines of True Womanhood.