Mechanically braked Wingate powers: agreement between SRM,corrected and conventional methods of measurement

In this study, we assessed the agreement between the powers recorded during a 30?s upper-body Wingate test using three different methods. Fifty-six men completed a single test on a Monark 814E mechanically braked ergometer fitted with a Schoberer Rad Messtechnik (SRM) powermeter. A commercial software package (Wingate test kit version 2.21, Cranlea, UK) was used to calculate conventional and corrected (with accelerative forces) values of power based on a resistive load (5% body mass) and flywheel velocity. The SRM calculated powers based on torque (measured at the crank arm) and crank rate. Values for peak 1 and 5?s power and mean 30?s power were measured. No significant differences (P?>0.05) were found between the three methods for 30?s power values. However, the corrected values for peak 1 and 5?s power were 36 and 23% higher (P?<0.05) respectively than those for the conventional method, and 27 and 16% higher (P?<0.05) respectively than those for the SRM method. The conventional and SRM values for peak 1 and 5?s power were similar (P?>0.05). Power values recorded using each method were influenced by sample time (P?<0.05). Our results suggest that these three measures of power are similar when sampled over 30?s, but discrepancies occur when the sample time is reduced to either 1 or 5?s.     

Improving marking reliability of scientific writing with the Developing Understanding of Assessment for Learning programme

The Developing Understanding of Assessment for Learning (DUAL) programme was developed with the dual aims of improving both the quality and consistency of feedback students receive and the students’ ability to use that feedback to improve. DUAL comprises a range of processes (including marking rubrics, sample reports, moderation discussions and peer-review activities) which support explicit knowledge exchange between staff, and between staff and students and the development of tacit knowledge of standards in all participants. This paper describes the study which quantified the extent to which the DUAL programme improved reliability and efficiency of marking of first year biology reports by a large team of laboratory demonstrators. Marker reliability increased after participation in DUAL, with demonstrators marking laboratory reports significantly closer to the marks awarded by an expert marker of the discipline. Efficiency was also improved since time taken to mark the reports did not increase significantly, despite the fact that demonstrators were adapting to a new system of marking. Demonstrators valued the programme and nominated the marking rubric, feedback code and moderation discussion as the most useful elements. The community of practice built through joint participation in the DUAL programme created a supportive working environment for demonstrators and strengthened the collaboration between the discipline and academic language and learning lecturers.     

耳语测试

随着年龄的增长,我发现自己与别人的模样不相同。生来就是一张豁嘴,心里十分痛苦。到了6岁开始上学读书,与同学坐在一起时, 我更感到自己是一个长得很难看的女孩:嘴唇畸形,鼻子歪扭,牙齿斜倾,说起话来口齿不清,词语走样。每当小伙伴们问起:“你的嘴唇怎么啦?”我总是告诉他们,是小时候不小心摔了一跤,嘴磕在一块锋利的玻璃上,给割破的。不管怎么样,说受伤总要比天生如此更容易被人接受,多得到一些理解和同情。我想,这个世界上除了家里人之外,再也没有谁会爱我这个“丑八怪”了。     

Feedback codes and action plans: building the capacity of first-year students to apply feedback to a scientific report

Effective feedback can build self-assessment skills in students so that they become more competent and confident to identify and self-correct weaknesses in their work. In this study, we trialled a feedback code as part of an integrated programme of formative and summative assessment tasks, which provided feedback to first-year students on their initial attempt at a scientific biology report. We investigated the students’ perceptions of the feedback code and associated action plan exercise, and found that the code provided the majority of students with clear feedback, whilst the action plan provided a tool for decoding and interpreting the feedback and ensuring errors were not repeated in a subsequent report. We argue that a feedback code can be a valuable inclusion in a wider programme of feedback provision particularly when it is supported by activities that require students to engage with the codes and feed that learning forward to subsequent tasks.     

Orienting Toward Face‐Like Stimuli in Early Childhood

Newborn infants orient preferentially toward face‐like or “protoface” stimuli and recent studies suggest similar reflexive orienting responses in adults. Little is known, however, about the operation of this mechanism in childhood. An attentional‐cueing procedure was therefore developed to investigate protoface orienting in early childhood. Consistent with the extant literature, 5‐ to 6‐year‐old children (n = 25) exhibited orienting toward face‐like stimuli; they responded faster when target location was cued by the appearance of a protoface stimulus than when location was cued by matched control patterns. The potential of this procedure to investigate the development of typical and atypical social perception is discussed.