A Vocationalized School Science Curriculum?

This article is concerned with the meaning and legitimacy of the view that the secondary science curriculum can be given a vocational emphasis, and with a current attempt to create such a curriculum. Although this perspective on the science curriculum has a long history, in recent decades it has received little attention. This article examines recent research into the vocational and work‐related aspects of secondary school science, and the historical and policy background. Its empirical focus is a late secondary course with the title “Applied Science”, which was introduced into schools in England and Wales in 2002. It draws on the preliminary findings of a research study focusing on the origins and implementation of this course. Overall, the article provides an overview of the major issues and research agenda associated with the notion of a vocational or applied school science curriculum, focusing ultimately on the key issues of educational purpose, pedagogy, and status.     

Revisiting the Fantasy–Reality Distinction: Children as Naïve Skeptics

Far from being the uncritical believers young children have been portrayed as, children often exhibit skepticism toward the reality status of novel entities and events. This article reviews research on children's reality status judgments, testimony use, understanding of possibility, and religious cognition. When viewed from this new perspective it becomes apparent that when assessing reality status, children are as likely to doubt as they are to believe. It is suggested that immature metacognitive abilities are at the root of children's skepticism, specifically that an insufficient ability to evaluate the scope and relevance of one's knowledge leads to an overreliance on it in evaluating reality status. With development comes increasing ability to utilize a wider range of sources to inform reality status judgments.     

How Distance Education Has Improved Adult Education

This essay examines the effects that distance education has had with adult learners over the last four decades, including (a) correspondence courses, (b) single technology, (c) blended learning, and (d) e-learning. Distance education has changed to decrease situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers for adult learners that students listed in the 1970s and 1980s. Removing these barriers has improved adult education in the 21st century; however, e-learning and blended learning also raise new concerns.     

CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY AND AGING

This article describes the attitudes of children aged 3 to 11 toward the elderly and what they think about the aging process. It examines the development of the ability to discriminate aging in people as defined in Piaget's theory. Education must reach children long before 6 years of age if it is to modify their perceptions of older people and to create positive images of aging.     

Children's Ideas about Aging before and after an Intergenerational Read-aloud

This study describes a pilot project that included senior volunteer readers reading aloud to third graders in diverse schools across a district in northeast Florida. The researchers interviewed students about their perceptions of the aging process before and after the read aloud as well as their view of the read aloud events. The children enjoyed being read to by the senior volunteers, who were able to support the children's understanding of a fairly complex book. Further, the senior volunteers, who had expressed some hesitancy about reading to older children, greatly enjoyed the interaction. The study supports the idea that children's ideas about aging may be impacted both by book selection and the reader, and it posits that reading aloud to older children by senior volunteers may be beneficial to all parties involved.     

Changes in race and sex stereotype threat among diverse STEM students: Relation to grades and retention in the majors

In laboratory studies, induced stereotype threat shows negative effects on academic performance and learning. Is the relation between stereotype threat and grades robust in naturalistic settings, specifically in introductory STEM courses? We gathered data on two new measures we term race and sex stereotype bias, which were administered four times over the course of introductory chemistry and biology courses for STEM majors (N = 1358). Patterns of growth for all stereotype bias measures showed a discontinuous pattern, with increases during each semester (fall and spring) and decreases between semesters. For all stereotype bias measures, sophomores scored significantly higher than freshmen, and juniors scored in between. For the sex stereotype bias measure, females scored significantly higher than males. There were no race or sex differences on slopes of growth; though groups began at different levels, all grew at the same rate. There was little relation between grades and stereotype bias when analyzed by race; Asian students showed the largest number of significant – albeit small – correlations (3) and Black students the fewest (none). Correlations between grades and sex stereotype bias were significant and negative – but small – only for males. Results support a point made by Steele in 1997 but neglected since then; stereotype threat may affect only a small sub-portion within stereotyped groups. We argue that variables other than stereotype threat might be better targets for research attempting to explain gaps in STEM achievement and retention.     

Critical friendship as a contribution to master’s‐level work in an international programme of study

This article reports on an action research project in which the value of critical friendship for students doing research and writing their dissertations within an international master’s course has been explored. This course is run jointly by Roehampton University (London, UK), Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) together with Fontys OSO (Tilburg, the Netherlands). It describes the process and the results of working with the concept of critical friendship in this master’s course since its start in 2005. Data were collected by means of various qualitative instruments and data sources: evaluation forms after tutorial sessions, reflective logs and focus interviews. The results show that the process of engaging with the research they did was enhanced and supported by the development of critical friendship groups. A number of recommendations have been formulated, such as the importance of discussing the concept of critical friend and its philosophy with the participants and of defining roles and tasks as clearly as possible.     

A comparison of traditional and modified Summated-Heart-Rate-Zones models to measure internal training load in basketball players

The Summated-Heart-Rate-Zones training load (SHRZ TL) model is used to measure internal loading; however, a major limitation of this approach is the use of broad heart rate (HR) zones to quantify exercise intensity. Therefore, this study aimed to compare SHRZ TL outcomes derived using the traditional model and modified approaches using smaller HR zones. HR responses were monitored in 15 semi-professional basketball players during preparatory training to calculate SHRZ TL using the traditional approach with 10%HR_max zones (SHRZ₁₀) and modified approaches with 5%HR_max zones (SHRZ₅) and 2.5%HR_max zones (SHRZ_2.5). Significant (P < 0.001) differences were evident in SHRZ TL between SHRZ₁₀ (254.2 ± 41.7 AU) and SHRZ₅ (275.9 ± 43.3 AU, unclear, small) as well as SHRZ_2.5 (286.7 ± 44.3 AU, very likely, moderate). Use of SHRZ_2.5 provides novel insight regarding internal loading in basketball players and may carry greater sensitivity for detection of maladaptive and adaptive responses to training.     

Travel with a Time Lord: using media to enhance literacy

This article reports on a UKLA‐funded project in which a group of 10 teachers in South Wales were involved. The televised science fiction drama Doctor Who was chosen as the theme as it was based on popular culture as well as being of local and national interest. The main character in this television drama is an alien who can fly through time and space in a machine called the Tardis. The aim of the project was to improve standards in literacy, with writing as a particular focus and make teachers more aware of the effective use of media resources. Teachers were provided with an information pack containing sample lessons but were actively encouraged to implement the project in whichever way they chose. Questionnaires given to teachers before and after the project reflected a more positive attitude towards using media resources at the end. Pupils, aged between 8 and 11 years old, were given writing journals as part of the project and focus groups interviewed. It proved difficult to ascertain if standards had improved although pupil enthusiasm was a recognisable feature. The value of learning across the curriculum was another element that emerged during the course of the project. Results indicated that more training is required to enable teachers to use media resources and cross‐curricular approaches more confidently in their teaching.