Philosophy and the curriculum

This paper is reprinted from Israel Scheffler's Reason and Teaching (Bobbs-Merrill, 1973). It is the first of a number of classic paper which Science & Education will reprint in forthcoming volumes. These are being reprinted because their arguments still warrant attention and they are increasingly inaccessible to a good number of subscribers.     

Supporting Child Welfare and Parent Involvement in Preschool Programs

This article discusses the findings from a mixed-method study examining the relationship between social resources and levels of parent involvement in state-funded preschool programs in Illinois. Using survey data from the Illinois Birth to Five Evaluation (n = 843) and interviews with ten preschool administrators who completed the survey, the study found the number of social resources provided by a program was positively associated with levels of parent involvement. The correlation analysis (r = −0.22, p = .0001) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) F(2,708) = 23.19, p = .0001 findings both demonstrated positive relationships wherein high numbers of social resources were associated with higher levels of parent involvement in programs. Administrator interviews confirmed survey findings and suggested additional influences on parent involvement levels and use of social resources in programs. Implications for supporting child welfare and policy recommendations for early childhood programs are provided.     

Systems,transfer, and fields: Evaluating a new approach to energy instruction

Energy is a central concept in science in every discipline and also an essential player in many of the issues facing people everywhere on the globe. However, studies have shown that by the end of K-12 schooling, most students do not reach the level of understanding required to be able to use energy to make sense of a wide range of phenomena. Many researchers have questioned whether the conceptual foundations of traditional approaches to energy instruction may be responsible for students' difficulties. In response to these concerns, we developed and tested a novel approach to middle school physical science energy instruction that was informed by the recommendations of the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012a) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013). This new approach differs substantially from more traditional approaches to energy instruction in that it does not require energy forms and it emphasizes connections between energy, systems, and fields that mediate interaction-at-a-distance. We investigated student learning during this novel approach and contrasted it with student learning within a comparable unit based on a more traditional approach to energy instruction. Our findings indicate that students who learned in the new approach outperformed students who learned in the traditional approach in every quantitative and qualitative aspect considered in this study, irrespective of their prior knowledge of energy. They developed more parsimonious knowledge networks in relation to energy that focused primarily around the concept of energy transfer. This study warrants further investigation into the value of this new approach to energy instruction in both middle and high school.     

Beyond teaching practice: Exploring individual determinants of student performance on a research skills module

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which intrinsic student factors such as cognitive learning style, learning strategies, motivation and statistics anxiety, as well as certain demographic factors, predict performance on a research design and analysis course (RDAIIA) in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, with a view to developing future interventions for improving student performance. Using a sample of eighty students, it was established that the factors most predictive of RDA performance were secondary school performance (p < 0.0001) and age (p = 0.0106). Excluding demographic factors, self-efficacy (p < 0.0001), help-seeking (p = 0.0531) and a reflective learning style (p = 0.0071) were also found to be predictive. Performance also differed between students who had completed Mathematics on the higher grade in secondary school and those who had completed standard grade (p = 0.016). These findings present both possible directions and substantial challenges for future performance-intervention strategies.     

Extrinsic and intrinsic risk factors associated with injuries in young dancers aged 8-16 years

In the present study, we tried to determine the association between joint ranges of motion, anatomical anomalies, body structure, dance discipline, and injuries in young female recreational dancers. A group of 1336 non-professional female dancers (age 8-16 years), were screened. The risk factors considered for injuries were: range of motion, body structure, anatomical anomalies, dance technique, and dance discipline. Sixty-one different types of injuries and symptoms were identified and later classified into four major categories: knee injuries, foot or ankle tendinopathy, back injuries, and non-categorized injuries. We found that 569 (42.6%) out of the 1336 screened dancers, were injured.The following factors were found to be associated with injuries (P < 0.05): (a) range of motion (e.g. dancers with hyper hip abduction are more prone to foot or ankle tendinopathies than dancers with hypo range of motion; (b) anatomical anomalies (scoliotic dancers manifested a higher rate of injuries than non-scoliotic dancers); (c) dance technique (dancers with incorrect technique of rolling-in were found to have more injuries than dancers with correct technique); (d) dance discipline (an association between time of practice en pointe and injury was observed); and (e) early age of onset of menarche decreased risk for an injury. No association between body structure and injury was found. Injuries among recreational dancers should not be overlooked, and therefore precautionary steps should be taken to reduce the risk of injury, such as screening for joint range of motion and anatomical anomalies. Certain dance positions (e.g. en pointe) should be practised only when the dancer has already acquired certain physical skills, and these practices should be time controlled.     

Swimming Between: An examination of the Inherent Complexity within Social Justice

Classrooms tend to be absolute spaces, places where fluidity is rejected and nearly everything—from people, to ideas, to practices and policies—is viewed and organized through binary logic. Because binary logic is implicitly accepted as the natural order in schools and the structures resulting from it are highly unmalleable, individuals who differ from the norm are expected to assimilate and adapt so as not to disrupt the structure. Those who are too different from the norm to fit in or who refuse to accept the binary structure are viewed as problems and are often ostracized or blamed for disturbing the system. Even when evidence to dispute the binary logic emerges, such evidence is often ignored or rejected in favor of maintaining the status quo. As such, the need for educators with a social justice orientation is needed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the process one teacher used to create inclusive spaces for students who identify with differences in order to develop a more critical understanding of the work of social justice teachers. The findings suggest the teacher enacted behaviors and maintained beliefs that contradicted her espoused social justice orientation and her classroom was at once both inclusive and exclusive. The findings illustrate the complexities inherent within the work of equity-oriented educators. Implications for educator preparation is discussed.     

History of the Infinitely Small and the Infinitely Large in Calculus

The infinitely small and the infinitely large are essential in calculus. They have appeared throughout its history in various guises: infinitesimals, indivisibles, differentials, evanescent quantities, moments, infinitely large and infinitely small magnitudes, infinite sums, power series, limits, and hyperreal numbers. And they have been fundamental at both the technical and conceptual levels – as underlying tools of the subject and as its foundational underpinnings. We will consider examples of these aspects of the infinitely small and large as they unfolded in the history of calculus from the 17^th through the 20^th centuries. We will also present `didactic observations' at relevant places in the historical account. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Flavor preferences conditioned with starch in rats

Rats were trained to associate artificial cherry or grape flavors with 1% starch suspensions. Conditioning was assessed by offering the rats a choice of the cherry versus grape flavors without starch. Conditioned preferences were moderately strong and persistent; 3 days of conditioning produced a preference that did not fully extinguish within 18 days. Food deprivation substantially increased intake of 1% starch suspension, However, the degree of preference conditioned was not influenced by the availability of food during the conditioning period; the rats that had been food deprived during training acquired as strong a preference as did those fed freely during training. The degree of preference obtained was similar in the rats given reinforcing and nonreinforcing fluids simultaneously or sequentially. Starch conditioned a slightly stronger preference than did the same concentration of glucose, even though these substances contain the same amount of calories. A statistically significant, but weak, preference was conditioned by 0.5%, but not by 0.25%, starch. It is proposed that the flavor of starch, independent of its calories, is reinforcing to rats.