Role of the microcomputer‐based laboratory display in supporting the construction of new understandings in thermal physics

Teachers' failure to use the microcomputer‐based laboratory (MBL) more widely may be a result of not recognizing its capacity to transform laboratory activities. This research aimed to increase understanding of how MBL activities designed to be consistent with a constructivist theory of learning support or constrain student construction of understanding. The first author conducted the research with his Year 11 physics class of 15 students. Dyads addressed 10 tasks in thermal physics using a predict–observe–explain format. Data sources included video and audio recordings of students and teacher during four 70‐minute sessions, students' computer data and written notes, semistructured student interviews, and the teacher's journal. Analysis of students' discourse identified many instances in which students' initial understandings of thermal physics were mediated in multiple ways by the screen display. The findings are presented as eight assertions. Recommendations are made for developing pedagogical strategies incorporating MBL activities that will likely catalyze student construction of understanding. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 165–185, 2004     

Assessment and prediction of success in first year physics at an Australian university

A method of assessment, involving six one-hour tests, with provision to repeat four of them, has been used with favourable student and staff reaction in first year, two semester undergraduate physics courses. The style of question and marking criteria used previously in a conventional examination are retained.The relationship between performance in Physics I, high school background and mark in the first physics test, held in the fifth week of the university course. are investigated through a series of regression analyses. An attempt is made to arrive at an appropriate entry criterion for admission to Physics I.     

Case studies of student research projects in school science

Conclusion These case studies offer strong support for the notion that learning occurs naturally and inevitably when it flows out of a student's desire to extend her own interests and experiences. This view was expressed strongly by the progressives (Dewey [1963], and Kilpatrick [1928, 1952:315]) and more recently by Wilson (1971). They also represent “instances of autonomy” that challenge our normal assumptions of student behaviour. There are, of course, matters of the transmission of those “storehouses of knowledge” that represent the disciplines, and matters of practicality in motivating and managing a class of students pursuing their own interests (Tytler 1983), that would make it impractical to centre all teaching around the IRP or its equivalent. The need to include IRP's at a significant place within the curriculum, however, is indicated not only by the student outcomes that have emerged in this study, but from the fact that an increasing number of teachers have found it to be a satisfying method, involving a more powerful and natural view of the student in relation to the educational process (Tytler, ibid). The case studies have something to say about all such activities (other possibilities are described in Boomer [1983]) that invite students to take responsibility for the serious development of their interests. They stand as examples of the way students work outside the classroom, but also as celebrations of student independence and autonomy. Too often the schooling practices we subscribe to tend to invalidate students' own life experiences. These case studies provide a challenge to us to find educative ways that can match the range of abilities and dispositions that students bring with then to school.     

Pathways from parental stimulation of children’s curiosity to high school science course accomplishments and science career interest and skill

Curiosity is fundamental to scientific inquiry and pursuance. Parents are important in encouraging children’s involvement in science. This longitudinal study examined pathways from parental stimulation of children’s curiosity per se to their science acquisition (SA). A latent variable of SA was indicated by the inter-related variables of high school science course accomplishments, career interest, and skill. A conceptual model investigated parental stimulation of children’s curiosity as related to SA via science intrinsic motivation and science achievement. The Fullerton Longitudinal Study provided data spanning school entry through high school (N?=?118). Parental stimulation of curiosity at age 8 years comprised exposing children to new experiences, promoting curiosity, encouraging asking questions, and taking children to a museum. Intrinsic motivation was measured at ages 9, 10, and 13 years, and achievement at ages 9, 10, and 11 years. Structural equation modelling was used for analyses. Controlling for socio-economic status, parental stimulation of curiosity bore positive and significant relations to science intrinsic motivation and achievement, which in turn related to SA. Gender neither related to stimulation of curiosity nor contributed to the model. Findings highlight the importance of parental stimulation of children’s curiosity in facilitating trajectories into science, and relevance to science education is discussed.     

Becoming a Supervisor: Doctoral Student Perceptions of the Training Experience

Thirteen doctoral students, 7 Caucasians and 6 Hispanics, participated over 3 semesters of practicum/internship in a qualitative research project exploring the experience of becoming supervisors. A follow‐up study with 5 different doctoral students confirmed and refined findings 1½ years later. The research team of 2 female faculty members and 1 male research assistant (the authors) identified 6 themes emerging from individual and group interviews with supervisors‐in‐training regarding the process of becoming a supervisor: (a) learning, (b) supervisee growth, (c) individual uniqueness, (d) reflection, (e) connections, and (f) putting it all together.     

Concurrent and Subsequent Associations Between Daily Digital Technology Use and High‐Risk Adolescents’ Mental Health Symptoms

Adolescents are spending an unprecedented amount of time using digital technologies (especially mobile technologies), and there are concerns that adolescents’ constant connectivity is associated with poor mental health, particularly among at‐risk adolescents. Participants included 151 adolescents at risk for mental health problems (M_age = 13.1) who completed a baseline assessment, 30‐day ecological momentary assessment, and 18 month follow‐up assessment. Results from multilevel regression models showed that daily reports of both time spent using digital technologies and the number of text messages sent were associated with increased same‐day attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. Adolescents’ reported digital technology usage and text messaging across the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) period was also associated with poorer self‐regulation and increases in conduct problem symptoms between the baseline and follow‐up assessments.     

Graphonomics,automaticity and handwriting assessment

A recent review of handwriting research in Literacy concluded that current curricula of handwriting education focus too much on writing style and neatness and neglect the aspect of handwriting automaticity. This conclusion is supported by evidence in the field of graphonomic research, where a range of experiments have been used to investigate this issue from a movement perspective. The present article offers a brief introduction to a graphonomic approach to handwriting analysis and the findings of graphonomic research about handwriting automaticity. These findings indicate that attentional control to any characteristic of the writing process (e.g. direction, lexical status, movement, style) results in an impairment of handwriting automaticity. These findings support and add a new dimension to previous conclusions.     

Does parental homework involvement mediate the relationship between family background and educational outcomes?

This research examines whether parental homework involvement mediates the relationship between family background and educational outcomes such as academic achievement and academic self-concept. Data from two studies in which grade 8 students (N = 1274 and N = 1911) described their parents’ involvement in the homework process were reanalyzed via structural equation modeling. Perceived parental homework interference and perceived homework-related conflict were negatively related to students’ academic development, whereas perceived parental support and perceived parental competence to help with homework were positively related to academic outcomes. Although there were small associations between some aspects of parental homework involvement and family background variables, parental homework involvement did not mediate the relationship between family background and educational outcomes. Findings highlight the need for differentiated conceptualizations of parental homework involvement as well as detailed analyses of the processes underlying the association between family background and educational outcomes.     

Editors’ introduction to Keeping cultures alive: Archives and Indigenous human rights

Keeping Cultures Alive investigates the relationship between Indigenous human rights and the archives through an interdisciplinary and comparative lens, bringing together papers by Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts in Indigenous studies, human rights, law and archival science. It explores Indigenous human rights in an international context with particular reference to the implications of the international human rights agenda for current and future archival practice in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.