Faculty research productivity: Some moderators of associated stressors

Using person environment-fit theory, stress measures were developed on 894 faculty, a subgroup of the 3,972 faculty in the 1988 NCRIPTAL national survey. Within three institutional groups, three fields of study (humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences), three research output variables, and eight moderating variables (singly and collectively) were correlated (direct and partials) with two measures of stress. The findings lend support to the theoretical model. The outcomes also show that moderate levels of stress can be appreciably and significantly mitigated by some selected personal variables. The environmental variables were generally ineffective in moderating the correlations between stresses and productivity. Sex differences exist. Research self-competence is a strong modifier for both sexes and is exceptionally potent for women.     

Comparing introductory course planning among full-time and part-time faculty

Using data from a nationally representative survey of faculty teaching introductory college courses, this exploratory study compares course planning procedures of full-time and part-time faculty teaching courses in eight academic fields. The choice of variables examined was guided by a general model of course design developed from earlier studies of course planning. To control for discipline-related differences in faculty planning assumptions, separate analyses were conducted for the eight fields. No key differences were found between full-time and part-time faculty on the primary factors under investigation: substantive content-related influences on courses, strength of influence within the instructional environment, and planning steps and content arrangements faculty preferred.     

Improvisational Drama and the Nature of Science

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Synergy and Tension between Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment: International Trends

The synergy, or lack thereof, between large-scale and classroom assessment has been fiercely debated in both academic and policy spheres for decades around the world. This paper seeks to explicate how different countries are utilizing large-scale testing and test results at the classroom level. Through country profiles, this paper analyzes contemporary developments on the tensions and synergies between large-scale assessment and classroom teaching, learning, and assessment observed across seven international jurisdictions: United States, Canada, Australia, England, Germany, Finland, and Singapore. The paper concludes with an analysis of international trends leading to a synthesis of root causes contributing to the current limited uptake of large-scale assessment results at classroom levels.     

Effect of cadence selection on peak power and time of power production in elite BMX riders: A laboratory based study

ABSTRACT

The aims of this study were to analyse the optimal cadence for peak power production and time to peak power in bicycle motocross (BMX) riders. Six male elite BMX riders volunteered for the study. Each rider completed 3 maximal sprints at a cadence of 80, 100, 120 and 140 revs · min^?1 on a laboratory Schoberer Rad Messtechnik (SRM) cycle ergometer in isokinetic mode. The riders’ mean values for peak power and time of power production in all 3 tests were recorded. The BMX riders produced peak power (1105 ± 139 W) at 100 revs · min^?1 with lower peak power produced at 80 revs · min^?1 (1060 ± 69 W, (F(2,15) = 3.162; P = .266; η² = 0.960), 120 revs · min^?1 (1077 ± 141 W, (F(2,15) = 4.348; P = .203; η² = 0.970) and 140 revs · min^?1 (1046 ± 175 W, (F(2,15) = 12.350; P = 0.077; η² = 0.989). The shortest time to power production was attained at 120 revs · min^?1 in 2.5 ± 1.07 s. Whilst a cadence of 80 revs · min^?1 (3.5 ± 0.8 s, (F(2,15) = 2.667; P = .284; η² = 0.800) 100 revs · min^?1 (3.00 ± 1.13 s, (F(2,15) = 24.832; P = .039; η² = 0.974) and 140 revs · min^?1 (3.50 ± 0.88 s, (F(2,15) = 44.167; P = .006; η² = 0.967)) all recorded a longer time to peak power production. The results indicate that the optimal cadence for producing peak power output and reducing the time to peak power output are attained at comparatively low cadences for sprint cycling events. These findings could potentially inform strength and conditioning training to maximise dynamic force production and enable coaches to select optimal gear ratios.     

Variation in teachers’ conceptions of alternative assessment in Singapore primary schools

Alternative assessment is an increasingly common and popular discourse in education. The potential value and benefit of alternative assessment practices are premised on significant changes in assessment practices. Many alternative assessment practices seek and promise alternatives to tests and examinations. However, labelling a practice as ‘Alternative Assessment’ in itself is not a guarantee of meaningful departure from existing practice. Such alternative assessment practices risk retaining and perpetuating the same limitations and adverse consequences of tests and examinations they claim to avoid. Recent developments in the assessment system in Singapore have given rise to increased attention to alternative assessment as a means of alleviating negative effects of testing and high stakes examinations. The success or limitations of these attempts are helpful in understanding how alternative assessment can be understood and used in different ways, and how each way of experiencing alternative assessment may be more suited to supporting learning than others. In this article, the results of a phenomenographic study on teachers’ experiences of alternative assessment in Singapore are presented. Three conceptions of alternative assessment are identified, each depicting a particular way of understanding and using alternative assessment in schools. These findings are subsequently examined in terms of the potential for teachers to understand and use alternative assessment to enhance students learning in sustainable ways.