The Multiple Faces of Visual Arts Education

This article identifies recent, mainly Nordic, research approaches to visual arts education. A concept map was developed as a heuristic tool in order to highlight salient traits and blind spots. Contemporary research typically has its origin either in education or in the art world, with an emphasis either on art as language or on art as text. These two dimensions were used to organise the studies and to select representative exemplars in different domains. The framework helped to chart the knowledge base of, and research approaches to, visual arts education. However, the result of blending subject matter and pedagogy tended to be a ‘mixture’ of viewpoints rather than emerging domains of subject‐specific pedagogical knowledge (Lee Shulman: an ‘amalgam’).     

Correction to: The influence of SES,cognitive, and non-cognitive abilities on grades: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from two Swedish cohorts

It is well established that socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive abilities such as self-efficacy are substantially associated with academic achievement. However, the specific relationships of these variables remain a relatively unexplored topic in regard to more recent and representative samples. The current study examined such relations by taking advantage of two cohorts (total N = 12,315) of Swedish students at the elementary (Grade 6) and lower-secondary school levels (Grade 8) in the compulsory school. The regression models showed that all three variables explained a substantial portion of grade variance, with cognitive ability having the strongest relationship, followed by non-cognitive abilities, and SES. Longitudinal associations, which accounted for previous academic achievement, showed that the three variables did still explain a substantial amount of grade variance.

     

Variation among schools on classroom practices in science based on TIMSS‐1999 in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences among schools using student responses in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study–1999 (TIMSS‐99) data. Schools were classified into two groups based on eighth grade students' overall achievement in science. Two different discriminant function analyses were performed to distinguish high‐ and low‐performing schools, based both on classroom practices and factor structures (student‐centered activities, teacher‐centered activities, attitudes toward technology use, socioeconomic status [SES], and doing well in science). The results indicate that there were significant differences between the two classifications of schools on ten variables regarding classroom practices and activities, and 29 variables regarding classroom practices, attitudes toward science, use of the computer and overhead projector (OHP), parental background characteristics, and need to do well in science. Contrary to general expectations, technology use (computer, OHP, etc.) was found to be negatively related to science achievement. Teachers should be trained on how to use technology in their classrooms. Turkey recently revised its curriculum to a student‐centered approach and this might increase students' ability to transfer knowledge into real life. Teachers and schools should pay more attention to SES effects. Teachers should also work toward building students' confidence in science. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1417–1435, 2007     

Effects of muscle-tendon length on joint moment and power during sprint starts

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of muscle-tendon length on joint moment and power during maximal sprint starts. Nine male sprinters performed maximal sprint starts from the blocks that were adjusted either to 40 degrees or 65 degrees to the horizontal. Ground reaction forces were recorded at 833 Hz using a force platform and kinematic data were recorded at 200 Hz with a film camera. Joint moments and powers were analysed using kinematic and kinetic data. Muscle - tendon lengths of the medial gastrocnemius, soleus, vastus medialis, rectus femoris and biceps femoris were calculated from the set position to the end of the first single leg contact. The results indicated that block velocity (the horizontal velocity of centre of mass at the end of the block phase) was greater (P < 0.01) in the 40 degrees than in the 65 degrees block angle condition (3.39 +/- 0.23 vs. 3.30 +/- 0.21 m . s(-1)). Similarly, the initial lengths of the gastrocnemius and soleus of the front leg in the block at the beginning of force production until half way through the block phase were longer (P < 0.001) in the 40 degrees than in the 65 degrees block angle condition. The initial length and the length in the middle of the block phase were also longer in the 40 degrees than in the 65 degrees block angle condition both for both the gastrocnemius (P < 0.01) and soleus (P < 0.01-0.05) of the rear leg. In contrast, the initial lengths of the rectus femoris and vastus medialis of the front leg were longer (P < 0.05) in the 65 degrees than in the 40 degrees block angle condition. All differences gradually disappeared during the later block phase. The peak ankle joint moment (P < 0.01) and power (P < 0.05) during the block phase were greater in the 40 degrees than in the 65 degrees block angle condition for the rear leg. The peak ankle joint moment during the block phase was greater (P < 0.05) in the 40 degrees block angle for the front leg, whereas the peak knee joint moment of the rear leg was greater (P < 0.01) in the 65 degrees block angle condition. The results suggest that the longer initial muscle-tendon lengths of the gastrocnemius and soleus in the block phase at the beginning of force production contribute to the greater peak ankle joint moment and power and consequently the greater block velocity during the sprint start.     

Motorische Leistungsfähigkeit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland

Motor performance is an important health resource. Review articles revealed a decline of motor performance of approximately 10?% between 1975 and 2006. In the past most of the data available for such comparisons came from ad hoc studies with non-standardized methods. Within the framework of the ”Motorik-Modul“ (MoMo) study as part of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), it is possible for the first time to directly compare two cohorts in the ages of 4–17 years in a nationally representative database for Germany. The aim of this article is to report changes in motor performance of children and adolescents in the time period 2003–2006 (cohort baseline n = 4528) compared to 2009–2012 (cohort wave 1, n = 2820). Overall, it is clearly shown that the motor performance of children and adolescents in Germany did not decrease within the observational period of 6 years. The comparison of mean values of the baseline cohort compared to those of wave 1 showed that 28 out of 52 mean values of the two cohorts with a high probability did not differ based on 95?% confidence intervals (CI). In 24 out of the 52 mean values positive changes could be noted based on the individual 95?% CI values. There were more positive changes in primary school aged children than in other age groups. Within these positive changes, most effect sizes were small to medium. The results indicate that recent activities aiming at elevating motor performance levels may have started to make an impact and should be expanded, also in secondary schools. The comparative cohort study presented in this article is currently being checked by the ongoing MoMo wave 2 survey of 2014–2017.     

Measuring pre-service teachers’ noticing competencies within a mathematical modeling context – an analysis of an instrument

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Teaching mathematical modeling is a demanding task. Thus, fostering teachers’ competencies in this regard is an essential component of teacher education....     

The social structure of entrepreneurship as a scientific field

Entrepreneurship as a scientific field has grown significantly, irrespective of the measures used. In this article we raise the question: How can we understand the evolution and success of entrepreneurship as a scholarly field? In particular, we focus on the social structure of entrepreneurship scholars to explain (1) how they are becoming integrated into larger scholarly communities and (2) how they differ from the way scholars integrate within the field of innovation studies. Based on a unique database and responses from 870 entrepreneurship scholars, we demonstrate that entrepreneurship can be regarded as a phenomenon-driven field bound together by a shared communication system and social interaction rather than strong theoretical influences, i.e., a social scholarly community. We identify two broader social communities; one embedded in entrepreneurship conferences that includes a rather eclectic group of entrepreneurship scholars, and another related to entrepreneurship journals and entrepreneurship economics, characterized by a stronger domain orientation. In contrast, scholars in innovation studies tend to be more theory-driven and are bound together by their disciplinary and theoretical background, i.e., an intellectual scholarly community.     

Students’ qualification in environmental and sustainability education—epistemic gaps or composites of critical thinking?

In an ‘age of measurement’ where students’ qualification is a hot topic on the political agenda, it is of interest to ask what the function of qualification might implicate in relation to a complex issue as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and what function environmental and sustainability issues serve in science education. This paper deals with how secondary and upper secondary teachers in discussions with colleagues articulate qualification in relation to educational aims of ESD. With inspiration from discourse theory, the teachers’ articulations of qualification are analysed and put in relation to other functions of education (qualification, socialisation and subjectification). The results of this study show three discourses of qualification: scientific reasoning, awareness of complexity and to be critical. The discourse of ‘qualification as to be critical’ is articulated as a composite of differing epistemological views. In this discourse, the teachers undulate between rationalistic epistemological views and postmodern views, in a pragmatic way, to articulate a discourse of critical thinking which serves as a reflecting tool to bring about different ways of valuing issues of sustainability, which reformulates ‘matter of facts’ towards ‘matter of concerns’