Caught in the triangle of mobility: social,residential and pupil mobility

This article examines the school choices of families who have recently experienced downward mobility during the economic crisis in Spain. Based on semi-structured interviews we analyse the educational strategies of the families in a Bourdieusian framework, focusing on how they cope with the loss of their perceived social status. Prior to the crisis, these families of working-class origin improved their social position as a result of their success in economic capital accumulation with a humble increase in social and cultural capital. Our research suggests that the concerns of families confronted with downward social mobility are manifested in tensions related to their school choice in terms of their strategies of resistance and negotiation with regards to the ownership, social composition and corresponding perceived quality of the school. School can symbolically represent the last resort, an indispensable investment in one’s own future and that of the next generation.     

What do K-12 students feel when dealing with technology and engineering issues? Gardner's multiple intelligence theory implications in technology lessons for motivating engineering vocations at Spanish Secondary School

The interest on engineering and scientific studies can be raised up even from the early years of academic instructional process. This vocation may be linked to emotions and aptitudes towards technological education. Particularly, students get in touch with these technological issues (namely STEM) during the Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain (12–16 years old).This work presents a preliminary evaluation of how relevant is Gardner's multiple intelligence theory (MIT) in the teaching–learning process within the Technology Lessons. In this sense, MIT was considered as an explanation variable of the emotional response within the different educational parts (so-called syllabus units, SU) in the Technology spanish curriculum. Different intelligence style (IS) will orient the student to a vision of the engineering and technology. This work tries to identify which relationships can be established between IS and specific technology and engineering learning. This research involved up to 135 students were subsequently tested about their predominant (IS) and on the emotions that arouse in them when working with each SU. The results were statistically significant and only those with a Logic-arithmetic or Environmental IS were not affected by the SU.Best teaching and learning practicesare required for encouraging further engineering studies.     

Exploring pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards inquiry-based science learning

ABSTRACT

Background

An in-depth understanding of pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards teaching science through inquiry is critical for improving teacher education programmes and, ultimately, improving the quality of science teaching and learning in the classroom.     

Meaningful education for returning-to-school students in a comprehensive upper secondary school in Iceland

Dropout from upper secondary education in Iceland is higher than in the neighboring countries, but varied options to re-enter school have also been on offer. This article focuses on how students, who had returned to a selected upper secondary school after having quit in one or more other schools, benefited from an innovative pedagogical approach used in the school. The article draws upon interviews, in which the interviewees expressed their pleasure with the school, reporting three main assets of its pedagogy: firstly, a supportive school ethos and student–teacher relationships expressed by the ways in which teachers worked, and also in teachers’ views towards students; secondly, an online learning platform, used by all teachers, which the students could use to structure their studies; and thirdly, the use of formative assessment and no final end-of-term examinations. This pedagogy comprises a whole school approach, and the article concludes that such a school culture and practice enables teenagers and young adults to exercise their right to re-enter academic upper secondary education, which prepares for college, rather than directing them to an industry vocational or practical study program they take little or no interest in.     

Outreach initiatives operated by universities for increasing interest in science and technology

ABSTRACT

Since the 1990s, the low number of students choosing to study science and technology in higher education has been on the societal agenda and many initiatives have been launched to promote awareness regarding career options. The initiatives particularly focus on increasing enrolment in the engineering programmes. This article describes and compares eight European initiatives that have been established and operated by universities (and in some cases through collaboration with other actors in society). Each initiative is summarised in a short essay that discusses motivation, organisation, pedagogical approach, and activities. The initiatives are characterised by comparing the driving forces behind their creation, how the initiative activities relate to the activities at the university, size based on the number of participants and cost per participant and pedagogical framework. There seem to be two main tracks for building outreach activities, one where outreach activities are based on the university's normal activities, and one where outreach activities are designed specifically for the visiting students.     

Effects of treadmill running and fatigue on impact acceleration in distance running

The effects of treadmill running on impact acceleration were examined together with the interaction between running surface and runner's fatigue state. Twenty recreational runners (11 men and 9 women) ran overground and on a treadmill (at 4.0 m/s) before and after a fatigue protocol consisting of a 30-minute run at 85% of individual maximal aerobic speed. Impact accelerations were analysed using two lightweight capacitive uniaxial accelerometers. A two-way repeated-measure analysis of variance showed that, in the pre-fatigue condition, the treadmill running decreased head and tibial peak impact accelerations and impact rates (the rate of change of acceleration), but no significant difference was observed between the two surfaces in shock attenuation. There was no significant difference in acceleration parameters between the two surfaces in the post-fatigue condition. There was a significant interaction between surface (treadmill and overground) and fatigue state (pre-fatigue and post-fatigue). In particular, fatigue when running overground decreased impact acceleration severity, but it had no such effect when running on the treadmill. The effects of treadmill running and the interaction need to be taken into account when interpreting the results of studies that use a treadmill in their experimental protocols, and when prescribing physical exercise.     

Orthographic learning in dyslexic Spanish children

Reading fluency is one of the basic processes of learning to read. Children begin to develop fluency when they are able to form orthographic representations of words, which provide direct, smooth, and fast reading. Dyslexic children of transparent orthographic systems are mainly characterized by poor reading fluency (Cuetos & Suárez-Coalla 2009; Spinelli, De Luca, Di Filippo, Mancini, Martelli, & Zoccolotti, 2005; Wimmer, 1993). Therefore, the main problem for these children could be the difficulty in developing orthographic representations of the words they read. The aim of this study was to test the ability of dyslexic Spanish-speaking children (whose native language is Spanish) to develop orthographic representations and determine if the context helps them. For this, two experiments were conducted with a group of 100 children, 7–12 years of age. The groups were comprised of 20 dyslexics, 40 chronological age-matched controls and 40 reading level-matched controls. In the first experiment, eight unfamiliar words (four short and four long) were presented six times within the context of a story. In the second experiment, eight pseudowords were presented on a computer and the children had to read them aloud. In both experiments, the reading and articulation times of experimental and control stimuli were compared, before and after the training. Children without dyslexia showed a decrease of the influence of length of word on reading speed, indicating a lexical reading, while for dyslexic children, the influence of length remained unchanged. These results appeared when the stimuli were presented in the context of a story as well as when presented in isolation. In short, our results describe that dyslexic children of transparent orthographic systems have problems in developing orthographic representations of words.     

Effects of elements or compound preexposure on conditioned taste aversion as a function of retention interval

The effects of element or compound preexposure and retention interval were examined in three experiments with the taste-aversion paradigm. In Experiment 1, preexposure to the elements of a compound flavor produced less latent inhibition to the compound than did preexposure to the compound itself when a 1-day preexposure-conditioning interval was used. However, preexposing the elements or the compound resulted in equivalent latent inhibition effects when a 21-day retention interval was used. In Experiment 2, a similar pattern of results was observed when the conditioning-test interval was manipulated. Experiment 3 explored the effect of element or compound preexposure when preexposure and test were carried out in different contexts. Attenuated latent inhibition following preexposure to the elements was found when preexposure and test were carried out in the same context. In contrast, preexposure to the elements resulted in as much latent inhibition as did preexposure to the compound when the context was switched from preexposure to testing. The implications of these findings for a retrieval-oriented view of latent inhibition are discussed.