Class Year Research Articles

Positioned as expert scientists: Learning science through Mantle-of-the-Expert at years 7/8

This study emerged from concern that students disengage from science at an early age. It investigated whether using the drama-based teaching approach Mantle-of-the-Expert would support students’ interest in and learning of science. To do this a mixed method action research study was conducted. A science-based unit was co-taught with the classroom teacher over nine-weeks with a class of Year 7/8 students in a semi-rural school. A Mantle-of-the-Expert unit was devised to support learning about buoyancy and stability with the students positioned as expert scientists re-investigating the sinking of the Wahine in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand on April the 10th 1968. Student assessment data, audio transcription of classroom episodes, the researcher’s reflective blog, and classroom artefacts were gathered, analysed and used to describe student learning. Student and teacher perceptions of Mantle-of- the-Expert as an approach to learning science were sought via interviews. The findings show that the participant framework of Mantle-of-the-Expert produced a collegial inclusive learning environment. Working within an ethical ‘expert’ scientist position enhanced students’ motivation to learn and produce high-quality work, as well as enlarging their conception of how science affects humanity. The students’ expert status was supported through a hybridised instructional model incorporating both transmissive and investigative components and using artefacts to create a conceptual bridge between students’ actual knowledge and fictional knowledge. Students demonstrated marked improvement in their understanding of the science concepts taught in their written and oral work. Student perceptions of their self-efficacy in science remained relatively unchanged and their attitudes towards school science declined slightly. There was evidence they gained a greater appreciation of the kinds of work and careers scientists have and that they were more aware of the contribution of science to everyday life. The findings have implications for curriculum policy and practice in science and drama education through evidence that a Mantle-of-the-Expert based unit can contribute to science and to drama education. Mantle-of-the-Expert is one way that effective practices from both fields can be melded together to generate relevant and effective science learning opportunities. It contributes the notion of ‘fictional others’ to the theorisation and design of the Mantle-of-the-Expert approach as a way of encouraging ethical thinking and academic excellence. It also speaks of the value of using Mantle-of-the-Expert to enhance conceptual change

Sexual Health-Get Involved: A Kinesthetic Learning Experience of STI Transmission and Prevention.

OFSTED repeatedly finds the teaching of sexually transmitted infections in secondary schools ‘inadequate’ across the UK (3). This is thought to be due to a number of reasons, including the fact that staff teaching this topic feel inadequately prepared and not knowledgeable enough to do so (4). In 2010, over half of newly diagnosed sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in England were within patients aged 16-24 years (2). This could be the result of a lack of mandatory, quality sexual health education in schools, combined with larger scale social issues. Young females, in particular, reported feelings of shame when visiting sexual health clinics which on occasion may compel them to lie about their sexual history to a practitioner in order to protect a ‘fragile sexual reputation’(1). In response to the recommendations of FPA and the aforementioned public health statistics, this session was developed to improve student understanding of sexual health and of the risks associated with different sexual behaviors. Another aim was, by integrating information about the importance of regular sexual health check-ups into sexual health education in schools, to reduce the associated feelings of shame across the young female population. The activity was carried out with two classes of Year 12 students (16-17 years) in an independent school in the London borough of Lewisham. The session builds on education about STIs, which is part of the national science curriculum, and extends concepts about transmission to the most common STIs prevalent within the population aged 16-24.

Successful Prevention of Transmission of Integrase Resistance in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

The prevalence of integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-transmitted drug resistance (TDR) may increase with the increasing use of INSTIs. We analyzed the prevalence of INSTI TDR in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (2008-2014). In 1 of 1316 drug-naive samples (0.1%), a major INSTI TDR mutation was detected. Prevalence was stable, although INSTIs were increasingly used. We showed that this is in contrast to the introduction of previous drug classes, in which more treatment failures with resistant strains occurred and TDR was observed more rapidly. We demonstrated on a population-level that it is possible to avoid TDR to a new drug class for years.

Including children’s perceptions from meditation in a discussion about reflective practices in education

This paper is a co-constructed narrative comprising of inputs from children and their teachers and contextualisation from the embedded position of the chief investigator in this study to gain insights into how a group of class of Year 5-6 primary school students experienced meditation. The study is situated in a Buddhist Religious Instruction class, where learning was conducted inside a designated weekly half hour session. In accordance with the cultivation of individual responsibility and executive function that is the ethos of Buddhist pedagogy participating students and their volunteer teacher were invited into the research as research inquirers. Again the tradition exhorts the role of an experienced teacher to guide what can become an intrapersonal learning journey through meditation. At a time where mindfulness exercises and permutations have captured the public imaginary, and where educators are showing increasing interest, the discussion is timely. While the study is directed towards secular and plural educational applications, reference to the tradition that has borne mindfulness alerts the field to some considerations as to how the uptake of mindfulness in schools might be applied with further rigour and integrity. Further, the utilisation of children’s drawings of happiness scales and their added narratives offers a way in which research into the interior experiences of children might be conducted. Their insights from experience in meditation supports findings from clinical studies with children, and poses a viable addition to current reflective, wellbeing and resilience strategies in education.

Introducing the practice of statistics: are we environmentally friendly?

The practice of statistics is the focus of the world in which professional statisticians live. To understand meaningfully what this practice is about, students need to engage in it themselves. Acknowledging the limitations of a genuine classroom setting, this study attempted to expose four classes of year 5 students (n = 91) to an authentic experience of the practice of statistics. Setting an overall context of people’s habits that are considered environmentally friendly, the students sampled their class and set criteria for being environmentally friendly based on questions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics CensusAtSchool site. They then analysed the data and made decisions, acknowledging their degree of certainty, about three populations based on their criteria: their class, year 5 students in their school and year 5 students in Australia. The next step was to collect a random sample the size of their class from an Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘population’, analyse it and again make a decision about Australian year 5 students. At the end, they suggested what further research they might do. The analysis of students’ responses gives insight into primary students’ capacity to appreciate and understand decision-making, and to participate in the practice of statistics, a topic that has received very little attention in the literature. Based on the total possible score of 23 from student workbook entries, 80 % of students achieved at least a score of 11.

“She knows what I like”: Student-generated best-practice statements for encouraging recreational book reading in adolescents

The benefit of recreational book reading is well recognized, however the role of teachers in encouraging recreational reading beyond the primary school years of skill acquisition is not clearly defined. In 2012, the West Australian Study in Adolescent Book Reading was undertaken in 20 schools in Western Australia. As part of the study, students from selected classes in Year 8 and Year 10 reflected on the encouragement of recreational book reading given by their primary school and high school teachers in the past and at present. This provided a direct end-user perspective on perceived teacher attitudes and practices that supported adolescent recreational book reading. The information was analyzed to identify specific mechanisms of encouragement that students deemed effective. Findings indicated that best practice included exhibiting personal enjoyment of recreational book reading; demonstrating willingness to instigate and support student-centered discussion around books; possessing broad knowledge of both young adult texts and youth popular culture; effectively communicating expectations that students will read at school and at home; learning about the interests and aspirations of the students; and using in-class practices that encourage reading for pleasure, such as reading aloud to students and silent reading.

Becoming a Cultural Tourist: Explorations in Caribbean Poetry

Starting with the writer’s own experience as a reader, this article discusses poetry by Eric Roach, Derek Walcott, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Agard, Edward Baugh, Michael Smith and Velma Pollard. It explores the sense of place felt by writer and reader, going on to analyse the poets’ use of Nation Language, poetic metre and intertextuality in order to create distinctive and authoritative poetic voices. The relationship with the oral tradition and performance is also considered, as is the effect these voices have on a non-Caribbean reader encountering the poems for the first time. The article goes on to present the responses of a class of Year 8 students (12–13-year-olds) who were also reading the poems for the first time, evaluating the extent to which they had moved beyond a tourist’s engagement with the poetry through their study of language, context and performance. Lastly, the article argues for an approach to poetry teaching that recognises the fundamental importance of performance and voice in appreciating Caribbean poetry and considers whether this is possible within the new National Curriculum.

Comparison between primary sex ratio in spermatozoa of bulls and secondary sex ratio in the deriving offspring

The objectives of the present work were to compare the primary sex ratio in sperm with the secondary sex ratio recorded in the offspring produced by artificial insemination (AI) with the same sperm and assess whether the primary sex ratio is influenced by sperm survival and motility after thawing. Calving data of 98 Holstein Friesian bulls used in AI were collected during 4 years, and commercial semen of the same bulls was analyzed immediately after thawing and after swim-up using a real-time polymerase chain reaction method developed and validated in our laboratory. Calving data relative to single bulls did not reveal any significant deviation between genders from the theoretical 1:1 for none of the bulls, being the mean values of male and female calves born 52.1 ± 2.80% and 47.9 ± 2.71%, respectively. Thereafter, calving events of bulls were classified and analyzed according to four classes of years: 2009 (n = 13,261), 2010 (n = 21,551), 2011 (n = 24,218), and 2012 (n = 41,726), and seasons categorized as winter, spring, summer, and fall. When data aggregated per years were analyzed, the difference between the two sexes was significant (P < 0.005) in favor of the male gender, whereas no influence of the season was evidenced. Real-time polymerase chain reaction did not evidence any difference between the mean values of frequency of Y chromosome–bearing sperm detected in three sperm batches of the same bulls analyzed immediately after thawing (51.1 ± 2.1), nor a difference with respect to the theoretical 1:1 ratio was reported after sperm analysis of one batch of sperm of the bulls analyzed after swim-up and immediately after thawing (50.1 ± 2.1 and 49.8 ± 1.8, respectively). The results are consistent with the observation of the farmers who often report a skewed sex ratio of the calves being born with AI in favor of the male gender. However, we have not evidenced differences in the primary sex ratio with respect to the theoretical 1:1 ratio both at thawing and after swim-up, thus demonstrating that the freezing procedure itself does not impact selectively on the survival of the X or Y chromosome–bearing sperm. Therefore, we hypothesize that the difference between genders observed after AI is more likely due to the events occurring after fertilization, which can comprise an impaired function of the X- or Y-bearing sperm with consequences on embryo development or a maternal influence.

Developing a Compact and Practical Online Quiz System

Thanks to the open technologies around the world wide web, the authors as just college teachers have been able to develop a compact and practical online quiz system we call QDB to satisfy needs in their classes. In this paper, first we introduce our system to give ideas what the system can do. Then we show the effectiveness of the system by describing the effects of practical uses of the system in our classes for years including the effect of the recently added retry-functionality. Then as an example of the feasibility of our development we explain how simple to implement the retry-functionality because of the compactness of the system and again the great power the open technologies give us and show the speed of the system. As conclusion we suggest possibilities of a compact and flexible system as a form (or a part) of elearning systems made to your order.

Students’ Individual Choices of Peers to Work with During Lessons May Counteract Segregation

The aim was to test whether or not students from differently segregated schools within a city could compensate for this variation through their choices of classmates to work with. Data for 1,697 students from 78 classes in year 6 of compulsory school, with an average of 20 % immigrants, was collected covering both segregated and non-segregated areas with respect to housing and schools. Each student was asked which three peers he/she preferred working with in the classroom and ranked these names in order 1–3. The coherence of the networks formed using bilateral choices was analysed by use of eigenvector centrality (SSI). A higher SSI of a network indicated a high coherence of individuals within the network and therefore considered more isolated (or segregated) than networks with lower SSI. The names of the students were categorized as Scandinavian or non-Scandinavian. Networks were formed consisting of Scandinavians, non-Scandinavians and a mixture. In classrooms with non-Scandinavians, mixed networks were quite common. There was no difference of weighted SSI between the three types of networks within the same school class. Furthermore the coherence of the total number of networks formed by Scandinavians, non-Scandinavians and mixed networks was equal. Segregation between the different student networks could neither be demonstrated at a class level, nor between the three types of networks irrespective of class. Segregation within schools was thus at least partly neutralized by peer effects seen in student´s voluntary choices. Outside networks overrepresentation of lonely non-Scandinavian girls and of absent Scandinavian boys was found.

Age at menarche in a group of French schoolgirls

Mean age at menarche in France decreased from 12.78 years in 1979 to 12.6 years in 1994. The aim of this study was to determine mean age at first menstruation in French adolescent girls in order to study the secular trend. Age at first menstruation was noted to the nearest month during recording of anthropometric measurements in three secondary schools in the Aisne administrative department, France, in classes in years 7, 8, 9 and 10. A total of 339 girls aged 11-15 ½ years were examined. The majority were from a social background of workers, employees and middle managerial staff. Mean age at first menses and standard deviation were calculated using the probits method. Mean age was 12.5 ± 0.08 years (χ(2) γ=14 = 16.7, P > 0.05), indicating that it had remained stable for more than 15 years. A secular decline has already been observed in Belgium, Britain, Hungary, Scandinavia and the USA. In all these countries, age at menarche has reached a stable level at around 13 ± 0.5 years.

Association between an interleukin 1 receptor, type I promoter polymorphism and self-reported attentional function in women with breast cancer

Subgroups of patients with breast cancer may be at greater risk for cytokine-induced changes in cognitive function after diagnosis and during treatment. The purposes of this study were to identify subgroups of patients with distinct trajectories of attentional function and evaluate for phenotypic and genotypic (i.e., cytokine gene polymorphisms) predictors of subgroup membership. Self-reported attentional function was evaluated in 397 patients with breast cancer using the Attentional Function Index before surgery and for six months after surgery (i.e., seven time points). Using growth mixture modeling, three attentional function latent classes were identified: High (41.6%), Moderate (25.4%), and Low-moderate (33.0%). Patients in the Low-moderate class were significantly younger than those in the High class, with more comorbidities and lower functional status than the other two classes. No differences were found among the classes in years of education, race/ethnicity, or other clinical characteristics. DNA was recovered from 302 patients’ samples. Eighty-two single nucleotide polymorphisms among 15 candidate genes were included in the genetic association analyses. After controlling for age, comorbidities, functional status, and population stratification due to race/ethnicity, IL1R1 rs949963 remained a significant genotypic predictor of class membership in the multivariable model. Carrying the rare “A” allele (i.e., GA+AA) was associated with a twofold increase in the odds of belonging to a lower attentional function class (OR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.18, 3.30; p=.009). Findings provide evidence of subgroups of women with breast cancer who report distinct trajectories of attentional function and of a genetic association between subgroup membership and an IL1R1 promoter polymorphism.

A Study to Investigate How Six Thinking Hats Enhance the Learning of Environmental Studies

An action research was carried out to create a condition for a class of Year 6 students in their early- middle childhood stage to individually and collectively improve their learning by developing higher-order critical thinking skills in the Environmental Studies (ES) subject. In applying the Six Thinking Hats method, with the incorporation of the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy, an active teaching and learning process was seen in the enquiry classroom. Mixed methods of both quantitative and qualitative were conducted in this study to explore and identify the effectiveness of the Six Hats in encouraging higher-order thinking skills and enhancing learners' interests, leading to better academic performances. While results proved the concept to be a successful thinking skill strategy, learners' interests differed in relation to a range of different factors such as values and attitude. Then again, positive responses were seen in pupils' academic progress. Recommendations are thence made regarding these features to maximize learning outcomes and for further research.

"Study Regarding The Influence Of The Unemployment Rate Over Non-performing Loans In Romania Using The Correlation Indicator "

In this paper it is studied the influence of unemployment rate on non-performing loans in Romania. The following issues are presented: the definition of nonperforming loans, the criteria used by Romania in the definition of nonperforming loans (NPL), Romanian legislation that regulates nonperforming loans, the causes leading to nonperforming loans and the national regulates regarding unemployment. The paper contains also graphic representation of the analysis: 1) nonperforming loans in the world, 2) credits in Romania by the five risk classes for years 2006- 2011; 3) nonperforming loans based on the unemployment rate in Romania. Finally, we established the correlation between unemployment rate and nonperforming loans in Romania, with the usage of the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Grandchildren's perspectives on grandparents in rural New Zealand

Within studies of ageing, rurality and family relations, the prevalent “point of view” is based on the perspectives of adults, particularly older people themselves. However, taking seriously the reciprocal nature of kinship relations also challenges researchers to find ways to explore younger people's views and experiences of intergenerational ties. The study on which this paper is based addressed this challenge, by considering the dynamics of ageing in rural families through the lens of young people's experience. In the South Island of New Zealand, Area Schools serve families in rural regions specifically defined in terms of a catchment area based on distance from any other state school. This research study selected five (from 16) of these schools, and invited the classes of Year 7 and 8 students to take part in a classroom activity, led by the researcher with support from the class teacher. The activity involved a total of 98 young people (aged 11–13) in written completion of a survey which outlined their relationships and contacts with the people they know as grandparents, along with basic demographics of their own age, gender, family and household situation, and length of attendance at the school. From this survey, information was derived about 380 grandparents (of whom 73 were no longer alive), the nature and frequency of their contacts, and the types of activities they shared with these grandchildren. Around 40 percent of the students have daily or weekly contact with a grandparent, one third “regularly do things together”, and one fifth say they have “a special relationship” with a grandparent. By controlling the age group of the grandchild, and focussing on rural families, this study adds insights and detail to a growing body of research interest in understanding the roles and contributions made by grandparents to New Zealand families, in particular those in rural communities.

Educando para a cidadania através do Drama-Processo

Drama as a literary art, beyond the aesthetic pleasure it can generate, can also be a tool in the educational process of people in all age groups. In this paper, we present fragments of an experiment in which a kind of drama, called Process Drama was used, during a semester, to help a class of year seven students at a rural school in the municipality of Tefé (Amazonas State) to develop a critical awareness of the reality surrounding them. Ultimately, the goal of the study was to introduce to those students critical thinking as an essential tool for the full exercise of citizenship. The study was based especially on Freirian critical pedagogy, but it also capitalized on other critical thinking works. For data collection, written tests and questionnaires with semi-opened questions were used. The seven categories of David Carraher’s critical thinker were the parameter against which the data was analyzed. The results indicated a modest development of critical thinking of the students participating in the experiment as a result of their engagement (although in minute proportions) in reflections about issues that affect or could affect their communities. Key words: literary art, Process Drama, Education, critical thinking,citizenship.

What happened to the class of Year 2000: Examining their research and employment records

Abstract Today's academic environment requires high levels of research from faculty to earn promotion and tenure [P&T], merit pay, summer research grants, and other university resources. Increasingly rigorous doctoral programs have increased the competition for publishing high quality academic research. Those individuals seeking faculty positions should recognize the varying research standards of different strata of accounting programs. Most P&T committees compare candidates' research productivity to that of schools in their strata (i.e., their peer or aspirational schools). This study thus examines the research productivity through 2009 for all Year 2000 graduates from U.S. accounting doctoral programs. Information is categorized by different strata of schools to highlight current research accomplishments, and, by implication, research requirements. These results should help faculty and university administrators make better informed decisions.

Exploring relationship between students’ questioning behaviors and inquiry tasks in an online forum through analysis of ideational function of questions

In this study we explored questioning behaviors among elementary students engaging in inquiry science using the Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported collaborative learning tool. Adapting the theory of systemic functional linguistics, we developed the Ideational Function of Question (IFQ) analytical framework by means of inductive analysis of the questions found in 10 online forums contributed by three classes of Year 4 elementary school students and their teachers. We found 25 categories of questions which we grouped into three main kinds: Scientific, Epistemological, and Meta-discoursal. We then narrowed our analysis to three forums involving digestive systems. Using the IFQ framework, we explored the relationship between nature of inquiry task and students’ questioning behaviors. Our analysis shows that for close-ended task that sought scientific facts from authoritative sources, students tended to ask only scientific questions. For open-ended problem-solving task that demanded epistemic justification from the students, there was more even distribution in all three kinds of questions.

Freedom and dignity Identity through creation

The Images &amp; Identity research project, which is funded by the European Union, develops materials that can be used for the multidisciplinary teaching within the subjects of Citizenship Education and Art Education. On the basis of a project in a class of year 9 German high-school pupils focusing on the issue of Freedom and Dignity, this article examines the extent to which art education can act as creative work on identity. Joseph Beuys once stated: Everyone is an artist. In this comment, he refers to every individual's ability to shape their own life. In order to do so, the individual needs to comprehensively train his/her creative abilities. Is art, in connection with reflected knowledge and individual creation, able to advance the development of such abilities? If so, does this give rise to the prospect of art as an alternative principle of education and learning?

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute