Taking the Teachers to School! Critical Consciousness Emerging: A Qualitative Exploration of Mexican American Youth’s Social Justice Orientation Development

The Urban Review - Empirical research demonstrates that Chicanx students thrive in an educational setting where Western histories are de-centered, and the core objectives of the curricula are the...     

Short-term optimal load training vs a modified complex training in semi-professional basketball players

This study investigated the effects on neuromuscular performance of a 6-week Optimal Load Training (OLT) and a novel modified Complex Training (MCT) (complex pairs: the same exercise using a moderate and an OL) in basketball players, in-season. Eighteen male athletes were randomly assigned to one of the protocols. Anthropometric measurements were taken to evaluate body composition. Lower- and upper-body maximum dynamic strength, countermovement jump (CMJ), standing long jump (SLJ), 10-m sprint and change of direction (COD) were also assessed. Moderate-to-large strength gains (presented as percentage change ± 90% confidence limits) were obtained for half-squat (OLT: 10.8 ± 5.3%; MCT: 17.2 ± 11.6%) and hip thrust (OLT: 23.5 ± 17.7%; MCT: 28.2 ± 19.0%). OLT athletes achieved likely small improvements in sprint (1.6 ± 1.6%) and COD (3.0 ± 3.2%). Players in the MCT attained likely moderate improvements in COD (3.0 ± 2.0%) and possibly small in SLJ (2.5 ± 4.6%). No protocol relevantly affected CMJ or body composition. An ANCOVA test revealed unclear between-group differences. In conclusion, both protocols increased basketball players’ strength without the use of heavy loads (> 85% 1RM) and without impairing sprint, CMJ and SLJ performance. These findings suggest that basketball strength and conditioning professionals may use either method to counteract strength losses during the season.     

Analysis of the distance covered by Brazilian professional futsal players during official matches

The purpose of this study was to measure and characterise the distances covered by Brazilian professional futsal players. The trajectories of 93 players during five matches were obtained using an automatic tracking method. The distances covered were analysed for different game conditions: over the entire game and during the times when the ball was out of play and in play separately. When the entire game was considered, the results showed that there was a reduction in the total distance covered per minute from the first [median ± IQR (interquartile range): 97.9 ± 16.2 m/min] to the second half (median = 90.3 m/min; IQR = 12.0), and when only the in-play time was considered (first half: 136.6 ± 17.2 m/min; second half: 129.2 ± 16.7 m/min). The percentage of distance covered in the standing and walking velocity range was higher in the second half than in the first when considering the entire game (30.8% and 28.0%, respectively) and during the in-play time (19.3% and 16.2%, respectively). In conclusion, this study verified that futsal players reduced the physical performance during the second half.     

Disciplinary epistemologies,generic attributes and undergraduate academic writing in nursing and midwifery

Generic attributes such as ‘holding a critical stance’, ‘using evidence to support claims’, and ‘projecting an impersonal voice’ are central to disciplinary academic writing in higher education. These attributes, also referred to as ‘skills’, have for a long time been conceptualised as transferable in that once learnt students are able to use them in a variety of contexts and for a range of needs. Over the past few years, however, the conceptualisation of these attributes as transferable has come under close scrutiny as they have been identified to be highly context-sensitive rather than context-flexible as they were once thought to be. Drawing on data from a 2-year study on undergraduate academic writing in nursing and midwifery at a university in the UK, this paper critically examines the role of disciplinary epistemologies in the conceptualisation of these attributes in the two disciplines, and demonstrates how these beliefs help to shape academic writing at undergraduate level, thus contributing to debates on generic skills and attributes and specificity in disciplinary discourses. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance for writers to examine how knowledge is displayed, constructed and communicated in their disciplines, and the significance of analysing the relationship between disciplinary epistemologies, generic attributes and academic writing as a way of gaining access to and producing central discourses in their professional community.     

ICT teacher training: a view of the TPACK model / Formación del profesorado en TIC: una visión del modelo TPACK

This paper presents a study on the TPACK model (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge), which focuses on the assumption that in order to use ICTs effectively in teaching, the instructor must be trained in technological, content and pedagogical knowledge. In consequence, education, teacher training and professional development programmes should provide learning opportunities so that teachers can develop and put into action the three areas included in the model. To analyse the TPACK model of the teachers included in the study, a translation of an already developed instrument was applied; its reliability resulted in a Cronbach’s alpha of .97. The sample was comprised of 1,368 people who conducted training activities related to education and technologies at universities in Spain, Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The results reveal the need to stress not the technological aspects but the pedagogical and content knowledge, which is where the respondents earned the lowest scores.     

Elementary students’ metacognitive processes and post-performance calibration on mathematical problem-solving tasks

Calibration, or the correspondence between perceived performance and actual performance, is linked to students’ metacognitive and self-regulatory skills. Making students more aware of the quality of their performance is important in elementary school settings, and more so when math problems are involved. However, many students seem to be poorly calibrated, with a tendency towards over-confidence. The present study analyzes the relationship between post-performance calibration accuracy and the metacognitive process shown by 524 fifth- and sixth-grade students while solving two math problems. After calculating a calibration index and establishing the stability of students’ judgments and actual performance, differences in the metacognitive process exhibited by students with different calibration accuracy (Accurate vs. Inaccurate groups) were analyzed. The emergence of different calibration patterns and differences in the metacognitive process as a function of mathematics achievement and grade level were also examined. Results indicated that: (a) students in the overall sample were little calibrated and over-confident, showing high stability in their judgments and actual performance across problems; (b) inaccurate students reported using information representation sub-processes (drawing/summarizing) less frequently, but writing and reviewing (and also correcting mistakes) more frequently than their accurate peers; and (c) differences in calibration patterns and the metacognitive process were found when achievement level was considered, whereas grade level did not generate any important effect. These findings suggest the usefulness of process-based measures to examine the metacognitive processes involved in making post-performance judgments, considering achievement and its possible mediating role in this relationship.     

Cognitive,Motivational, and Volitional Dimensions of Learning: An Empirical Test of a Hypothetical Model

The principal aim of this research is to contrast empirically a hypothetical model developed on the basis of the fundamental assumptions of current self-regulated learning models. In line with evaluation criteria of model fit, a high rate of congruence between the hypothesized theoretical model and the empirical data was observed. Analysis of the effects between the variables of the model revealed the following relevant aspects: students' predisposition to feel responsible for the results of their academic behavior (internal attribution) is related to positive self-image (academic self-concept), both being important conditions for development of learning-oriented motivation (learning goals). All of this involves selection and use of learning strategies for deep information processing (deep learning strategies), which leads students to assume responsibility with high levels of persistence, perseverance, and tenacity so as to achieve goals defined by the motivational orientation. This persistence and effort to achieve the proposed goals has in turn a positive and significant effect on academic achievement.     

Influence of problem-based learning games on effective computer programming learning in higher education

Educational technology research and development - Gaming is a part of today’s society, especially for younger generations. Therefore, game-based approaches are unsurprisingly used for...     

Hope for Children Trapped in Failing Schools: The Promise of Crawford v. Davy

On October 4, 2007, a trial level court in New Jersey dismissed Crawford v. Davy, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 60,000 schoolchildren throughout the state seeking the court's authority to leave schools that fail to educate their students. By filing suit, plaintiff schoolchildren had hoped to be transferred to an alternative successful public or private school utilizing their pro rata share of state and local school funds to subsidize the transfer. Now, the dismissal of Crawford consigns these children to poor inadequate neighborhood schools indefinitely. If the dismissal of Crawford v. Davy is not reversed on appeal, it will not only extinguish the hope of plaintiff schoolchildren to receive an equal and adequate educational opportunity, but could threaten the right of a thorough and efficient education guaranteed by the State Constitution and reverse gains achieved over the past 40 years in New Jersey's education jurisprudence. This article places Crawford in the context of the state's enduring legal struggle to equalize educational opportunities and discusses its claims and purposes in relation to that history. The article then addresses the significance of the Crawford dismissal on the state's legal precedents, especially rulings in the on-going Abbott v. Burke equity funding litigation. Finally, the article concludes with a prediction of the impact that Crawford's dismissal may pose for the larger equity/adequacy litigation movement playing out across the country. For the moment, the hope of 60,000 plaintiff schoolchildren is diminished. Only time and New Jersey's appellate courts will dictate whether their hope for an equal and adequate education shall survive.     

A Structural Equation Model of Parental Involvement,Motivational and Aptitudinal Characteristics,and Academic Achievement

The authors used the structural equation model (SEM) approach to test a model hypothesizing the influence of parental involvement on students' academic aptitudes, self-concept, and causal attributions, as well as the influence of the 3 variables on academic achievement. The theoretical model was contrasted in a group of 12- to 18-year-old adolescents (N = 261) attending various educational centers. The results indicate that (a) parental involvement had a positive and significant influence on the participant's measured characteristics; (b) causal attribution was not causally related to self-concept or academic achievement when the task involved finding causes for success, but, self-concept and causal attributions were found to be significantly and reciprocally related when the task involved finding causes accounting for failure; (c) self-concept was statistically and predominantly causally related to academic achievement, but not vice versa; and (d) aptitude and self-concept accounted for academic achievement, although the effect of self-concept was predominant. These results suggest that in adolescence, cognitive-affective variables become crucial in accounting for academic behavior.