Protracted Intrusive Research in Schools: why us?

A case study of a lengthy and potentially disruptive experimental research project is used to examine ways in which the interests of researchers and schools may be reconciled. Attention is drawn particularly to the importance of joint recognition of the legitimacy of both sets of objectives. The pivotal role of a research assistant/teacher in facilitating sensitive and flexible responses to problems confronting both the research project and the school is discussed. Unexpected social benefits to the school arising from our implementation of the research assistant/teacher role are described.     

A Probability Matching Approach to Further Education/Higher Education Transition in Scotland

As part of the impetus to increase and widen participation in the UK, and in Scotland in particular, there has been considerable effort put into creating links between Further Education Colleges (FECs) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). However, because no unique identifier is used to track students between the two sectors, little is known in quantitative terms of the nature of this progression. In this article using substantial datasets, and an approach known as Probability Matching, we are able to provide novel data on the proportions of Scottish domiciled former FEC students within Scottish HEIs, and are able to compare the characteristics of this subset of all students with the whole cohort within HE in a given year, 1999–2000.     

From ‘school correspondent’ to workplace bargainer? The changing role of the school union representative

This paper draws on research in three English Midlands local education authorities to analyse the changing role of the teacher trade union representative in schools. It focuses on representatives of the largest teachers’ union in England and Wales—the National Union of Teachers. The paper draws on mainstream industrial relations literature, and more recent research into school sector industrial relations, to assess how the role of the union representative is changing in an era of autonomous schools. The research indicates that new issues are emerging in schools, and these have the potential to transform the role of the representative. Where representatives can respond to the emergence of these new issues there is the prospect of a new, more participative trade union culture developing in schools. However, it is far from certain that school union representatives will want to assume these increased responsibilities, and this poses a major challenge for the development of teacher trade unionism.     

Conceptualization and Measurement of Cognitive Holding Power

The concept of cognitive holding power is synthesized from theories of settings and of cognitive structures and is conceptualized as a characteristic of a learning setting that presses students into different kinds of cognitive activity. Settings which press students into using first- or second-order cognitive procedures are regarded as having first- or second-order cognitive holding power. The development of an instrument to measure these two dimensions of cognitive holding power is outlined. The independence of the dimensions, their reliabilities and validity, and factor structures are examined. Each dimension was found to have high reliability across vocational education and high school settings, and each was correlated as predicted with other classroom variables. The potential contribution of this research to understanding the relationship between different approaches to the teaching of problem solving and the ability to undertake problem-solving transfer tasks is outlined.     

EXAMINING POTENTIAL BIAS IN SCREENING MEASURES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS BY SPECIAL EDUCATION AND LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SUBGROUPS

To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require methods for quickly and accurately identifying those students in need. One method for identifying those students is through universal screening. Assessments such as oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze reading comprehension are commonly used as screening assessments in middle grades. The current study examined ORF and Maze for evidence of bias across two subgroups known to be at increased risk for failure in reading: (a) students with learning disabilities and (b) students from low‐income households. Data from 4,215 students in the sixth (n = 1,126), seventh (n = 1,361), and eighth grades (n = 1,728) were analyzed. Results indicate no significant differences in predictive validity for students from low‐income households compared to students from middle and upper income households. For students with learning disabilities only 8th grade scores showed any evidence of bias compared to students without diagnosed disabilities. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Time Use and Mathematics Achievement among American, Chinese, and Japanese High School Students

Cultural differences in the structure of adolescents' daily lives were examined by interviewing representative samples of 578 grade 11 students, aged 16–17 years, in Minneapolis, Taipei (Taiwan), and Sendai (Japan) about the amounts of time they spent in a wide variety of activities. Studying, interacting with peers, and watching television were the most frequent activities in all 3 locations, but the relative importance of each activity differed among the locations. Chinese students spent significantly more time than American students engaged in academic endeavors, such as attending school and after-school classes and studying. Japanese students did not spend significantly more time studying or attending after-school classes than American students, but they did spend more time attending school. American students, in turn, spent more time working and socializing with friends. Differences in adolescents' use of time were related to both cross-cultural and individual differences in mathematics achievement.     

Reducing the oxidative stress mediates the cardioprotection of bicyclol against ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

Objective

To investigate the beneficial effect of bicyclol on rat hearts subjected to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries and its possible mechanism.

Methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intragastrically administered with bicyclol (25, 50 or 100 mg/(kg·d)) for 3 d. Myocardial IR was produced by occlusion of the coronary artery for 1 h and reperfusion for 3 h. Left ventricular hemodynamics was continuously monitored. At the end of reperfusion, myocardial infarct was measured by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and myocardial superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were determined by spectrophotometry. Isolated ventricular myocytes from adult rats were exposed to 60 min anoxia and 30 min reoxygenation to simulate IR injuries. After reperfusion, cell viability was determined with trypan blue; reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential of the cardiomyocytes were measured with the fluorescent probe. The mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening induced by Ca²⁺ (200 μmol/L) was measured with the absorbance at 520 nm in the isolated myocardial mitochondria.

Results

Low dose of bicyclol (25 mg/(kg·d)) had no significant improving effect on all cardiac parameters, whereas pretreatment with high bicyclol markedly reduced the myocardial infarct and improved the left ventricular contractility in the myocardium exposed to IR (P<0.05). Medium dose of bicyclol (50 mg/(kg·d)) markedly improved the myocardial contractility, left ventricular myocyte viability, and SOD activity, as well decreased infarct size, serum LDH level, ROS production, and mitochondrial membrane potential in rat myocardium exposed to IR. The reduction of ventricular myocyte viability in IR group was inhibited by pretreatment with 50 and 100 mg/(kg·d) bicyclol (P<0.05 vs. IR), but not by 25 mg/(kg·d) bicyclol. The opening of mPTP evoked by Ca²⁺ was significantly inhibited by medium bicyclol.

Conclusions

Bicyclol exerts cardioprotection against IR injury, at least, via reducing oxidative stress and its subsequent mPTP opening.     

An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport

Abstract

Coping strategies are important for performance in sport and individual differences may contribute to the coping strategies adopted by athletes. In this study, we explored the main and interactive effects of the big five personality dimensions on sport-related coping and compared personality profiles of discrete groups of athletes. Altogether, 253 athletes (mean age 21.1 years, s = 3.7) completed the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. Revised NEO personality inventory and NEO five-factor inventory: Professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]), and the Coping Function Questionnaire for Sport (Kowalski & Crocker, 2001 Kowalski, K. C. and Crocker, P. R. E. 2001. Development and validation of the Coping Function Questionnaire for adolescents in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23: 136–155. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results showed that extraverted athletes, who were also emotionally stable and open to new experiences (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of problem-focused coping strategies. Conscientious athletes (main effect), and athletes displaying high levels of extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (a three-way interaction effect), reported a greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and athletes with low levels of openness, or high levels of neuroticism (main effects), reported a greater use of avoidance coping strategies. Different personality characteristics were observed between higher-level and lower-level athletes, between men and women athletes, and between individual and team sport athletes. These findings suggest that the five-factor model of personality can help distinguish various levels of athletic involvement and can help identify the coping strategies athletes are likely to adopt during participation.