Fitness,Fun and Friends through Participation in Preferred Physical Activities: Achievable for Children with Disabilities?

This study investigates the preferences for actual participation in and enjoyment of physical out-of-school activities in children with physical disabilities, including what particular activities they are actually participating in, how often, with whom, where, and how enjoyable they find these activities. The data are based on structured interviews with 149 children (67 girls (45%) and 82 boys (55%) from 6 to 17 years) who were attending three weeks of intensive rehabilitation at Beitostølen Healthsports Centre in Norway. The Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children scales were administered at the start of their rehabilitation stays. The study reveals a quite high level of participation in physical activity and a high degree of enjoyment in participating, but the children want to be even more active than they already are. They have clear preferences for activities, and these activities are to a large extent consistent with what they actually do during their leisure time. The children are most frequently active with family members, but they would prefer to be more active with peers. A prerequisite would therefore be to acquire better basic skills and competencies in a few chosen activities rather than having some experiences in a broad range of different activities. There are more similarities than differences between boys and girls and between age groups on the parameters investigated in this study.     

Ein Modell zur Erfassung naturwissenschaftlicher Kompetenz im Kindergarten

Preschool education, including scientific literacy, has recently been receiving increased attention in Germany??s educational system. However, only a few studies have investigated scientific literacy in the preschool age so far. In this paper a test instrument to assess scientific literacy in five year old children is presented. The topic of the test is water, its physical states (solid, liquid and gaseous), changes of state and solutions in water. The test was administered as a structured interview and high reliability and internal validity were obtained. The children investigated show a great variance in their competencies which can be ascribed to four different levels of competence.     

A Conditional Process Analysis of the Teacher Confirmation–Student Learning Relationship

Students enter college with varying degrees of academic self-efficacy, which influences how they respond to effective teaching behaviors. Teacher confirmation is one behavior that has received increased attention because it is thought to indirectly enhance students’ learning by reducing their receiver apprehension in the classroom. Findings from 208 college students supported the hypothesized indirect effects between teacher confirmation and students’ perceived learning through reduced receiver apprehension, but conditional process analyses revealed these indirect effects were moderated by students’ academic self-efficacy. These findings suggest the effectiveness of teacher confirmation behaviors varies among students, with those who lack academic self-efficacy deriving fewer of the intended educational benefits.     

Identifying the Role of the International Consortium “MIT/ LINC” in Supporting the Integration of ICT in Higher Education in Emerging Countries

The goal of this research effort is to provide insights on what core needs and difficulties exist toward the implementation of ICT in higher education in emerging countries and how a consortium like LINC can best support these efforts. An exploratory research design combining a survey, on-site interviews, participant observation and document analysis were employed to answer the research questions. Main challenges in establishing technology- based learning environments were identified in the area of pedagogies, finances, technological infrastructure, cultural change, organization, and management. LINC, as an non-political organization embedded in an academic environment, can take an important role in facilitating the dialogue among participants through various platforms, take an active role in promoting joint programs and assist with efforts to “localize” tools and practice.

SCHOOL INTEGRATION IN ENGLAND

Following is the text of a memorandum prepared in January, 1970, for submission to members of the Select Subcommittee on Education of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. These Congressmen visited Israel during the same month.     

Curriculum Study and the Freedom of the Teacher‐‐II: Comments on the address given by Mr. D. H. Morrell

Data derived from systematic observation of pupils and teachers in 32 junior classrooms are used to consider the relationship between the teaching methods employed by teachers and the proportion of class time pupils spend engaged on curriculum tasks. Correlations between levels of whole‐class, group and individual interactions and the proportions of lesson time pupils spend working directly on curriculum tasks show that classrooms which have higher levels of whole‐class interaction have considerably higher levels of pupil time on task than classrooms with lower levels of whole‐class interactions. Further analysis shows that this association cannot be accounted for simply by pupils spending more time on task during class lessons. In particular, higher levels of whole‐class interaction are associated with pupils spending a higher proportion of time on task during periods of individual activity as well as at other times.     

Klassenwiederholen in PISA-I-Plus: Was lernen Sitzenbleiber in Mathematik dazu?

This study analyses the effects which repeating a class has on ninth grade students’ development of mathematical competency. The following research questions were addressed: How many students repeat grades in the different types of schools? How do students who repeat a grade differ from those who do not in their performance and background characteristics? How much extra mathematics do students repeating a grade learn in one school year? What are the differences between various types of school? Can students with poor mathematics grades in particular profit from repeating a grade? The sample is a sub-sample of the PISA-I-Plus study and comprises N = 360 ninth grade students. The total sample of PISA-I-Plus is representative for all ninth/tenth grade students from the different school types in Germany. The data survey was carried out in the ninth grade and then repeated after the students had repeated a year. The results document differences in the amount of grade repeat quotas between types of school. Furthermore, compared to students not repeating, those repeating a grade had lower mathematics (d = 1.02) and german (d = 1.14) grades, a lower level of mathematical literacy (d = 0.51), and lower test results with regard to basic cognitive abilities (d = 0.32). In terms of the development of mathematical literacy, the students repeating a grade could improve by an average of 23 points (d = 0.27) on the PISA mathematics scale. However, the results identify 38 percent of students repeating a grade who do not make any significant improvement in mathematics or even get worse. A differentiation according to school types shows that students repeating a grade in integrated comprehensive secondary schools and in schools with several educational levels in particular do not, on average, show any noteworthy improvement in their mathematical literacy. The analysis of the school grades received in mathematics shows that students whose mathematics grades are unsatisfactory do not benefit more from repeating a grade than students whose mathematics performance has been rated as being “satisfactory” or better. The article concludes with a discussion of the possible consequences of changing the way in which repetitions of grades are dealt with.