Changes in force production and stroke parameters of trained able-bodied and unilateral arm-amputee female swimmers during a 30 s tethered front-crawl swim

Abstract

This study examined changes in the propulsive force and stroke parameters of arm-amputee and able-bodied swimmers during tethered swimming. Eighteen well-trained female swimmers (nine unilateral arm amputees and nine able-bodied) were videotaped performing maximal-effort 30 s front-crawl swims, while attached to a load cell mounted on a pool wall. Tether force, stroke rate, stroke phase durations and inter-arm angle were quantified. The able-bodied group produced significantly higher mean and maximum tether forces than the amputee group. The mean of the intra-cyclic force peaks was very similar for both groups. Mean and maximum tether force had significant negative associations with 100 m swim time, for both groups. Both groups exhibited a similar fatigue index (relative decrease in tether force) during the test, but the amputees had a significantly greater stroke rate decline. A significant positive association between stroke rate decline and fatigue index was obtained for the able-bodied group only. Inter-arm angle and relative phase durations did not change significantly during the test for either group, except the recovery phase duration of the arm amputees, which decreased significantly. This study’s results can contribute to the development of a more evidence-based classification system for swimmers with a disability.     

Hiding behind the camera: social learning within the Cooperative Learning Model to engage girls in physical education

Research suggests that girls are disengaged in physical education due to the ‘traditional’ way that it is taught, i.e. teacher-centred approaches with a primary focus on motor performance. In contrast, Cooperative Learning, a student-centred pedagogy focusing on learning in multiple domains, has had success in engaging girls in physical education. Furthermore, when cooperative group work has been combined with technology, student engagement with learning is heightened. This article discusses the use of Cooperative Learning and video cameras to bring about a positive change to the learning environment for girls who were identified as being disengaged in physical education. Two classes of adolescent girls were taught an eight-lesson unit of Basketball using Cooperative Learning. Students worked in learning teams, participating in different roles, such as a coach or a camerawoman, to help each other learn and to film video clips of their learning. Data collection included a teacher's reflective journal, post-lesson teacher analysis tool, student interviews and the analysis of learning teams' movies. Inductive analysis and constant comparison was used for data analyses. Findings suggest that the role of the coach and the camerawoman was pivotal to girls' engagement. Some girls only ‘fully’ participated in lessons when learning was within the social and cognitive domains, since they could ‘hide behind the camera’ and were not required to participate physically. We controversially suggest that, in order to engage girls in physical education, we may have to temporarily remove the physical domain of learning (at least for some girls) in order to positively affect their longer term engagement in the subject.     

Assessing the link between stress and retention and the existence of barriers to support service use within HE

Students suffer from stress as a result of many factors, including educational unpreparedness, financial strain and inability to integrate socially. This mixed methods study aimed to investigate stress levels of undergraduate students in a post-1992, Scottish university and the potential for measures of stress to act as an indicator of a student’s intention to continue. The study sampled primarily engaged students as tests were administered during timetabled classes and required the students’ voluntary participation. The level of perceived stress reported by these students appeared to be high (mean PSS-14 scores of 18.42 (SD 8.452) and 24.57 (SD 8.969) for males and females, respectively) and was coupled with intention to drop out across all study levels (12.1% of students sampled reported ‘seriously considered dropping out’). Perceived stress score predicted a student’s intention to withdraw but this association did not transfer to actual withdrawal, suggesting that other factors, most likely coping mechanisms, play a part in mediating the withdrawal behaviour. Unfortunately, despite the seemingly high levels of stress and potential worry over dropout, students are reluctant to seek support and many were unaware of the support services available through the university. Given the engaged nature of these students, their feelings are unlikely to be made known to staff as they will not necessarily register on non-attendance lists or be flagged because of missing assignments, which are often used as indicators of potential problems. This brings to light a previously hidden student group that may benefit from additional support to prevent unnecessary underachievement or dropout.     

Education and sustainability: reinvigorating adult education’s role in transformation,justice and development

Distinctively economic objectives for lifelong education, especially adult learning and education, feature prominently in policy-making agendas and educators’ practice in much of the world. Critics contend that humanistic and holistic visions of lifelong learning for all have been marginalised and neglected. The current turn of political attention to issues of planetary environmental sustainability and to global societal transformation and interconnectedness raises further questions and prospects. Two United Nations’ publications in 2015: UNESCO’s Rethinking Education: toward a global common good? and of the United Nations’ Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pose intersecting concerns for lifelong learning and environmental sustainability. This article engages with those questions in particular regard to the role of adult learning and education. It discusses a field study of non-formal adult education in Ghana. The field study contributes evidence that resiliently humanistic conceptions and practices of non-formal adult education practically succeed to foster transformation, development and human flourishing. That effective humanism gives credence to the ambitiousness of UNESCO and UN agenda for transformation and sustainability and informs international debates.     

Toddlers' Sensitivity to Standard Violations

Young children's emerging sensitivity to standard violations has been postulated, but not systematically examined, as an important aspect of early morality. In this study, we observed 100 26–41-month-old toddlers in contexts that involved standard violations. In one context, children were shown flawed and whole objects. In the other context, they were led to believe they had damaged the examiners' valued possessions ("mishaps"). When presented with the flawed and whole objects, toddlers expressed preference for the latter, but showed more interest in the former, thus indicating that the whole-flawed quality was salient. Verbal and nonverbal reactions reflecting sensitivity to the whole-flawed aspects were interrelated. Moreover, manifestations of sensitivity to flawed objects were associated with several behavioral and affective responses during the contrived mishaps (acceptance of responsibility, apologies, focus on reparations, and distress). Thus, sensitivity to standard violations in toddlerhood appeared to be a general phenomenon underlying different aspects of early morality.     

College Talk and the Rural Economy: Shaping the Educational Aspirations of Rural,First-Generation Students

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students’ lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and industries that do not require a college degree, or to leave in pursuit of an education that is often the first step toward an adult life lived away. This study seeks to better understand this dilemma by examining the messages that rural, first-generation students receive about the value of higher education. Drawing upon interviews and observations, it shows that high school guidance counselors, college admissions officials, and the staff of community-based college aspirations organizations adopt a strikingly consistent message: they cite struggling rural economies in their argument for the necessity of a practical degree for all students, one that can be easily leveraged into a career. Despite noting broad parental support for this message, many participants also describe continued resistance from some rural families, a perception that may heighten the dilemma of rural college-going for students.     

Reading disability subtypes in neurologically-impaired students

Three studies were conducted in order to determine if reading disability subtypes identified by Mattis, Boder, and Doehring were present in neurologically-impaired students with and without reading disabilities. The anomic-language disorder subtype, dysphonetic and mixed dysphonetic-dyseidetic subtypes, and Doehring’s three subtypes were all present, primarily in the reading-disabled sample. Subtypes related to visual-spatial impairment were equally or more apparent in the non-reading-disabled sample. It is concluded that the visual-perceptual disorder subtypes may reflect neurological impairment but be unrelated to reading disability. It remains tenable to hypothesize that the other subtypes found may reflect the ways in which neurological impairment interferes with reading and that subtle neurological impairment may be present in dyslexic students who fall into the same subtypes.     

Practice architectures and sustainable curriculum renewal

While there are numerous pedagogical innovations and varying forms of professional learning to support change, teachers rarely move beyond the initial implementation of new ideas and policies and few innovations reach the institutionalized stage. Building on both site ontologies and situated learning in communities of practice perspectives, this paper explores the theory of practice architectures to offer a different and legitimate perspective on sustainable curriculum renewal. Specifically, a practice architecture either enables or constrains particular practice and constitutes the construction of practice from semantic (e.g. language), social (e.g. power relations) and physical (e.g. materials) spaces. Through the juxtaposition of practice architectures with an empirical illustration of longer term pedagogical change, the paper argues that for pedagogical change to be sustained a practice architecture that relates to an innovation’s intended learning outcomes and the contexts in which an innovation can be used needs to be created. Consequently, the theory of practice architectures can guide reform programmes. Curricularists can begin programmes with a pre-planned approach to assist, (a) teachers’ understanding of how to use an innovation, and (b) the deconstruction and reconstruction of practice architectures to support an innovation’s survival.     

Utilizing Nonfiction Texts to Enhance Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary in Primary Grades

Many primary grade students are not afforded nonfiction-rich opportunities, with fiction comprising the majority of books read aloud in classrooms. With the Common Core Standards recommending that half of the texts made available to students be nonfiction, educators are increasing their use of informational text. The present study explored the impact of explicitly teaching reading comprehension and vocabulary strategies with nonfiction text compared to fiction text in primary-grade classrooms. Two first-grade (n = 39; 25 male, 14 female) and one second-grade class (n = 20; 13 male, 7 female) participated in the quantitative study that followed a repeated measures design in which the students alternated every 2 weeks between fiction-based instruction and nonfiction-based instruction for a total of 8 weeks. Vocabulary and use of comprehension strategies were assessed at the end of each 2-week period. Overall findings indicated that students were better able to apply the comprehension strategies and define vocabulary following nonfiction-based instruction; they also were more motivated to read informational text. The authors recommend that teachers use more nonfiction texts in the primary grades to support students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary development.