Communication on a problem solving task in cooperative learning groups

Summary There is some evidence from this study that reflectivity within cooperative learning groups develops over time. Preliminary observations suggest that Slavin's third and fourth levels of skills, those of reflection and reasoning and reconception and reformulation and Kempa and Ayob's higher levels of explanation and insight appear more advanced in groups strategically managed by teachers for such outcomes. Later analyses will permit more detailed accounts of the relationships between the teacher's management strategies, and reflection within groups of different gender composition. Specializations: science teacher education. Specializations: studies in twentieth century science education in Australia, teacher education.     

Practicalizing piaget at the asep guidelines conference 1970

‘To understand is to invent’ (Piaget, 1968). This paper examines the attempt of Les Dale, the Assistant Director of the Australian Science Education Project, to apply Piagetian theory to describing a theory of instruction for the Project. The historiographical method consists in examining and comparing instances of curriculum invention in science education in Australia starting with contemporary and retrospective accounts of the key figures (Fawns 1988a). This paper is a case record (Stenhouse, 1978) which synthesises public and personal material in the files collected by the author. It has been subjected to review by Dale and others including those to whom it was presented at A.S.E.R.A. It accompanies an earlier paper (Fawns, 1989) which assessed the social context of the Debate at the Guidelines Conference 20 years on. Specializations: studies in twentieth century science education in Australia, teacher education.     

Influences of the learning environment of a Regional University Campus on its international graduates

Staff and students at small regional campuses often consider them to be a learning environment with many advantages. Students can benefit from the opportunities for enhanced access to staff provided by factors such as small classes and a compact campus. International students from non-English-speaking backgrounds are one group for whom these factors can be particularly helpful in their adjustment to a new society as well as in their continuing study program. This belief is tested in the study described in this paper. Factors identified by international students as influencing their learning at a small campus situated a considerable distance from the state capital indicate strengths to be built on and celebrated and areas that call for the development of strategies to improve the quality of that learning environment. Former international student graduates were surveyed concerning their perceptions of their regional Australian university experience and the professional preparation it provided. Other Australian higher education institutions, particularly those with regional campuses, can make use of the insights gained through the study: as well as having implications for the provision of a quality learning experience and environment for all students, not only international students, they also have a bearing on international marketing strategies.     

Using Movies to Illustrate Ethical Dilemmas in Undergraduate Criminal Justice Classes

Ethics education in criminal justice programs has increased in popularity, but instructors sometimes struggle to teach ethics in such a way that students retain what they have learned and apply ethical principles in the criminal justice field upon graduation. The current research highlights that there are several benefits of presenting ethical dilemmas to students through popular movies such as Mississippi Burning and Road to Perdition. Compared to the control group (Section A) that was taught in a traditional lecture format, students who were required to identify ethical dilemmas in movies (Section B) were more likely to understand the complexities of such situations, to rate unethical behavior properly, and to see how ethical principles could be applied to their everyday lives.     

Academic Performance,Age, Gender,and Ethnicity in Online Courses Delivered by Two-Year Colleges

This study investigated the effects the demographic variables age, gender, and ethnicity and their interactions had on academic performance in online courses delivered by public two-year colleges in Kentucky. The study controlled for previous academic performance measured by cumulative grade point average (GPA). The study used a random sample (N = 320) of all students who had enrolled in at least one online course delivered by the institutions of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System in the spring 2008 semester. A linear hierarchical multiple regression acting as ANCOVA served as the main analysis, with the order entry as follows: cumulative GPA; independent variables (age, gender, ethnicity); interaction vectors; and product vectors. Final course grade served as the dependent variable. The results of the analysis indicated that only cumulative GPA was a significant predictor, explaining approximately 40% of the variance of the final grade. Although differences in final grades were present among the variables age and ethnicity, these differences disappeared when controlling for cumulative GPA. Significance of the results and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The Influence of Response Distortion in Assessing Self-Perceptions of Physical Ability and Attitude Toward Physical Activity

Abstract

Response distortion is an acknowledged concomitant variable in psychometric research. Although the influence of response bias on the Estimation scale of the Physical Estimation and Attraction Scales (PEAS) has previously been considered for adolescent males, experimental evidence concerning the sensitivity of the adult versions of both the Attraction and Estimation scales to “faking” has not been provided. To determine this sensitivity, adult versions of the PEAS were administered to male and female undergraduates (N = 122). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and received either “fake bad,” “fake good,” or standard instructional sets. Results generally supported the view that the total score on each of the Attraction and Estimation scales is relatively insensitive to attempts to “fake good.” However, attempts to “fake bad” consistently resulted in a significant decrease (p < .01) in both Attraction and Estimation scores as compared to a standard control group. These findings suggest the need for a criterion to detect suspected “fake bad” Attraction and Estimation responses and possibly a “fake good” Attraction response. Statistical procedures for determining test bias indicated that specific PEAS items discriminated between the experimental and control groups, and these items were incorporated into embedded scales for the detection of a distorted PEAS response. Evidence for the predictive validity of these “fake bad” and “fake good” scales was provided.     

Competency‐based standards for industry trainers: a critical comparison of international models

Models of competency standards for industry trainers now exist in Canada, Britain, USA, and Australia. These models all tend to define the training roles to which they apply, cluster the areas of competence in some way, and define the required competencies. The models also have interesting distinguishing features. Apart from the different mechanisms by which they achieve each of the above points, they differ in the purposes for which they were designed. The wishes of the stakeholders who controlled or initiated their development, and the particular contexts within which they were developed have been powerful influences. We assert that competency based standards can make a valuable contribution to the workforce but more is required on a range of higher order competencies, on the clarification of values which are implicit in the models and on quality assurance in relation to the ways they are developed and used. To enhance such work we show that an integrated approach to competency standards has advantages over previous approaches. Indeed such an integrated approach is perceived as one more stage in the development of a distinct HRD discipline.     

How PETE comes to matter in the performance of social justice education

ABSTRACT

Background: For over four decades, there have been calls for physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE) to address social inequality and foster social justice. Yet, as numerous studies demonstrate, attempts to educate for social justice in PETE are infrequent and rarely comprehensive. This raises the question why it appears to be possible in some situations but not others, and for some students and not others.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the multiple socio-political networks or assemblages in which PETE is embedded and explore how these shape the possibilities for students to engage with the concept of social justice and sociocultural issues (SCI) when learning to teach PE. Two research questions guided this study: How does an orientation for social justice education (SJE) within education policy affect the standards for enacting PETE programs? How is SJE encouraged within PETE programs?

Methodology: Drawing from a broader study of over 70 key personnel in more than 40 PETE programs, we examined how faculty in PETE understand their professional world, identify their subjective meanings of their experiences, and address SCI andSJE within PETE. Data sources included an initial survey, a semi-structured interview, and program artifacts. We analyze the ways that SJE/SCI was represented in three national settings (England, the United States, and New Zealand) and identified common themes.

Results: Examination of each national setting reveals ways that SJE and SCI were enabled and constrained across the national, programmatic, and individual level in each of the countries. The coherence of explicit National policy and curricula, PETE program philosophies, and the presence of multiple individual interests in social justice served to reify a sociocultural agenda. Conversely, possibilities were nullified by narrow or general National Standards, programs that failed to acknowledge sociocultural interests, and the absence of a critical mass of actors with a socio-critical orientation. These differences in assemblage culminated in variations in curriculum time that served to restrict or enable the breadth, frequency, and consistency of the messages surrounding SCI in PETE.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of acknowledging socio-political networks where PETE operates. The agency of PETEs to enact pedagogies that foreground sociocultural interests is contingent on congruity of the networks. The authors caution that although the ‘perfect storm’ of conditions has a profound influence of the possibility of transformational learning of SCI in PETE, this arrangement is always temporary, fluid, and subject to changes in any of the three network levels. Additionally, the success of PETE in enabling graduating PE teachers to recognize the inequities that may be reinforced through the ‘hidden curriculum’ and to problematize the subject area is contingent on the expectations of the schools in which they teach.     

Returning to the Mainstream

Grahame Smith, now deputy head, English Faculty, Barstable School, Basildon, Essex, and Rod Goldthorpe, deputy head, Lankhills School for pupils with moderate learning difficulties, Winchester, Hampshire, prepared the following discussion paper during a weekly teaching exchange designed to give each an insight into the challenges of the other's work.