Assessing problem solving in mathematics: Some variables related to student performance

A mathematical problem is defined here as a question not dependent on specific syllabus content, and one sufficiently new to the student such that it cannot be solved by a previously known method. With increased attention being paid to this type of mathematical problem solving at the primary school level, the need for reliable and valid methods of assessment has become more apparent. This paper reports the results of using a new problem solving test, developed for use in the upper primary school, with 371 students in Years 4,5 and 6 at government schools in Melbourne. Particular attention is given to the effects of year level, sex and the method of test administration on student performance for different types of items and different problem solving processes. The performance of Year 4 students was generally lower than that of other students, but differences were small for most items and processes between Years 5 and 6. Although most of the differences in performance between the sexes were not significant, the girls had higher scores than the boys for the total score, for all processes and for all items except the spatial item. The method of administration was important for performance, especially for the girls. The marking schedule developed enabled high intra- and inter-marker reliabilities to be obtained.     

Policy for physical education and school sport in England, 2003–2010: vested interests and dominant discourses

Background: The salience of physical education and school sport (PESS) in England changed dramatically in the 2000s in terms of central government investment and political interests. The government put in place the physical education, school sport and club links strategy and the physical education and sport strategy for young people for a wide-ranging array of social objectives. Although policy research relating to PESS has centred on the sport policy-making process and the role of government or agents, including teachers, has been growing from the 2000s, this paper argues for the need to explore the social construction and constitution of school knowledge underpinned and influenced by particular dominant vested interests and their associated discourses to understand certain pedagogical implications for young people.

Method: Applying the educational policy sociology approach adapted from Basil Bernstein's work on the social construction of pedagogic discourse, the focus of this paper was to identify the main discourses which constructed and constituted policy for PESS from 2003 to 2010 in England. Qualitative content analysis on six policy documents and 467 media articles was conducted.

Findings: This paper identifies five discourses constructing and constituting policy for PESS during the period under study: sport, health, citizenship, lifelong participation and Olympic legacy. These are sources of policy for PESS that were constructed in Bernstein's re-contextualising field. This paper also seeks to show the complexity of policies and strategies for PESS in that they are anchored in a web of significations in terms of complex connections between elements of discourses. It can be argued that as a structure-in-dominance, policies for PESS reinforced competitive sport-based conceptions of physical education and, arguably, created a limited universe of possibilities, of what was thinkable, for and as PESS.

Conclusions: This paper argues that the inclusions and exclusions of discourses from policy for PESS are all politically charged, and will have an impact on the quality of young people's education and their life chances in the future. Furthermore, this paper proposes that we need to explore in further depth the processes of how to maximise the possibilities of realising quality PESS in order for young people to learn citizenship, foster health improvement and facilitate lifelong participation in physical activities.     

Effects of a support group for siblings of children with special needs

School psychologists may provide support services to siblings of children with special needs as part of a family-focused approach to intervention. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-week support group for siblings. Pre-and posttest assessments of six children who participated in the support group and five who did not indicated that the support group had a significant effect on the participants' perceptions of social support. Parental interview data also indicated some improvements in the group participants' behavior toward their siblings. No significant differences were found between the groups on measures of behavior problems, self-concept, or knowledge about and attitudes toward children with handicaps. These results provide moderate support for the effectiveness of support services for siblings of children with special needs.     

Explicating the relationally attentive approach to conducting engaged communication scholarship

As interest in engaged communication scholarship grows, so does the need for concrete examples of how such research is done. In this essay, we articulate an example of the how by presenting the work of the Purdue Peace Project, a locally led peacebuilding initiative based at Purdue University. We do so by (a) explicating the communicative choices in our approach to engaged scholarship and (b) relating these choices to the impacts that our approach has had on preventing political violence related to a chieftaincy dispute in Keperman (pseudonym), Ghana. Based on qualitative data from multiple time points, we unpack our communicative choices, relate these choices to the realization of engagement goals and setbacks, and reveal multi-level, interdependent, and communicative indicators of impacts. We present what we term the relationally attentive approach to engaged communication scholarship and discuss implications and recommendations for those doing engaged scholarship.     

Step width alters iliotibial band strain during running

This study assessed the effect of step width during running on factors related to iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome. Three-dimensional (3D) kinematics and kinetics were recorded from 15 healthy recreational runners during overground running under various step width conditions (preferred and at least ± 5% of their leg length). Strain and strain rate were estimated from a musculoskeletal model of the lower extremity. Greater ITB strain and strain rate were found in the narrower step width condition (p < 0.001, p = 0.040). ITB strain was significantly (p < 0.001) greater in the narrow condition than the preferred and wide conditions and it was greater in the preferred condition than the wide condition. ITB strain rate was significantly greater in the narrow condition than the wide condition (p = 0.020). Polynomial contrasts revealed a linear increase in both ITB strain and strain rate with decreasing step width. We conclude that relatively small decreases in step width can substantially increase ITB strain as well as strain rates. Increasing step width during running, especially in persons whose running style is characterized by a narrow step width, may be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of running-related ITB syndrome.