A Method to Increase Student Interaction Using Student Groups and Peer Review over the Internet

A method of peer review for student groups is proposed. In this method, groups of students publish their assignments results over the Internet. A fellow student group reviews their work and publishes their findings (on the Internet). Finally, the two groups debate their points of view in front of the class. The debate and healthy competition among groups give the students a chance to learn how to give and receive criticism in a constructive way. This should increase the students' ability to interact and work in groups, an important skill for computer science professionals.     

A methodological approach to short-term tracking of youth physical fitness: the Oporto Growth,Health and Performance Study

In this paper, three different statistical approaches were used to investigate short-term tracking of cardiorespiratory and performance-related physical fitness among adolescents. Data were obtained from the Oporto Growth, Health and Performance Study and comprised 1203 adolescents (549 girls) divided into two age cohorts (10–12 and 12–14 years) followed for three consecutive years, with annual assessment. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed with 1-mile run/walk test; 50-yard dash, standing long jump, handgrip, and shuttle run test were used to rate performance-related physical fitness. Tracking was expressed in three different ways: auto-correlations, multilevel modelling with crude and adjusted model (for biological maturation, body mass index, and physical activity), and Cohen’s Kappa (κ) computed in IBM SPSS 20.0, HLM 7.01 and Longitudinal Data Analysis software, respectively. Tracking of physical fitness components was (1) moderate-to-high when described by auto-correlations; (2) low-to-moderate when crude and adjusted models were used; and (3) low according to Cohen’s Kappa (κ). These results demonstrate that when describing tracking, different methods should be considered since they provide distinct and more comprehensive views about physical fitness stability patterns.     

Excessively Long Editorial Decisions and Excessively Long Publication Times by Journals: Causes,Risks, Consequences,and Proposed Solutions

Editors have very complex tasks and high responsibilities. In general, they are chosen leaders and experts in a field of study. Thus, they are expected to lead a sector of that scientific community, and their function is to serve as gate-keepers of the quality of submissions to journals whose editorial boards they serve because of their ethical and professional image, and positive and open engagement with their peers. Publishing a scientific paper can be an arduous task and in some cases a lengthy one. However, any delay in this process not only serves as a form of stress for authors, it may also disadvantage them by giving their competition an unfair advantage with a head start in the publishing rat race. Consequently, editors who oversee a process that takes an excessive or unreasonable amount of time should be held accountable. In this paper, we propose some suggested time limits for each stage of the publishing process. These should be carefully monitored by the editors, in close collaboration with the publisher, to ensure a fair and timely process that is realistic and reasonable. With clearer guidelines, authors can thus reduce their stress levels by knowing when to expect decisions, and can thus make their journal selection by keeping such factors in mind, and thus hedge their risks and better manage their time. Authors who wait almost indefinitely, or for excessively long periods of time, are victims of a lack of professionalism. Furthermore, editors who fail to communicate delays, effectively or at all, or who fail to offer any sufficient or heartfelt apology should be characterized as acting with professional negligence, if not misconduct. Only when the rules of engagement are fair, strict, clear and well defined can authors expect the publishing system to progress smoothly and professionally.     

The relationship between sources of self-efficacy in classroom environments and the strength of computer self-efficacy beliefs

Motivation and success in computer-science courses are influenced by the strength of students’ self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in their learning abilities. Students with weak SE may struggle to be successful in a computer-science course. This study investigated the factors that enhance or impede the computer self-efficacy (CSE) of computer-science students. Data collection involved a survey of 524 undergraduate computer-science students from 10 Thai universities. The survey measured four items of CSE, 13 items pertaining to the classroom learning environment (CLE), and 14 items related to information sources of SE. Results revealed that perceptions of a CLE with autonomy, meaningfulness, and involvement were positively associated with strong CSE. In addition, perceptions of social persuasions such as meaningful and encouraging feedback or judgment from influential people demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceptions of vicarious experiences whereby students determine and compare their own abilities with observational experiences of role models also demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceived physiological and affective states such as anxiety and stress demonstrated a negative influence CSE. Implications for practice relate to students’ perceptions of autonomous learning, the value of positive feedback, students’ input into learning content and activities, role models for students and observation of how peers perform tasks better or worse.     

Career interests of students in psychology specialties degrees: psychometric evidence and correlations with the RIASEC dimensions

In this study, we present the development of a vocational interest scale for university students studying psychology. Three dimensions were extracted through principal component analysis, namely, organizational, educational, and clinical psychology. A second study with confirmatory factor analysis replicated the same three factors obtained in the first study. We found significant positive correlations between clinical and educational psychology with the social dimension of Holland’s model. The enterprising dimension appeared to be significantly and positively correlated with the organizational psychology component. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Self-efficacy,mathematics’ anxiety and perceived importance: an empirical study with Portuguese engineering students

The accomplishment in mathematics has gained attention from educators and arises as an emerging field of study, including in engineering education. However, in Portugal, there is still incipient research in the area; so it is high time to explore factors that might enlighten the gap in the study of the relationship between Portuguese engineering students and the learning of mathematics. The main purpose of this study is to explore three factors identified in the literature as influencing the learning of mathematical concepts – self-efficacy, anxiety towards mathematics and perceived importance of mathematics – and search for differences by gender and by type of engineering course, a dimension not much reported in the literature but which was revealed as important in the team's previous research. Based on a sample of 140 undergraduate students of different engineering courses from University of Minho, results only identify differences in the type of course and not in gender. These results constitute a contribution and open new paths for future research in the engineering education.     

Boys negotiate violence and masculinity in the primary school

Abstract

In this paper, we contribute to the understandings of young masculinities by turning attention to the South African schooling primary school context. In the context of scarcity of interventions around violence in the primary school, we focus on how young boys construct, negotiate and experience violence. Notwithstanding dominant discourses around childhood innocence we argue that young boys are active participants in violent gendered cultures at school. We show how boys’ bodies are key sites for the enactment of violence and is especially a valuable resource in the context of food insecurity. The paper also shows the fluidity of masculinity as boys who are regarded as ‘victims’ can also defend and resuscitate masculinity that endorses violence. Implications for addressing young masculinities in the primary school within local context are considered in the conclusion of the paper.     

‘Charmer boys’ and ‘cream girls’: how primary school children construct themselves as heterosexual subjects through football

South African research on young children’s constructions of social identities illuminates the significance of play in the construction of gender identities. However, what remains largely understudied are the children’s construction of sexualities through play. The dominant discourse of ‘childhood innocence’ obscures the variegated understandings of the meanings children attach to sexualities. This paper will explore how some South African boys and girls aged 9–10 years construct themselves as active heterosexual subjects through football talk and play during break-time at school. The paper will demonstrate how the school playground is constructed by the ‘charmer boys’ as a ‘football space’ where they use football performance to impress and charm the ‘cream girls’ who are relegated to the margins as spectators of the football games. However, the paper will also argue that gender power relations are complex and that the position of the ‘creamers’ is infused with power as reflected in the role that they play as assessors of the boys’ performance.     

Assessment in a Rwandan higher education institution: a quest for aligned assessment to promote socio-economic transformation

Assessment in institutions of higher learning has been researched worldwide. However, there are gaps in research exploring the implications of assessment practices for learners’ access to the kind of knowledge enabling them to participate in their communities’ socio-economic transformation. This is the case in the African Great Lakes region, including Rwanda. This paper investigated the assessment practices at the University of Rwanda-College of Education to establish whether they enable students to access powerful knowledge for socio-economic transformation, which promotes critical thinking and creativity, or the knowledge of the powerful, which promotes memorization of knowledge produced by experts. The study adopted mixed methods, where 361 questions from 20 examinations papers for 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 academic years were analysed using Bloom’s revised taxonomy. Interviews with lecturers and group discussions with students were conducted. The findings revealed that assessment practices heavily encourage the knowledge of the powerful, with limited focus on the socio-economic transformative knowledge. Such practices are unlikely to lead to national socioeconomic transformation, which the government expects from education. The paper recommends revisiting assessment practices in Rwandan higher education to instil in the graduates the required knowledge for active contribution to socio-economic transformation.     

Long-Term Memory for a Single Infancy Experience

Children's memory of a single infant experience was evaluated. Children in the experimental groups (N = 16 for 2.5-year-olds; N = 8 for 1.5-year-olds) had participated at 6.5 months in a study of auditory localization where they reached in the light and dark for a sounding object. They were reintroduced to the laboratory and the dark procedure they had experienced on that one occasion either 1 or 2 years previously. The first 5 trials were uninstructed; for the remaining 5 trials, children were instructed to find the sounding object. For half of the older group, a potential reminder of the infant procedure was introduced. The original infant rattle was sounded for 3 sec out of reach in the dark one-half hour prior to test trials. Equal numbers of age-matched inexperienced control subjects were also tested. The older children with infant experience reached and grasped the sounding object significantly more overall, and on instructed trials, than age-matched control children. Experienced 2.5-year-olds were also more likely to remain in the testing situation than children in the control group. The reminder facilitated uninstructed performance of the experienced children. Instructions to reach were helpful to all subjects. We conclude that children remembered aspects of a single experience that occurred when they were 6.5 months of age.