Education,technology, and the ‘new’ knowledge economy: views from Bongoland

The concept of bridging the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world draws symbolically on nineteenth century diffusion theories of linear progress and twentieth‐century theories of modernization and development. This paper examines information and communication technology (ICT) policies and public‐access postings on http://www.bongoland.net. Bongoland evokes a quality of life that is hectic, frustrating, and slightly crazy. Where the language of policies envisions that technology will improve life in Bongoland, users’ postings suggest that technology reinforces regional hierarchies. This essay argues that, despite the disarticulation of past and present at narrative levels in policy, the past and the present emerge as related in Bongonians’ online postings.     

Rethinking the introduction of particle theory: A substance‐based framework

In response to extensive research exposing students' poor understanding of the particle theory of matter, this article argues that the conceptual framework within which the theory is introduced could be a limiting factor. The standard school particle model is characterized as operating within a “solids, liquids, and gases” framework. Drawing on an analysis of scientific ideas on matter and research into students' understanding, issues arising from the framework are identified which could contribute towards students' well known difficulties. The analysis leads to the proposal for a particle model based within the framework of the concept of a substance. Results from two exploratory studies using the substance‐based particle model with children (ages 9–10) in two contrasting elementary schools in England are then reported. After a short teaching intervention with a class in each school, individual interviews were held with a sample of 12 students from each class. Data were collected on students' understanding of substances coexisting in different room temperature states and phenomena involving changes of state and mixing. The results gave useful feedback on the specification of the model and its teaching. Overall the students' engagement with the particle ideas was encouraging and suggests a larger scale testing of the substance‐based model is merited. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:130–150, 2010     

Self‐determined blended learning: a case study of blended learning design

Higher education has been actively encouraged to find more effective and flexible delivery models to provide all students with access to quality learning experiences yet also meet institutional imperatives for efficiency and accountability. Blended learning, commonly defined as an integration of traditional face‐to‐face and online approaches to instruction (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004 Garrison, D.R. and Kanuka, H. 2004. Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 7(2): 95–105.  [Google Scholar]; Graham, 2006 Graham, C.R. 2006. “Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends and future directions”. In Handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs, Edited by: Bonk, C.J. and Graham, C.R. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.  [Google Scholar]; Macdonald, 2008 Macdonald, J. 2008. Blended learning and online tutoring , (2nd ed.), Hampshire, UK: Gower.  [Google Scholar]), is now proposed as one solution that addresses both student learning and higher education organisational needs. Successful blended learning, however, is more than a simple integration of information and communication technologies with face‐to‐face approaches. This paper proposes, describes and evaluates a pedagogical approach to blended learning focused on learners and learning. First, we interrogate the literature related to blended learning to show how various constructions of blended learning may be driven by teacher‐centric or learner‐centric conceptions. Next, planning a learner‐centric blended learning design for a core unit in a first year higher education course is described. The design is then evaluated using a mixed methodology in which the students’ voices illuminate their experiences of blended learning unit design with regards to engagement, learning and self‐determination.     

Examining the grading practices of teachers

Despite the recommendations of some measurement specialists, teachers do not always assign grades based on achievement only. The primary purpose of this study is to clarify the meaning of grades, and to examine some of the factors teachers consider when assigning final grades with a focus on borderline cases. The sample consisted of 516 American public school teachers, selected via stratified random sample in a major metropolitan school district in the Southeast. A 53-item survey using Guttman’s mapping sentences, previously piloted in a separate school district, was created and distributed. Teachers were provided with scenarios that described student ability, achievement, behavior, and effort and the teacher was asked to assign both a numerical and letter grade. A four-way between-subjects ANOVA was conducted with the student characteristics ability, achievement, behavior, and effort as independent variables and final grade as the dependent variable. Findings demonstrate that teachers abided by the official grading policy of the participating school district assigning grades based primarily on achievement under most circumstances, however, in some borderline cases teachers report considering non-achievement factors. Implications for pre-service and in-service professional development are discussed.     

Are RAN deficits in university students with dyslexia due to defective lexical access,impaired anchoring,or slow articulation?

The purpose of this study was to examine different hypotheses in relation to RAN deficits in dyslexia. Thirty university students with dyslexia and 32 chronological-age controls were assessed on RAN Digits and Colors as well as on two versions of RAN Letters and Objects (one with five items repeated 16 times and one with 20 items repeated four times). In addition, participants were tested on discrete letter and object naming, phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and speed of processing, and the RAN Letters and Objects total times were partitioned into pause times and articulation times. Results showed first that the dyslexia group was slower than the control group on all RAN tasks and the differences remained significant after controlling for discrete naming time. Second, both groups were slower in the large item set condition (20 ×?4) than in the small set condition (5 ×?16). Third, the dyslexia group was slower than the control group in both the pause and the articulation times. Although none of the processing skills was sufficient on its own to eliminate group differences in RAN Letters components, phonological awareness, and orthographic processing were sufficient on their own to eliminate group differences in the RAN Objects pause time. Taken together, our findings suggest that the deficits in RAN are not due to impaired anchoring, but rather due to subtle impairments in lexical access (specific to alphanumeric RAN), serial processing, and articulation.     

Film Biographies

Howard Koch, As Time Goes By (New Yorks Harcourt Brace, 1979–$10.95)

John Houseman, Front and Center (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979–$15.00)

Howard Koch, As Time Goes By (New Yorks Harcourt Brace, 1979–$10.95)

Tom Dardis, Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979-412.50)

George Carpozi's The John Wayne Story (New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1979-410.95 hardcover)

Bob Thomas, Joan Crawford (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978-410.95)

Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford (see MMB, 10:71)

Marilyn Monroe Confidential: An Intimate Personal Account (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979–$9.95)     

Air quality: a comparison of students' conceptions and attitudes across the continents

A closed‐form questionnaire was used to explore the ideas of school students about the composition of air, the causes and consequences of air pollution and the extent to which the students would accept various courses of action to reduce air pollution. Items for the questionnaire were derived from the results of interviews and an earlier open‐form questionnaire. More than 3000 students aged 11 to 17 years and from Australia, Hong Kong and the UK were surveyed. There was a degree of similarity between students from the different countries in their knowledge about air composition and air pollution. In terms of attitudes, however, there were differences in students' opinions about the acceptability of actions to improve air quality. Path analysis of the data appeared to show that Hong Kong students are more amenable to education as an instrument to influence their attitudes. For the other countries, the acceptability of actions for environmental protection was related to the degree of concern about air quality     

Front- or rear-weighted track start or grab start: Which is the best for female swimmers?

The aim of this study was to compare three competitive swimming starts (grab, rear-weighted track, and front-weighted track). The starts were compared in terms of time and instantaneous horizontal velocity, both at take-off from the block and at 5 m from the wall. Twenty US college female swimmers performed three trials of each of the three randomly ordered starts. Swimmers left the block significantly sooner using the front-weighted track start (0.80 s) than the other two starts (both 0.87 s; P < 0.001). In the rear-weighted track start, however, the athletes left the blocks with significantly higher horizontal velocity than in the grab or front-weighted track start (3.99 vs. 3.87 and 3.90 m/s, respectively; each P < 0.001). By 5 m, the front-weighted track start maintained its time advantage over the grab start (2.19 vs. 2.24 s; P = 0.008) but not the rear-weighted track start (2.19 vs. 2.21 s; P = 0.336). However, the rear-weighted track start had a significant advantage over the front-weighted track start in terms of instantaneous horizontal velocity at 5 m (2.25 vs. 2.18 m/s; P = 0.009). Therefore, the rear-weighted track start had a better combination of time and velocity than the front-weighted track start. There was also a trend for the rear-weighted track start to have higher velocity at 5 m than the grab start, although this did not reach statistical significance (2.25 vs. 2.20 m/s; P = 0.042). Overall, these results favour the rear-weighted track start for female swimmers even though most of the athletes had little or no prior experience with it. Additional research is needed to determine whether males would respond similarly to females in these three different swimming starts.     

Effects of caffeine on time trial performance in sedentary men

Abstract It is not known if ergogenic effects of caffeine ingestion in athletic groups occur in the sedentary. To investigate this, we used a counterbalanced, double-blind, crossover design to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion (6 mg?·?kg(-1) body-mass) on exercise performance, substrate utilisation and perceived exertion during 30 minutes of self-paced stationary cycling in sedentary men. Participants performed two trials, one week apart, after ingestion of either caffeine or placebo one hour before exercise. Participants were instructed to cycle as quickly as they could during each trial. External work (J?·?kg(-1)) after caffeine ingestion was greater than after placebo (P?=?0.001, effect size [ES]?=?0.3). Further, heart rate, oxygen uptake and energy expenditure during exercise were greater after caffeine ingestion (P?=?0.031, ES?=?0.4; P?=?0.009, ES?=?0.3 and P?=?0.018, ES?=?0.3; respectively), whereas ratings of perceived exertion and respiratory exchange ratio values did not differ between trials (P?=?0.877, ES?=?0.1; P?=?0.760, ES?=?0.1; respectively). The ability to do more exercise after caffeine ingestion, without an accompanying increase in effort sensation, could motivate sedentary men to participate in exercise more often and so reduce adverse effects of inactivity on health.