Spelling of Inflected Verb Morphology in Children with Spelling Deficits

Children with spelling deficits demonstrate significant difficulty using inflectional morphology in their writing. This study investigated whether phonological deficits account for these pronounced difficulties or if they are more accurately explained by limitations in morphological or orthographic awareness. Twenty–six 11—13–year–old children with spelling deficits, 31 younger spelling–level–matched children, and 31 age–matched children were asked to spell a series of verbs with past tense and progressive markers in dictated sentences and in list form. Performance on spelling tasks was compared to performance on phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness tasks. Results suggest that children with spelling deficits have significant difficulty including inflections as well as spelling inflections and base words. Difficulty was most pronounced in a sentence context. Ability to spell inflectional forms was related to variation in morphological awareness in children with spelling deficits and to variation in orthographic awareness in spelling–level–matched children.     

Utilizing Systems Development Methods in Archival Systems Research: Building a Metadata Schema Registry

This paper discusses the use of systems development research methods in the context of ongoing research that is formulating a specification for a metadata schema registry. The paper extrapolates from this discussion how such methods can be utilized in archival systems research and how such an approach differs from commercial systems engineering. In particular, the paper suggests that adopting a user-centred prototyping approach in a research context allows for exploration of the interplay between theory and practice, advancing the practice, while also offering new insights into theoretical concepts. It argues that these research methods are of increasing interest to the archival profession in order to conceptualise and realise the tools necessary to support recordkeeping and archival processes in digital environments.     

Multiple components of fitness improved among overweight and obese adolescents following a community-based lifestyle intervention

Fitness is an important component of health, and obese adolescents regularly have poor fitness. Unfortunately, few have assessed the impact of community-based lifestyle interventions on multiple components of fitness. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of participation in a community-based intervention involving adolescents and parents on multiple components of fitness of obese adolescents. In a within-subject, waitlist controlled clinical trial with 12 months follow-up in Western Australia, participants (n = 56) completed multiple fitness measures at baseline, immediately prior to beginning an 8-week intervention and at 3, 6 and 12 months during a maintenance period. Performance on the shuttle walk was improved immediately post-intervention (increase of 42.8 m, 95% CI: 7.5, 78.2) and at 12 months post-intervention (increase of 44.6 m, 95% CI: 1.3, 87.8) compared with pre-intervention. Muscle performance of quadriceps and deltoids were improved post-intervention (increase of 1.1 (95% CI: 0.1, 2.1) kg · F and 1.0 (0.02, 2.1) kg · F, respectively) and all muscle performance measures were improved at 12 months following the intervention. There were no changes in waist circumference. A community-based lifestyle programme such as Curtin University’s Activity, Food and Attitudes Program (CAFAP) may be a viable strategy for improving fitness in overweight adolescents.     

The Inclusion of Informal Environments in Science Teacher Preparation

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Parameters in television captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing adults: effects of caption rate versus text reduction on comprehension

Caption rate and text reduction are factors that appear to affect the comprehension of captions by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These 2 factors are confounded in everyday captioning; rate (in words per minute) is slowed by text reduction. In this study, caption rate and text reduction were manipulated independently in 2 experiments to assess any differential effects and possible benefits for comprehension by deaf and hard-of-hearing adults. Volunteers for the study included adults with a range of reading levels, self-reported hearing status, and different communication and language preferences. Results indicate that caption rate (at 130, 180, 230 words per minute) and text reduction (at 84%, 92%, and 100% original text) have different effects for different adult users, depending on hearing status, age, and reading level. In particular, reading level emerges as a dominant factor: more proficient readers show better comprehension than poor readers and are better able to benefit from caption rate and, to some extent, text reduction modifications.     

Using the web to encourage student-generated questions in large-format introductory biology classes

Students rarely ask questions related to course content in large-format introductory classes. The use of a Web-based forum devoted to student-generated questions was explored in a second-semester introductory biology course. Approximately 80% of the enrolled students asked at least one question about course content during each of three semesters during which this approach was implemented. About 95% of the students who posted questions reported reading the instructor's response to their questions. Although doing so did not contribute to their grade in the course, approximately 75% of the students reported reading questions posted by other students in the class. Approximately 60% of the students reported that the Web-based question-asking activity contributed to their learning of biology.     

Network ethnography applied: understanding the evolving health and physical education knowledge landscape

The progressively global, neoliberal, privatised, and digital education environment poses new methodological challenges for educational researchers, prompting a need to innovate. It has been suggested, however, that better commentary and reflection on methodological innovation in education is required. This paper considers the benefits and challenges associated with the use of network ethnography, one methodological approach that has emerged to address new social complexities. We explain the rationale for, and process of, this methodology through reference to an illustrative case: a network ethnography of the outsourcing of Health and Physical Education (HPE) curricular work to external providers. In doing this we map and critique three interrelated activities (i.e. Internet searches, interviews, and network diagram construction) that constituted our network ethnography. The discussion turns to how network ethnography allowed us to access new knowledge about the outsourcing of HPE curricular work to external providers by, for example, facilitating us in asking different questions, and foregrounding various stakeholders, networks and relationships that we may not have discovered had we relied on other approaches. This illustrative case demonstrates the capacity of network ethnography to generate rich data and offers a provocation for educational researchers to consider expanding their methodological repertoire.     

Selecting children for gifted classes: Choosing for breadth vs. choosing for depth

This article compares and contrasts two types of multiple criteria models that can be used to select children for gifted classes: breadth models and depth models. In a breadth model, children are selected for gifted classes if they score moderately well on several assessment areas simultaneously. In a depth model, children are selected for gifted classes if they score superlatively well on any one assessment area, regardless of the level of their performance in other assessment areas. In the study, three breadth models, three depth models, and a more traditional Intelligence Test Model were applied to a population of fourth graders (N = 159) in a small town. The results indicated that children selected by the breadth models had very high classroom grades and were well thought of by their teachers. However, depth models included more students with unusually high IQ scores and more promising underachievers than did breadth models. These and other factors made depth models more advantageous than breadth models.