Students' Choice of Post-Compulsory Science: In search of schools that compensate for the socio-economic background of their students

It is commonly argued that socio-economic inequalities can explain many of the differences in achievement and participation in science education that have been reported among countries and among schools within a country. We addressed this issue by examining (a) the relationship between variables associated with socio-economic background and application frequencies to the Swedish Natural Science Programme (NSP) in upper secondary school and (b) whether there are lower secondary schools in Sweden that seem to compensate for these variables. Data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) covering the whole population of 106,483 ninth-grade students were used to calculate the probability for each student to apply to the NSP. Our results indicate that the variables, such as parental educational level and grades, have explanatory power, but with varying effect for different subpopulations of students. For example, grades in mathematics have a greater impact than grades in science for females' choice of the NSP. The opposite holds for male students. Out of 1,342 schools, 158 deviated significantly from predicted, that is, the students in these schools applied to the NSP in greater or lesser extent than expected. The number of deviating schools is greater than predicted by pure random variation. This suggests that variables of socio-economic background are only a partial explanation of the application frequencies, and that the deviation needs to be investigated further. Our findings suggest that in order to understand why schools deviate positively and so compensate for the socio-economic background of their students, we need to study their practices more closely.     

Engaging youth of color in applied science education and public health promotion

Participation in inquiry-based science education, which focuses on student-constructed learning, has been linked to academic success. Whereas the benefits of this type of science education are evident, access to such high-quality science curriculum and programming is not equitable. Black and Latino students in particular have less access to supplementary science programming, and fewer opportunities to engage in inquiry-based education. This paper describes outcomes associated with an inquiry-based out-of-school time science education program, Nuestro Futuro: Applied Science Education to Engage Black and Latino Youth (NFASE), which sought to build the capacity of middle school students of color to ‘think’ like health scientists from diverse disciplinary perspectives. The program was designed with the intent of (1) improving student attitudes toward and motivation for science and (2) increasing active and engaged citizenship (AEC). NFASE students explored health inequity and the social determinants of health locally and engaged in developing health promotion, outreach and education efforts targeted to their peers, parents/families, and community. Interest in the program was high overall, but implementation was not without challenges. Although evaluation outcomes indicate that there were no statistically significant changes in science-related attitudes or motivation, students reported significant increases in neighborhood social connection, as well as overall AEC.     

A generic method for distribution and transfer of ECTS and other norm-referenced grades within student cohorts

The ECTS grade transfer scale is an interface grade scale to help European universities, students and employers to understand the level of student achievement. Hence, the ECTS scale can be seen as an interface, transforming local scales to a common system where A–E denote passing grades. By definition, ECTS should distribute the passing students into five cohorts representing fixed percentiles. This paper presents a generic method to distribute cohorts of students with differentiated passing local grades into ECTS, or any other grading scale, cohorts. It takes into account historic student performance, the percentiles required for the scale in question as well as the relative performance of a student group in relation to student groups previously graded in the same course module. This method can handle any number of equally or unequally spaced local grade cohorts of any size, and it allows direct transfer between local grades in the spirit of ECTS.     

Adolescent Weak Decoders Writing in a Shallow Orthography: Process and Product

It has been hypothesized that students with dyslexia struggle with writing because of a word-level focus that reduces attention to higher level textual features (structure, theme development). This may result from difficulties with spelling and/or difficulties with reading. Twenty-six Norwegian upper secondary students (M = 16.9 years) with weak decoding skills and 26 age-matched controls composed expository texts by keyboard under two conditions: normally and with letters masked to prevent them reading what they were writing. Weak decoders made more spelling errors and produced poorer quality text. Their inter-key-press latencies were substantially longer preword, at word end, and within word. These findings provide some support for the word-level focus hypothesis, although we found that weak decoders were slightly less likely to engage in word-level editing. Preventing reading did not affect differences between weak decoders and controls, indicating that their reduced fluency was associated with production rather than reading difficulties.     

Competition for Viewers and Advertisers in a TV Oligopoly

Abstract

This study considers a model of a TV oligopoly where TV channels transmit advertising and viewers dislike such commercials. It is shown that advertisers make a lower profit the larger the number of TV channels. If TV channels are sufficiently close substitutes, there will be underprovision of advertising relative to social optimum. This study also finds that the more viewers dislike ads, the more likely it is that welfare is increasing in the number of advertising-financed TV channels. A publicly owned TV channel can partly correct market distortions, in some cases, by having a larger amount of advertising than private TV channels. It may even have advertising in cases where advertising is wasteful per se.     

Work-time profile,blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion in the 1998 Greco-Roman wrestling World Championship

The aim of this study was to examine work-time profiles, blood lactate concentrations and perceived exertion among Greco-Roman wrestlers in the 1998 World Championship. Forty-two senior wrestlers from nine nations were studied in 94 matches. Each match was recorded with a video camera (Panasonic AG 455, film rate: 25 Hz) and analysed for duration of work (wrestling) and rest (interrupt) periods. Blood lactate concentration was determined with an electrochemical device (Analox P-LM5) and a rating of perceived exertion scale (Borg) was used to estimate general exertion and exertion in the extremity and trunk muscles. The mean duration of the matches was 427 s (range 324-535 s), with mean durations of work and rest of 317 and 110 s, respectively. The mean periods of work and rest were 37.2 and 13.8 s, respectively. Mean blood lactate concentration was 14.8 mmol · l -1 (range 6.9-20.6). The difference in mean blood lactate concentration between the first- and final-round matches was not significant ( P > 0.05). Blood lactate concentration was significantly higher ( P ? 0.04) in matches of long duration than in those of short duration. The mean general rating of perceived exertion for all matches was 13.8 according to the scale used. Most of the wrestlers (53.3%) perceived exertion to be highest in the flexors of the forearm, followed by the deltoids (17.4%) and the biceps brachii muscles (12.0%). In addition to a relatively high rating of perceived exertion in the arm muscles, this indicates a high specific load on the flexor muscles of the forearm.     

Caffeine supplementation does not affect match activities and fatigue resistance during match play in young football players

Abstract

The study examined the effect of caffeine supplementation on match activities and development of fatigue during a football match. In a randomised, double-blind cross-over design, two experimental football games separated by 7 days were organised between the junior teams of two professional football clubs (17.6 ± 1.1 years (±s), 71.7 ± 6.9 kg, 13.9% ± 5.0% body fat). The players ingested either a capsule of 6 mg · kg^?1 b.w. caffeine or placebo (dextrose) 65 min prior to the matches. Match activities were assessed using the ZXY match analysis system, and a Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test–level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2) was conducted immediately post-game. Heart rate was monitored throughout the game, and blood samples were obtained at baseline, half-time and after the game. There were no differences between caffeine and placebo regarding total distance covered (10,062 ± 916 vs 9854 ± 901 m), high-intensity running (557 ± 178 vs 642 ± 240 m), sprinting distance (109 ± 58 vs 112 ± 69 m) or acceleration counts (123 ± 31 vs 126 ± 24). In both trials, players displayed lower (P < 0.05) values in total distance and acceleration counts in the last 15 min compared to all other 15-min periods of the matches. Post-game Yo-Yo IR2 performance was not different between game trials (caffeine: 829 ± 322 m; placebo 819 ± 289 m). In conclusion, oral caffeine administration does not appear to have an ergogenic effect in young football players during match play.     

Movement pattern and physiological response in recreational small-sided football – effect of number of players with a fixed pitch size

Recreational soccer is an effective health-promoting activity, but it is unclear how different game formats influence internal and external load. Thus, to be able to advise how to maximise the outcome of recreational football, we examined movement pattern and physiological response in 11 untrained men (32.6 ± 6.7 yrs, 23.3 ± 4.9 fat%, 43.4 ± 5.3 ml·min^?1·kg^?1) during three football sessions comprising 4 × 12 min of 3v3, 5v5 or 7v7 with a constant pitch size of 20 × 40 m. Movement pattern, heart rate (HR), blood lactate and RPE were measured during and after the 12-min periods. Greater (P < 0.05) total distance and high-speed distance was covered during 3v3 than 5v5 (14 and 30%) and 7v7 (15 and 75%). Mean HR was higher in 3v3 (85.7 ± 5.7%HRmax) and 5v5 (84.2 ± 5.1%HRmax) than in 7v7 (80.7 ± 4.6%HRmax, P < 0.05) and percentage time >90%HR was higher in 3v3 (43 ± 18%, P < 0.05) than in 5v5 (28 ± 21%) and 7v7 (18 ± 14%). Blood lactate was higher in 3v3 (7.4 ± 2.7 mmol·l^?1) than in 7v7 (4.5 ± 2.2 mmol·l^?1, P < 0.001) but not in 5v5 (6.1 ± 2.1 mmol·l^?1, P = 0.061). RPE was higher in 3v3 (6.7 ± 2.3, P < 0.01) than in 5v5 (5.2 ± 2.2) and 7v7 (4.3 ± 2.3). In conclusion, higher external and internal load was found with fewer players, when the pitch size is fixed.     

Trajectories in teacher education: Recognising prior learning in practice

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A situated learning perspective is applied, with a focus on participation and trajectories in the two communities of practice in which teacher education is situated – the university and the pre-school. The data consist of transcribed interviews with ten student teachers, and additional data are gathered from stakeholders in the program. The results show that prior experiences and learning are given implicit and indirect recognition. In the practice of the pre-school, the trajectory means a shift in identity, from child minder to student teacher and pre-school teacher. In the practice of the university, prior experiences and learning help students in their trajectories from peripheral to fuller participation.