Student Motivation and Internet Technology: Are Students Empowered to Learn Science?

The Kids as Global Scientists (KGS) project engages students in the study of atmospheric science through the use of current imagery and on‐line communication in a reform‐minded, inquiry‐based curricular program. This article presents case study data on one sixth‐grade classroom of KGS participants during the 8‐week program. Six students representing three motivation levels were selected for intensive study to help illustrate how different students view learning science and the use of technology both before and after a technology‐rich program. Pre‐ and postassessment scores were analyzed for the entire class, and the six students' comments from individual interviews served as one example of voices for each motivation group. Results indicated that students made significant gains in weather content knowledge as measured by written assessments, and interviews revealed a high level of student motivation and satisfaction with the project. We conclude with a discussion of the program characteristics we believe are important for creating a learning environment that fosters the motivation and achievement we observed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 459–479, 2000.     

On the same page in sporting dyads: does dissimilarity on 2 x 2 achievement goal constructs impair relationship functioning?

This study examined the extent to which 2 x 2 achievement goal constructs (Elliot, 1999) were associated with key relational perceptions (i.e., relationship commitment, relationship satisfaction) for members of athlete-athlete dyads. Both members from 82 regional-level partnerships (mean age = 22.72, SD = 3.83) were recruited from a variety of dyadic sports (e.g., tennis, badminton, rowing). Actor-partner interdependence model analyses revealed that greater dissimilarity between partners on mastery-approach and performance-approach goals was associated with lower commitment and satisfaction. Mastery goals displayed positive actor effects with respect to both relationship perceptions, whereas performance-avoidance goals were negatively related to commitment (i.e., actor and partner effects) and satisfaction (i.e., partner effect). These results indicate that achievement goal constructs may align with important interpersonal perceptions in athlete dyads.     

Towards collective work and responsibility: Sources of support within a Freedom School teacher community

Alternative and parallel schooling contexts such as the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools^® provide educational experiences for U.S. K–12 students grounded in notions of social justice and culturally responsive teaching. College-aged young adults known as “servant-leader interns” are the teachers in this context. In this article, the author examines the nature of the various ways in which servant-leader interns were supported in their development as teachers both at the national training institute and at their local site. This discussion gives explicit attention to the kinds of deliberate support intended by the Freedom Schools program and the kinds of support that the servant-leader interns created or initiated on their own. Implications for teacher support that occur in alternative and parallel schooling contexts are discussed.     

‘Dangerous presumptions’: how single‐sex schooling reifies false notions of sex,gender, and sexuality

Due to the recent changes in federal regulations about gender equity in education in the USA, some policy makers have resurrected single‐sex public education. Because single‐sex schooling ignores the complexity of sex, gender, and sexuality, it sets up a ‘separate but equal’ system that is anything but. Discounting the ways in which gender is negotiated, constructed, and performed, and the variability of anatomical sex, current arguments for single‐sex schooling reify the false binaries of sex and gender, rely on assumptions of heteronormativity and, in turn, negate the existence of multiple sexes, genders, and sexual orientations.     

Impact of a pedometer-based goal-setting intervention on children’s motivation,motor competence,and physical activity in physical education

Background: School physical education (PE) programs provide a prime environment for interventions that attempt to develop school-aged children’s motor competence and overall physical fitness, while also stimulating competence motivation to engage in physical activity during childhood. It is generally recognized that a pedometer-based intervention strategy combined with a goal-setting strategy may be effective in increasing physical activity participation among school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an 8-week pedometer-based goal-setting intervention on children’s motivation in PE, motor competence, and physical activity.

Methods: A pretest–posttest comparison group design was used with the 8-week intervention (3 days/week for 24 sessions). Participants were 273 (boys?=?136, girls?=?137) students recruited from 3 elementary schools in the US. Classes in each school were randomly allocated to three experimental conditions: (1) an intervention group with a personalized pedometer weekly target to reach in their PE class (N?=?110), (2) an intervention group with the fixed pedometer target range to reach in each PE class based on the recommended criteria (N?=?90), or (3) a control group without intervention (N?=?73).

Analysis/results: The factorial repeated measures MANOVA indicated significant multivariate effects for the group [F(6, 528)?=?12.954, p?Post hoc analyzes showed that both experimental groups had significantly higher expectancy-value beliefs, motor competence, and physical activity compared to the control group (p?Conclusions: Health practitioners should be aware that goal-directed action can contribute to school students’ PE-related achievement motivation, motor competence, and achieving the recommended 60?min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.     

Reconsidering vulnerability in higher education

Vulnerability appears to be increasing in the neoliberal and corporate authoritarian university, but few articles have explored vulnerability in depth in higher education. This paper provides a systematic understanding of vulnerability and considers its implications for academics. First, the author examines vulnerability as conceptualized within psychological and philosophical lenses. The author posits that vulnerability has positive potential and is not just a cause for concern. Next, the paper explores vulnerability in terms of relationality and afect in the context of diferent professional and social positions, and the rise of managerialism in diverse national and disciplinary environments. That vulnerability circulates through interrelations suggests that it is not a problem that can be ameliorated through giving academics more resources as individuals. Rather, vulnerability stems not from individual neediness or fragility, but from interactive operations and processes within communities. The essay concludes by considering the implications of reconceptualizing academic vulnerability alternatively as a positive learning disposition in higher education.

     

An Analysis of the Validity of the Three-Mile Run as a Field Test of Aerobic Capacity in College Males

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the concurrent and construct validity of the three-mile (4.83 km) run as afield test of aerobic capacity. Subjects included 109 college-aged males whose three-mile run time (M = 1310.31 ± 184.48 s) was measured. Fifty of the subjects were given a maximal treadmill stress test, and their peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak) (M = 54.23 ± 7.08 ml.kg^?1.min^?1) was measured. The three-mile run was conducted on an outdoor 0.25 mile (0.425 km) track, and split tunes were recorded each 110 yds (100.32 m) for the first and last laps and total time was recorded for laps 2 through 11. The correlation coefficient between the run time and VO₂peak was -.58, indicating only moderate concurrent validity for the run as afield test for aerobic capacity. A factor analysis conducted on the split time data revealed a three-factor structure of a stable pace phase, an initial sprint, and a final sprint with the stable pace factor accounting for most of the common factor variance (69%). The three-mile run time was used to discriminate successfully between two known groups of subjects in aerobic capacity. These data provide a degree of support for the construct validity of the three-mile run as afield test of aerobic capacity.