Recent trends in Business Masters degrees in the United Kingdom

The growth in numbers of Business Masters higher degrees in the United Kingdom is examined. Numbers are analysed by sex, by first destination in the home employment market and by whether the student is sponsored by his or her employer or not. Reasons for differences in trends in these several groups are considered, and their implications for the future development of the MBA market discussed.     

Enhancing Teachers' Knowledge and Use of Inquiry Through Environmental Science Education

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Connectionism and learning to read: Steps towards a psychologically plausible model

We consider the prospects and need for a psychologically plausible connectionist model of the development of word recognition skills. We present an outline of the Seidenberg and McClelland (1989) distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming. We emphasize certain incompatibilities between this model and the assumptions underlying it and psychological evidence from studies of children learning to read. In particular, we emphasize the importance of phonological skills as precursors and facilitators of learning to read. We argue that it may be possible to develop a connectionist model of the development of word recognition skills which, by having a built in knowledge of phonology, will be more consistent with evidence from studies of both normal and dyslexic children.     

The impact of childhood reading on the development of environmental values

Direct experiences of nature are becoming less common in our urbanised world and little research exists regarding the impact of less direct experiences, particularly how childhood reading relates to the development of pro-environmental values. This study differs from previous reports into the influence of books, as it concentrates on the potential influence of fiction rather than factual or scientific texts. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with 31 educators at Eastern Australian Environmental Education Centres to understand the relationship of childhood reading and value development. Findings reveal that participants: (a) recall predominantly fictional reading material; (b) recall stories by Tolkien, Blyton and Rowling as pro-environmental influences; and (c) commonly exhibit the counter-intuitive influence of fantasy/SF stories in their formative years. Stories will never replace authentic childhood experiences in the natural environment; however, judicious use of appropriate stories could be a valuable teaching strategy as readers often unquestioningly accept information from stories.     

Early Childhood Professional Development: Coaching and Coursework Effects on Indicators of Children’s School Readiness

Research Findings: Effects on children’s school readiness were evaluated for 2 interventions focused on improving teacher–student interactions (coursework, coaching) implemented sequentially across 2 years. Teachers from public prekindergarten programs in 10 locations were assigned randomly to treatment or control conditions in each year. Children’s language behavior was observed during the coaching year: Coaching and the course each had positive impacts on children’s multiword language behavior. Treatment impacts on directly assessed literacy, language, and self-regulation skills were evaluated within an intent-to-treat framework for children taught by the participating teachers in the coaching and postcoaching years. Children demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control in direct assessments when their teacher had received coaching the prior year. Teachers who received both coursework and coaching reported in the postcoaching year that children in their classrooms demonstrated greater levels of behavioral control. Treatment effects did not differ as a consequence of child, classroom, or program characteristics, and there were no significant effects on directly assessed literacy or language skills. Practice or Policy: Results suggest modest benefits for children’s language behavior and self-regulation for intervention(s) that improve the quality of teacher–child interaction.     

Cross-Institutional Collaboration: (Co)Constructing Knowledge About Teaching and Learning in the Middle-Level Classroom

Utilizing technology to connect three geographically separate institutions within the same state and drawing on Bhabba, and Zeichner’s notions of third space, four teacher educators developed an opportunity for the middle-level teacher candidates from each university to simultaneously observe a live classroom teaching event virtually while participating in a backchannel conversation about the lesson. Upon completion of the live teaching event, candidates engaged in a debriefing session with the classroom teacher. This promising practice allowed candidates to discuss a lesson from multiple perspectives, broadening their views of teaching and learning at the middle level and enabling middle-level teacher educators an opportunity to scaffold (co)construction of knowledge about young adolescents and effective classroom practices.     

Recreational activities and motor skills of children in kindergarten

Background: Developmental theorists suggest that physical activity during early childhood promotes fundamental motor skill (FMS) proficiency; and that differences in FMS proficiency are largely related to children's experiences.

Aim: To examine associations between participation in different types of recreation/leisure and FMS proficiency of boys and girls in their first year of school. We hypothesized that there would be positive associations between FMS proficiency and participation in organized sport, physical activities, and active physical recreation; but not for other types of recreation/leisure.

Method: Participants (n?=?74) were kindergarten children (Mage?=?5y11?m; boys?=?55%). Parents completed the diversity dimension of the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) survey. The CAPE measures children's participation in everyday activities outside of mandated school activities in the past four months in five types of formal and informal activities, specifically: Recreational activities, Physical activities, Social activities, Skill-Based activities, and Self-Improvement activities. Two categories of activities were also reported: Organized Sport and Active Physical Recreation. Locomotor and object control skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 and static balance was assessed using a stork stand. Sex-based differences in motor skills and participation were examined using chi-squared analyses. Correlation coefficients were used to examine relationships between motor skills and CAPE sub-domains and categories. Linear regression was used to examine whether the type of activity predicted motor skill proficiency and the reverse.

Results: There were no sex-based differences in locomotor skills; whereas boys' object control skill scores were significantly higher than girls, and girls' stork stand scores were higher than boys'. Although there were no sex-based differences in the more active categories of recreational pastimes; girls participated in significantly more formal and informal dance and the prevalence of participation in team sports was significantly higher for boys. For boys, participation in physical activities predicted both locomotor and object control skill scores, organized sport predicted object control skills, and active recreation predicted stork stand times and object control skill scores. These relationships were not evident among the girls.

Conclusions: These findings illustrate that young children participate in a narrower array of physically active recreational pursuits compared with less active pursuits. There were notable sex-based differences in the relationships between participation and motor skill proficiency. For girls, none of the associations between recreational pastimes and motor skill proficiency were significant. This suggests that the motor proficiency of girls, as assessed in this study, is neither a precursor to, nor an outcome of, participation in active recreational pastimes. Contrastingly, the findings for boys support theory that suggests that physical activity is driving the acquisition of particular types of motor skills. Less active recreational activities were not associated with motor skill levels of boys, whereas each of the more active categories of recreational pastimes (active recreation, physical activities, and organized sport) predicted at least one sub-type of motor skill. It also seems clear from our findings that more light needs to be shed on how to optimally portray young girls' motor skill proficiency; as well as the relationships between their participation and motor skills.