The impact of a college counseling program on economically disadvantaged gifted students and their subsequent college adjustment

The impact of a college and career counseling program on economically disadvantaged gifted students and their subsequent college adjustment was assessed. Fifty‐five students from public high schools in a major urban school district in the midwest were compared to a group of economically advantaged students who participated in a special summer program for high school students at a private midwestern university. Results indicate that both before and after the program, the groups were similar with respect to the basis for their college choices, motivation to attend college, and career readiness. The economically disadvantaged students changed their plans to finance college as a result of the program and expected college to be significantly more lonely. A three‐year follow‐up revealed that economically disadvantaged gifted students were more likely to enroll at in‐state colleges, to experience college as significantly more boring, dull, and snobbish, and to have more difficulty adjusting socially and forming attachments to their universities.     

Evaluating students' science notebooks as an assessment tool

The idea of using science notebooks as a classroom assessment tool is not new. There is general agreement that science notebooks allow teachers to assess students' conceptual and procedural understanding and to provide the feedback students need for improving their performance. In this study we examined the use of science notebooks as an unobtrusive assessment tool that can also be used by individuals outside the classroom (for example, school district personnel), and as a means for obtaining information about students' learning and their opportunities to learn. More specifically, in this study students' science notebooks were used as a source of data about the (a) implementation of a curriculum's intended activities, (b) students' performance, and (c) quality of teachers' feedback. Our results indicated that: (1) Students' science notebooks can be reliably scored. Unit implementation, student performance, and teacher feedback scores were highly consistent across raters and units. (2) High and positive correlations with other performance assessment scores indicated that the student performance score can be considered as an achievement indicator. And (3) low performance scores across the two units revealed that students' communication skills and understanding were far away from the maximum score and did not improve over the course of instruction during the school year. This result may be due, in part, to the fact that no teacher feedback was found in any of the students' notebooks across the six classrooms studied. This may reflect some characteristics of the teachers' assessment practices that may require further professional development.     

Designs of concept maps and their impacts on readers' performance in memory and reasoning while reading

From the perspective of the Fuzzy Trace Theory, this study investigated the impacts of concept maps with two strategic orientations (comprehensive and thematic representations) on readers' performance of cognitive operations (such as perception, verbatim memory, gist reasoning and syntheses) while the readers were reading two history articles that argue from different perspectives about a historical incident that had a profound impact on Taiwan. The results show that the design and focus of the concept maps may influence the formation of mental representations, and that this may be facilitative or constraining in regard to the readers' memory formation and reasoning about the reading materials. Based on these findings, the meaning of constraining effects of concept maps is discussed, and an instructional method involving the progressive elaboration of concept map systems is recommended.     

Environmental Education as a Lived‐Body Practice? A Contemplative Pedagogy Perspective

Environmental education usually appeals to the students’ knowledge and rational understanding. Even though this is needed, there is a neglected aspect of learning ecologically fruitful action; that of the lived‐body. This paper introduces the lived‐body as an important site for learning ecological action. An argument is made for the need of a biophilia revolution, in which refined experience of the body and enhanced capabilities for sensing are seen as important ways of complementing the more common, knowledge‐based environmental education. Alienation from the physical environment is seen as one key element in producing environmental devastation. Consequently, human alienation from nature is seen as closely related to alienation from one's body. It is claimed that through overcoming the (Cartesian) dualist alienation of human consciousness from its lived body, we can decrease the alienation of human beings from their environment. Methods of contemplative pedagogy are introduced for addressing alienation. By getting in touch with the tangible lived‐body in yoga or mindfulness meditation we reconnect to the material world of nature. Contemplative pedagogy cultivates the body and its senses for learning intrinsic valuation and caring for the environment. Lived‐body experience is challenging to conceptualise; we use Maurice Merleau‐Ponty's concept of the flesh in our attempt to do so. Finally, this paper suggests some contemplative practices of the lived‐body for environmental education. Experiencing the flesh of oneself and the world as one and the same is an environmentally conducive experience that gives value and meaning to the flourishing of all life, human and non‐human.     

Book review

Philosophy of Educational Research Richard Pring (2000), London and New York: Continuum.     

European Dissertation Summaries

Over the past decade, Donald Schön's conceptualization of professional practice as reflection‐in‐action has gained wide currency. This paper reports on a seminar, based on Schon's ideas, to assist elementary teachers in making Science a more significant part of their instructional programmes. A detailed analysis of the efforts of two of the experienced teachers involved points to problems related to: (i) the efficacy of reflection‐on‐action in facilitating reflecting‐in‐action; (ii) disjunctions between conceptual and action components of teachers' frames; and (iii) the role of substantive teacher intervention in assisting children in learning to use non‐common‐sense ways of knowing such as Science.     

A lifecycle model of the scientific communication process

A formal model of the scientific communication process is presented using the IDEF0 notation. The model provides a roadmap for policy discussions and further research. In comparison to earlier models it is more detailed and hierarchical, and includes more modelling constructs. It includes the whole communication value chain, from initial research to the assimilation of research results to everyday practice. Although the model treats both informal and formal communication, as well as the publishing of data, its focus is on modelling the publishing and indexing of traditional peer‐reviewed journal articles, and finding and retrieving them. New developments enabled by the Internet, such as open access journals and e‐print repositories, are also included.     

International Education and Training at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées/La Formation a l'international a l'Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

The programme of the Département de la Formation Internationale at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées (ENPC) was created in 1981 to address the ever‐increasing international role of today's engineer in the scientific, economic and social spheres. Each year, 75 ENPC students spend at least 3 months abroad, mainly in Europe. ENPC has double degree programmes in engineering studies with three European partners in Germany and Spain: TU Munich and TU Berlin; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Twenty per cent of the student curriculum is devoted to language study; the students are required to study English plus one of the following languages: German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese or Chinese. French courses for foreign students are also provided. Language teaching aims to provide students not only with the linguistic skills necessary for communication, but also to make them more sensitive to other cultures as well as their own.     

Energy cost of different skating techniques in cross-country skiing

The aims of this study were to compare the aerobic energy cost of four 'on-snow' skating techniques in cross-country skiing and to examine the relationships between performance and aerobic energy cost. Twelve male skiers from recreational to national standard performed four level skating trials of 6 min duration in random order, each at the same submaximal velocity but with a different skating technique: (1) 'offset' (V1), using a double asymmetrical and asynchronous pole plant as weight is transferred to one ski; (2) 'two-skate' (V2A), where the pole plant is symmetrical; (3) 'one-skate' (V2), where there is a pole plant as weight is transferred to each ski; and (4) 'conventional', without poles. Oxygen uptake (VO2), pulmonary ventilation, the respiratory exchange ratio and heart rate were measured using a K4(b2) portable gas analyser. The aerobic energy cost (VO2/mean speed) and heart rate were higher (P < 0.05) in the one-skate than in the offset condition. This may be explained by the greater and more efficient use of the upper body and the lower variation in centre of gravity velocity in the offset condition. The aerobic energy cost was 5-9% higher (P < 0.01) in the conventional than in the other techniques, probably because of the shorter duration of propulsive forces within a cycle in the conventional skating condition. Moreover, in ski skating, the mechanical efficiency (propulsive forces/total forces) was shown to be higher in the upper than in the lower limbs. The correlation coefficient between performance and aerobic energy cost was significant in the two-skate (r = 0.68, P = 0.02), one-skate (r = 0.72, P = 0.01) and conventional (r = 0.62, P = 0.04) conditions, but not in the offset condition (r = 0.50, P = 0.10). Our results stress the importance of the upper body component in cross-country skiing and that the aerobic energy cost discriminates between skiers of different standards.