In search of a better means of increasing student receptivity to science: a look at American Buddhists and their disproportionately high acceptance of the theory of evolution

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This paper examines how Buddhists in America have been able to integrate evolution into their worldview to a much greater extent than other religious groups...     

Appreciating the Complexity of Project Management Execution: Using Simulation in the Classroom

As the popularity and importance of project management increase, so does the need for well‐prepared project managers. This article discusses our experiences using a project management simulation in undergraduate and MBA classes to help students better grasp the complexity of project management. This approach gives students hands‐on experience with many facets in the project management life cycle and provides them with feedback on their performance as project managers. This article provides an overview of the simulation exercises, guidance for classroom integration, and evidence of effectiveness.     

The changing shape characteristics associated with success in world-class sprinters

Abstract

The aims of this study were to identify whether relative shape and size characteristics of world-class sprinters have changed over time, and whether any anthropometric parameters characterize the most successful world-class sprinters. The results suggest that body mass index, reflecting greater muscle mass rather than greater adiposity, is an important factor associated with success in both male and female world-class sprinters over time. However, in female athletes the reciprocal ponderal index (RPI) has emerged as a more important indicator of success over several decades, with taller, more linear sprinters achieving greater success, as measured by sprint speed. In male sprinters it is only in the most recent decade that RPI has emerged as an important predictor of success. We speculate that the prominence of the RPI and an ectomophic somatotype being typical of the most successful world-class sprinters might be explained, in part, by the influence of stride length on sprint speed. In conclusion, these results suggest that coaches, selectors, and sports scientists should consider body shape when selecting potential athletes for sprint events, encouraging more linear athletes with a high RPI.     

A pilot evaluation of the social validity of a bullying bystander program adapted for high school students

Although school‐based programs are effective at decreasing bullying, the majority of studies have been conducted with elementary and middle school students. We conducted a pilot study using a randomized controlled design investigating the social validity of a brief, bullying bystander program adapted to be age‐appropriate for high school students (N = 65). Results indicated that high school students in the intervention group perceived the program to be acceptable and relevant and reported greater increases in knowledge ( = 0.27) and confidence to intervene ( = 0.27) in bullying situations compared to students in the control group. Despite being trained in the use of four intervention strategies, students reported using two of the strategies infrequently. Additionally, we found a significant difference between the intervention and control group for only one strategy (Φ = ?0.44). This study provides partial support for the social validity of the adapted program. Implications for implementing the program at the high school level are discussed.     

Understanding Heterogeneity in the Impact of Public Preschool Programs

We examine the North Carolina Pre-K (NC Pre-K) program to test the hypothesis that observed variation in effects resulting from exposure to the program can be attributed to interactions with other environmental factors that occur before, during, or after the pre-k year. We examine student outcomes in 5th grade and test interaction effects between NC's level of investment in public pre-k and moderating factors. Our main sample includes the population of children born in North Carolina between 1987 and 2005 who later attended a public school in that state, had valid achievement data in 5th grade, and could be matched by administrative record review (n = 1,207,576; 58% White non-Hispanic, 29% Black non-Hispanic, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial and Other race/ethnicity). Analyses were based on a natural experiment leveraging variation in county-level funding for NC Pre-K across NC counties during each of the years the state scaled up the program. Exposure to NC Pre-K funding was defined as the per-4-year-old-child state allocation of funds to a county in a year. Regression models included child-level and county-level covariates and county and year fixed effects. Estimates indicate that a child's exposure to higher NC Pre-K funding was positively associated with that child's academic achievement 6 years later. We found no effect on special education placement or grade retention. NC Pre-K funding effects on achievement were positive for all subgroups tested, and statistically significant for most. However, they were larger for children exposed to more disadvantaged environments either before or after the pre-k experience, consistent with a compensatory model where pre-k provides a buffer against the adverse effects of prior negative environmental experiences and protection against the effects of future adverse experiences. In addition, the effect of NC Pre-K funding on achievement remained positive across most environments, supporting an additive effects model. In contrast, few findings supported a dynamic complementarity model. Instrumental variables analyses incorporating a child's NC Pre-K enrollment status indicate that program attendance increased average 5th grade achievement by approximately 20% of a standard deviation, and impacts were largest for children who were Hispanic or whose mothers had less than a high school education. Implications for the future of pre-k scale-up and developmental theory are discussed.     

Education and inequality in India: a classroom view

Policy‐makers in the 1980s sought to restructure education on the basis of market principles, and in particular to effect site‐based or devolved school management. The reform of ‘management’, therefore, has become of central importance for policy makers. This paper explores two influences on the contemporary management of education: first, intellectual ideas drawn from postmodernist theory and chaos theory; and second, the culture of postmodernism. It argues that they disrupt and undermine traditional assumptions in educational administration and management. In response, modernist management theorists and policy makers may attempt to refine their legitimatory rhetorics by appealing in a superficial way to these cultural and intellectual changes, thereby seeking to neutralize their disruptive potential. In sum, a modernist makeover may be in the making.

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SOCIAL SCIENCE INFORMATION FINDING FOR SOCIAL POLICY ON AGING AND RELATED COURSES

This article examines the role that content on social science information finding plays in social policy on aging and related courses. First, there is considerable value for students having first‐hand knowledge of and involvement in social science information searching. Second, new developments in information services such as citation indexing and subject area abstracts and indexes in aging and other fields offer new assistance for students. Finally, incorporation of information services content through practical and comprehensive classroom approaches is discussed. Through incorporating information services content in aging policy and related courses students are better equipped to meet the demands of an information age.