Planning the quality of education: Different information for different levels of decision-making

Formerly member of the staff of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Current interests in sampling theory and practice for education surveys and experiments. Several publications in these and related fields.     

What is really causing the obesity epidemic? A review of reviews in children and adults

Obesity prevention is a public health priority and intervention strategies have focused primarily on healthy eating and physical activity in children and adults. To date, no review has systematically compiled and synthesised the scientific evidence from published review articles to determine whether there is clear consensus on the causes of obesity. A systematic review of the literature was conducted searching PubMed/Medline for narrative and systematic review articles published between January 1990 and October 2014 that examined the causes of obesity. In total, 12 of 65 articles met the inclusion criteria; 7 reviews focused on adults (1 systematic, 6 narrative) and 5 reviews on children (2 systematic, 3 narrative). The most popular cause of obesity identified in reviews of adult studies was “combined physical activity and diet” (3 of 7 studies), whereas the most popular cause specified in reviews of child studies was deemed “inconclusive” (2 of 5 studies). While a number of reviews have examined the causes of obesity, the methodology and conclusions varied widely, and few were conducted systematically. Currently, no consensus exists across published literature reviews regarding the primary cause of the obesity epidemic, and more research, particularly prospective studies using state-of-the-art measures, is warranted.     

The effect of distance learning classroom design on student perceptions

This study investigated the effects of camera angle and monitor placement in a simulated distance-learning environment. Of particular interest were the effects on perceived instructor credibility and immediacy behaviors. A videotape of a lecture on an academically relevant topic was produced using a high-angle and an eye-level camera. Participants viewed one of the presentations in either a traditional classroom design (one monitor, front center of room) or in small groups with a monitor for each group. Participants were observed as they viewed the videotape of interest, following which they completed a questionnaire and posttest. Results suggest that an eye-level camera, and multiple monitors with groups of 4–5 students positively influence instructor credibility, immediacy, and interactions. The implications of these findings and recommendations for design of a distance-learning classroom are discussed.     

Chinese pre-service biology teachers’ evolutionary knowledge,reasoning patterns,and acceptance levels

The goal of our study was to examine a large (>400), cross-sectional sample of Chinese pre-service biology teachers (PBTs) in order to document their evolution acceptance levels, evolution knowledge, and evolutionary reasoning patterns. This approach was taken in order to better understand the degree to which particular evolutionary reasoning difficulties exist independent of religious worldviews. The sample included (1) 160 PBTs tasked with completing four items from the ACORNS instrument, (2) 320 PBTs who completed the CINS and MATE instruments, and (3) 32 teachers who completed semi-structured clinical interviews using four ACORNS items. Findings from these samples revealed that Chinese PBTs’ knowledge (CINS) and acceptance (MATE) were equivalent with teachers’ scores from other countries, whereas performance on explanation tasks was lower. Scores from the CINS, MATE, and ACORNS did not reveal any significant improvements through the four-year teacher education programme. Although a large body of work has shown the important roles that religious affiliation and religiosity can play in evolutionary understanding and acceptance, our findings demonstrate that many evolutionary reasoning difficulties extend beyond religious factors, and add to a growing body of work showing that religiosity does not adequately account for PBTs’ moderate evolution acceptance.     

Citizenship and enterprise: issues from an investigation of teachers' perceptions in England and Hungary

We explore the perceptions of teachers concerning citizenship and enterprise in Hungary and England. Contextual matters are described and research methods outlined prior to a discussion of emerging issues. We argue that citizenship in both countries is understood broadly in terms of what it means to be human. The English teachers emphasized community issues and being socially active more often than those in Hungary. Hungarian teachers were less positive about state and civil society and more patriotic about their country. In both countries those in provincial towns (rather than those in capital cities) suggested a belief in the need for a greater adherence to rules. There was greater enthusiasm for citizenship education in primary rather than secondary schools in both countries. All teachers seemed wary about a form of enterprise education that relates directly to the economy and this was especially true for the Hungarian sample. Teachers in both countries, while recognizing the current emphasis on competition between and within schools, tended to characterize citizenship education as a constructive social enterprise (rather than an economic enterprise), in which young people are encouraged to explore problems and develop their initiative and capacity for action. All teachers favoured a collaborative and broad‐based pedagogical approach in which young people are allowed to explore social and political issues through dilemmas.     

Adult Perception of Emotion Intensity in Human Infant Cries: Effects of Infant Age and Cry Acoustics

The relation between adult perception of emotion intensity in the cries of 1- and 6-month-old infants and the acoustic characteristics of the cries was examined. In the first study, adults who were inexperienced in child care rated 40 cries on 3 emotion intensity scales: anger, fear, and distress. The cries of 6-month-olds were rated as being significantly more intense. Different acoustic variables accounted for emotion intensity ratings for the 2 infant ages. Peak amplitude and noisiness of the cry predicted adult judgments of intensity ratings of 1-month-olds' cries; a measure of amplitude ratio (in 2 frequency bands) was the best predictor of intensity ratings of 6-month-olds' cries. In the second study, parents of infants rated the same cries on the same scales. They also rated the older infants' cries as being more intense. The 2 adult groups did not differ on their ratings, and a regression equation derived from one adult group predicted the other adult group's rating of the same infant age better than it predicted its own ratings for the other infant age. Infant age, and its associated acoustic features, seems to be a more important determinant of adults' perception of emotion intensity than are such adult characteristics as gender or infant-care experience.     

The Relation of Parental Affect and Control Behaviors to Children's Classroom Acceptance: A Concurrent and Predictive Analysis

The present study is a longitudinal examination of the relations between parental expressions of affect and parental control behaviors and children's classroom acceptance in kindergarten and first grade. One hundred-sixteen kindergarten-aged children and their parents were videotaped during physical play sessions and parents were rated on global affective and behavioral dimensions. Ratings of classroom social acceptance were provided by teachers and peers. Results indicated that parents' expressed positive and negative affect were related to children's classroom acceptance in kindergarten and in first grade. The most powerful and consistent predictor of children's social acceptance was fathers' expressed negative affect, particularly between father-son dyads. The current study emphasizes the importance of continued examination of linkages between the family and peer systems, especially with respect to the ways in which children's experiences in the family and school environments may mutually influence social development, and points to the need for further examination of the mechanisms by which multiple social contexts may influence children's behavior in the family and in school.