History on Television: the Open University series, ‘Britain and America‐‐some visual evidence‘

Conventionally, television history programmes are made by first settling on a story line, then looking around for visual material to illustrate it, without any attempt to analyse what is being seen on the screen. Visual evidence is in itself of great value in historical study; television programmes should concentrate on those areas where there is a richness of visual source material and should be built up, outwards as it were, from that source material. This is the principle underlying the series of eight Open University programmes entitled Britain and America: some visual evidence, which is an integral part of the new history course Comparative Themes in British and American History. Some of the programmes concentrate strongly on the problems and techniques involved in the critical analysis of different types of visual source; others concentrate almost exclusively on bringing out the value of particular visual sources in making a special contribution to an important historical problem. The programmes invite critical responses from students who require material in the programmes to deal with assignments set elsewhere in the course, and direct analysis is provided by an academic seen clearly in vision. While it would never be possible to deal comprehensively with any historical topic through television alone, nonetheless history could be presented on general television in a more authentic way if the conventions and cliches of traditional television production were jettisoned in favour of a recognition of the potency of visual sources properly and critically handled.     

改良大脑真的好吗?

人类有能力测定和操纵基因,这一革命激起了各种各样的伦理争议.同样具有深远意义的脑科学革命,引起的注意却少得让人吃惊.     

Enhancing Peer Interactions Within the Context of Play

This paper provides a review of concepts and practices in the enhancement of peer relationships amongst young children in the context of play experiences, with particular emphasis upon the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities. We examine definitions and typical development patterns of social competence and a range of factors which influence it, including family issues. A set of best practice guidelines are then discussed in terms of the extant research literature, along with potential areas for future research in this field.     

Necessary Educational Reform for the 2lst Century: The Future of Public Schools in our Democracy

We offer a theoretical and ecological argument for the preparation of citizens in U.S. public schools. This democratic education draws legitimacy from the concern of the nations founders for a populace educated to govern itself. We also emphasize the need for new democratic skills and knowledge in the face of today’s challenges, and our responsibility to prepare the young for the 21st century. A critique of the current school reform movement is provided because of its undemocratic nature. We issue a call for the transformation to democratic schools. We specifically argue that current efforts at reform are maintaining historical inequities, while also depriving those that enjoy social and economic advantages of the education needed to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. The democratic education proposed is based on three goals: citizenship preparation, inclusion, and an optimum learning environment. Seven well established principles of democracy and their relationship to schooling are presented. These include; the nature of authority, inclusiveness, equal availability of the understanding required for deliberating the most serious challenges to democracy and livability, equal access to centers of political decision-making, guaranteed inalienable rights, equality, and universal access to an optimum learning environment. We offer a fundamentally different approach to educational reform: calling for a reassessment of the role of public schools in a democracy that recognizes the importance of citizenship preparation, and a “bottom up” reform model that starts in the classroom and can be implemented by individual teachers.     

Recognizing the Outliers: Behaviors and Tendencies of the Profoundly Gifted Learner in Mixed-Ability Classrooms

This article focuses on (a) distinctions between the profoundly gifted individual and others, and (b) a chart describing tendencies and/or behaviors associated with the profoundly gifted student in common, mixed-ability educational settings. The intent is to provide educators, parents, and policymakers with preliminary awareness about the unique behaviors and tendencies of the profoundly gifted learner in heterogeneous educational settings. Learners with measured IQ scores greater than 3 SD units above the mean are a statistical rarity—outliers—in most educational settings. The current inability of most educators to identify and even minimally address needs leaves these students anxious, frustrated, and otherwise unable to reach their intellectual capacity in the majority of school settings across the country. Focused research and careful attention to the nature and needs of these individuals throughout their lives can contribute substantially to our developing understanding.     

Philosophy with children,self-regulation and engaged participation for children with emotional-behavioural and social communication needs

This study examined the effectiveness of Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) as an inclusive pedagogical approach by which to support the communicative interaction and opportunities for collaborative dialogue for children with social, emotional and behavioural needs in two mainstream classes. There is currently no empirical work that considers children with these particular needs participating in practical philosophy, particularly in CoPI. Two groups of children, aged between nine and twelve, engaged in CoPI over a period of 10 weeks. The philosophy sessions were conducted as part of the regular class work. The results show that the children were able to engage in collaborative, philosophical dialogue with their peers without being any more disruptive than their classmates. The findings of this study lead to the assertion that it is the structure of CoPI that supported the children’s engaged participation and self-regulation and that this might usefully be considered in creating classroom activities for all children.     

Book reviews

Thigh muscle volume is a useful determinant of functional fitness. However, anthropometric prediction of muscle content is influenced by the variability of adipose tissue accumulation. The aims of this study were to predict thigh muscle and adipose tissue volumes from anthropometry and to assess the validity of the method by examining the various components of the measurements and the assumptions involved. The 19 participants (9 men, 10 women; age 23-49 years) varied in adiposity. They all underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the upper leg and the eight men and two women with the lowest adiposity underwent detailed anthropometry involving girths and skinfolds. Using MRI as the reference method, muscle volume was predicted from anthropometry using a circular concentric model, and the assumptions inherent in the method were tested further using the MRI data alone. Muscle volume was best predicted by anthropometry in the 10 leanest participants using a five-slice truncated cone model that overestimated the mean MRI value by 30% ( R 2 = 0.95; standard error of estimate = 288 cm 3 ; P ? 0.001). A single skinfold plus girth measurement at the mid-thigh almost matched its predictive ability, but with an increased bias. Measurements of leg circumference by means of the two techniques agreed well. The assumption of a circular cross-section was valid. In contrast, the agreement between skinfold thickness measured by caliper and superficial adipose tissue thickness by MRI was poor, contributing to the scatter of fat and lean area comparisons. An anterior skinfold thickness measurement underestimated the area of superficial adipose tissue at that level, particularly at the most proximal and distal sites. Although these limitations increase the uncertainties of muscle volume determination by anthropometry, they do not prevent its valid prediction in leaner individuals. The prediction of superficial adipose tissue was poorer.     

Time course of recovery of vertical jump height and heart rate versus running speed after a 90-km foot race

It is well known that sport and exercise play an important role in stimulating site-specific bone mineral density (BMD). However, what is less well understood is how these benefits dissipate throughout the body. Hence, the aim of the present study was to compare the BMD (recorded at nine sites throughout the skeleton) of 106 male athletes (from nine sports) with that of 15 male non-exercising age-matched controls. Given that BMD is known to increase with body mass and peak with age, multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance were performed to compare the BMD of the nine sports groups with controls (at all sites) using body mass and age as covariates. Our results confirmed a greater adjusted BMD in the arms of the upper-body athletes, the right arm of racket players and the legs of runners (compared with controls), supporting the site-specific nature (i.e. specific to the externally loaded site) of the bone remodelling response (all P?<0.01). However, evidence that bone mass acquisition is not just site-specific comes from the results of the rugby players, strength athletes, triathletes and racket players. The rugby players' adjusted BMD was the greatest of all sports groups and greater than controls at all nine sites (all P?<0.01), with differences ranging from 8% greater in the left arm to 21% in the lumbar spine. Similarly, the strength athletes' adjusted BMD was superior to that of controls at all sites (P?<0.05) except the legs. The adjusted BMD of the triathletes was significantly greater than that of the controls in both the arms and the legs as well as the thoracic and lumbar spine. The racket players not only had significantly greater right arm BMD compared with the controls but also a greater BMD of the lumbar spine, the pelvis and legs. In contrast, the low-strain, low-impact activities of keep-fit, cycling and rowing failed to benefit BMD compared with the age-matched controls. These results suggest that sporting activities involving high impact, physical contact and/or rotational forces or strains are likely to convey significant benefits not only to the loaded sites, but also to other unloaded peripheral and axial sites throughout the skeleton.