Muscle coordination during breaststroke swimming: Comparison between elite swimmers and beginners

The present study aimed to compare muscle coordination strategies of the upper and lower limb muscles between beginners and elite breaststroke swimmers. Surface electromyography (EMG) of eight muscles was recorded in 16 swimmers (8 elite, 8 beginners) during a 25 m swimming breaststroke at 100% of maximal effort. A decomposition algorithm was used to identify the muscle synergies that represent the temporal and spatial organisation of muscle coordination. Between-groups indices of similarity and lag times were calculated. Individual muscle patterns were moderately to highly similar between groups (between-group indices range: 0.61 to 0.84). Significant differences were found in terms of lag time for pectoralis major (P < 0.05), biceps brachii, rectus femoris and tibialis anterior (P < 0.01), indicating an earlier activation for these muscles in beginners compared to elites (range: ?13.2 to ?3.8% of the swimming cycle). Three muscle synergies were identified for both beginners and elites. Although their composition was similar between populations, the third synergy exhibited a high within-group variability. Moderate to high indices of similarity were found for the shape of synergy activation coefficients (range: 0.63 to 0.88) but there was a significant backward shift (?8.4% of the swimming cycle) in synergy #2 for beginners compared to elites. This time shift suggested differences in the global arm-to-leg coordination. These results indicate that the synergistic organisation of muscle coordination during breaststroke swimming is not profoundly affected by expertise. However, specific timing adjustments were observed between lower and upper limbs.     

Identity concept formation during visual multiplechoice matching in a harbor seal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoca vitulina</Emphasis>)

Identity concept formation was tested in a harbor seal using a visual multiple-choice matching-tosample task. The seal was first trained on a two-alternative matching task. After criterion (≥80% correct choices in two successive sessions) was reached with two sets of two stimuli (Figure 3, Blocks A and B), stimulus sets were enlarged to six objects (Blocks C-G). After the seal reached criterion immediately with two successive sets (Blocks F and G), multiple-choice matching was introduced, first using stimulus sets of four familiar objects (Blocks H-M). After the seal reached the criterion immediately with two successive sets (Blocks L and M), completely new objects were used in two further stimulus sets (Blocks N and O). The seal immediately applied the matching rule in all four sessions (≥80% correct choices). In two further sessions with problems composed of all 38 familiar stimuli, the seal again reached the criterion (Block P). In the final, transfer session, 20 new problems were composed of 80 unknown stimuli (Block Q). The seal immediately applied the matching rule in these one-trial tests, showing that harbor seals can conceptualize complex visual information.     

Distributed Problem-Based Learning in Social Economy--Key Issues in Students' Mastery of a Structured Method for Education

This paper describes students' use of distributed problem-based learning (dPBL) in university courses in social economy. A sociocultural framework is used to analyze the actions of students, focusing their mastery of dPBL. The main data material consists of messages written in an asynchronous conferencing system. Results from the study suggest that when students engage in dPBL they take responsibility for their learning by creating necessary artifacts. Students gradually establish mutual agreement among the group members using a highly conversational approach. Establishing function on a group level is crucial for mastery of dPBL. When students comment on other students' work they exchange feedback in a collegial manner. Commenting on each other's comments promotes community building in a way that fosters reciprocity as well as engagement.     

School jailhouse: discipline,space and the materiality of school morale in early-modern Sweden

This paper uses a specific phenomenon of early-modern education in Sweden, the school jail, as a point of departure for a broader analysis of educational policy in the areas of discipline and moral instruction. The paper demonstrates how the jail evolved as a part of a wider network of objects, pedagogical technologies and social routines in this area and how this gradually came to change. From being part of a disciplinary rationale leaning on public corporal punishment, the prison was successively set aside in favour of new symbolic and more productive forms of discipline. This process of modernisation also enforced spatial and material reconfigurations, as the classroom acquired a more prominent role as an arena for regulatory practice. The paper also suggests a shift of the general scope in formal policy from a religious frame of reference towards a more secular and independent positioning of schooling.     

Psychiatry in the sorting of schoolchildren in Scandinavia 1920–1950: IQ testing,child guidance clinics,and hospitalisation

ABSTRACT

This article explores the role of psychiatry in the sorting of schoolchildren in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 1920 to 1950. Whereas the role and rise of educational psychology and IQ-testing in the differentiation processes in schooling have been examined through earlier research, the role of psychiatry in the interprofessional collaboration has so far been largely unexplored when it comes to the Scandinavian case. In line with Michel Foucault, the article regards these professional efforts as part of the biopolitics, where psychiatry amongst other disciplines engaged in the development of means to involve strategically in the life of schoolchildren and their families, as part of shaping the future of the population. We argue that psychiatric sorting activities related to schoolchildren did not solely take place through IQ-testing in schools, but involved classification of children through a range of measures in various settings. We further argue that these processes took place due to local agents and initiatives in a broader context of interprofessional collaborations between psychiatrists, psychologists, and teachers, rather than top–down processes initiated by the state. The analysis in the article draws on different sources of the period: journals, articles, and monographs from the key-agents of the period.     

Why is quality in higher education not achieved? The view of academics

Quality assurance is currently an established activity in Europe, driven either by national quality assurance agencies or by institutions themselves. However, whether quality assurance is perceived as actually being capable of promoting quality is still a question open to discussion. Based on three different views on quality derived from the literature – quality as culture, as compliance and as consistency – the current article sheds light on this issue by identifying the main obstacles to quality as perceived by Portuguese academics. The analysis reveals that academics tend to see those obstacles as essentially related to the view of quality as culture and especially with its structural component, including the design and functioning of institutional governance and management. Although this may indeed correspond to the Portuguese higher education institutions’ reality, one must not forget that academics tend to have a poor knowledge about the structural frames that are embedded in governance and management. By highlighting obstacles related to different views on quality, this study may serve as a base to the development of more effective quality assurance mechanisms.     

The Multifaceted Challenges in Teacher-Student Relationships: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ and Principals’ Experiences and Views Regarding the Dropout Rate in Norwegian Upper-Secondary Education

The purpose of our study was to enhance understanding of teachers' and principals' experiences and views regarding the high dropout rate in Norwegian upper secondary schools. Qualitative analysis showed that the teacher-student relationships over years had become more complicated since the implementation of a new educational reform, making the syllabus increasingly theoretical and thus reducing the practical value for many students. Limitations in students' knowledge, skills and academic interest, contributed to the creation of huge differences in academic levels within the class and thus reduced the quality of teaching. Societal changes were identified as possible factors underlying the high dropout rate. Better guidance regarding educational choices, study programs adapted to the students' interests, and actively nurturing involvement may prevent dropout.     

Belonging to higher education: inclusive education for students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

The college experience in Iceland has traditionally been reserved for those who have passed the matriculation examination and meet the admission requirements of higher educational institutions. Since 2007, the University of Iceland has offered a Vocational Diploma Programme for people with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings. The purpose of this article is to describe the diploma programme as well as exploring students’ sense of belonging to the college community. The diploma programme is located at the School of Education and students trained to work at pre-primary schools, after school clubs and within the field of disability such as self-advocacy. Inclusion has been achievable by adapting the general curriculum and learning outcomes to individual needs, flexible teaching methods and the cooperation between academic faculty members, programme coordinators, student mentors and the diploma students themselves. The diploma students receive academic and social support from student mentors who are other undergraduate students at the School of Education. The collaboration with student mentors has proven to be valuable, expanded diploma students’ social networks and contributed to a sense of belonging. Regardless of various attitudinal and structural hindrances, there is much evidence that the diploma students are not only tolerated but welcomed at the School of Education and belong to the college community.     

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Approximately 30% of students drop out from Norwegian upper secondary schools. Academic achievement, as indexed by grade point average (GPA), is one of the strongest predictors of dropout. The present study aimed to examine the role of cognitive, school-related and affective/psychological predictors of GPA. In addition, we examined the psychometric properties of a new scale for literacy problems (LP), as well as its role for GPA. Analyses showed that the scale had favourable psychometric properties. Multivariable regression analyses showed that study track choice, task solving skills, gender, lack of educational plans and LP predicted GPA in descending order. The major implication of the study was that GPA is related to a multiple number of demographic, cognitive and psychosocial factors, and that any interventions addressing GPA will be less effective if not addressing psychosocial in addition to cognitive/school-related factors.