Comparative study of teaching content in teacher education programmes in Canada,Denmark, Finland and Singapore

This article presents the results of a comparative study of the content in selected teacher education programmes for primary and lower secondary teachers in Canada, Denmark, Finland and Singapore. First and foremost, the study is a comparison between teacher education programmes in, on the one hand, Canada, Finland and Singapore, all of which score highly in international comparisons such as PISA and TIMMS, and on the other hand Denmark, which receives average scores, but it also functions as a comparison between all four countries. The study covers the following subjects: pedagogy and mathematics. The study does not offer proof of any clear difference between the Danish teacher education programmes and those found in the top-performing countries. Two main findings are: (1) philosophically based professional knowledge, much of which is normative in character, forms an extensive part of the body of professional knowledge within the Danish teacher education programmes, which is not true of the programmes in the Top-3 countries and (2) the programmes in Canada and Singapore more frequently employ literature combining research-based knowledge with practical guidance and experiences, while the programmes in Denmark and Finland keep these knowledge forms separate.     

Homophily Among Peer Groups Members’ Perceived Self-Regulated Learning

The present study is one of the first examining whether peer group members hold similar levels of self-regulated learning. The study specifically addresses the potential homophily among group members’ regulative abilities (metacognition, environment regulation, effort regulation, peer learning, and help seeking) and whether group members’ regulative abilities predict affiliates’ academic performance. The study surveyed 9th-grade students from a Midwestern high school about their regulative abilities for mathematics. Results suggest that peer groups members’ effort regulation is similar among peer affiliates but not other regulative abilities. In addition, peer group members’ regulative abilities do not predict each others’ academic performance.     

Analysis of the Discriminant Function in Educational and Psychological Research

The use of peers to provide instructional control was investigated in two studies. In the first study subjects were divided into groups according to their rate at working multiplication fact problems. They were then asked to identify errors in multiplication made at their own and at other rates. The results indicated that students can identify errors with a high degree of reliability. In the second study, peers delivered drill in multiplication facts. The results indicate that peers can be used efficiently to deliver drill-type instruction. Both studies support the use of peers for the maintenance of instructional control.     

On the Subjective Representation of Statistical Problems

Montgomery, H. & Allwood, C. M. On the Subjective Representation of Statistical Problems. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 22, 107‐127. Think aloud data from 19 subjects solving three statistical problems are reported. The data indicated that the problem solving process could often be regarded as a successive development of the problem formulation where each formulation tended to be on the same or on a higher qualitative level than the preceding formulation. Good problem solvers were found to differ from the poor solvers inasmuch as they (a) more often made an exhaustive definition of an essential concept mentioned in the problem, or (b) appeared to attend more to what was asked for in the problem. It was tentatively concluded that some of the erroneous problem solutions were due to a pure lack of reflection on how the solution of the problem should be related to the information asked for in the problem. For a problem, which was formulated in a seemingly ambiguous way, subjects’ knowledge of the underlying statistical model was positively related to the correctness of their problem interpretation.     

Students' Conceptions of Research. 2: An exploration of contrasting patterns of variation

This study explores variation in postgraduate students' and supervisors' conceptions of research. Based on earlier work, a Conceptions of Research Inventory (CoRI) was trialled on a mixed sample of postgraduate students and supervisors (n = 251). Exploratory factor analyses of resultant data yields a five‐dimensional empirical model, the composition of which is consistent with earlier work by the present authors. Four of these five dimensions distinguish between (variation in) conceptions of research such as “truth”, “problem‐solving”, “re‐search”, and “an insightful process”. The fifth dimension captures variation in terms of what are interpreted as “misconceptions”. The discrete conceptual dimensions suggested within the factor model are further explored via k‐means cluster analyses in terms of partitioning of the dataset, as limited by sample sizes, according to postgraduate status and supervisor designation. These analyses provide further insights into variation, across the various clusters in each case, as expressed in the profiles of cluster mean scores. Such differences as are evidenced highlight contrasting patterns of variation between, for example, experienced and novice researchers. There is also evidence of dissonance in some of the cluster solutions and it is further demonstrated via analysis of variance that dissonant cluster membership is associated with a generally lower level of self‐estimated performance. The implications of these findings are finally considered in relation to postgraduate training and supervision.     

Motivation for lifelong learning: a biographical account of efficacy and control

Research on motivation for learning (or achievement motivation) has flourished in the past 30 years. Social-cognitive theories dominate the field and have provided many insights, but have been criticised for relying on a traditional methodological base and lacking contextualisation and embeddedness in individual experience. In the current ‘learning age’, sustaining motivation for (often formal/academic) learning across the life span is increasingly expected, but understanding the persistence of such learning across life is not well understood. Much of the work on motivation for learning is quantitative, employing questionnaires, brief interviews or experimental manipulations. Longitudinal, qualitative research is sparse, though a necessary counterpoint that can provide contextualised and alternative accounts of motivation through time and across culture. This paper presents a case study applying self-efficacy research, the lifespan theory of control and transitions theory to an individual’s learning trajectory.     

Views on the philosophy of science among undergraduate science students and their tutors at the University of Papua New Guinea: origins,progression, enculturation and destinations

Using a schedule originated by Nott and Wellington to explore science teachers’ views on the philosophy of science, data were gathered at the University of Papua New Guinea. Similarities in response were established for successive first year intakes of science undergraduates (1999–2000). Students with experience in national high schools or Australian high schools responded more positively than their provincial secondary school trained peers to items indicating that the findings of scientific enquiry were universally true. A cross‐sectional analysis showed the undergraduates in the third and fourth years to be more process orientated than the first or second years. Both the first and second years were different in their views compared with their tutors in the relativism–positivism scale, where they were more positivist, the contextualism–decontextualism scale, where they were less decontextualist, and the process–content scale where they were considerably less process orientated. Those with a preferred career destination of medicine were slightly more decontextualist in outlook while being marginally realist, those with a preferred physical science career being very weakly instrumentalist. The results can be interpreted in terms of respondents’ experiences in secondary schooling and on programmes at the University of Papua New Guinea.     

Children's Experience in the Playground

This paper reports on an investigation carried out in a ‘key’ secondary school in Shanghai. This investigation is set in the broader context of current developments in Chinese Education. Perhaps the first surprising discovery is that the affective aspects of education are seen as highly significant in these developments. Given the vast numbers involved and great regional differences, what is described here is likely to be only representative of the best practice. The particular focus of this paper is on the multifaceted role of the class teacher. The second surprise is that though there are great differences, not least in the politicization of education, there are striking parallels with English education and there are some instances where the class teacher’s practice as described here is in advance of many of their English counterparts.     

Development and validation of an inventory to assess conflict in sport teams: the Group Conflict Questionnaire

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a conceptually and psychometrically sound conflict questionnaire for sport. The development process involved 3 phases: (a) a qualitative phase, (b) a content and factorial validity phase and (c) a construct validity phase. A total of 50 items were generated and sent to 6 experts to determine content validity. Through this process, 25 items were retained and administered to a sample of athletes (n = 437) to determine factorial validity. Based on these results, a second sample (n = 305) was administered the 14-item version of the Group Conflict Questionnaire along with the Group Environment Questionnaire, the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Passion Scale to test convergent, discriminant and known-group difference validity. Cross-validation from both samples via confirmatory factor analysis yielded moderate-to-acceptable model fit, thus supporting factorial validity for the 14-item version. Additionally, initial support for convergent validity and known-group difference validity and partial support for discriminant validity were found. A sport-specific conflict questionnaire is now available for researchers to utilise. Results and research implications are discussed.     

Integrating different tracking systems in football: multiple camera semi-automatic system,local position measurement and GPS technologies

Abstract

During the past decade substantial development of computer-aided tracking technology has occurred. Therefore, we aimed to provide calibration equations to allow the interchangeability of different tracking technologies used in soccer. Eighty-two highly trained soccer players (U14–U17) were monitored during training and one match. Player activity was collected simultaneously with a semi-automatic multiple-camera (Prozone), local position measurement (LPM) technology (Inmotio) and two global positioning systems (GPSports and VX). Data were analysed with respect to three different field dimensions (small, <30 m² to full-pitch, match). Variables provided by the systems were compared, and calibration equations (linear regression models) between each system were calculated for each field dimension. Most metrics differed between the 4 systems with the magnitude of the differences dependant on both pitch size and the variable of interest. Trivial-to-small between-system differences in total distance were noted. However, high-intensity running distance (>14.4 km · h^?1) was slightly-to-moderately greater when tracked with Prozone, and accelerations, small-to-very largely greater with LPM. For most of the equations, the typical error of the estimate was of a moderate magnitude. Interchangeability of the different tracking systems is possible with the provided equations, but care is required given their moderate typical error of the estimate.