Effect of strength training on rate of force development in older women

We analyzed the effect of an 8-week strength training (ST) program on the rate of force development (RFD) and electromyographic activity (EMG) in older women. Seventeen women (M age = 63.4 years, SD = 4.9) without previous ST experience were randomly assigned to either a control (n=7) or training (n=10) group. A leg-press isometric test was used for assessment. ST (three sessions/ week, three sets of 10-12 repetition maximum, five different exercises) induced significant increases (p < .05) on peak RPD (48.4%) and on RFD) and EMG of vastus medialis at time intervals of 0-50, 0-100, 0-150, and 0-200 ms (41.1-69.2% and 43.8-64.3%, respectively). Therefore, ST resulted in favorable changes in neuromuscular responses in older women.     

Neurophysiological correlates of interference control and response inhibition processes in children and adolescents engaging in open- and closed-skill sports

Background:Accumulating evidence suggests that sports participation promotes the development of inhibitory control,but the influences of the sports category and inhibition type still remain unclear.The categorization of sports based on the open-skill(externally paced)and closed-skill(self-paced)continuum allows for the integration of the environment as a factor contributing to sports-related benefits for inhibitory control.Methods:Cross-sectional data from different studies were combined(n=184)to examine the association between open-and closed-skill sports and cognitive control processes related to interference control and response inhibition.Participants(aged 9-14 years)filled in 7-day physical activity recall protocols and completed a Stroop Color-Word or a Go/NoGo task.The N200,N450,and P300 components of event-related potentials elicited by these tasks were recorded using electroencephalography.Results:Partial correlations supported the belief that time spent in open-skill sports was related to higher performance on inhibition trials.Additionally,path analyses revealed an association between this sports type and a greater negativity in the N200 and N450 amplitudes in both the full sample and group-level analyses.In contrast,no relation was found between sports type and P300 amplitude.Conclusion:The findings suggest that only the engagement in open-skill sports is associated with more effective conflict monitoring and higher performance on tasks demanding inhibitory control.     

Validity issues in standard-setting studies

Standard-setting procedures are a key component within many large-scale educational assessment systems. They are consensual approaches in which committees of experts set cut-scores on continuous proficiency scales, which facilitate communication of proficiency distributions of students to a wide variety of stakeholders. This communicative function makes standard-setting studies a key gateway for validity concerns at the intersection of evidentiary and consequential aspects of score interpretations. This short review paper describes the conceptual and empirical basis of validity arguments for standard-setting procedures in light of recent research on validity theory. It specifically demonstrates how procedural and internal evidence for the validity of standard-setting procedures can be collected to form part of the consequential basis of validity evidence for test use.     

A comparison of self versus tutor assessment among Hungarian undergraduate business students

This study analyses the self-assessment behaviour and efficiency of 163 undergraduate business students from Hungary. Using various statistical methods, the results support the hypothesis that high-achieving students are more accurate in their pre- and post-examination self-assessments, and also less likely to overestimate their performance, and, if they do so, the mean overestimation is lower than in the case of lower achieving students. The study did not find a strong difference in the tendency to self-overestimation between sexes, but in their pre-examination prediction, women seem to overestimate significantly more than men. An overall tendency among the students to overrate their own examination performance is also detected, as is a tendency to increase the accuracy of self-assessment after sitting the examination.     

Girls in residential care: From child maltreatment to trauma-related symptoms in emerging adulthood

The current study examined the association between child maltreatment and trauma-related symptoms in emerging adulthood – over and above the incidence of such symptoms and conduct problems during adolescence – among a sample of female adolescents in residential care. This study used data from a longitudinal study. The sample was composed of 89 adolescent females who were first interviewed at time of admission in a residential center (M_age = 15.33 years, SD = 1.31) and later in young adulthood (M_age = 19.27, SD = 1.55). At time 1, trauma-related symptoms were assessed with the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children and conduct problems with a composite measure. At time 2, child maltreatment was assessed retrospectively with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and trauma-related symptoms were reassessed with the Trauma Symptom Inventory-2. Results indicated that child maltreatment, especially emotional abuse and neglect, was related to anxious arousal, depression, and anger in emerging adulthood. This study showed that females from our sample often reported different types of maltreatment during childhood and that these traumatic experiences were significantly associated with poor adult psychological functioning.     

Working towards more socially just futures: five areas for transdisciplinary literacies research

Policy-makers and provincial governments have a responsibility to prioritise equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) with approaches that leverage both intersectionality and transdisciplinarity, especially when looking at literacies research. Supported by a federally funded knowledge synthesis grant that surveyed the scope of EDIA in Canadian schools, this article focuses on youth marginalisation to address literacies learning. The authors address five concepts from a three-phase literature review to examine inclusive practices that respect, acknowledge and address EDIA in K-12 education. Across reviewed studies, there is an underlying trajectory outlining methodological challenges in implementing EDIA practices. We advance anti-racist and abolitionist approaches by addressing five areas: (1) making learning more accessible by adopting culturally responsive pedagogy informed by local cultures, languages and values; (2) pursuing sustainable professional development in culturally inclusive teaching practices; (3) creating safer school environments that nurture community-driven relationships between parents, students and their teachers; (4) reforming educational policies to concretely address structural racism, discrimination and misrepresentation of socially marginalised students by disrupting what is conceptualised and accepted as ideal culturally responsive pedagogy; and (5) prioritising community perspectives and input curriculum decisions to support underrepresented students. Ultimately, this article echoes this issue's orientations as it explores transdisciplinary practices composing an evolving understanding of literacies.     

The Public Discussion on Flat Earth Movement

Science & Education - The paper reflects on public discourses about science and pseudoscience, proposing the same discursive structure for both—the Esperantist-Epideictic genre. This...     

HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM AND WESTERN ASSISTANCE IN HUNGARY: THE TEMPUS EXPERIENCE

The TEMPUS programme was started in the early 1990's in a unique political climate in eastern European countries. It was a very considerable innovation as a complex and efficient higher education programme, targeted at the real needs of the recipients. As no higher education strategies existed at that time in the region, TEMPUS was not able to support comprehensive structural changes, at least in Hungary, in the university sphere. Its unique success in terms of efficiency can be traced back to the presence of the European dimension, the professional management of the Programme, and the very appropriate emotional challenge it has presented both in the East and the West.