Description of Collections and Encyclopaedias on the Web using XML

Cataloguing artworks relies on availability of classification schemes, often represented by hierarchical thesauri. After commenting on the limitation of current practices and tools, we propose a new approach for the cooperative production of multilingual and multicultural classification schemes, exploiting some features of the oncoming XML-based Web.     

Education and Multimedia: the actions of the European Union

This paper sets out the findings and recommendations of a task force which was set up by the European Commission which investigated the “Educational Multimedia”. It illustrates some of the strategic planning which has taken place across EU member states to co‐ordinate work on new education technologies to enhance teaching and learning.     

Does company strategy have any lessons for educational planning?

former Member of the Administrative Board of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).Author of: Entreprise, marchés, étatand L'enseignement supérieur et l'idée d'université.     

A developmental study of school performance explanations of 6 to 11-year-olds: Causal differentiation and internality norm

Children's explanations of their performances are characterized by an increase of internal explanations over external ones. Originally considered a manifestation of cognitive development, this change has more recently been considered as an appropriation of a social norm. Two investigations are presented analyzing development of causal explanations of success and failure in mathematics and drawing. In the first study, two measures of causal attribution are compared in order to show that the use of unipolar scales is more suitable for illustrating differences in causal factors progressively operated by children. The hypothesis of the appropriation of a norm of internality is investigated in the second study. Results do not confirm this hypothesis and further, they cannot be interpreted solely in terms of cognitive development. They are discussed in the frame of a theory of socio-cognitive development.     

Force-velocity characteristics of upper limb extension during maximal wheelchair sprinting performed by healthy able-bodied females

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between force and velocity parameters during a specific multi-articular upper limb movement--namely, hand rim propulsion on a wheelchair ergometer. Seventeen healthy able-bodied females performed nine maximal sprints of 8 s duration with friction torques varying from 0 to 4 N x m. The wheelchair ergometer system allows measurement of forces exerted on the wheels and linear velocity of the wheel at 100 Hz. These data were averaged for the duration of each arm cycle. Peak force and the corresponding maximal velocity were determined during three consecutive arm cycles for each sprint condition. Individual force-velocity relationships were established for peak force and velocity using data for the nine sprints. In line with the results of previous studies on leg cycling or arm cranking, the force-velocity relationship was linear in all participants (r = -0.798 to -0.983, P < 0.01). The maximal power output (mean 1.28 W x kg(-1)) and the corresponding optimal velocity (1.49 m x s(-1)) and optimal force (52.3 N) calculated from the individual force-velocity regression were comparable with values reported in the literature during 20 or 30 s wheelchair sprints, but lower than those obtained during maximal arm cranking. A positive linear relationship (r = 0.678, P < 0.01) was found between maximal power and optimal velocity. Our findings suggest that although absolute values of force, velocity and power depend on the type of movement, the force-velocity relationship obtained in multi-articular limb action is similar to that obtained in wheelchair locomotion, cycling and arm cranking.     

Speaking Personally—With Tony Bates

Abstract

The articles published in D &; S concerning the creation and operation of remote training methods can be characterized according to the points of view taken by experts or researchers. The authors are interested in three particular aspects of the training process: organization, design, and impact. Different approaches in the design of these methods determine the economy of their structure. They may include certain constraints, such as when a team has a specific and voluntarist vision or when seeking safety by keeping to the norms, or, on the contrary, to pragmatic approaches consisting in adapting to the situation. All the proposals focus on a central theme: supporting students from a distance.     

Un exemple de cadre conceptuel pour létude de l'enseignement de la géométrie en formation des maîtres

We are interested in the teaching of geometry to primary school (children from 3 to 11) teachers. We define a priori a conceptual frame, which organises geometry upon three kinds of knowledge: intuition, experience and deduction. Drawing on Gonseth's works, we bring out three syntheses of elementary geometry: natural geometry (geometry I), natural axiomatic geometry (geometry II) and formalist axiomatic geometry (geometry III). Next we illustrate this conceptual frame with examples of teaching geometry. Last we bring out different conceptions of geometry in scholar system which could lead to cross purposes.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.