Measuring Effectiveness of Health Education in a Web‐based Learning Environment: a preliminary report

Driven by claims of efficacy, flexibility and resource effectiveness, higher education is increasingly utilising the Web as an instructional tool. The claims for pedagogical effectiveness are often just that – claims — and appear not to have been proven in the reality of subject presentation and evaluation. Thus, it is necessary to examine assumptions regarding the benefits of Web‐based instruction in terms of effectiveness. This article discusses aspects of an investigation which examined and compared the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS related collaborative tutorial activities carried out in both a Web‐based learning environment and a face‐to‐face class situation within an undergraduate health education subject. Effectiveness of the pedagogical strategy and the different learning environments were measured in terms of observed learning outcomes and reported perceptions of the learners regarding their learning experience. Preliminary results based on measured learning outcomes related to the subject matter, HIV/AIDS, demonstrated that collaborative learning activities were significantly more effective in the Web‐based than in the class environment. Additionally, the vast majority of learners perceived the Web‐based environment to be as effective or more effective than the face‐to‐face, class environment in terms of facilitating their understanding of the issues explored in the subject.     

The Developmental Sequence and Relations Between Gesture and Spoken Language in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

In typical development, gestures precede and predict language development. This study examines the developmental sequence of expressive communication and relations between specific gestural and language milestones in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who demonstrate marked difficulty with gesture production and language. Communication skills across five stages (gestures, word approximations, first words, gesture-word combinations, and two-word combinations) were assessed monthly by blind raters for toddlers with ASD participating in an randomized control trial of parent-mediated treatment (N = 42, 12–30 months). Findings revealed that toddlers acquired skills following a reliable (vs. idiosyncratic) sequence and the majority of toddlers combined gestures with words before combining words in speech, but in contrast to the pattern observed in typical development, a significant subset acquired pointing after first words.     

Transforming University Practice Through ICT – Integrated Perspectives on Organizational,Technological, and Pedagogical Change

The article focuses on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for strengthening and transforming university practice in line with the social and technological conditions of the new ideas for interactive universities. The purpose is to use ICT as a change-agent in order to establish new practices – new pedagogical methods, new methods for collaboration and new forms of interplay between physical and virtual learning environments. The article is based on an ongoing case in which both the authors have been engaged: the IT Innovation project (ITI) and E-learning Lab North Jutland (ELL) at Aalborg University in Denmark. The article presents the different initiatives and strategies for innovation of the university and subsequently discusses the work in the perspective of organizational learning and planning theory.     

Stichwort: Lernen im Museum

This contribution sketches the museum landscape and investigates – from different perspectives – to what extent museums can be defined and studied as an informal learning location. We shall start with a look at the heterogeneity of museums, which is a consequence of the different collections, the characteristics of visitors and their motives for visiting, and the relatively young history of didactic methods used in museums. Does learning take place? Research on visitors, which looks at this question, typically reflects in its theories of learning the paradigm shift from behaviourism to cognitive and constructivistic concepts with a corresponding change of perspective regarding the subject of investigation: whilst first investigations looked at the characteristic of exhibits and made recommendations on this basis for improved didactics, more recent studies look at visitors’ theoretic constructs of these characteristics. This article argues for a link between both perspectives in order to achieve further theoretical and practical insights.     

Exploratory assessments of child abuse: Children's responses to interviewer's questions across multiple interview sessions

ObjectiveThe present study extends field research on interviews with young children suspected of having been abused by examining multiple assessment interviews designed to be inquisitory and exploratory, rather than formal evidential or forensic interviews.MethodsSixty-six interviews with 24 children between the ages of 3 and 6 years who were undergoing an assessment for suspected child abuse were examined. Each child was interviewed 2, 3, or 4 times. The interviewer's questions were categorized in terms of openness (open, closed or choice), in terms of the degree of interviewer input (free recall, direct, leading, suggestive), and for topic (whether the question was abuse-specific or nonabuse-related). Children's on-task responses were coded for amount of information (number of clauses) reported in relation to each question type and topic, and off-task responses were categorized as either ignoring the question or a diverted response.ResultsChildren provided a response to most questions, independent of question type or topic and typically responded with one or two simple clauses. Some children disclosed abuse in response to open-ended questions; generally, however, failure to respond to a question was more likely for abuse-specific than for nonabuse-related questions.ConclusionThe findings are discussed in terms of the growing literature on interviewing children about suspected abuse, particularly in interviews conducted over multiple sessions.Practice implicationsAssessment of suspected child abuse may involve more than a single investigative interview. Research examining children's responses to questioning over multiple interviews (or single interviews conducted over multiple sessions) is necessary for the development of best practise guidelines for the assessment of abuse.     

Dietary nitrate supplementation does not improve cycling time-trial performance in the heat

This investigation examined the effect of beetroot juice (BR) supplementation, a source of dietary nitrate (NO₃^?), on cycling time-trial (TT) performance and thermoregulation in the heat. In a double-blind, repeated-measures design, 12 male cyclists (age 26.6 ± 4.4 years, VO_2peak 65.8 ± 5.5 mL.kg^?1.min^?1) completed four cycling TTs (14 kJ.kg^?1) in hot (35°C, 48% relative humidity) and euthermic (21°C, 52%) conditions, following 3 days supplementation with BR (6.5 mmol NO₃^? for 2 days and 13 mmol NO₃^? on the final day), or NO₃^–depleted placebo (PLA). Salivary NO₃^? and nitrite, core (T_c) and mean skin temperature (T_sk) were measured. Salivary NO₃^? and nitrite increased significantly post-BR supplementation (p < 0.001). Average TT completion time (mm:ss) in hot conditions was 56:50 ± 05:08 with BR, compared with 58:30 ± 04:48 with PLA (p = 0.178). In euthermic conditions, average completion time was 53:09 ± 04:35 with BR, compared with 54:01 ± 04:05 with PLA (p = 0.380). The TT performance decreased (p < 0.001), and T_c (p < 0.001) and T_sk (p < 0.001) were higher in hot compared with euthermic conditions. In summary, BR supplementation has no significant effect on cycling TT performance in the heat.     

Grip and Forearm Position Effects on Tests of Static and Dynamic Upper Body Endurance

Abstract

The effects of grip and forearm position on two tests of upper body muscular endurance were investigated in 109 male subjects 18–21 years of age. Subjects were systematically presented 12 tasks: six pull-up and six straight-arm hang grip and forearm variations. Each of the six tasks for both endurance tests represented a different combination of grip (thumb over bar and thumb under bar) and forearm position (pronated, supinated and semi-pronated). Task results were analyzed utilizing 2 × 3 (grip × forearm) ANOVA with repeated measures on the two factors. Analysis of pull-up data revealed that the semi-pronated and supinated forearm positions were not statistically different from each other, but superior to the pronated condition. Results of straight-arm hang performance revealed a significant difference between grips at the semi-pronated position, with the “thumb under bar” being superior. Results for forearm positions at grips indicated a significant difference for the “thumb under bar,” with the pronated and semi-pronated positions being superior to the supinated position. For forearm positions at “thumb over bar,” the pronated condition was significantly different from the semi-pronated and supinated positions. Thumb position trends and kinesiological mechanical analysis did foster general recommendations for use of the “thumb over bar” for pull-ups and the “thumb under bar” position for the straight-arm hang.