Formatively assessing prospective teachers’ skills in leading mathematics discussions

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Mathematics discussions are important for helping students to develop conceptual understanding and to learn disciplinary norms and practices. In recent years,...     

Prospective teachers’ learning to provide instructional explanations: how does it look and what might it take?

Several studies have documented prospective teachers’ (PSTs) difficulties in offering instructional explanations. However, less is known about PSTs’ learning to provide explanations. To address this gap, we trace changes in the explanations offered by a purposeful sample of PSTs before and after a mathematics content/methods course sequence. Consistent with prior research, our study reveals the limitations in PSTs’ explanations at their entrance to the course sequence. It also documents PSTs’ progress in providing explanations, thus providing existence proof that this practice is learnable. Using evidence from multiple sources, we also propose a component entailed in this learning—learning how to unpack one’s thinking through the use of representations as explanatory tools—and four factors associated with it, including PSTs’ subject-matter knowledge, active and deliberate reflection on practice, productive images for engaging in this work, and productive dispositions about engaging in this practice. We discuss the implications of our findings for teacher education and offer directions for future research.     

Phoneme segmentation training: Effect on reading readiness

Recent evidence suggests that the ability to segment words into phonemes is significantly related to reading success, and that training in phoneme segmentation appears to have a positive influence on beginning reading. In this study, we evaluated the effect on reading readiness of phoneme segmentation training in kindergarten. Ninety nonreaders with PPVT-R standard scores of 78 or higher were randomly selected from six kindergarten classrooms and assigned to one of three treatment conditions: a) phoneme segmentation group; b) language activities group (control group I); and c) no intervention (control group II). The phoneme segmentation group received seven weeks of instruction in segmentation and in letter names and sounds. Also for seven weeks, the language activities group received the identical instruction in letter names and sounds and additional language activities. Prior to the intervention, the three groups did not differ in age, sex, race, PPVT-R phoneme segmentation, letter name and letter sound knowledge, or reading ability. After the intervention, the phoneme segmentation group outperformed both control groups on phoneme segmentation and reading measures. This study provides additional strong support for including phoneme segmentation training in the kindergarten curriculum. Clinical suggestions for teachers are included. This project was supported in part by USDE grant # G008630421 and a Syracuse University Senate Research Grant.     

The errors of redemptive sociology or giving up on hope and despair

Abstract

This paper considers the sociology of education (SOE) as a modern human science. It suggests that the SOE is mired in a set of unreflexive, redemptive, Enlightment rationalities, and explores the messy relationships of the sociology with education that result from this. It is argues that the sociology of education has consistently failed to distance itself from the metaphysics, optimism and oppressions of modern schooling. That it has failed to call into question either the basic building blocks of schooling, or what we call education – pedagogy, curriculum and assessment – or the buildings themselves, the spaces of education. The paper concludes by asserting to need for critique rather than simply criticism as a starting point for thinking education differently.     

Migrant teachers: how American schools import labour

This article considers the growth of ‘family literacy programmes’ in the UK and the implications this has for the relationship between the home and the school. We argue that most programmes are informed by a view of educational deficit, itself influenced by a marketised view of education which regards families as consumers’ of education. We contend that this ‘family’ is constructed in a way that privileges the patriarchal, nuclear, middle‐class family and makes a clear distinction between the public and the private sphere. This leads, we suggest, to a model of family literacy which imposes school‐based literacies on subordinated cultures and non‐nuclear families in ways that are culturally reproductive. We discuss an alternative, culturally productive, approach which focuses on home‐based literacies in ways which genuinely reflect the lived experiences of children and their families. Only in these types of programmes, we argue, will the values and practices of the home and community environment affect schooling in ways which give all families, however constructed, a genuine ‘voice’ in their children's education.     

Policy enactments in the UK secondary school: examining policy,practice and school positioning

This paper presents a first attempt in an ongoing research study of the policy environments in four UK secondary schools to examine policy enactment, where ‘enactment’ refers to an understanding that policies are interpreted and ‘translated’ by diverse policy actors in the school environment, rather than simply implemented. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part presents an audit of the policies encountered in four case study schools in the south‐east of England. The second part looks at one current English government policy, namely personal learning and thinking skills, and how this is taken up in two of the case study schools. In this way, the paper not just explores why a policy is adopted but also illustrates the capacity for school‐based policy elaboration, where schools produce their own ‘take’ on policy, drawing on aspects of their culture or ethos, as well as on the situated necessities.     

Reliability of power output measurements during repeated treadmill sprinting in rugby players

The non-motorized treadmill system initially reported by Lakomy in 1984 has been used extensively to assess sprinting performance. However, there has been limited research into the reliability of power output measurement using such systems. The aim of this study was to design a system and protocol capable of measuring treadmill sprinting performance in rugby players and to assess the reliability of this system for measuring power output. Twenty-seven rugby players, all of whom were familiar with treadmill sprinting, performed three maximal 6 s sprints with 2 min recovery between sprints, on two occasions 1 week apart. Both tests were performed on a non-motorized Woodway tramp treadmill, interfaced to a data acquisition system. There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) between power output for repeated trials on the same day (between trials) or for repeated trials on different days (between days). Limits of agreement for maximum average power (the average of 100 readings per second) were 4 - 98 and 30 - 157 W for between trials and between days, respectively. When reported as ratio limits of agreement, these were 1.07 (*/ 1 1.12) and 1.03 (*/ 1 1.16), respectively. The limits of agreement for maximum instantaneous power (the highest of 100 readings per second) were 51 - 464 and 105 - 588 W for between trials and between days, respectively. When reported as ratio limits of agreement, these were 1.02 (*/ 1 1.20) and 1.04 (*/ 1 1.21) for between trials and between days, respectively. The coefficients of variation for all measures of power output were less than 9.3%. Hence, the treadmill system and protocol developed in this study provide a reliable measure of power output for rugby players.     

Golf styles and centre of pressure patterns when using different golf clubs

Abstract

When using a driver, the centre of pressure of a golfer shows a pattern that is characteristic of one of two distinct swing styles: the “front foot” style or the “reverse” style. The aim of this study was to establish whether these two swing styles are also evident when using other clubs, and if so, to determine whether golfers use the same swing style when using different clubs. Forty-six professional, amateur, and recreational golfers performed swings to hit a ball into a net placed 3 m away. Ten swings were performed for each of the driver, 3-iron, and 7-iron while standing on two force plates. The position of the golfer's centre of pressure parallel with the line of shot and relative to the feet was quantified at eight swing events that were identified from 200-Hz video. Cluster analysis confirmed that the front foot and reverse styles were evident in all three clubs, and most of the golfers (96%) used the same swing style for all three clubs. Golfers that used the reverse swing positioned their centre of pressure nearer to their toes at ball contact compared with golfers that used the front foot swing.     

Centre of pressure patterns in the golf swing: individual-based analysis

Weight transfer has been identified as important in group-based analyses. The aim of this study was to extend this work by examining the importance of weight transfer in the golf swing on an individual basis. Five professional and amateur golfers performed 50 swings with the driver, hitting a ball into a net. The golfer's centre of pressure position and velocity, parallel with the line of shot, were measured by two force plates at eight swing events that were identified from high-speed video. The relationships between these parameters and club head velocity at ball contact were examined using regression statistics. The results did support the use of group-based analysis, with all golfers returning significant relationships. However, results were also individual-specific, with golfers returning different combinations of significant factors. Furthermore, factors not identified in group-based analysis were significant on an individual basis. The most consistent relationship was a larger weight transfer range associated with a larger club head velocity (p < 0.05). All golfers also returned at least one significant relationship with rate of weight transfer at swing events (p < 0.01). Individual-based analysis should form part of performance-based biomechanical analysis of sporting skills.