The Differential Effect of Indirect Instruction in the Teaching of Sport Skills on Critical Thinking and Self-esteem of Early Adolescent Boys Placed at Risk

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effect of sport skills instruction (SSI) and sport skills instruction plus initiative games (SSI +) on the critical thinking (CT) and self-esteem scores of early adolescent boys placed at risk. Students in the SSI + group ( n = 36) participated in initiative games classes in addition to their sport skills activities. Students in the SSI group (n = 44) participated in the sport skills activities only. Since the boys were divided by age (10-11 & 12-13), the influence of age on the dependent variables was also investigated. Classes taught by the initiative games teacher were student-centered while the sport skills classes were teacher-centered. Significant differences between teacher behaviors occurred in interaction patterns, instructional strategies, and management concerns. There were no differences on self-esteem scores. The results supported the addition of initiative games to SSI to foster CT with this group of participants.     

LEARNING ABOUT TEACHING THE EXTRACURRICULAR TOPIC OF NANOTECHNOLOGY AS A VEHICLE FOR ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE CHANGE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

This study focused on teachers’ transfer of a variety of teaching methods from a teaching module on nanotechnology, which is an example of a topic outside the science curriculum, to teaching topics that are part of the chemistry curriculum. Nanotechnology is outside the science curriculum, but it was used in this study as a means to carry out a change in the way chemistry teachers teach. The participants in the study included nine high school in-service chemistry teachers. Three research tools were used: (1) semistructured interviews that were conducted with the teachers, after they had finished teaching their nanotechnology module, and follow-up semistructured interviews that were conducted 2 years after the teachers had taught the nanotechnology module , and teachers’ assessment and evaluation of their own teaching method, determining how the nanotechnology modules influenced the students who learned according to this program. The data collection process continued for 5 years. Most of the teachers indicated that they continued teaching the nanotechnology module that they designed and all of them stated that they integrated the unique teaching methods into their teaching of chemistry. High efficacy beliefs were built based on the self-evaluation process that was part of the teachers’ professional development program. Teaching self-efficacy beliefs and organization efficacy beliefs was found to contribute to teachers’ sustainable changes. The findings in the current research are only limited to the topic of nanotechnology; however, we believe that similar results can be obtained for any modern scientific topic that is outside the high school science curriculum. We suggest that more research should be done to determine whether the same findings emerge by using the same approach but on another topic.     

Talking Smack: Verbal Aggression in Professional Wrestling

The current study presents the results of a content analysis of the verbal aggression found in 36 hours of televised professional wrestling. The coding scheme was adapted from the National Television Violence Study and past research on television verbal aggression. Results show that an abundance of verbal aggression occurs in televised professional wrestling, with swearing, competence attacks, and character attacks being the most common types. In addition, the primary motives for verbal aggression use are amusement and anger. Furthermore, verbal aggression tends to be communicated and received by White, male individuals with no clear dispositional characteristics. The results are discussed in terms of potential effects of exposure to the verbal aggression found in professional wrestling.     

Practical Guides

THE DESIGN OF ADVERTISING by Roy Paul Nelson (Dubuque, IA: Wm C. Brown, 1989—price not given, ISBN 0-697-04374-6)

EXPLORING COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY by Robert Hirsch (Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1989—$30.00, paper, ISBN 0-697-06132-9)

VIDEO HELD PRODUCTION by Ron Whittaker (Mayfield Publishing Co., 1240 Villa St., Mountain View, CA 94041—$34.95, ISBN 0-87484-836- 9)     

Repeated Exposure to Daytime Soap Opera and Shifts in Moral Judgment Toward Social Convention

This study examined the influence of prolonged exposure to soap opera on character dispositions and real-world moral judgments. Eight groups viewed from 0–7 weeks of soap opera prior to a final week after which participants completed measures of disposition towards show characters as well as perceptions of morality in real-world situations. Results demonstrated the effect of prolonged exposure on both the polarization of dispositions toward characters and a trend in moral judgments toward social convention. These findings highlight the role of disposition within social cognitive theory, and the importance of dispositional considerations in understanding learned morality.     

The Spiral of Violence: Equity of Violent Reprisal in Professional Wrestling and its Dispositional and Motivational Features

Though lacking empirical evidence, professional wrestling has been criticized for portraying excessive violence in harmful contexts. This study focused on the equity of violent reprisal perpetrated by liked versus disliked protagonists with socially sanctioned or unsanctioned motives. Results of a quantitative content analysis show that most violent interaction sequences were over-retributive. Violence that was not part of match competition was routinely initiated for normatively unsanctioned motives and showed predominant patterns of escalating violent retribution. These patterns held across perpetrator disposition. Thus, liked characters regularly aggressed for normatively unacceptable reasons. The consequences of these portrayals are discussed.     

Online Versus in the Classroom: Student Success in a Hands-On Lab Class

Abstract

This study compares learning success of online and on-campus students in a general education soil science course with lab and field components. Two terms of students completed standardized pre- and postassessments designed to test knowledge and skills from the lecture and lab content of the course. There was no difference in overall grade or lab assignment grades between course formats. Online students outperformed on-campus students on the preassessment in the first term and on the post-assessment in the second term; the two populations scored the similarly for the other assessments. Online students showed a 42% grade improvement from pre- to post-assessment; on-campus students had a 21% improvement. Online students also showed better learning success in lab-related knowledge and skills based on individual assessment questions. The students in both populations successfully met the learning objectives for this lab- and field-based science course.     

The disposition toward critical thinking of high school and university science students: an interintra Israeli-Italian Study

The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) was used to assess the disposition of Israeli and Italian high school and university science students toward critical thinking. The study sought to establish base-lines for these groups as well as quantifying the differences between two national populations. Significant differences between the Israeli and Italian high school science students in the total score and those of five subscales of the CCTDI have been found, the largest on the OpenMindedness and Self-Confidence subscales. The overall scores of high school and university science students on the CCTDI in both countries were essentially the same, with quite a similar pattern in the corresponding disposition profiles. Although the CCTDI can be reliably used for establishing base-line differences between science student populations, the effect of a specific approach to teaching (e.g. HOCS-orientation vs traditional) on the stability or change of this aspect of critical thinking remains an open question.