Conserving indigenous knowledge as the key to the current and future use of traditional vegetables

Indigenous knowledge erodes rapidly. When the loss of this knowledge negatively affects the lives and health of traditionally living rural communities, a drive to conserve indigenous knowledge becomes vital. This article argues that the transfer of indigenous knowledge on traditional vegetables will ensure the availability and utilisation of this important food source for resource-poor rural communities. Data collected on the present use of traditional vegetables at a rural Xhosa village in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa documented indigenous practices of traditional vegetable use and measured attitudes and perceptions of young women. Findings revealed that although traditional vegetables are readily available, there is a decline in the use of traditional vegetables in this village. Since the loss of associated indigenous knowledge is a reality, and in view of the negative attitude towards traditional vegetables, future use of this valuable food source is threatened. The transfer of the associated indigenous knowledge holds the key to the potential future use of traditional vegetables. Altered perceptions of traditional vegetables are crucial for the conservation of the associated indigenous knowledge. As a result awareness campaigns to promote the use of traditional vegetables, related nutritional education, including proper cooking and preservation techniques are necessary.     

Hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant properties of combination ofCurcumin fromCurcuma longa, Linn, and partially purified product fromAbroma augusta, Linn. in streptozotocin induced diabetes

Dietary spice components ofCurcuma longa andAbroma augusta have been screened for their protective effect against reactive oxygen species induced lipid peroxidation. They have been found to be efficient antioxidant when administered in combination. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of oral administration (300mg/Kg) of the aqueous extract of turmeric whose active ingredient isCurcumin andAbromine powder as a hypoglycemic agent mixed with diet. The effect of this aqueous extract on blood glucose, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and the antioxidant defense system in rat tissues like liver, lung, kidney and brain was studied for 8 weeks in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The administration of an aqueous extract of turmeric and abromine powder resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose and an increase in total haemoglobin. The aqueous extract also resulted in decreased free radical formation in the tissues studied. The decrease in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and increase in reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) clearly showed the antioxidant property of the mixture. It is suggested that these changes initially counteract the oxidative stress in diabetes however, a gradual decrease in the antioxidative process may be one of the factors which results in chronic diabetes. These results indicate that the mixture of the two plants have shown antidiabetic activity and also reduced oxidative stress in diabetes. A combination ofAbroma augusta and Curcuma longa also restored the other general parameters in diabetic animals. The results were statistically analyzed and indicated that combination of herbal extracts showed better efficacy as compared to individual herbal plant extracts used.     

Instructional design for advanced learners: Establishing connections between the theoretical frameworks of cognitive load and deliberate practice

Cognitive load theory (CLT) has been successful in identifying instructional formats that are more effective and efficient than conventional problem solving in the initial, novice phase of skill acquisition. However, recent findings regarding the “expertise reversal effect” have begun to stimulate cognitive load theorists to broaden their horizon to the question of how instructional design should be altered as a learner's knowledge increases. To answer this question, it is important to understand how expertise is acquired and what fosters its development. Expert performance research, and, in particular, the theoretical framework of deliberate practice have given us a better understanding of the principles and activities that are essential in order to excel in a domain. This article explores how these activities and principles can be used to design instructional formats based on CLT for higher levels of skills mastery. The value of these formats for e-learning environments in which learning tasks can be adaptively selected on the basis of online assessments of the learner's level of expertise is discussed. In their preparation of this article, the first and last authors were supported by an Internationalization grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, The Hague, project number 411-01-010).     

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten: Case Studies of Students With and Without Language Disorders

Research demonstrates that children can make more significant gains through explicit instruction of vocabulary than implicit instruction (Blachowicz and Fisher in Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA, 2010; Dalton and Grisham in Read Teach 64(5):306–317, 2011). Effective explicit instruction often includes high quality conversations with teachers and peers (Towson et al. in J Early Interv 38(4):230–246, 2016; Wasik in Read Teach 63(8):621–633, 2010). Data for this study were collected from a larger study designed to explore students’ use of vocabulary words following explicit instruction with the words during an interactive read-aloud. A deeper microanalysis of student discussion, scaffolded by adults, was conducted. The transcribed student discussions, recorded during peer talk, were analyzed using NVivo 10 (QSR International in NVivo (version 10). NVivo qualitative data analysis software, QSR International, Doncaster, VIC, 2012) software. These case studies describe the vocabulary development of two children with diagnosed speech and language disorders and one child without a speech and language impairment.