‘Instead of “closing down” at our ages … we’re thinking of exciting and challenging things to do’: older people’s microadventures outdoors on (e-)bikes

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how people aged 50 and over, who were returning to cycling as part of an 8-week health and well-being trial, created their own cycling microadventures. Applying a stage model of the process of adventure to qualitative data generated from personal diaries and focus groups, we examine how older people anticipated and prepared for their microadventures, the challenges and discoveries they experienced, the benefits they gained and how electrically assisted ‘e-bikes’ can provide further opportunities for adventure. We conclude that cycles are a mode uniquely placed to facilitate microadventures and that e-bikes, in particular, offer further potential to enable older people to (re-)connect with place and other people. But while this type of activity can provide benefits in terms of health and well-being, we argue that more supportive physical and social infrastructure is required to provide opportunities for more people to undertake microadventures close to their homes.     

Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners

Learning Environments Research - Students’ perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school...     

Development of chemistry attitudes and experiences questionnaire (CAEQ)

In this article we describe the development of the Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire (CAEQ) that measures first‐year university chemistry students' attitude toward chemistry, chemistry self‐efficacy, and learning experiences. The instrument was developed as part of a larger study and sought to fulfill a need for an instrument to investigate factors that influence student enrollment choice. We set out to design the instrument in a manner that would maximize construct validity. The CAEQ was piloted with a cohort of science and technology students (n = 129) at the end of their first year. Based on statistical analysis the instrument was modified and subsequently administered on two occasions at two tertiary institutions (n = 669). Statistical data along with additional data gathered from interviews suggest that the CAEQ possesses good construct validity and will prove a useful tool for tertiary level educators who wish to gain an understanding of factors that influence student choice of chemistry enrolment. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 649–668, 2003     

Factors influencing teacher appropriation of professional learning focused on the use of technology in science classrooms

Understanding factors that impact teacher implementation of learning from professional development is critical in order to maximize the educational and financial investment in teacher professional learning. This multi-case qualitative investigation elucidates factors that influence the appropriation of instructional tools associated with professional development focused on technology within science classrooms using activity theory as a theoretical framework. This framework has the capacity to account for multiple elements in professional learning. Implementation variability associated with professional development adoption drives this inquiry to search for better understandings of the appropriation of pedagogical practices. Purposeful sampling was used to identify four participants from a group of science teachers engaged in professional development designed to investigate how cyber-enabled technologies might enhance instruction and learning in eighth-grade science classrooms. The data from this investigation add to the literature of appropriation of instructional practices by connecting the conceptual and practical dispositions of teachers with an appropriation hierarchy.     

GLBTIQ teachers in Australian education policy: protections,suspicions, and restrictions

Recognition of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status by the United Nations has led to the development of new policies concerning homophobia and transphobia in educational contexts. This paper examines new Australian education policies impacting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) teachers. A policy review uncovered a range of protections for GLBTIQ teachers in contexts such as the State of Victoria, alongside restrictions. Experiences of policy discussed in pilot study data from surveys of 63 Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, and in-depth interviews with nine Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, revealed that GLBTIQ teachers were relatively unaware of the protections available to them, compared to their awareness of protections for students. Many teachers were out as lesbian or gay to some staff members but fewer had come out to students. Teachers in religious schools had more difficulties, causing some to leave the sector. Further promotion of protections and more research are recommended.     

Consulting with groups of teachers. Evaluation of a pilot project in Ireland

This article reports on a two year project in which educational psychologists offered consultation to groups of teachers, to help them find solutions to school-based problems. Teachers were drawn from within individual schools and from across a number of schools. Typically, teachers were trained by educational psychologists in group consultation processes. Group consultation sessions were usually offered on a termly basis (three times per year). The group consultation sessions were facilitated by two psychologists. A formal process was followed, using a problem-solving structure. A pilot project ran for two years and was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were collected from teachers, school principals and psychologists. Findings indicate that group consultation is an effective method of service delivery, particularly for clusters of small, rural schools. The evaluation considers aspects of group consultation that could be further developed and new directions for this model of working.     

Understanding Early Elementary Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Plant Structure and Function through Drawings

This study examined children''s drawings to explain children''s conceptual understanding of plant structure and function. The study explored whether the children''s drawings accurately reflect their conceptual understanding about plants in a manner that can be interpreted by others. Drawing, survey, interview, and observational data were collected from 182 students in grades K and 1 in rural southeastern United States. Results demonstrated the children held a wide range of conceptions concerning plant structure and function. These young children held very simple ideas about plants with respect to both their structure and function. Consistent with the drawings, the interviews presented similar findings.     

Children Reading Series Books: Ways into Peer Culture and Reading Development

This article, drawing on research which aimed to explore how young children read English in Singapore, demonstrates how nine-year-old Singaporean children’s voluntary reading of series books served the dual purposes of enabling their membership of the peer group through culturated reading and the independent development of their reading skills and motivation for reading. Using interviews to encourage conversation and reflection, the research examined children’s book choices and their reasons for reading. This formed part of a topic-focussed ethnographic study in three primary schools. In addition, the article seeks to prove that Singaporean children’s choice of series books makes them readers with potential for global, intra-generational, cultural connections rather than familial, inter-generational ones, and it is especially significant educationally for less well-off families where English is not the dominant home language.