Science education: A meta-analysis of major questions

A multi-institutional endeavor was initiated to integrate the findings of extant research studies directed toward the major science education research questions. The research questions were selected by a largely empirical process of identifiying the most frequently researched questions in the literature. These questions were assigned to various researchers who developed coding sheets and procedures with many features in common. This article describes the overall operation of the project, the research questions identified, and some rudiments of meta-analysis. The results of the several meta-analysis are reported in the other articles of this issue of the Journal. The final article in this issue deals with research topics for which data are drawn from one or more of the separate meta-analyses.     

Sensitive educational research in small states and territories: the case of Macau

This paper explores the sensitivities of conducting educational research in small states and territories, where the very act of conducting research, aside from its purposes or focuses, is itself a sensitive matter. The paper takes a ‘critical case study’ of Macau and examines cultural, educational, political, micro‐political, interpersonal and practical issues, overlaid by characteristics of Chinese culture, that must be factored into the planning and conduct of research in the territory. It suggests that compromises and trade‐offs have to be made in educational research in small states and territories, and argues that researchers must anticipate a range of problems in advance, and, through ingenuity, networking and sensitivity, overcome them. The magnification of sensitivities in small states and territories contributes to their special educational ecology; investigating these is frequently an interpersonal as well as a research matter.     

Phenomenographic pedagogy and a revised Approaches to teaching inventory

The Approaches to teaching inventory (ATI) is now being widely used as an instrument for formally monitoring approaches to teaching. A lesser‐known use is as a stimulant for discussion among groups of teachers to raise awareness of the variation in qualitatively different ways of approaching teaching. The phenomenographic origins of the ATI are consistent with these uses in academic development, both formative and summative. Following this increase in use, the validity and utility of the ATI were reviewed in 2003 using data from over 1600 teachers. We now summarize the outcomes of this review and report new results of the tests conducted on an expanded ATI with a further 318 academics. While the revised ATI maintains a focus on the qualitative variation in two key dimensions of teaching (a conceptual change/student‐focused approach and an information transfer/teacher‐focused approach), the number of items in those scales has now been increased. This version enhances those features of the original instrument that helped make it a useful trigger tool in ‘phenomenographic pedagogic’ discussion. Both phenomenographic pedagogy and the development of the ATI are discussed in this paper.     

Tail,Tusk, and Trunk: What Different Metrics Reveal About Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline

There are substantial racial disparities in school discipline but little agreement on how best to measure them. The choice of metric can influence conclusions about the magnitude of racial discipline disproportionality and intervention effectiveness. This article describes 2 common (risk ratio, risk difference) and 3 relatively novel (standardized effect size, raw differential representation, discipline rate) approaches to evaluating racial disproportionality, with illustrations of their strengths and weaknesses. Its concludes with a discussion of the metrics and a recommendation that researchers and policymakers consider the raw number of students of color differentially disciplined, as among the easiest to understand, the most stable, and capturing the widest range of information. Even so, no metric captures all relevant aspects of disproportionality. Accordingly, researchers and policymakers should be deliberate in their specific aims in measuring discipline disproportionality and select a combination of metrics that provides information most responsive to their goals.     

Creating school environments that deter antisocial behaviors in youth

School violence has become of paramount concern in recent years, leaving many schools unprepared to deal with the varied problems students bring to the classroom. Conditions within the school can be readily identified that predict and contribute to problematic behavior. The success of preventive and intervention programs for youth violence hinges upon recognizing and modifying aspects of school climate, teacher/school personnel interactions with students, and school structure. Several of these aspects are identified in this article and suggestions for improving the educational environment to prevent the development of antisocial behaviors in youth are offered. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of fast-velocity eccentric resistance training on early and late rate of force development

This study examined whether short-term maximal resistance training employing fast-velocity eccentric knee extensor actions would induce improvements in maximal isometric torque and rate of force development (RFD) at early (<100 ms) and late phases (>100 ms) of rising torque. Twenty healthy men were assigned to two experimental groups: eccentric resistance training (TG) or control (CG). Participants on the TG trained three days a week for a total of eight weeks. Training consisted of maximal unilateral eccentric knee extensors actions performed at 180°s-1. Maximal isometric knee extensor torque (MVC) and incremental RFD in successive 50 ms time-windows from the onset contraction were analysed in absolute terms (RFD_INC) or when normalised relative to MVC (RFD_REL). After eight weeks, TG demonstrated increases in MVC (28%), RFD_INC (0–50 ms: 30%; 50–100 ms: 31%) and RFD_REL (0–50 ms: 29%; 50–100 ms: 32%). Moreover, no changes in the late phase of incremental RFD were observed in TG. No changes were found in the CG. In summary, we have demonstrated, in active individuals, that a short period of resistance training performed with eccentric fast-velocity isokinetic muscle contractions is able to enhance RFD_INC and RFD_REL obtained at the early phase of rising joint torque.     

Why the Constraints-Led Approach is not Teaching Games for Understanding: a clarification

Background: There is some apparent confusion regarding similarities and differences between two popular physical education (PE) pedagogical frameworks, that is, the Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) and Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU).

Purpose: Our aim in this commentary is to detail important theoretical and pedagogical concepts that distinguish these approaches, as well as to recognise where commonalities exist.

Findings: In particular, we note that TGfU had its roots in the 1960s in the absence of a substantial theoretical framework, although several attempts to retrospectively scaffold theories around TGfU have subsequently emerged in the literature. TGfU is a learner-centred approach to PE in which teachers are encouraged to design modified games to develop the learner's understanding of tactical concepts. In contrast, the CLA has arisen more recently from the umbrella of Nonlinear Pedagogy (NLP), emerging from the empirically rich theoretical framework of ecological dynamics. The CLA adopts a ‘learner–environment’ scale of analysis in which practitioners are encouraged to identify and modify interacting constraints (of task, environment and learner) to facilitate the coupling of each learner's perceptual and action systems during learning. The CLA is a broader framework which has been adapted for the design of (re)learning environments in PE, sport and movement therapy. Other key distinctions between the approaches include: the overall goals; the way in which the learner and the learning process are modelled; the use of questioning as a pedagogical tool; the focus on individual differences vs. generic concepts; and how progressions and skill interjections are planned and implemented.

Conclusions: Despite such distinctions, the two approaches are somewhat harmonious and key similarities include: their holistic perspective of the learner; the proposed role of the teacher and the design characteristics of learning tasks in each. Both TGfU and the CLA have a powerful central focus on the nature of learning activities undertaken by each individual learner. This clarification of TGFU and the CLA is intended to act as a catalyst for more empirical work into the complementarity of these juxtaposed pedagogical approaches to learning design.