Education and Conservation: Lessons from an evaluation

This article presents an analysis of the lessons for programme design and management that were distilled from a recent evaluation of the Worldwide Fund for Nature's (WWF) global educational programmes. The aim of the evaluation was to clarify and document the contribution that education is making to the achievement of the conservation goals of the organisation. Aspects of the findings of the evaluation are presented but these are not the focus of the article. Rather, the emphasis is on the generalisations that can be drawn from an analysis of the evaluation process and the lessons to be learnt from the findings. This emphasis affords this article a degree of currency and utility that goes beyond its immediate value to WWF and may provide ideas and, in places, a vocabulary for thinking about planning and evaluating environmental education programmes, especially within conservation groups and resource management agencies.     

Fostering writing in upper primary grades: a study into the distinct and combined impact of explicit instruction and peer assistance

As writing is a complex and resource demanding task, high-quality writing instruction is indispensable from primary grades on to support beginning writers in developing effective writing skills. Writing research should therefore provide teachers and schools with evidence-based guidelines for teaching writing in daily practice. In this respect, the present study first investigates the distinct and combined effectiveness of two instructional writing practices (i.e., explicit instruction and writing with peer assistance). Second, the present study aims to examine differential effects for students with different background characteristics (i.e., gender and general achievement level). Eleven teachers and their 206 fifth and sixth-grade students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either one of the four experimental conditions (i.e., EI + IND: explicit instruction + individual writing, EI + PA: explicit instruction + writing with peer assistance, IND: matched individual practice comparison condition, and PA: matched peer-assisted practice comparison condition) or the business as usual condition. Multilevel analyses showed that EI + IND, EI + PA, and PA students outperformed the business as usual students. As to the distinct impact of explicit instruction, EI + IND students outperformed IND students at posttest, revealing the effectiveness of explicit instruction. As to the effect of peer-assisted writing, there were no significant differences between the individual writing conditions (EI + IND and IND) and the peer-assisted conditions (EI + PA and PA respectively).     

Autocontingencies: Factors underlying control of operant baselines by compound tone/shock/no-shock contingencies

Previous research has shown that postshock acceleration of baseline responding, which normally results from exposure to a shock/no-shock autocontingency, is eliminated when a suppressive tone-shock contingency is simultaneously presented (Davis, Memmott, & Hurwitz, 1975). Three experiments were performed to explore this inability to produce joint suppressive/ accelerative control by compound tone-shock and shock/no-shock contingencies. Progressively degrading the tone-shock contingency in Experiment 1 maintained conditioned suppression and resulted in asymptotic levels of postshock acceleration in all degraded groups. Evidence for accelerative control by the autocontingency was also recorded in a control group that received a totally reliable tone-shock relation. Experiments 2 and 3 pursued this latter finding, which is in direct conflict with our earlier results. The appearance of joint suppressive/ accelerative control by tone-shock and shock/no-shock contingencies appears to be related to the number of shock trials given per session; moreover, relatively small differences in trial density (e.g., three trials per 22.5 min vs. three trials per 30 min) are critical to establishing joint autocontingency control. The importance of shock rate is discussed with regard to the relative waiting time hypothesis, an alternative model of Pavlovian control, as well as to previously reported conditioning failures involving compound suppressive/accelerative procedures.     

A Cross‐Cultural Perspective on Short‐Time Staff Development in Singapore: Principals as Reflective Practitioners

Training packages, based on the ‘Concerns‐Based Adoption Model’ (Hall, Wallace and Dosset, 1973) were used in a one week residential symposium in Singapore for school principals and inspectors. This paper represents the reflections on practice from two change consultants who designed the short‐time ‘training package’ for specific staff development needs. The authors found that cross‐cultural implementation of such packages highlights important differences between consultants and participants about initiating and managing change in schools. Interim evaluation data about the training suggests that school principals who were able to consciously reflect upon their implementation practices and adapt their intervention strategies accordingly were more effective change agents than their less insightful colleagues.     

Education for peace in the secondary school: The contribution of one subject to an across-the-curriculum perspective

The pedagogical literature on education for peace advocates an across-the-curriculum perspective rather than the development of discrete courses in peace studies. Advice on appropriate concepts and generic teaching strategies has been provided to teachers in a number of publications and has been taken up in many primary schools, where interdisciplinary themes and flexible time schedules are conducive to the innovatory dimensions of education for peace. The subject compartmentalization and rigid timetabling in secondary schools do not provide as much flexibility for interdisciplinary planning. However, much of the education for peace literature has neglected considerations of how peace themes and processes can be integrated within the curriculum of individual subjects in the secondary school. This paper addresses this situation by providing some guidance on how this may be done in one subject, geography, and hopefully might serve as a model for curriculum specialists in other areas.

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Zusammenfassung In der pädagogischen Literatur über Friedenserziehung wird eher eine das ganze Curriculum umfassende Perspektive als die Entwicklung einzelner Friedensstudienkurse befürwortet. In einer Reihe von Veröffentlichungen wurden Lehrern passende Konzepte und allgemeine Lehrstrategien zur Verfügung gestellt. Sie wurden in viele Grundschulen, in denen interdisziplinäre Themen und flexible Stundenpläne die innovativen Dimensionen der Friedenserziehung fördern, aufgenommen. Die Aufteilung der Lernstoffe in Fächer und streng festgelegte Stundenpläne in Sekundarschulen lassen weniger Flexibilität bei der interdisziplinären Planung zu. Ein Großteil der Literatur zum Thema Friedenserziehung stellt jedoch kaum Überlegungen an, wie man Friedensthemen und -prozesse in das Curriculum einzelner Fächer in Sekundarschulen integrieren könnte. Die Studie greift diese Situation auf, indem sie Möglichkeiten bei der Integration in einem Fach, Geographie, aufzeigt und vielleicht sogar als Modell für Curriculumspezialisten in anderen Bereichen dienen könnte.

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Résumé La littérature pédagogique sur l'éducation pour la paix plaide en faveur d'une perspective transcurriculaire plutôt que pour l'organisation d'études de paix en disciplines cloisonnées. Diverses publications ont apporté aux enseignants des conseils quant aux concepts appropriés ainsi que des stratégies pédagogiques génériques. Ceux-ci ont été suivis par de nombreuses écoles primaires où les thèmes interdisciplinaires et les emplois du temps flexibles sont favorables aux dimensions novatrices de l'éducation pour la paix. La compartimentation des disciplines et l'emploi du temps rigide dans les écoles secondaires n'offrent pas une flexibilité aussi grande à une planification interdisciplinaire. Cependant, la littérature relative à l'éducation pour la paix n'a pas pris en compte les considérations sur la manière dont on peut intégrer les thèmes et les processus de paix dans le programme d'études des différentes matières enseignées à l'école secondaire. On examine cette situation dans le présent article en donnant quelques conseils sur la façon dont on peut procéder dans une matière, la géographie, et en espérant que cet exemple pourra servir de modèle aux spécialistes du curriculum dans d'autres domaines.

     

Monitoring changes in VO2max via the Polar FT40 in female collegiate soccer players

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine if the Polar FT40 could accurately track changes in maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max) in a group of female soccer players. Predicted VO_2max (pVO_2max) via the Polar FT40 and observed VO_2max (aVO_2max) from a maximal exercise test on a treadmill were determined for members of a collegiate soccer team (n = 20) before and following an 8-week endurance training protocol. Predicted (VO_2max and aVO_2max measures were compared at baseline and within 1 week post-training. Change values (i.e., the difference between pre to post) for each variable were also determined and compared. There was a significant difference in aVO_2max (pre = 43.6 ± 2.4 ml · kg · min^?1, post = 46.2 ± 2.4 ml · kg · min^?1, P < 0.001) and pVO_2max (pre = 47.3 ± 5.3 ml · kg · min^?1, post = 49.7 ± 6.2 ml · kg · min^?1, P = 0.009) following training. However, predicted values were significantly greater at each time point compared to observed values (P < 0.001 at pre and P = 0.008 at post). Furthermore, there was a weak correlation between the change in aVO_2max and the change in pVO_2max (r = 0.18, P = 0.45). The Polar FT40 does not appear to be a valid method for predicting changes in individual VO_2max following 8 weeks of endurance training in female collegiate soccer players.     

Case study of language and numerical disability: A sequential processing deficit?

We report a case study of Christine, an intelligent 30-year-old woman with a developmental learning disability. Psychometric evaluation and extensive interviews revealed several findings: most notably, evidence of anomia, auditory processing problems, difficulty acquiring reading and spelling skills, and an extremely poor sense of number. In addition, Christine showed all four of the Gerstmann symptoms (left-right confusion, finger agnosia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia). We suggest that most, if not all, of these impairments may be explained in terms of a sequential processing deficit (e.g., Bakker 1967; Tallal 1980). In Christine’s case, difficulty perceiving serial order appears to have resulted in a major conceptual impairment involving number. HD—To me four is a number that comes after three and before five. It means twice two … C—To me four is a picture. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor Victor Lotter.     

Autocontingencies: Rats count to three to predict safety from shock

Following training on a variable-interval food-reinforcement schedule, rats were exposed to three unsignaled shocks during each 30-min session. Although leverpressing was initially suppressed, responding was significantly accelerated following offset of the third shock, regardless of when in the session it occurred. Control sessions in which only two shocks were programmed, one early and one late, did not yield baseline acceleration. Evidence of “counting to three” was less obvious in subjects simultaneously exposed to a temporal autocontingency, that is, for which each shock also predicted a minimum 3-min safety period. The addition of a signal prior to each shock eliminated evidence of counting behavior altogether. We conclude that rats may be taught to count, but such behavior is highly unnatural and may be blocked or overshadowed by more salient sources of information.     

Pedagogical content knowledge of French as a foreign language: differences between pre-service and in-service teachers

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an important predictor of educational quality. PCK develops from various sources, such as teaching experience. Studies investigating the effects of teaching experience on PCK development mainly focus on the question whether experienced teachers differ from novices in the amount of PCK. In a mixed methods study, we study both quantitative and qualitative differences between pre-service and in-service teachers’ PCK. Total scores on a paper-and-pencil instrument are used as a measure of French PCK. To analyse the participants’ PCK in a qualitative way, answers are coded in four categories and the prevalence of answers in each category is compared between groups. Furthermore, the nature of answers is studied. No differences on our quantitative PCK measure are observed. The qualitative analysis shows that in-service teachers have more difficulties with conceptual knowledge, while showing more practical knowledge of students’ understanding than pre-service teachers.     

Lever holding behavior during a leverlift shock escape procedure

Rats were trained either to press a lever or to lift a lever in order to escape shock. Although there were no appreciable differences between escape latencies, the leverlift condition eliminated virtually all of the intertrial lever holding observed under the leverpress condition. While stable escape behavior can be obtained using either the press or lift responses, the use of a leverlift requirement allows for the separate observation of lever holding and freezing, a species-specific defense reaction.