Compatibility and Complementarity of Classroom Ecology and Didactique Research Perspectives in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

A large diversity of theoretical frameworks exists in the physical education literature. This article focuses on two of those frameworks to examine their compatibility and their complementarity. The classroom ecology paradigm concentrates on the balance between three task systems, two vectors, and programs of actions proposed by the physical education teacher and negotiated by students. The didactique research program studies the teaching and learning processes using the concepts of didactic contract and didactic milieu that focus on how the knowledge content emerges within teacher and students’ joint action. The article underlines the complementarity and the compatibility of the two frameworks when analyzing teaching and learning in physical education. It argues that the gray areas left by the classroom ecology paradigm could be filled with the insights of the didactique research program. A concise example of how the two frameworks have already been utilized is presented.     

Using <Emphasis Type="Italic">I am Moving,I am Learning</Emphasis> to Increase Quality Instruction in Head Start Classrooms

Quality teacher-child interactions are characteristic of effective classrooms resulting in benefits for all children, but may be particularly important for children from low-income families. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of Illinois Head Start teachers related to how I am Moving, I am Learning (IMIL) could improve the quality of their instruction as measured by the Classroom assessment scoring system (CLASS^®), an observation instrument used to assess the quality of teacher-child interactions across three broad domains and their supporting dimensions. While the study found that early childhood professionals perceive IMIL as a meaningful resource, additional research is needed to substantiate the preliminary findings as well as to guide training initiatives that would help Head Start professionals to make the connection between IMIL and the CLASS^®.     

Australian Postgraduate Students' Perceptions,Preferences and Mobility

Postgraduate students' choice of university, and related mobility issues, have been of interest to Australian university researchers, supervisors and administrators for some time. However, with the release of the Commonwealth Government's 1999 Green Paper on research and research training, which proposes greater portability of research student funding, a sense of urgency regarding these issues has developed. This paper reports on students' choice of a particular university for postgraduate research and on what information they made those decisions. A survey was conducted in 1997 of 938 applicants for Postgraduate Research Scholarships to Flinders University, Macquarie University and the Universities of Western Australia, Adelaide and Melbourne. The survey sought to identify respondents' choices and possible movement to undertake research awards. Questions dealt with a wide range of issues with a particular focus on sources used to access information on higher degrees, preference(s) for where they wished to study, factors leading to their preferred choice, and influences on the decision to move or not move to another institution. Approximately 50% of respondents were younger than 25 years and only 27% were living with their parents. An Honour's degree was the most common prior qualification for students (73%), but only 61% were enrolling directly from their previous degree. Thirty-six per cent reported that they regularly read their main local paper for information related to postgraduate research opportunities and 39% of respondents did not regularly access any source of media for postgraduate information. Forty-two per cent of students did not explore any opportunities at other universities prior to making their decision about enrolment. Almost all students who were planning to enrol at the same university were remaining in the same department. Commensurate with this, 73% reported that their Honour's supervisor or academic staff in their original university were their major source of information on study destinations. These results provide baseline data, which can be used to approach the issue of postgraduate mobility more strategically.     

Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.     

Teacher professional development through collaborative action research: impact on foreign English-language teaching and learning

In 2011 we, a group of English-as-a-foreign-language teachers at a secondary school in Argentina, decided to investigate our teaching practices through collaborative action research so as to improve our students’ learning opportunities and thus revitalise English-language teaching in our context. We implemented and evaluated the integration of content and language learning in our classrooms through the development of our own materials. The experience revealed a growth in professional development and how our motivation and autonomy influenced our students’ motivation and language development. In our attempt to disseminate our experience as a group, this report particularly focuses on the evaluation facets of our collaborative action research project so as to encourage other teachers and teacher-researchers to adopt collaborative action research to improve their own practices.     

La adquisición del rol y la identidad sexual? función de la familia

Resumen

Este trabajo examina el proceso de adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual, así como algunos factores que condicionan esta evolución. Se utiliza el método clínico piagetiano, con la ayuda de imágenes gráficas.

Entre las conclusiones más importantes cabe señalar: 1) La adquisición de la identidad y el rol sexual tiene lugar, en sus aspectos más destacados, entre los dos y tres años de vida, 2) La conservación (autoaplicada) de la identidad no es alcanzada hasta los 5–7 años, aproximadamente, 3) Los roles sexuales reproducen de forma particularmente directa la situación del núcleo familiar.     

Fenómenos transicionales en el acceso al lenguaje

Resumen

Se ha estudiado durante 6 meses el desarrollo de 4 sujetos, que tenían 7, 12, 18 y 21 meses de edad al comienzo de la investigación. Para ello se ha grabado en video a los sujetos mensualmente, durante una hora, en su hogar. También se le han aplicado pruebas de las escalas de desarrollo de Uzgiris y Hunt (1975) para determinar su desarrollo cognitivo.

Sobre los 9 meses los niños ya son capaces de comunicar algunas intenciones, mediante gestos y vocalizaciones. Las funciones que cubren son progresivamente sustituidas y ampliadas por producciones que ya son lingüísticas. La eclosión del lenguaje se manifiesta después de que los niños realizan avances importantes en su desarrollo cognitivo, en el establecimiento de relaciones entre producciones fonéticas y significados intencionales, y en sus conductas comunicativas. Se concluye que, si bien la aparición del lenguaje es preparada por estas formas transicionales y logros anteriores, ninguna de ellas aisladamente permite explicar el empleo sistemático de palabras, que supone un nivel cualitativamente nuevo en la competencia de los niños, resultado de una síntesis creadora de logros precedentes.     

Sources of difficulty in assessment: example of PISA science items

ABSTRACT

The understanding of what makes a question difficult is a crucial concern in assessment. To study the difficulty of test questions, we focus on the case of PISA, which assesses to what degree 15-year-old students have acquired knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. Our research question is to identify PISA science item characteristics that could influence the item’s proficiency level. It is based on an a-priori item analysis and a statistical analysis. Results show that only the cognitive complexity and the format out of the different characteristics of PISA science items determined in our a-priori analysis have an explanatory power on an item’s proficiency levels. The proficiency level cannot be explained by the dependence/independence of the information provided in the unit and/or item introduction and the competence. We conclude that in PISA, it appears possible to anticipate a high proficiency level, that is, students’ low scores for items displaying a high cognitive complexity. In the case of a middle or low cognitive complexity level item, the cognitive complexity level is not sufficient to predict item difficulty. Other characteristics play a crucial role in item difficulty. We discuss anticipating the difficulties in assessment in a broader perspective.     

Rites of Passage: Does adaptation to university mean severing connections?

Many factors go into the decision of selecting a university, ranging from the overall costs and the programme of study to the institute’s reputation; however, accommodation while at university and proximity of the university to one’s permanent abode also play important roles in this decision-making process. Thus, first-year students experience different stages of separation from their prior networks depending on their individual situations. The results of this Ontario (Canada) 2012 study add to prior research by indicating that separation of students’ living arrangements and distance from home impact on transition and incorporation variables, which influenced students’ adaptation to university.     

Educating Nontraditional Students Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration

For over 30 years, researchers and practitioners have identified challenges unique to small, rural community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine the distinctive problems facing rural community colleges today and the challenges those institutions must address to fulfill their mission in rural America. There are 5 current challenges commonly identified by 10 rural community college administrators in Kansas: technology use, grant writing, an evolving student population and corresponding changes to the mission, funding inequalities between institutions, and hiring qualified people. Identified challenges were compared with problems described in the literature from the last 30 years.