Instructional television and student attitudes toward teacher,course, and medium

Summary and conclusions Semantic Differential data were obtained from 234 ninth graders who had just completed an algebra course which included a televised lecture presenting a new approach to the subject matter, and from 269 pupils who had had algebra taught in the usual way.     

Gendered education in a gendered world: looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science

Young people in countries considered to be at the forefront of gender equity still tend to choose very traditional science subjects and careers. This is particularly the case in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM), which are largely male dominated. This article uses feminist critiques of science and science education to explore the underlying gendered assumptions of a research project aiming to contribute to improving recruitment, retention and gender equity patterns in STEM educations and careers. Much research has been carried out to understand this gender gap phenomenon as well as to suggest measures to reduce its occurrence. A significant portion of this research has focused on detecting the typical “female” and “male” interest in science and has consequently suggested that adjustments be made to science education to cater for these interests. This article argues that adjusting science subjects to match perceived typical girls’ and boys’ interests risks being ineffective, as it contributes to the imposition of stereotyped gender identity formation thereby also imposing the gender differences that these adjustments were intended to overcome. This article also argues that different ways of addressing gender issues in science education themselves reflects different notions of gender and science. Thus in order to reduce gender inequities in science these implicit notions of gender and science have to be made explicit. The article begins with an overview of the current situation regarding gender equity in some so- called gender equal countries. We then present three perspectives from feminist critiques of science on how gender can be seen to impact on science and science education. Thereafter we analyze recommendations from a contemporary research project to explore which of these perspectives is most prevalent.     

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.     

Pupils' mathematical performance in grades 3 and 6. A longitudinal study

The main purpose of this study was to analyse how pupils, differing in achievement levels in mathematics, performed operations with numbers and solved mathematical problems. What strategies did they use in different grades when they performed the operations and solved the problems correctly, and what types of errors were involved when they solved an item incorrectly? What types of errors disappear and what types of errors remain at a later grade? Five groups of pupils, comprising a total number of 900, who have shown different developments in mathematical achievement from grades 3 to 6 have been studied. When the pupils solved items correctly they used the same strategies irrespective of their total results. However, when they made errors they used a number of different strategies. The results of this study implicate that it is very essential that the teaching be individualised and built upon how the pupils think when solving mathematical problems.     

Do Double Minority Students Face Double Jeopardy? Testing Minority Stress Theory

Data from 2 studies revealed that ethnic and sexual minority clients experienced greater psychological distress on multiple dimensions than did European American or heterosexual clients, respectively, as did ethnic and sexual minority students who were not clients. Among sexual minority students, ethnicity was not an added source of distress. Among ethnic minority students, sexual minority status was associated with heightened psychological distress.     

Complexity Conceptual Perspectives for Research About Educational Complex Systems

Abstract

This article is premised on the observation that in educational research there is an increasing use of terminology and concepts related to the field of complexity and the study of complex physical, biological, and social systems. As we are at an early stage in this cross-fertilization of complex systems ideas and methods in educational research, this article provides an overview of key complex systems conceptual perspectives and research methods in conjunction with a discussion of why educational researchers should consider their use. It is hoped that this overview of complex systems concepts and nomenclature used to describe research that views education as a complex system will help promote a broader awareness and acceptance of this work in the educational research community.     

Peer group interaction of physically abused children

The aim of this research study was to test the assumption that physically abused children differ significantly from their non-abused peers along dimensions which characterize abusing adults and other social deviants. Nineteen 5-10 year-old physically abused children and 38 non-abused peers were assessed by video-taped behavioral observations during free-flowing social interaction in a playroom. The dimensions tapped were: aggression, warmth, fear, pleasure, concentration, imagination and social participation. The dimension social participation was split into three variables: total social participation, negative participation and positive participation. The data from these nine dimensions was subject to a Pearson's correlation. Given the high correlation amongst these variables the data was subject to a principal components analysis with varimax rotation. From this analysis two components emerged which explained 76.9% of the total variance. These components were designated "social interaction" (component 1) and "hostility" (component 2) and were then subject to analyses of variance. A significant difference was found between the two groups on the "social interaction" component. The implications of these findings were explored and treatment possibilities examined.