Resilience of anthropometric data assembly strategies to imposed error

The aim of this study was to examine strategies for selecting a criterion value during anthropometric data assembly and their resilience to imposed error. Sixty-seven women aged 16-60 years were subjected to three separate series of measurements, which included six skinfolds and three girths. A random error term was added to the first of the three series of measurements to produce a pseudo-series containing error, termed the 'erroneous replicated series'. Five strategies were then used to determine the criterion value of each of the replication series: the first measurement, the mean of the first two measurements, the mean of all three measurements, the mean of the closest two measurements and the median of the three measurements. The technical error between the criterion values of the true and the flawed replication series for each of the selection strategies was calculated. We found that, for five of the skinfolds and all of the girths, the median value provided the smallest technical error of measurement between the criterion values for the true and erroneous replication series. We conclude that the strategy of selecting the median of three measurements is the most resilient to imposed error.     

‘I like the sound of that’ – an evaluation of providing audio feedback via the virtual learning environment for summative assessment

This study aims to ascertain student and staff attitudes to and perceptions of audio feedback made available via the virtual learning environment (VLE) for summative assessment. Consistent with action research and reflective practice, this study identifies best practice, highlighting issues in relation to implementation with the intention of redesigning activities in the light of the findings. It utilises four case studies where audio feedback was provided to students using the Wimba voice authoring tool within Blackboard Learn+ for various types of summative assessment. The intention was to identify how and in what context audio feedback via the VLE is effective and why. The research was undertaken via a combination of techniques, including a student survey and staff reflective logs. The findings indicate that students liked the convenience, effectiveness, flexibility and personalised nature of this feedback, but raised concerns with some aspects of the technology. This paper also makes practical recommendations for the use of the feedback mechanism, focusing on the most effective use of the digital medium, and highlights directions for future research.     

Environmental Education and Complexity

Science & Education - The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze meanings that the term complexity assumes in Brazilian theses and dissertations in the field of environmental...     

Analysing Creative Design Process: A Set of Tools to Understand Activity in its Socio-cultural and Historic Context

Previous theoretical frameworks used to research and explain creative design processes tend to privilege individual expression and not address the context in which the process occurs. This is problematic due to the ways in which creative activities are embedded in and shaped by socio-cultural and historic contexts. In this article we focus on the ways in which cultural historic activity theory (CHAT) and its analytical activity systems can be used to reveal creative processes in context. We draw on the tools and concepts of CHAT and data from a study of visual communication design (VCD) students and lecturers situated within a transnational higher education (TNHE) context at a university in China. An analytical framework was constructed to research practices used in creative design process learning. The dynamic nature of CHAT offers design process research methods a set of analytical tools to capture the powerful parts played by artifacts and interactions within specific sociocultural and historic learning contexts.     

Altitude and wind effects on long jump performance with particular reference to the world record established by Bob Beamon

An analysis of long jump performance, including both the approach and aerial phases, is applied to Bob Beamon's legendary leap at the Mexico City Olympic Games of 1968. It is shown that the combined effects of altitude and wind assistance yielded an increment in the length of the jump of about 31 cm, compared to a corresponding jump at sea level under still air conditions. The main factor is shown to be the increased sprinting speed attained under favourable conditions of wind and altitude.     

集成化的项目管理方法

围绕项目管理已经有许多方法和理论。这些方法和理论各有所长,适用于不同的环境,可以解决不同的问题。Sun公司专业服务顾问Mike Ward根据自己服务于英国政府项目管理的实践经验指出,将几种典型的项目管理方法集成起来,可以更好地确保大型项目的成功。本文介绍了几种重要的项目管理及集成化管理方法,可以为我国政府和企业大型项目管理提供有益的参考,并且具有很好的借鉴意义,     

A coactive sign system for children who are dual-sensory impaired.

The SKI*HI Institute developed a system of coactive signing to help alleviate communication and instructional barriers for children who are dual-sensory impaired (deaf and blind). The system also can be used to help children who are severely multihandicapped learn how to communicate. The system includes optimized coactive signs that are functional, easy to feel, easy to relate to the referent, and easy to make, and it also includes techniques related to effective coactive sign use. The coactive sign system is illustrated on a series of video tapes that has been field tested and produced and is being disseminated throughout the United States and Canada.