An investigation into breast support and sports bra use in female runners of the 2012 London Marathon

Abstract

Although it is acknowledged that appropriate breast support during exercise is important, no published literature has assessed breast support usage in a cohort of female marathon runners. This study aimed to identify sport bra use and perceived importance of sports bra use in female marathon runners. Bra satisfaction, incidence of bra related issues and factors that influence the appropriateness of sports bras were also investigated. A 4-part, 30-question survey was administered to 1397 female runners at the 2012 London marathon registration and via an online survey. In total 1285 surveys were completed. Sports bra use and its perceived importance was high, however was lower in moderate compared to vigorous activity, and lower in participants with smaller breasts. Seventy-five per cent of participants reported bra fit issues. The most common issues were chaffing and shoulder straps digging in, with a higher incidence of issues reported by participants with larger breasts. Use of professional bra fitting was low, and perceived knowledge of breast health was poor. Engagement with sports bra use is high although sports bra design could be improved to alleviate bra fit issues experienced by female runners. Educational initiatives are needed to ensure females are informed regarding the importance of breast support and appropriate bra fit during activity.     

A Comparison of Video and Text-Based Questionnaire Methods for Testing Older Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to initiate systematic research on dance as a creative and expressive art form. Although the process of expression through movement has concerned dancers and dance teachers for some time, there have been few attempts at a systematic analysis of either the process or the product of dance expression. Dance has generally been considered immeasurable because of its peculiarities as an art form.

While there is little apparent value in quantitative measurement of dance, qualitative measurement appears to have considerable value. It can sharpen the focus on principles of dance composition, contribute toward increased teaching effectiveness, enlarge dance's expressive range, and increase its ability to communicate.

Specifically, this study attempted to determine how effectively modern dance communicates by using a systematic analysis of individual dance compositions. Samples of dance studies with specific intentions were choreographed and filmed. The dances were then viewed and evaluated by a selected and trained jury on (a) their ability to communicate emotional and physical qualities, (b) the type and structure of their composition, and (c) their choreographic and artistic effectiveness.

Results of this study showed that least agreement was reached by the jurors in rating the dances according to structural strength and in identifying their composition type. Realistic vehicles of expression were more easily recognized than were abstract ones. There was substantial agreement on the emotion communicated by each composition. Presence of all the traditional dance elements appears unnecessary for effective communication.     

Evaluation of the Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners

Purpose: From 1996 to 2013, a 6-day Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners has been offered yearly in the United States. An evaluation was conducted to assess the impact of the course on building public health capacity for physical activity and on shaping the physical activity and public health careers of fellows since taking the courses. Method: An evaluation quantified time that fellows spent in different course offerings and surveyed fellows. Results: From 1996 to 2012, 410 fellows attended the course, and in 2013, 186 participated in the Web-based survey (56% response rate). The number of fellows attending the course ranged from 15 to 33 yearly. From 1996 to 2012, the course averaged 38 hr of instructional time that included topics on interventions and environment/policy work to increase physical activity, program evaluation, public health research, and health disparities. The course included consultations, collaborative work, and field-based experiences. Fellows who participated in the survey agreed that the course had a positive impact on the physical activity research or practice work they did (98%), met their expectations (96%), helped them with research/practice collaborations with other physical activity professionals (96%), assisted them in conducting higher-quality interventions/programs (95%), helped increase their professional networking in the field (93%), and had a positive impact on other work they did (91%). Following the course, 66% and 56% had further contact with faculty and other fellows, respectively. Conclusion: The Physical Activity and Public Health Course for Practitioners made important contributions toward building the capacity of physical activity and public health practitioners.     

Student and faculty perceptions of teaching effectiveness

Omnibus measures of teaching effectiveness can be viewed as weighted combinations of more narrowly defined traits describing the teaching process. Our study was designed to determine whether students and faculty weight such traits differently in forming their respective perceptions of effective teaching.Students and faculty within the School of Business and Economics at CSUN were surveyed regarding their assessment of ideal teaching effectiveness in courses where the predominant mode of presentation is lecture. Ten traits depicting various aspects of teaching were selected and each respondent was asked to distribute 100 points across the 10 according to their view of each trait's relative importance in determining effectiveness. The results indicate that there are, indeed, significant differences in student and faculty assessments.Regression analysis of individual trait weighting on demographic variables such as age, sex, field of specialization, etc., produced generally low, insignificant coefficients of determination for both students and faculty. This observed invariance of the respective perceptions of each group across differing combinations of demographic characteristics provides evidence that students and faculty adopt fundamentally different criteria in evaluating teaching effectiveness.     

Students’ formative assessment perceptions,feedback use and mathematics performance in secondary schools in Tanzania

This study investigates the impact of secondary school students’ perceptions of mathematics teachers’ formative assessment practices and feedback delivery on their feedback use, and mathematics performance. The sample consisted of 2767 Form 3 (Grade 11) students from 48 secondary schools in Tanzania. Surveys and focus group discussions were used to measure students’ perceptions of formative assessment, feedback delivery, and feedback use. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) of survey data showed that students’ perceptions of the quality of teacher feedback delivery and perceived scaffolding positively predicted students’ feedback use whereas perceived monitoring negatively predicted feedback use. In turn, students’ feedback use positively predicted their mathematics performance to a small extent. Content analysis of focus group discussions illustrated that most students valued their mathematics teacher’s assessment practices. The findings imply that in Sub-Saharan African educational systems the quality of teacher feedback delivery and promotion of student feedback use can improve students’ mathematics performance.     

Revealing the existence of child abuse in the context of marital breakdown and custody and access disputes

OBJECTIVE: Child abuse in the context of legal and de facto marital breakdown has received little attention internationally. Many believe it does not exist in this context and regard it as just a "gambit in the divorce wars." Recently, however, family courts in a number of countries have become concerned over the management of child abuse allegations in custody and access cases, known more commonly now as residence and contact cases. This article presents a unique research study, which investigated how the Family Court of Australia dealt with such cases. The study, covering all forms of child abuse, sought to discover who were the families bringing these problems to family courts, what precisely the abuse was and how the courts dealt with it. METHOD: The study reviewed court records of some 200 families where child abuse allegations had been made in custody and access disputes in jurisdictions in two states, observed court proceedings and interviewed court and related services' staff. RESULTS: The findings showed that these cases had become a core component of the court's workload without any public or professional awareness of this change, that the abuse was real, that it was severe and serious, and that the courts and child protection services did not provide appropriate services to the families. CONCLUSION: A new specialized intervention system was developed based on the research and it is now being trialed and evaluated. The new intervention system contains features derived from the research findings that may be suitable internationally for implementation.     

A study of the effectiveness of the primary education improvement program (science) in selected schools of Northern Nigeria

The Primary Education Improvement Program (Science) developed in Nigeria from 1970–1980 adopted a “process approach” to the teaching of science for children in Classes One and Two of primary school. In that insufficient formative data were available a study was organized to evaluate the attainment of the program's major objectives in terms of the children's ability to practice process skills. The study also attempted to measure children's interest, active participation and understanding of the lessons, as well as the availability of materials and ease of preparing and teaching the lessons for the teachers. Data were collected by means of teacher opinionnaires and a children's test to measure the attainment of process skills. The teachers who completed the opinionnaires rated the program as successful in terms of all the measured criteria. Children in the experimental and control groups were tested and their performances were compared. The results indicated that there were some significant differences in total test scores in favor of the experimental group after one year of primary school but none after two years. The program, though highly rated by teachers, did not produce the intended changes in children's behavior.     

Combining the best of two worlds: a conceptual proposal for evidence-informed school improvement

Abstract

Background: Data-based decision-making (DBDM) and research-informed teaching practice (RITP) are key to teacher and school improvement. Currently, however, DBDM and RITP represent two distinct approaches to developing evidence-informed practice (EIP) and do not correspond to the all-encompassing notion of EIP envisaged by many academics and commentators.

Purpose: DBDM and RITP are usually employed independently of each other. Each is associated with its own theoretical perspectives and research base, and each has its own pitfalls and strengths. Yet the approaches employed appear to be complementary, suggesting that there might be value in combining DBDM and RITP into one overarching process for achieving EIP. This paper presents the conceptual analysis and arguments for this proposal.

Sources of evidence: Drawing from literature and previous research in the fields of DBDM, RITP and EIP, we describe both DBDM and RITP, before comparing and contrasting the integral aspects of each.

Main argument: Our analysis leads us to suggest that not only is there overlap between these two approaches, but the strengths of each appear to mirror and compensate for the weaknesses of the other. As such, we argue that it is important that decisions in education are based on a combination of personal judgement, research evidence and local school data. This is because such a combination is likely to lead to equitable, effective and efficient decisions that are informed by values and preferences, grounded in context and steeped in practices that have been shown to be effective elsewhere.

Conclusions: We suggest that an effective strategy for EIP might be to achieve ‘the best of two worlds’ by integrating DBDM and RITP. In line with evidence-informed practices in medicine and management, this means EIP in education can finally be engaged in as a holistic approach to educational decision-making that critically appraises different forms of evidence before key improvement decisions are made. Our proposed approach, Evidence informed School and Teacher Improvement, is thus designed with the aim of enhancing the quality of educational provision by employing these evidence types as part of a systematic cycle of inquiry, focused on continuously improving the quality of learning in schools.