The Research Encounter: An Innovative Course Inclusion that Facilitates Student Engagement

The learning and engagement activity we describe was designed to demystify the research culture of the Health Faculty for first year students, and there are implications for practice in other fields. It is founded on the idea of research-based learning, which in its pure form is a respected pedagogical approach but problematic for large cohort (>500) first year students. As an assessment item, students were placed in small groups and were matched with faculty research staff and/or a research area to investigate. The students were surveyed before and after the research encounter; and results show that, among other findings, student engagement with peers and with the faculty were distinct positive outcomes.     

A Comparison of Physical Self-Perception Profile Questionnaire Formats: Structured Alternative and Ordered Response Scale Formats

This study assessed the performance of the original version of the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP; Fox & Corbin, 1989 Fox, K. R. and Corbin, C. B. 1989. The Physical Self-Perception Profile: Development and preliminary validation. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11: 408–430. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) as compared to a revised version. University students (N?=?259) participated in the study, each answering and comparing the clarity of the original and a revised PSPP. While participants found the revised version to be significantly clearer, it performed similarly to the original in select analyses of internal consistency and construct validity. The original structured alternative format did not have lower levels of socially desirable responding, as compared to the Likert-type ordered response scale format of the revised PSPP. Because the revised version was deemed clearer, performed similarly to the original on select psychometric analyses, and did not have any data loss, there is merit in further examining additional validity and reliability evidence for the revised PSPP.     

Biology Education Research: Lessons and Future Directions

This feature draws on a 2012 National Research Council report to highlight some of the insights that discipline-based education research in general—and biology education research in particular—have provided into the challenges of undergraduate science education. It identifies strategies for overcoming those challenges and future directions for biology education research.Biologists have long been concerned about the quality of undergraduate biology education. Indeed, some biology education journals, such as the American Biology Teacher, have been in existence since the 1930s. Early contributors to these journals addressed broad questions about science learning, such as whether collaborative or individual learning was more effective and the value of conceptualization over memorization. Over time, however, biology faculty members have begun to study increasingly sophisticated questions about teaching and learning in the discipline. These scholars, often called biology education researchers, are part of a growing field of inquiry called discipline-based education research (DBER).DBER investigates both fundamental and applied aspects of teaching and learning in a given discipline; our emphasis here is on several science disciplines and engineering. The distinguishing feature of DBER is deep disciplinary knowledge of what constitutes expertise and expert-like understanding in a discipline. This knowledge has the potential to guide research focused on the most important concepts in a discipline and offers a framework for interpreting findings about students’ learning and understanding in that discipline. While DBER investigates teaching and learning in a given discipline, it is informed by and complementary to general research on human learning and cognition and can build on findings from K–12 science education research.DBER is emerging as a field of inquiry from programs of research that have developed somewhat independently in various disciplines in the sciences and engineering. Although biology education research (BER) has emerged more recently than similar efforts in physics, chemistry, or engineering education research, it is making contributions to the understanding of how students learn and gain expertise in biology. These contributions, together with those that DBER has made in physics and astronomy, chemistry, engineering, and the geosciences, are the focus of a 2012 report by the National Research Council (NRC, 2012 ).1 For biologists who are interested in education research, the report is a useful reference, because it offers the first comprehensive synthesis of the emerging body of BER and highlights the ways in which BER findings are similar to those in other disciplines. In this essay, we draw on the NRC report to highlight some of the insights that DBER in general and BER in particular have provided into effective instructional practices and undergraduate learning, and to point to some directions for the future. The views in this essay are ours as editors of the report and do not represent the official views of the Committee on the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline-Based Education Research; the NRC; or the National Science Foundation (NSF).     

Ability tracking and social trust in China’s rural secondary school system

ABSTRACT

The goal of this paper is to describe and analyze the relationship between ability tracking and student social trust, in the context of low-income students in developing countries. Drawing on the results from a longitudinal study among 1,436 low-income students across 132 schools in rural China, we found a significant lack of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions among poor rural young adults. We also found that slow-tracked students have a significantly lower level of social trust, comprised of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions, relative to their fast-tracked peers. This disparity might further widen the gap between relatively privileged students who stay in school and less privileged students who drop out of school. These results suggest that making high school accessible to more students may improve social trust among rural low-income young adults.     

Educational Vouchers: A Primer

Advancements in technology have changed the day to day operation of society. The ways in which we teach and learn have begun the same process. For this reason, we must reexamine instruction. In this article, the author analyzes the changing environment of educational technology and how to incorporate the theory of multiple intelligences. The teaching strategies presented outline how to enhance student performance by blending new technologies with time-tested pedagogy. The author explains and matches up each intelligence with an effective technology tool. He also provides examples from scholarly publications and actual classroom practice.     

What helps children in a pupil referral unit (PRU)? An exploration into the potential protective factors of a PRU as identified by children and staff

Previous studies have focused on the views of excluded children or those finding themselves in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Few, however, have focused on exploring views from a resilience perspective. Studies linked to resilience have tended to focus on exploring factors through quantitative rather than qualitative measures. This piece of research aimed to explore the potential protective factors of one PRU through the valuable voices of children and staff. The views of six children aged between 9 and 13 years, all with varying forms of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, and partway through a PRU placement, were explored through semi-structured interviews supported by the use of tools and techniques to facilitate discussion. The views of four staff members were also obtained. Findings reveal the powerful perspectives that children and young people can bring in relation to what might be helping them within a particular environment. A number of potential protective factors, both within the environment and within-child factors that may operate as mechanisms in fostering positive social and academic outcomes, are identified. Implications of these findings for professional practice, and for children finding themselves in PRU provision, are discussed, with a focus on reintegration and the potential impact of changing environments for these children.     

Information-Seeking Outcomes of Representational,Structural, and Political Intersectionality Among Health Media Consumers

Although the segmentation of publics is a standard practice in public relations programming, practitioners face challenges in using traditional approaches to identify and engage vastly different publics. Responding to the need for new approaches that consider global, cultural, and technological trends in consumer publics, this study provides evidence to a proposed intersectional approach to the segmentation of publics. Thirty-one women of different racial, socioeconomic, age, and relationship backgrounds were interviewed to explore how they perceived their multiple, overlapping identities influence their health decision making. Findings suggest that publics experience co-occurring oppression and privilege in varying contexts: in representations of them, in policies that affect them, and in structures that enable or hinder their ability to improve their health. The findings suggest that intersecting social structures shape disparate health public relations, intersecting policies widen the policymaker–public gap, and intersecting representations reflect a paradox of segmentation.     

Executive function skills of 6–8 year olds: Brain and behavioral evidence and implications for school achievement

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children’s self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based neuropsychological measure of EF skills. The sample included 74 children (37 females; M = 86.2 months) who participated in two assessments of working memory and inhibitory control: Knock–Tap (NEPSY: Korkman, Kirk, & Kemp, 1998), and participated in event-related potential (ERP) testing that included the directional stroop test ( DST, Davidson, Cruess, Diamond, O’Craven, and Savoy (1999)). Three main findings emerged. First, children grouped as high vs. low performing on the NEPSY Knock–Tap Task were found to perform differently on the more difficult conditions of the DST (the Incongruent and Mixed Conditions), suggesting that the Knock–Tap Task as a low-cost and easy to administer assessment of EF skills may be one way for teachers to identify students with poor inhibitory control skills. Second, children’s performance on the DST was strongly related to their ERP responses, adding to evidence that differences in behavioral performance on the DST as a measure of EF skills reflect corresponding differences in brain processing. Finally, differences in brain processing on the DST task also were found when the children were grouped based on Knock–Tap performance. Simple screening procedures can enable teachers to identify children whose distractibility, inattentiveness, or poor attention spans may interfere with classroom learning.     

Comprehensive sexuality education,culture and gender: the effect of the cultural setting on a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is recognised as an effective method of sexual health education, with the school identified as a fitting site of implementation. Its holistic and participatory nature endeavours to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life-skills of students to help them secure their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This qualitative study aimed to better understand aspects of CSE implementation in one context. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of the cultural setting, considering how gender and sexuality norms influence teacher and student implementation strategies. The research was carried out in one secondary school in Ethiopia, which delivered a Dutch-developed programme throughout 2013. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and students, influential community members and experts in SRHR. Data were also gathered through focus group discussions and classroom observations. Results show that CSE teachers and students, both male and female, were able to discuss issues of sexuality. However, the cultural context was seen to affect interpretation of programme information, influencing the nature of this discussion. For an impactful implementation, it is recommended that sexuality education aims to engage with and involve the wider community, to reduce contradictory messages and increase programme support. Furthermore, teachers should undergo extensive and comprehensive pre-programme training that addresses their attitudes and values, not just their knowledge.     

Changes in respiratory muscle and lung function following marathon running in man

Abstract

Respiratory muscle fatigue has been reported following short bouts of high-intensity exercise, and prolonged, moderate-intensity exercise, as evidenced by decrements in inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures. However, links to functionally relevant outcomes such as breathing effort have been lacking. The present study examined dyspnoea and leg fatigue during a treadmill marathon in nine experienced runners. Maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure, peak inspiratory and expiratory flow, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in one second were assessed before, immediately after, and four and 24 hours after a marathon. During the run, leg effort was rated higher than respiratory effort from 18 through 42 km (P < 0.05). Immediately after the marathon, there were significant decreases in maximal inspiratory pressure and peak inspiratory flow (from 118 ± 20 cm H₂O and 6.3 ± 1.4 litres · s^?1 to 100 ± 22 cm H₂O and 4.9 ± 1.5 litres · s^?1 respectively; P < 0.01), while expiratory function remained unchanged. Leg maximum voluntary contraction force was significantly lower post-marathon. Breathing effort correlated significantly with leg fatigue (r = 0.69), but not inspiratory muscle fatigue. Our results confirm that prolonged moderate-intensity exercise induces inspiratory muscle fatigue. Furthermore, they suggest that the relative intensity of inspiratory muscle work during exercise makes some contribution to leg fatigue.