Reliability of observational data on teaching practices in secondary school mathematics

The reliability of data collected with a classroom observation instrument is considered. Thirty secondary school mathematics classes were observed on 10 different occasions. Results show that almost none of the variables describing instruction could be considered reliable. On the other hand, variables relating to questions, responses, and feedback in class did attain high reliability. The discussion evaluates the importance of this type of study for research on teaching.     

Skeletal maturation,fundamental motor skills and motor coordination in children 7–10 years

Relationships between skeletal maturation and fundamental motor skills and gross motor coordination were evaluated in 429 children (213 boys and 216 girls) 7–10 years. Skeletal age was assessed (Tanner-Whitehouse 2 method), and stature, body mass, motor coordination (Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder, KTK) and fundamental motor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development, TGMD-2) were measured. Relationships among chronological age, skeletal age (expressed as the standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age) and body size and fundamental motor skills and motor coordination were analysed with hierarchical multiple regression. Standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age interacting with stature and body mass explained a maximum of 7.0% of the variance in fundamental motor skills and motor coordination over that attributed to body size per se. Standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age alone accounted for a maximum of 9.0% of variance in fundamental motor skills, and motor coordination over that attributed to body size per se and interactions between standardised residual of skeletal age on chronological age and body size. In conclusion, skeletal age alone or interacting with body size has a negligible influence on fundamental motor skills and motor coordination in children 7–10 years.     

Developing children: developmental discourses underpinning physical education at three Scottish preschool settings

This paper reports on one aspect of a study that investigated the place and meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners and children at three preschool settings in Scotland. We employed a poststructural type of discourse analysis to examine the developmental discourses the 14 participating practitioners drew on when talking about ‘physical education’ at preschools, during semi-structured interviews. Three main discourses around the notion of developmentalism were identified during analysis of the adults’ interview data: (1) preschool children learn and develop through play; (2) preschool children should have choices and freedom and (3) sometimes more structured activities are needed. The practitioners were heavily invested in developmental ‘truths’ about how preschool children learn and develop. They were in agreement that play is a vital element of preschool education, and that, consequently, children should be provided with opportunities for exploration and making choices. However, they also talked about sometimes ‘needing’ to restrict children's freedom and provide more adult-led activities. Our findings illustrate the strength of developmental discourses at the three settings. We suggest that preschool practitioners, as well as policy-makers and researchers, should critically reflect on the effects of taken-for-granted developmental discourses and move beyond thinking in terms of binaries such as ‘physical education versus play’ or ‘structure versus freedom’.     

Effects of Junior Kindergarten on Emerging Literacy in Children from Low-Income and Linguistic-Minority Families

We study the benefits of junior kindergarten for linguistic-minority 4-year-olds compared to their linguistic-majority classmates from the same low-income neighborhoods. At the end of the school year, linguistic-minority children made significantly greater improvements in language skills than their host society classmates. At the mid-year point, junior kindergarten teachers made efforts to help linguistic-minority children overcome the challenges of the school environment of their new host society by adapting their pedagogical strategies to those showing difficulty in their receptive vocabulary skills. They also offered greater means of contact to parents of linguistic-minority children having difficulty attaining language proficiency than to parents of children showing better improvements. Parents of linguistic-minority students showing smaller gains were more likely to use a larger proportion of the communication methods offered by teachers and participate in the parent–school relationship for the well-being of their children. Long-term results suggest that linguistic-minority children continued to make significant improvements.

Designing a learning sequence about a pre‐quantitative kinetic model of gases: the parts played by questions and by a computer‐simulation

Empirical studies in physics and chemistry education have shown some of the limits of a general constructivist view of the teaching‐‐learning process. In our opinion, we need more specific constructivist models of learning, which would take into account the distinctive epistemological features of the scientific field concerned. The dynamic process that we planned is founded upon some distinctive features of theories about the structure of matter: their philosophical and non‐empirical foundations, their character as a hypothetical model, their character of mechanical analogy. This learning process can be seen as a search for an analogy between the properties of a sample of gas and the properties of a set of particles moving under rules derived from the kinetic theory of gases. The didactic experiment is based upon the use of a computer simulation. It includes a first phase of interviews. The second phase of experimentation in the classroom gives some quantitative information in usual classroom teaching‐learning conditions. The analysis of the data allowed us on the one hand to assess the short‐term and long‐term effectiveness of this learning process and on the other hand to discuss the hypotheses underlying the choice of phenomena and questions we formulated in order to design the didactical situations.     

The effect of event repetition on the production of story grammar in children's event narratives

Objective

This study examined the effect of event repetition on the amount and nature of story-grammar produced by children when recalling the event.

Method

Children aged 4 years (N = 50) and 7 years (N = 56) participated in either 1 or 6 occurrences of a highly similar event where details varied across the occurrences. Half the children in each age and event group recalled the last/single occurrence 5-6 days later and the other half recalled the last/single occurrence after 5-6 weeks (the final and single occurrence was the same). Children's free recall responses were classified according to the number and proportion of story-grammar elements (Stein &; Glenn, 1979—setting, initiating event, internal response, plan, attempt, direct consequence, and resolution) as well as the prevalence of causal links between the individual story-grammar elements.

Results

More story-grammar detail and more links between individual story-grammar elements were reported about the final compared to single occurrence. The amount of story-grammar increased with age and decreased over time. Further, an interaction was revealed such that the effect of retention interval on the production of story-grammar was negligible for older children who experienced the repeated event.

Conclusions

Event repetition has a beneficial effect on the production of children's story-grammar content in situations where event details varied from occasion to occasion. This study highlights the importance of eliciting free recall when conducting evidential interviews with child witnesses about repeated events.     

Describing individual incidents of sexual abuse: a review of research on the effects of multiple sources of information on children’s reports

Objective: For successful prosecution of child sexual abuse, children are often required to provide reports about individual, alleged incidents. Although verbally or mentally rehearsing memory of an incident can strengthen memories, children’s report of individual incidents can also be contaminated when they experience other events related to the individual incidents (e.g., informal interviews, dreams of the incident) and/or when they have similar, repeated experiences of an incident, as in cases of multiple abuse.Method: Research is reviewed on the positive and negative effects of these related experiences on the length, accuracy, and structure of children’s reports of a particular incident.Results: Children’s memories of a particular incident can be strengthened when exposed to information that does not contradict what they have experienced, thus promoting accurate recall and resistance to false, suggestive influences. When the encountered information differs from children’s experiences of the target incident, however, children can become confused between their experiences—they may remember the content but not the source of their experiences.Conclusions: We discuss the implications of this research for interviewing children in sexual abuse investigations and provide a set of research-based recommendations for investigative interviewers.     

Grade 12 French Students’ use of a Thermodynamic Model for Predicting the Direction of Incomplete Chemical Changes

The authors of the current chemistry curriculum—implemented in Grade 12 in France—provided a criterion of change allowing prediction of direction of chemical changes and pointed out the difference to be made between experimental facts and models. A study analysing part of the curriculum content and the effects of teaching this content on students’ reasoning was conducted. The content analysis presents the functioning of the thermodynamic model, which highlights the links to be made between the experimental situation and the model when predicting the direction of a chemical change. This functioning specifies the role of the chemical equation and that of the criterion of change (comparing the reaction quotient to the equilibrium constant) and stresses the crucial points that may lead to misunderstandings. Written tests were administered to students after teaching them to determine how they predicted the direction of a chemical change, and whether they made a relevant choice between using the chemical equation and using the criterion of change and a clear distinction between the experimental situation and the thermodynamic model. Few students had a good understanding of the respective roles of the criterion and the chemical equation. A majority used the criterion to predict the direction of chemical changes relevantly, but correct answers were not widespread. Two particular mistakes, the modification of the expression of the reaction quotient and the prediction of a change despite a missing reactant, revealed that students do not properly understand the difference and the relationship between the experimental situation and the thermodynamic model.