The Application of Historical Narrative in Science Learning: The Atlantic Cable Story

The use of historically based stories to teach science has both theoretical and practical support. This paper outlines how the historically based story may be utilized effectively in the classroom and, as an illustration of this, presents the story of Lord Kelvin’s role in the laying of the first trans-Atlantic communications cable during the period from 1857 to 1866. Expected and observed classroom benefits that accrue from this approach are summarized. The paper concludes with an outline of a program of research which incorporates the development of historically based stories.     

Women in Academic Science: Experimental Findings From Hiring Studies

Although women are underrepresented in the most mathematically intensive fields, the gender gap in these fields has narrowed over the past 2 decades. In my E. L. Thorndike address I summarized the temporal trends in sex differences for 8 fields and considered factors that drive both the underrepresentation of women and its recent narrowing. I reviewed evidence concerning sex differences in mathematical and spatial aptitude, biases in hiring, funding, publishing, remuneration, and promotion, and gendered preferences. I conclude that the most important causes of underrepresentation appear to occur before women matriculate in college and are concerned with ability-related beliefs, stereotypes, and preferences starting in early elementary school, which by the end of high school have reduced the size of the potential pool. By the time women reach graduate school, there is evidence that they are as successful as their male counterparts in being interviewed and hired for tenure-track positions, funded, and published.     

At the Crossroads: How Physical Education Can Succeed in a Public Health Paradigm

Physical education (PE) can make meaningful contributions to public health by directly providing moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) opportunities for school-aged youth. Quality PE aims to contribute indirectly to PA beyond the school day. Unfortunately, insufficient evidence exists regarding the impact of PE on lifelong PA. This has led PE to a crossroads. Moving straight through the crossroads adds comprehensive school physical activity program responsibilities to the PE teacher’s load. Turning left results in PE teachers being replaced by PA leaders. The right turn reaffirms that the aim of PE is to teach youth the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to become physically literate and active for life. The right turn is the most difficult because it requires systemically changing school PE that has remained stagnant for decades. Recommendations are presented that include embracing the comprehensive school physical activity program model, conducting research clearly defining the role of PE and directing the contributions of PE to broader public health aims.     

Application of a new resampling method to SEM: a comparison of S-SMART with the bootstrap

Among the commonly used resampling methods of dealing with small-sample problems, the bootstrap enjoys the widest applications because it often outperforms its counterparts. However, the bootstrap still has limitations when its operations are contemplated. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine an alternative, new resampling method (called S-SMART) and compare the statistical performance of it with that of the bootstrap through an application of them to the most advanced modelling technique, SEM, as an example. The evaluation of the statistical performances of S-SMART and the bootstrap with respect to the standard errors of the parameter estimates was conducted through a Monte Carlo simulation study. This work, while potentially benefiting educational and behavioural research, conceivably would also provide methodological support for other research areas, such as bioinformatics, biology, geosciences, astronomy, and ecology, where large samples are hard to obtain.     

Towards a Categorisation of Cognitive Styles and Learning Styles

This paper considers the construct, ‘style’, in the study of individual differences and learning. The origin and elaboration of learning style as a concept is discussed, tracing the influence of a cognition and a learning‐centred approach to the psychology of individual difference. The authors argue that a contemporary overview of style can contribute to a rationalisation of the theory and facilitate a greater application of learning style in educational practice. A case is made for the need to integrate more fully various models of style into a single construct of learning style.     

Influences of student and family factors on academic outcomes of mainstream secondary school deaf students

This article considers some of the student and family factors influencing the educational achievements of deaf children. It is based on a study of 16-year-old deaf students in mainstream schools in England. Findings indicate the complexity of interpreting statistical results, especially on the effect of degree of hearing loss. The discussion addresses the specific question of why this factor is often reported as not significant in academic achievement. It also considers the surprisingly low effect of family socioeconomic status, speculates on the size of the "school effect" in deaf education, and considers the coding of data.