Fostering thinking through science in the early years of schooling

The purpose of this research was to investigate and describe concrete examples of Year 1 students engaged in good thinking and to generate assertions about the ways teachers can foster habits of good thinking through science. The research design was a multiple case study of 32 lessons, of which four are analysed in detail in this paper. The results suggest that young children engaged in good thinking are likely to explain and demonstrate their ideas and actions and to make suggestions for solving problems. Children engaged in good thinking also are likely to highlight discrepancies, adopt new ideas, and work collaboratively. The results indicate that teachers can foster habits of good thinking through science; first, by accepting difficulty as an integral part of the learning process, second, by encouraging children to explain and talk about their ideas and, finally, by creating an environment where thinking is a valued classroom process.     

Duopoly in the scientific instrument industry: the milk analyser case

The special and limited nature of the world market for non-chemical milk analysers appears to have led to a condition of duopoly, with a British firm, Grubb Parsons, competing with a Danish firm, Foss Electric, originally differing technologies, infra-red in the first case, light scatter in the second.Over the 15 years spanned by the two case histories the two firms competed in classical duopolistic style, making quite rapid technical progress spurred on by the competition of the one with the other, and aiming at the same potential customers. An important difference between the two, however, was that the infra-red Instrument was ‘technology push’, and failed at the outset to satisfy ‘user needs’, and needed extensive adaptation. The light scatter or turbimetric instrument was designed with the user in mind and was comparatively simple as a consequence, although it, too, needed adaptation as user needs changed over time, from a requirement to measure fat or total solids content in milk, to a need to measure protein as well.Because of the smaller size and independence of Foss as compared with Grubb Parsons, a subsidiary of a large engineering group, the former was able to adopt a more flexible organisation structure, decentralised and ‘organic’, in the Burns and Stalker terminology, and more marketing oriented - all plus factors according to previous research in this field. While both companies showed themselves strongly innovative, and therefore competitive, Foss took greater risks and won bigger returns. They collaborated closely with users and generally showed shorter ‘lead times’ than their rival.     

An evaluation of a professional learning network for computer science teachers

This paper describes and evaluates aspects of a professional development programme for existing CS teachers in secondary schools (PLAN C) which was designed to support teachers at a time of substantial curricular change. The paper’s particular focus is on the formation of a teacher professional development network across several hundred teachers and a wide geographical area. Evidence from a series of observations and teacher surveys over a two-year period is analysed with respect to the project’s programme theory in order to illustrate not only whether it worked as intended, by why. Results indicate that the PLAN C design has been successful in increasing teachers’ professional confidence and appears to have catalysed powerful change in attitudes to learning. Presentation of challenging pedagogical content knowledge and conceptual frameworks, high-quality teacher-led professional dialogue, along with the space for reflection and classroom trials, triggered examination of the teachers’ own current practices.     

The application of a multi-dimensional assessment approach to talent identification in Australian football

ABSTRACT

This study investigated whether a multi-dimensional assessment could assist with talent identification in junior Australian football (AF). Participants were recruited from an elite under 18 (U18) AF competition and classified into two groups; talent identified (State U18 Academy representatives; n = 42; 17.6 ± 0.4 y) and non-talent identified (non-State U18 Academy representatives; n = 42; 17.4 ± 0.5 y). Both groups completed a multi-dimensional assessment, which consisted of physical (standing height, dynamic vertical jump height and 20 m multistage fitness test), technical (kicking and handballing tests) and perceptual-cognitive (video decision-making task) performance outcome tests. A multivariate analysis of variance tested the main effect of status on the test criterions, whilst a receiver operating characteristic curve assessed the discrimination provided from the full assessment. The talent identified players outperformed their non-talent identified peers in each test (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve reflected near perfect discrimination (AUC = 95.4%), correctly classifying 95% and 86% of the talent identified and non-talent identified participants, respectively. When compared to single assessment approaches, this multi-dimensional assessment reflects a more comprehensive means of talent identification in AF. This study further highlights the importance of assessing multi-dimensional performance qualities when identifying talented team sports.