Effects of Class Size and Equipment Availability on Student Involvement in Physical Education

This study examined the effects of two different environmental conditions upon the classroom behaviors of teachers and students. Three primary school physical education teachers were videotaped teaching introductory soccer lessons to year 5 and 6 students. Class sizes were 12, 24, and 44; equipment availability was either unlimited or limited to two balls and four markers. The “academic learning time-physical education” instrument was used to measure teachers’ time allocations to subject matter and student involvement. Students in the double-sized class conditions spent significantly more time in nonacademic tasks and in game/scrimmage motor activities, whereas more time in the half-sized class condition was spent in skill practice. Student involvement showed significantly more motor-appropriate activity and more cognitive and less organizational activity in classes where there were unlimited amounts of equipment available, irrespective of class size. These data are interpreted as demonstrating that teacher decision making and resultant pupil opportunity to respond are strongly influenced by environmental variables and that such influence can be both systematic and predictable. The reporting of significant environmental features and increased attention to their effects is thus seen as essential for future research in the teaching of physical education.     

The Role of Initial Learning,Problem Features,Prior Knowledge,and Pattern Recognition on Transfer Success

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that transfer ability (positive and negative) varies depending on the nature of the problems, using the knowledge transfer matrix, as well as being dependent on the individual differences of the learner. A total of 178 participants from the United States and New Zealand completed measures of prior knowledge, pattern recognition, a positive transfer problem, and a negative transfer problem. Nearly 11% of participants could not successfully solve the base problem after the initial learning phase. The problem condition was a significant predictor of positive transfer success, while no significant differences were found for negative transfer, although, there was ample evidence of negative transfer. Furthermore, prior knowledge was only a significant predictor for problems in which the structural features between the problems were different. Future directions are discussed in regard to the initial learning phase, differences in transfer success, and the need for measures of negative transfer.     

Problem-Attack Behavior and Sex,Prior Teaching Experience,and College Preparation of Elementary School Principals

A modified form of Judgment Analysis (JAN) was used as a vehicle for capturing a group or collective teacher effectiveness policy of selected students at the University of Northern Colorado. Regardless of the grouping of students (grade level of students, reasons for taking the course, school or college in which the students were enrolled) one policy emerged. This policy can be described as a student concern for the personal characteristics of the instructor (instructor’s interest and enthusiasm, interpersonal relationships, ability to communicate the subject, ability to interest and motivate students). The instructor’s classroom management characteristics and his professional qualities (attitude, knowledge, and preparation) did not make a significant unique contribution to this policy.     

Coleman,Plowden, Jencks,and now,Rutter: An Assessment of a Recent Contribution to the Debate on School Effects1

Abstract: Cuttance, P. 1980. Coleman, Plowden, Jencks, and now, Rutter: An Assessment of a Recent Contribution to the Debate on School Effects. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 24,191‐205. The general context of the debate on school effects in which the Rutter et al.study is set, is outlined, and a brief overview of the study is given. A critical assessment of the study is then undertaken via an evaluation of the methodology, statistical procedures, substantive educational findings, and the testing of the main hypothesis. I argue that the study fails to provide scientific evidence which is relevant and capable of corroborating its major hypothesis: that there are educationally significant differences between schools, and that these are explainable by ‘school processes’, after adjustment is made for the differences in intake between schools.     

RESILIENCY PROFILES OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND THEIR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PEERS

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes, including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID (n = 115; mean age, 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers (n = 106; mean age, 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment. In many respects, children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence.     

Media Portrayals of Tiger Woods: A Qualitative Deconstructive Examination

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine televised media portrayals of Tiger Woods from a cultural studies perspective that is sensitive to historical patterns of minority participation in golf. A deconstructive strategy was undertaken to analyze the type, style, and kind of media images of Tiger Woods' life history and golf accomplishments. The underlying meanings of these images were analyzed in an effort to expose how popular culture reflects and promotes hegemonic practices in golf. The results revealed that the meanings and images of Tiger Woods articulated within the media were inconsistent and in direct contradiction to common sense views that minorities have made advances in the golf subculture. In fact, a closer examination of the media texts showed that the underlying media messages actually reinrorce historical practices and common stereotypes of the golf community. In this paper we argued that media portrayals of Tiger Woods were characterized by an underlying racist, sexist, and classist ideology masked by cummon sense images and views of sport.     

REVIEWS

This article presents a historical approach to the multi-faith Religious Education introduced at the junior secondary level in Botswana in 1996. The article begins by examining the Christian confessional approach introduced during the missionary era and notes that despite various forms of earlier government opposition the Christian syllabus became popular again in the 1970s. In 1993, a movement toward a multi-faith syllabus gained momentum. Some of the background to this is given including the influence of British experience. This new syllabus is then subjected to some critique. An attempt to classify the new syllabus' methodology is also provided. A discussion of the public and religious groups' response to the multi-faith syllabus follows. Finally, through a small survey, views of teachers (n = 48) on the new syllabus are recorded and discussed and the overall outcome appears positive. The conclusion is that the Botswana multi-faith syllabus, with adjustments, is relevant to the educational needs of a homogenous society.     

Some considerations for Advancing the Teaching of Reading Comprehension

In this article we identify a number of issues that need to be addressed if we are to continue to make advances in the teaching of reading comprehension. First, we suggest that it is important to continue the search for a variety of effective instructional approaches for teaching reading comprehension and to learn more about the conditional applicability of the instructional approaches currently in vogue. Second, we argue that it is important to expand our definition of reading comprehension to more fully appreciate the social, political, and educational dimensions of reading comprehension and reading instruction. Finally, we consider some of the impediments hindering the classroom application of comprehension instruction research and we argue that researchers must become more concerned with the pragmatic aspects of how to make a difference to comprehension instruction in the classroom.