Association Between Experienced Teachers’ NOS Implementation and Reform-Based Practices

The assertion that general reform-based science teaching practices (GRBSTPs) can facilitate nature of science (NOS) instruction has been mentioned in the literature, but rigorous and transparent empirical substantiation for this claim has not been made. This investigation empirically demonstrates an association between thirteen experienced teachers’ NOS implementation practices and their GRBSTPs. While effectively implementing GRBSTPs does not ensure the NOS will be taught, the findings show that these practices are associated with high levels of NOS instruction. In this study, teachers who implemented higher levels of reform-based practices were also observed to enact more instances of planned and spontaneous effective NOS instruction. Furthermore, these teachers were more likely to recognize and capitalize on NOS teaching opportunities when they unexpectedly arose in the context of their GRBSTPs. Just as NOS understanding must be assessed when determining factors associated with teachers’ NOS implementation, teachers’ GRBSTPs should also be empirically and transparently established to ensure they do not mask or confound other factors associated with NOS implementation.     

An Analysis of the Relative Influences of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Presidential Debate Viewing on Shifting Confidence in President George W. Bush

This study analyzes the influence of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 in coordination with presidential debate viewing on the outcome variable of confidence in George W. Bush's policy positions. In addition, the combined influence of these competing persuasive appeals is assessed across three political ideology groups: liberals, moderates, and conservatives. There is a statistically significant experimental stimulus-by-political ideology interaction, with Bush making substantial gains among political moderates who viewed Moore's film prior to a Bush-Kerry debate. The study also reveals similar patterns of influence for liberals and conservatives.     

Computer History

FROM ENIAC TO UNIVAC: AN APPRAISAL OF THE ECKERT-MAUCHLY COMPUTERS by Nancy Stern (1981, 286 pp.—$25.00).

EARLY BRITISH COMPUTERS by Simon Lavington (1980, 139 pp.—$9.00, paper).

PROJECT WHIRLWIND: THE HISTORY OF A PIONEER COMPUTER by Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith (1980, 280 pp.—$25.00).

HERMAN HOLLERITH: FORGOTTEN GIANT OF INFORMATION PROCESSING by Geoffrey D. Austrian (originally published by Columbia University Press in New York: 1982. 418 pp.-819.95).

THE COMPUTER FROM PASCAL TO VON NEUMANN by Herman H. Goldstine (originally published by Princeton University Press in 1972, and also available since 1980 in paperback, 378 pp.—$25.00).

RECKONERS: THE PREHISTORY OF THE DIGITAL COMPUTER, FROM RELAYS TO THE STORED PROGRAM CONCEPT, 1935-1945, by Paul E. Ceruzzi (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1963— $29.95).     

Administration of high school forensics in Wisconsin

This article surveys the frontiers where speech, assembly, and the right to be silent meet the law in terms of philosophy of free speech of the United States Supreme Court, constitutional law, tort law, rights in intellectual property, and academic and corporate use of parliamentary law.     

Looking on the bright side: children's knowledge about the benefits of positive versus negative thinking

Five- to 10-year-olds (N = 90) listened to 6 illustrated scenarios featuring 2 characters that jointly experience the same positive event (and feel good), negative event (and feel bad), or ambiguous event (and feel okay). Afterward, one character thinks a positive thought and the other thinks a negative thought. Children predicted and explained each character's emotions. Results showed significant development between 5 and 10 years in children's understanding that thinking positively improves emotions and thinking negatively makes one feel worse, with earliest knowledge demonstrated when reasoning about ambiguous and positive events. Individual differences in child and parental optimism and hope predicted children's knowledge about thought-emotion connections on some measures, including their beliefs about the emotional benefits of thinking positively in negative situations.     

A theory of planned behaviour-based analysis of TIMSS 2011 to determine factors influencing inquiry teaching practices in high-performing countries

ABSTRACT

Given the abundance of literature describing the strong relationship between inquiry-based teaching and student achievement, more should be known about the factors impacting science teachers’ classroom inquiry implementation. This study utilises the theory of planned behaviour to propose and validate a causal model of inquiry-based teaching through analysing data relating to high-performing countries retrieved from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessments. Data analysis was completed through structural equation modelling using a polychoric correlation matrix for data input and diagonally weighted least squares estimation. Adequate fit of the full model to the empirical data was realised. The model demonstrates that the extent the teachers participated in academic collaborations was positively related to their occupational satisfaction, confidence in teaching inquiry, and classroom inquiry practices. Furthermore, the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry was positively related to their classroom inquiry implementation and occupational satisfaction. However, perceived student-generated constraints demonstrated a negative relationship with the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry and occupational satisfaction. Implications from this study include supporting teachers through promoting collaborative opportunities that facilitate inquiry-based practices and occupational satisfaction.     

Socioscientific Issues as a Vehicle for Promoting Character and Values for Global Citizens

Our guiding presupposition in this study was that socioscientific issues (SSI) instruction, given the humanistic features that comprise this type of instruction, could play a role as a vehicle for cultivating character and values as global citizens. Our main objective was to observe how and to what extent SSI instruction might contribute to this. In order to achieve this aim, we implemented a SSI program on genetic modification technology for 132 ninth-grade students over 3–4 weeks and identified its educational effects using a mixed method approach. Data sources included student responses to questionnaire items that measure the students' character and values, records of student discussions, and semi-structured interviews with the students and their teachers. Results indicated that the students became more sensitive to moral and ethical aspects of scientific and technological development and compassionate to diverse people who are either alienated by the benefits of advanced technology or who are vulnerable to the dangers of its unintended effects. In addition, the students felt more responsible for the future resolution of the genetic SSI. However, the students struggled to demonstrate willingness and efficacy to participate within broader communities that entailed action toward SSI resolution.     

An Emerging Role for the Physical Educator

The application of theories to understand concepts and issues in sport and physical education is viewed as a useful research strategy. Two theories addressing subjective phenomena relevant to sport experiences are presented. Concepts proposed in Martin Buber's I-Thou philosophy of relationship and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow model exploring the psychology of enjoyment are delineated and compared. Sportrelated research using these constructs is then presented. It is concluded that careful application of theories is a viable and valuable approach for studying complex, elusive phenomena in sport. Further, knowledge derived from such research facilitates understanding and awareness of subjective meaning in sport, and therefore opens individuals to the potential of relationship and flow.