What Does it Mean to Question?

The purpose of this paper is two fold: first, to tease out the meaning inherent in the correlativity of the question and answer process and second, to suggest a philosophical answer to the question “What does it mean to question?” in the context of teacher education. To that end, we want to claim that R.G. Collingwood’s “Logic of Question and Answer” is a valuable tool in filling the gap in scholarship concerning the art of questioning. While research into the activity of teaching often emphasizes the role and effectiveness of questioning, these studies have largely focussed on the strategies and results of the practice of questioning. We argue that they place too little emphasis on making sense of the process itself and that more time should be spent on the Logic of Question and Answer. To accomplish our goal, in Collingwoodian form, we will contextualize an example of how the understanding of the question and answer complex informs the practice of teacher education in the specific area of the Social Studies Methods Course.     

Parental Conceptions of School Readiness: Relation to Ethnicity,Socioeconomic Status,and Children's Skills

Research Findings: This study analyzed the school readiness beliefs of parents of 452 children from public pre-kindergarten and the relations of these beliefs to socioeconomic status and children's readiness skills. Parents conceived readiness largely in terms of the ability to name objects, letters, or numbers, but few included inferential skills. Readiness beliefs were related not to socioeconomic status but to ethnicity. Readiness beliefs about the importance of independence, social competence, nominal knowledge, and inferential skills were related in expected ways to children's skills. Practice or Policy: Infrequent inclusion of inferential skills among parents' readiness beliefs may not bode well for children. Informational programs for parents about the critical role of higher order cognitive skills and ways to promote them are needed.     

College and University Teaching

One form of professional development available to faculty is the opportunity to co-teach. Studies of team teaching report increased communication between teachers and students and improved retention and achievement. This article describes a multiyear collaboration between two faculty members that began with a training relationship and expanded into co-teaching. From this experience, the authors widened their knowledge of resources, added to their teaching repertoire, and created new projects and assignments. The co-teaching relationship led to examination of processes and outcomes of their teaching and co-writing. Over time, this professional experience has grown into an exchange of roles and responsibilities. Although this collaboration did not begin as a scholarship endeavor, it has become a long-lasting one built on trust and mutual interest.     

Establishing the foundations for an inclusive education system in Iraq: reflection on findings from a nationwide survey

This paper reports a national study on the prevalence of childhood disability designed to inform initiatives promoting improved school attendance by children with disabilities in Iraq. The study was commissioned by UNICEF, coordinated by the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, and designed by academics in the UK in consultation with Iraqi academics and professionals. The mixed methods study included a major household survey, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups across four of Iraq's 18 governorates (Erbil, Baghdad, Najaf and Basra). An initial scoping study collected background data through interviews, site-visits and document analysis, establishing the context and informing the design of the main study. In this paper, we provide an overview of the educational context in Iraq, data on school attendance and disability among children aged 6–18 years, and the perspectives and vision for education in Iraq verbalised by key stakeholders. This research provides insights into current patterns of school attendance, and considers some of the implications for inclusive education in Iraq. We conclude by discussing the potential for implementation of Iraqi policy initiatives to impact on the rights of disabled people within education and wider social provision.     

Research Methods

ESSENTIALS OF BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH by Robert Rosenthal and Ralph Rosnow (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984—price not given)

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH by Jerome Kirk and Marc L. Miller (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1986—$10.95/6.00)

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS by Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Hubermann (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1984—price not given)

HOW TO CONDUCT SURVEYS by Arline Fink and Jacqueline Kosecoff (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985—$12.00, paper)     

Multiple software review: Drawing path diagrams

Amos Draw v3.51. SmallWaters Inc., 1507 East 53rd Street, Suite 452, Chicago, IL. MS® Windows® 3.x, 95, NT.

Chartist v1.7. NovaGraph, Inc., P. O. Box 80115, Richardson, TX. MS® Windows® 3.x, 95, NT.

Microsoft PowerPoint v7. Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052–6399. MS® Windows® 3.x, 95, NT.

EQS v5.3. Multivariate Software, Inc., 4924 Balboa Boulevard, #368, Encino, CA. Windows® 3.x, 95, NT; Mac® OS 7.0 (and above).

MS Paint. (Packaged with Windows® 3.x, 95).

Visio v1.0. Visio Corp., 520 Pike Street, Suite 1800, Seattle, WA 98101. MS® Windows® 3.x, 95, NT.     

TECH PREP AT THE CROSSROADS

A decade has passed since the publication of Parnell's (1985) book The Neglected Majority, which stressed the need to provide a linkage system to better articulate secondary and postsecondary technical education. Initial strides in generating the “tech prep system” have begun to slow down. The slackened pace has resulted from, among other factors, a failure to adequately define the system that constitutes tech prep. This article discusses 11 problems that have proved to be obstacles in moving tech prep forward. The article also offers a model that can be construed as a tech prep product that can be marketed much as a college transfer program is marketed. The product, however, is actually an array of products constituting a system, the contents of which vary from place to place. The model is divided into both secondary and postsecondary components, and each set of components is explained. The secondary component is further explained in terms of a core component and a suggested component. The article also includes a discussion of how the model addresses the problems set out previously. The article concludes with sections on the model components of a tech prep system and the implications for practice that result from the discussion.     

Prediction of habitual physical activity level and weight status from fundamental movement skill level

Abstract

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) have been assessed in children in order to investigate the issues of the low proportion of children who meet physical activity (PA) guidelines and rising levels of obesity. The aim of this research was to identify whether previous or current FMS level is a better predictor of PA levels and weight status in children. In January 2012 (year 1), 281 children were recruited from one primary school in the West Midlands, UK. Children performed eight FMS three times, which were videoed and assessed using a subjective checklist. Sprint speed and jump height were measured objectively. Height and mass were measured to calculate the body mass index to determine the weight status. Skinfold calliper readings were used to calculate body fat percentage. One year later, in January 2013, all these tests were repeated on the same children, with the additional collection of PA data via the use of pedometers. Following multiple linear regression, it was identified that prior mastery in FMS was a better predictor of current PA, whereas current FMS was a better predictor of current weight status. Overall, FMS mastery is needed in childhood to be able to participate in PA and maintain a healthy weight status.     

Exercise Recovery,Lactate Removal,and Subsequent High Intensity Exercise Performance

Abstract

In order to examine the effects of different recoveries from high intensity short duration exercise on lactate removal and subsequent performance, 11 subjects completed 8 experimental sessions. Each subject completed an initial all-out pedaling task against 5.5 kg resistance (Monark bicycle ergometer) for 1 min followed by a randomly assigned recovery pattern and a repeat of the all-out exercise task. The main effects examined were active (1.0 kg, 60 rpm) vs passive recovery, inhalation of inhalation of oxygen vs room air during recovery, and 10- vs-20-min duration of recovery. Pedal revolutions were analyzed on a 6- by 6-sec and on a cumulative basis. Blood lactate concentrations were determined during rest, the 3rd–4th, 9th–10th, and 19th–20th min of recovery. Results revealed significant main effects for active vs passive recovery and for 10- vs 20-min recovery, with active and 20-min recovery resulting in significantly higher postrecovery pedal revolutions (p < .001) and enhanced rates of lactate removal during recovery (p < .001). Oxygen inhalation during recovery had no effect on postrecovery performance or lactate removal (p > .05). The correlation between blood lactate levels at the end of recovery and pedal revolutions on the postrecovery exercise task was only r = -.19, suggesting that factors other than lactate removal are critical for subsequent performance.