Different pathways towards dropout: the role of engagement in early school leaving

In this study, we examine the development of student engagement in relation to dropout. We focus on different growth trajectories of engagement between groups of students and on whether these trajectories lead to differences in the survival of the student. The development of behavioural and emotional engagement of 4063 graduates and 541 (11.7%) dropouts is examined from Year 7 to Year 12 and this development is linked to the probability of dropping out in each grade by means of a discrete-time survival mixture model. For emotional engagement, results point to a model with two different subgroups: one group starting at a high level of engagement and following a (relatively) stable pattern and the other group starting at a lower level of engagement and following a decreasing trend. For behavioural engagement, the results indicate that a three-class model showed the best fit: a high and (relatively) stable group, a high and decreasing group and a low and stable group. In terms of dropout, the unstable and low groups demonstrate a significantly higher probability of dropping out, as evidenced in the steep, declining survival curves. Different background variables are included to gain more insight into engagement and dropout, and to predict membership in the low and decreasing class.     

Cow's milk as a post-exercise recovery drink: implications for performance and health

Abstract

Post-exercise recovery is a multi-facetted process that will vary depending on the nature of the exercise, the time between exercise sessions and the goals of the exerciser. From a nutritional perspective, the main considerations are: (1) optimisation of muscle protein turnover; (2) glycogen resynthesis; (3) rehydration; (4) management of muscle soreness; (5) appropriate management of energy balance. Milk is approximately isotonic (osmolality of 280–290?mosmol/kg), and the mixture of high quality protein, carbohydrate, water and micronutrients (particularly sodium) make it uniquely suitable as a post-exercise recovery drink in many exercise scenarios. Research has shown that ingestion of milk post-exercise has the potential to beneficially impact both acute recovery and chronic training adaptation. Milk augments post-exercise muscle protein synthesis and rehydration, can contribute to post-exercise glycogen resynthesis, and attenuates post-exercise muscle soreness/function losses. For these aspects of recovery, milk is at least comparable and often out performs most commercially available recovery drinks, but is available at a fraction of the cost, making it a cheap and easy option to facilitate post-exercise recovery. Milk ingestion post-exercise has also been shown to attenuate subsequent energy intake and may lead to more favourable body composition changes with exercise training. This means that those exercising for weight management purposes might be able to beneficially influence post-exercise recovery, whilst maintaining the energy deficit created by exercise.     

Assessment of Student Performance in Statistics

This article describes assessment and scoringmethods that have been used successfully ingraduate‐level statistics teaching.     

MUTUAL PERSPECTIVE‐TAKING: A PRESUPPOSITION OF ENLIGHTENED TOLERANCE

The starting point for this article is the thesis that enlightened tolerance presupposes the ability of perspective‐taking and the willingness to act accordingly. In order to develop this thesis, the first step is a consideration of certain major conceptions of tolerance as they have been developed in philosophy and the theory of science. The second step is a presentation of the concept of perspectivity and the argument that it is only by means of the reciprocity of perspective‐taking that enlightened tolerance can be achieved and maintained.     

Why So Many Repositories? Examining the Limitations and Possibilities of the Institutional Repositories Landscape

Academic libraries fail to take advantage of the network effect because they manage too many digital repositories locally. While this argument applies to all manner of digital repositories, this article examines the fragmented environment of institutional repositories (IR), in which effort and costs are duplicated, numerous software platforms and versions are managed simultaneously, metadata are applied inconsistently, users are served poorly, and libraries are unable to take advantage of collective data about content and users. In the meantime, commercial IR vendors and academic social networks have shown much greater success with cloud-based models. Collectively, the library profession has enough funding to create a national-level IR, but it lacks the willingness to abandon local control.     

The relationship between game-based performance indicators and developmental level in junior Australian football: Implications for coaching

Identifying performance differences between juniors at different stages of a talent pathway may assist with the development of prospective talent. This study investigated the relationship between game-based performance indicators and developmental level in junior Australian football (AF). Players were categorised into 2 groups according to developmental level; U16 and U18. Physical and technical skill performance indicators were collated for all U16 (n = 200) and U18 (n = 244) participants of their respective 2014 national championships. Data were acquired from all 28 games (12 U16, 16 U18); resulting in 1360 player observations (568 U16, 792 U18). Microtechnology and a commercial provider facilitated the quantification of 15 performance indicators. Generalised estimating equations (GEEs) modelled the extent to which these performance indicators were associated with developmental level. The GEE model revealed that “contested marks” and “contested possessions” had the strongest association with the U16 level, while “total marks” and “clearances” had the strongest association with the U18 level. The remaining performance indicators were not developmentally discriminant. These results indicate that there are distinctive features of gameplay more associated with the U16 and U18 levels in AF. Coaches may wish to consider these results when constructing training drills designed to minimise developmental gaps.     

明代《说文》学述略

《说文解字》是我国最重要的文字学著作之一，以至形成文字学史上专门的“说文学”。“说文学”以清代为最盛，同清代相比，明代对《说文》的研究则显得异常萧务，故这段时期的说文学往往被学界所忽视。本文从时代学风、版刻情况、研究情况、传承发展几个方面时明代说文学大体状况作了简要梳理。     

A Symposium on Knowledge

A Symposium on Knowledge     

Teaching effectiveness of sound with pictures that do not embody the material being taught

Conclusions The data show that instruction through sound linked to images by association only is followed by a significant increase in factual learning over the next most effective method, sound alone. The results suggest further that the projection of abstract forms on the screen distracts attention more than it improves concentration, and that the distraction is worsened by the increased detail, or the incongruity, of an irrelevant picture. These facts indicate promising possibilities for increased use of audiovisual aids in fields where they have been little tried because the subject-matter was not suitable for concrete visualization. Any topic which can be linked associatively with a person, object, or scene would seem to lend itself to presentation by this method. However, more tests appear to be called for to determine whether or not the gain reported in this study can be maintained with difficult material, and at a level which would justify the expense of producing films or photographs. It would be interesting to know, also, how many statements can be attached to a single image or related images before the teaching effect of the image wears out. Finally, further investigation might shed light on the nature of the learning described here, of which it was the purpose of this study to assess only the final result. Does the visual image, as May and Lumsdaine suggest (2), reinforce the sound or mediate the response when recalled? Does it provide a sense of actuality which serves as a stimulus; or does it imply a question which the sound-track answers? Experiments along these lines might furnish evidence which can contribute to more extensive theory of learning from films and similar aids.