How much exercise are older adults living in nursing homes doing in daily life? A cross-sectional study

Information on the amount of exercise practised by nursing home (NH) residents is scarce. This study aimed at describing NH residents’ participation in exercise classes, as well as to examine whether the presence of a professional exercise instructor in the facilities is associated with residents’ exercise habits. The cross-sectional data of 5402 residents (median age = 88 years; mostly women (75.2%)) from 163 NHs in France were analysed. Adjusted logistic and linear regressions were performed to examine whether the presence of a professional exercise instructor in the NH was associated with exercise habits: exercise participation, frequency, duration, and levels. From the 5402 participants, 1914 were participating in exercise classes provided in the NH. Most of them had an exercise frequency of 1x/week or less. Median duration of exercise sessions was 45 min. Exercise levels were rated as: highly active (n = 487), intermediately active (n = 1096), and poorly active (n = 331). The presence of a professional exercise instructor working in the facility was significantly associated with exercise participation and with higher exercise frequencies and levels, and session duration. In conclusion, the presence of professional exercise instructors is associated with better exercise habits in NH residents. Improved exercise habits may potentially be translated into better health in this population.     

王阳明“知行合一”说的系统论分析

从系统的整体性理解王阳明“知行合一”说,可知：“知行合一”是一个由目的、手段和根据构成的有机整体;知行的本来体段就是合一的,而语言的遮蔽、私欲阻碍和析心理为二的剧场假相,使得知行分离,这三者都背离了“致良知于事事物物”的要求;个体要真正做到知行合一,就必须在事亲事君、交友治民等具体实践中,通过致良知的努力,体认知行合一的真谛,为善去恶,成就个人的德性,这样才能实现安天下之民的目的。从系统的层次性审视阳明哲学可见,阳明虽然看到了个体的知和行、德性之知和闻见之知、心的社会性和个性、道德的自觉和自愿、为学和生活等两两之间,都是一个有机整体,但受时代所限,其伦理学说系统仍然只有社会关系和伦理政治两个层次,缺少了物质生产这个根本层次,故其知行合一说的深度和说服力不够。     

The promise and reality of formative assessment practice in a continuous assessment scheme: the case of Trinidad and Tobago

Continuous Assessment (CA) systems are externally directed, curriculum-based assessment schemes used for both summative and formative purposes within classrooms. CA has been implemented as national policy in several postcolonial developing countries and is believed to hold great promise for improving education outcomes. This theory-driven evaluation (TDE) used a mixed methods research design to interrogate the nature of CA practice. The focus was on stakeholders’ understanding and practice of formative assessment in the CA Programme (CAP) of Trinidad and Tobago. The integrated findings suggest that the programme planners’ formative intent was often not fulfilled. Instead, teachers routinely recorded assessment marks without using the data. There is evidence that formative assessment practice was not congruent with teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. Although the design of CA schemes suggests the possibility of synergy between formative and summative purposes, in reality this ideal is rarely achieved in these particular contexts.     

Design and implementation of multi-campus,modular master classes in biochemical engineering

The Master of Science in engineering technology: biochemical engineering is organised in KU Leuven at four geographically dispersed campuses. To sustain the Master's programmes at all campuses, it is clear that a unique education profile at each campus is crucial. In addition, a rationalisation is required by increased cooperation, increased exchange of lecturers, and increased student mobility. To achieve this, a multicampus education system for the M.Sc. in engineering technology: biochemical engineering was developed by offering modules that are also available for students of other campuses. Such a module is primarily based on the research expertise present at the campus. In the development, special attention has been given to the optimal organisation of the modules, evaluation, required modifications of the current curricula, and the practical consequences for students following the module at another campus. Even in the first year of implementation, around 30% of the students followed a multicampus module, which indicates the potential success of the multicampus concept described here.     

The effect of school closures on standardised student test outcomes

The school closures owing to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis resulted in a significant disruption of education provision, leading to fears of learning losses and of an increase in educational inequality. This article evaluates the effects of school closures based on standardised tests in the last year of primary school in the Dutch-speaking Flemish region of Belgium. Using a 6-year panel, we find that students of the 2020 cohort experienced significant learning losses in three out of five tested subjects, with a decrease in school averages of mathematics scores of 0.17 standard deviations and Dutch scores (reading, writing, language) of 0.19 standard deviations as compared to previous cohorts. This finding holds when accounting for school characteristics, standardised tests in Grade 4 and school fixed effects. Given the large observed effect sizes, the effect of school closures appears to be a combination of lost learning progress and learning loss. Moreover, we observe that inequality both within schools and across schools rises by 7% for mathematics and 8% for Dutch. The learning losses are correlated with observed school characteristics, as schools with a more disadvantaged student population experience larger learning losses.     

Patterns of Italian high school and university students’ attitudes towards physics: an analysis based on semiotic-cultural perspective

The purpose of this study was to analyse Italian high school and university students’ attitudes towards physics using the Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT). In the SCPT framework, attitudes represent how individuals interpret their experience through the mediation of generalized meaning with which they are identified. A view-of-physics questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data with 1603 high school and university students. Data were analysed through multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. We identified four generalized meanings of physics: (a) interesting and important for society; (b) a quite interesting, but badly taught subject at school and not completely useful for society; (c) difficult to study and irrelevant for society; and (d) a fascinating and protective niche from society. The identified generalized meanings are significantly correlated to the choice to study physics at undergraduate level and to the choice of attending physics-related activities in high school. Implications for research are discussed.

     

Strategies that promote historical reasoning and contextualization: a pilot intervention with urban high school students

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two types of historical problem-solving instruction with advanced urban high school students’...     

Analysis and design for continuous-time string-connected Takagi–Sugeno systems

Distributed systems consist of interconnected, lower-dimensional subsystems. For such systems, distributed analysis and design present several advantages, such as modularity, easier analysis and design, and reduced computational complexity. A special case of distributed systems is when the subsystems are connected in a string. Applications include distributed process control, traffic and communication networks, irrigation systems, hydropower valleys, etc. By exploiting such a structure, in this paper, we propose conditions for the distributed stability analysis of Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems connected in a string. These conditions are also extended to observer and controller design and illustrated on numerical examples.     

组态视角下平台企业商业模式创新路径研究

为探索多重条件并发对平台企业商业模式创新的影响,基于机会资源一体观构建商业模式创新路径模型,通过对193个样本进行模糊集定性比较分析发现：平台企业商业模式创新路径形成依赖机会开发和资源联动层面要素的组合;机会开发和资源联动层面不同要素的组合形成两类商业模式创新路径,类型1强调模仿型机会开发与资源联动策略组合,类型2强调创新型机会开发与资源联动策略组合;机会开发适配的资源联动方式存在差异,其中模仿型机会开发与资源共享和资源编排匹配良好,而创新型机会开发与资源编排、资源拓展匹配良好。研究结论揭示了平台企业商业模式创新多条等效路径,丰富了商业模式创新前因研究,也为平台企业商业模式创新实践提供了理论指导。     

Inclusive Pedagogy in Light of Social Justice. Special Educational Rights and Inclusive Classrooms: on whose terms? A Field Study in Stockholm Suburbs

The question of inclusive education is not straightforward. Despite all its good intentions, inclusive education, in practice faces numerous challenges today. This study analyses these challenges in the Swedish special education context. The author explores special educators’ experiences, possibilities and challenges when applying inclusive education. Findings reveal positive attitudes to the concept of inclusive classrooms. Nevertheless, teachers face more than a few grey areas that need to be put in place in order to achieve socially and cognitively inclusive classrooms.