The current study, aiming at investigating the perceptions of candidate classroom teachers for being scientific and examining the effect of the intervention comprising particular characteristics of demarcation on those perceptions, was interpretative in nature. Two data sources were utilized in order to determine their pre and post perceptions. Candidates performed poorly in the process of concluding on the status of pseudoscientific knowledge claims. But, after the intervention that based on pre-determined characteristics, the guided participants were seemed to reason more validly and able to evaluate the status of the cases they investigated for being scientific or not.
A survey of the superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs of secondary school students (N=2159) was undertaken, with some follow-up interviews. Gender differences were found at all ages with females generally less sceptical than males. An exception was a belief that aliens from another planet had visited the Earth, about which males were consistently less sceptical than females. The average level of scepticism increased steadily on going from Key Stage 3 students (11-13 years), through Key Stage 4 (14-16 years), to the sixth-form science students (17-18 years), with a further increase in scepticism in a sample of pre-service science teachers. Nevertheless many school students were very gullible and this should be of concern to science educators.
Increased professionalism in rugby has elicited rapid changes in the fitness profile of elite players. Recent research, focusing on the physiological and anthropometrical characteristics of rugby players, and the demands of competition are reviewed. The paucity of research on contemporary elite rugby players is highlighted, along with the need for standardised testing protocols.