Utility and Reliability of an App for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®)

The app for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®) was developed to enhance System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities data collection and management. The study aim was to examine the usability and inter-rater reliability of iSOPARC®. Trained observers collected data in 16 park areas in two Latin America cities (Curitiba, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia) using both the original System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (mechanical counter) and new iSOPARC® (electronic counter) methods. A total of 8,707 park users (3,958 females and 4,749 males) were observed. Reliabilities among observers were determined using the intraclass correlation coefficient and relative overall agreement (%) in three ways: (a) mechanical versus mechanical, (b) mechanical versus electronic, and (c) electronic versus electronic. When both used mechanical counters comparisons overall agreement was over 78% (intraclass correlation coefficient = .982; p < .001) for variables in all analysis. When one used a mechanical counter and the other used electronic (iSOPARC®) comparisons overall agreement was higher for age (84%; p < .001) than for physical activity (83%; p < .001) variables and average intraclass correlation coefficient was .965. Using both used iSOPARC® comparisons overall agreement was 81% to physical activity and 83% to age group. Results suggest iSOPARC® can be used reliably for examining variables previously validated in System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities.     

Hydrolates and Gellan: An Eco-innovative Synergy for Safe Cleaning of Paper Artworks

The gellan hydrogel is used as a cleaning agent for paper artworks. The purposes of this work were to give the gellan hydrogel both a microbial resistance and a cytocidal action against the biodeteriogens using hydrolates. Broth microdilution assays were performed to identify the fungicidal action of 16 hydrolates vs 3 fungal strains. The study concerned the Minimal Fungicidal Concentration and pH, colour, and ultra-structural variations on all paper samples, by placing them in contact with GELYD (GELlan?+?hYDrolat). The in vitro tests showed that eight out of 16 hydrolates strongly inhibited fungal growth, but only two of them (Monarda fistulosa, Citrus aurantium subsp amara) showed in situ fungicidal action. Data indicate a new and interesting eco-innovative use of hydrolates, since GELYD is able not only to clean paper artworks, but also to kill the fungal cells present on paper that are potentially harmful for paper and operators.     

Building a future without gender violence: rural teachers and youth in rural KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa,leading community dialogue

This article advances the idea that rural youth and teachers are the key in leading community dialogue towards addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in their community through their film making. The youth voices on the realities of GBV in their school and community, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, captured through the process of participatory video, are used to engage a group of their teachers in thinking about addressing GBV in the school and community. The teachers' engagement with the five participatory videos on GBV – through participatory analysis and participatory archiving – provided an opportunity to deepen their understanding of GBV by also interrogating their own stance and led them to direct the production of a composite video suitable for use in leading community dialogue on a future without violence.     

Correction to: Development of Children’s monitoring and control when learning from texts: effects of age and test format

Metacognition and Learning - The article Development of Children’s monitoring and control when learning from texts: effects of age and test format, written by Martina Steiner, Mariëtte...     

The use of computer games as an educational tool: identification of appropriate game types and game elements

Playing games is an important part of our social and mental development. This research was initiated to identify the game type most suitable to our teaching environment and to identify game elements that students found interesting or useful within the different game types. A group of twenty students played four commercial games (SimIsle, Red Alert, Zork Nemesis and Duke Nukem 3D). Results suggest that students prefer 3D-adventure (Zork Nemesis) and strategy (Red Alert) games to the other types ("shoot-em-up", simulation) with Zork Nemesis ranked as the best. Students rated game elements such as logic, memory, visualisation and problem solving as the most important game elements. Such elements are integral to adventure games and are also required during the learning process. We present a model that links pedagogical issues with game elements. The game space contains a number of components, each encapsulates specific abstract or concrete interfaces. Understanding the relationship between educational needs and game elements will allow us to develop educational games that include visualisation and problem solving skills. Such tools could provide sufficient stimulation to engage learners in knowledge discovery, while at the same time developing new skills.     

Story problems in the deaf education classroom: frequency and mode of presentation

Over the past decade, curricular reform in mathematics education has emphasized the use of problem solving at all levels of instruction for all students, but adaptations for students with unique needs have not been specified. This study investigated the nature of problem solving in deaf education, focusing in particular on the use of story problems in the primary-level curriculum. Approximately 90% of the K-3 teachers from five schools for the deaf were asked with what frequency and in which communication mode they presented story problems to their students. Most teachers reported presenting story problems 1-3 times per week, and presentation method tended to reflect school communication philosophy. We found trends in story problem presentation in accordance with the mathematics grade level taught. We discuss implications for curricular reform and teacher education.     

The Educational and Behavioral Impacts of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter School

The Kauffman School is a public charter school serving students from low-income neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri. This paper used a matched comparison group design to estimate the impacts of the Kauffman School on student achievement, attendance, and suspensions. We found that the Kauffman School had large positive impacts on student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science. This paper also used qualitative data to explore possible mechanisms for the school's effects. We found evidence that the Kauffman School's hallmarks are being implemented faithfully, and that stakeholders believe the school's methods are having a positive influence on students' attitudes and performance     

Undoing diversity: knowledge and neoliberal discourses in colleges of education

In this article we analyze discourses of ‘diversity’ in colleges of education in Chile. We contend that the use of discourses of diversity, as reproducing the separation between mainstream subjectivities and those uncontained by the category of normal, is one of the ways universities align themselves with the rules of a democratic society, based on ideas of multicultural understandings and tolerant communities proliferated by inter-governmental institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and others. Our interest is to question the marginalization of cultural politics through the intensification of these discourses. At the same time, we explore the relations between the advancement of neutral discourses of difference and the value-free practices expressed in neoliberal educational agendas. We use discourse analysis to read interviews with future teachers. We understand students’ narratives as perpetuating normative ways of thinking and legitimating those knowledges promoted by institutional curricula.