Threshold concepts and the troublesome transition from GCSE to A-level: exploring students’ experiences in secondary school biology

Abstract

This paper draws on doctoral research exploring the lived experiences of secondary school students during their first year of A-level study, through the theoretical lens of the Threshold Concept Framework. A longitudinal design frame based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is employed, thus providing an original use of this methodology in education research to address the paucity of inquiry exploring the difficulties experienced by students as they transition from the General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) to A-level. In this context, I argue that students’ encounters with threshold concepts (TCs) are significant for them, posing a degree of cognitive and affective challenge which serves to exacerbate the difficulty of transition already caused by increased workload and pressure. The findings offer insights into students’ struggles adjusting to shifting identity and membership of communities further intensified by the integrative, discursive and transformative nature of TC acquisition. The longitudinal research design also surfaces positive aspects of growing awareness of the integrative power of TCs. Recommendations are made for further research involving students, teachers and academics to explore TCs in a range of other subjects and settings in secondary schools in the context of recent and significant changes to GCSE and A-level curricula.     

Effects of active,passive or no warm-up on metabolism and performance during high-intensity exercise

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of type of warm-up on metabolism and performance during high-intensity exercise. Eight males performed 30 s of intense exercise at 120% of their maximal power output followed, 1 min later, by a performance cycle to exhaustion, again at 120% of maximal power output. Exercise was preceded by active, passive or no warm-up (control). Muscle temperature, immediately before exercise, was significantly elevated after active and passive warm-ups compared to the control condition (36.9 - 0.18°C, 36.8 - 0.18°C and 33.6 - 0.25°C respectively; mean - sx ) ( P ? 0.05). Total oxygen consumption during the 30 s exercise bout was significantly greater in the active and passive warm-up trials than in the control trial (1017 - 22, 943 - 53 and 838 - 45 ml O 2 respectively). Active warm-up resulted in a blunted blood lactate response during high-intensity exercise compared to the passive and control trials (change = 5.53 - 0.52, 8.09 - 0.57 and 7.90 - 0.38 mmol· l -1 respectively) ( P ? 0.05). There was no difference in exercise time to exhaustion between the active, passive and control trials (43.9 - 4.1, 48.3 - 2.7 and 46.9 - 6.2 s respectively) ( P = 0.69). These results indicate that, although the mechanism by which muscle temperature is elevated influences certain metabolic responses during subsequent high-intensity exercise, cycling performance is not significantly affected.     

Somersaulting techniques used in high-scoring and low-scoring Roche vaults performed by male Olympic gymnasts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the somersaulting techniques used in the 16 highest-scoring and 16 lowest-scoring Roche vaults. Our hypothesis was that the gymnasts performing the highest-scoring Roche vaults would demonstrate a better technique than those performing the lowest-scoring Roche vaults while on the horse (pushing off the horse more effectively), somersaulting (executing most of the required somersaults higher in flight), and landing (showing a greater control). A 16-mm motion picture camera, operating at 100 Hz, recorded the vaults during the official competition. The two-dimensional direct linear transformation was used for spatial reconstruction. The results of t-tests (P < 0.05) indicated that, compared with the low-scoring gymnasts, the high-scoring gymnasts had: (1) greater height of body centre of mass and a more fully extended body position at the horse take-off; (2) greater height of body centre of mass at the peak of post-flight, knee release, and touchdown on the mat; (3) greater horizontal and vertical displacements of body centre of mass, greater somersaulting rotation, and longer time from the knee release to mat touchdown; and (d) markedly smaller landing point deductions. In conclusion, a successful Roche vault is likely when the focus is on: (a) leaving the horse with a large vertical velocity in an extended body position to achieve a high trajectory of centre of mass by first extending the legs, then immediately pushing off the horse vigorously, using the muscles of the upper extremity; (b) grasping the knees immediately after the take-off from the horse, achieving the tightly tucked body position early during the ascent to the peak, and completing two-thirds of the required somersaults at a great height; (c) releasing the knees and extending the body above the top level of the horse; and (d) contacting the mat with a high body centre of mass position.     

The pasteurized state: milk, health and the government of risk

In the late 1940s, Florence Sabin, a retired professor of medicine, returned to her home in Colorado to launch a massive public health campaign. Seeing "filthy milk" as an important vector of disease, she struggled not just pasteurized milk, but a pasteurized state government that was capable of regulating the milk industry. In the process, she brought managerialism into public health by fighting against the political machines and introducing Robert McNamara's systems analysis into government for the first time. Sabin's innovation, which united business, government and public health in new ways, transformed the way that public health is managed even today.     

Perceived Family Influences in Talent Development Among Artistically Talented Teenagers in Singapore

Though there have been quite a number of research studies focusing on how Singaporean families promote literacy and instill values of academic excellence inside the home, little has been written about how families nurture the gifts of teenagers talented in the arts in the Singaporean context. This article highlights how the family influences the talent development of teacher-nominated teenagers who are identified to be among the top in visual arts, dance, theater, music, and academics. Through in-depth interviews conducted with the 14 talented teenagers, the researcher highlights their family's involvement and interest in the arts, their parents' occupational backgrounds, as well as family values and activities that the young artists-in-training perceive to be influential in shaping the development of their artistic talents. Reflections on patterns of childrearing in the Asian context are likewise discussed.     

Ruffling the calm of the ocean floor: merging practice,policy and research in assessment in Scotland

The formative Assessment for Learning proposals outlined by Black and Wiliam (e.g. Black et al., 2002 Black P Harrison C Lee C Marshall B Wiliam D 2002 Working inside the black box: assessment for learning in the classroom (London, King's College)  [Google Scholar]) have been well publicised. Since 2002, in its Assessment is for Learning programme, the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) has been exploring ways of bringing research, policy and practice in assessment into closer alignment using research on both assessment and transformational change. This paper focuses on one project within Assessment Is for Learning, in which pilot primary and secondary schools across Scotland were encouraged to develop formative assessment approaches in classrooms. They were supported in this by researchers, curriculum developers and local and national policy‐makers. The paper examines the rationale and methods behind the enactment of formative assessment in these schools. It draws upon evidence provided by the interim and final reports of participating schools to draw conclusions about areas of success within the project and potential barriers to the project's future in its evolution from pilot to national programme.     

Books Dealing with News

Delmor D. Dunn's Public Officials and the Press (Addison-Wesloy paporback, price unknown)

William O. Chittick's State Department, The Press, and Pressure Groups (Wiley-Interscience, $9.95)

Richard W. Lee, Politics and the Press (Acropolis Books (Washington D.C.), $3.95 in paperback, with a hardcover edition available, price unknown)

Curtis D. MacDougal's edited collection, Reporters Report Reporters (Iowa State, $6.50)

Ruth Adler, The Working Press (Bantam, $1.25)