Oxygen uptake during mini trampoline exercise in normal-weight,endurance-trained adults and in overweight-obese,inactive adults: A proof-of-concept study

Objectives: To examine cardiorespiratory exertion during mini trampoline exercises of different intensities in both endurance-trained athletes and overweight-obese adults. Methods: Physically healthy participants (Group A: normal-weight, endurance-trained athletes; Group B: inactive, overweight-obese adults) participated in two measurement appointments and three training sessions in between appointments, in which participants familiarized themselves with the use of the mini trampoline and the execution of the exercises. The primary outcome was the ?O_2peak for each of the six mini trampoline exercises relative to the ?O_2peak as established during an all-out exercise test on a bike ergometer during the first measurement appointment. Secondary outcomes were average ?O₂ as well as maximum and average heart rate. Results: The six mini trampoline exercises generated ?O_2peak values between 42% and 81% in the endurance-trained athletes and between 58% and 87% in the overweight-obese participants, both in relation to the bike ergometer ?O_2peak. Average ?O₂ values ranged from 35% to 69% (endurance-trained athletes) and from 48% to 71% (overweight-obese participants), depending on exercise. Average heart rate likewise lay in a range that can be categorized as moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise for both groups. A moderate-to-strong correlation (0.658 to 0.875, depending on exercise) between bike ergometer ?O_2peak and mini trampoline ?O_2peak was found for all six exercises. Conclusions: Mini trampoline exercise has the potential to produce training intensities that concur with established exercise guidelines. The exercise intensity is self-adjusting and allows for an effective and safe workout for different users with a wide range of fitness levels.     

Innovation spaces: Workspace planning and innovation in U.S. university research centers

This paper reports findings of a study designed to test whether differences in spatial layout of research offices and labs (workspace planning) affects face-to-face technical consultations, and ultimately innovation process outcomes in research settings critical to government supported innovation strategies—university research centers (URCs). The study involved a mixed-method (multivariate predictive and multiple case comparison) evaluation of six organizationally similar but spatially different URCs. Data analysis revealed relationships between workspace planning, consultations and innovation process outcomes. Multivariate analyses showed that configurational accessibility, visibility and walking distances significantly affect the frequencies and locations of unprogrammed face-to-face consultations. Cross-case comparisons revealed that URCs featuring overall high configurational accessibility, shorter walking distances and intact territories exhibit higher face-to-face consultation rates, consultation network connectivity, and subjective/objective innovation process outcomes. Implications for research policy, practice and research are discussed.     

A Practical Way of Structuring Teaching for Learning

Over recent years there has been a convergence of ideas about how students learn. This is useful information for developing teaching methods that make effective learning more likely. An attempt to put this into practice in an introductory education subject is described in detail. It involved making decisions about issues that are common to different approaches to teaching in higher education. These included the way activities were structured, how experiences were used, the sorts of choices students could exercise and how learning was distributed. It is argued that learning in higher education depends on the balance that is struck in terms of these and related decisions.     

Russian National Electronic Children's Library

ABSTRACT

The Russian State Children's Library (RGDB) is the largest children's library in the world and has been serving as a cultural and educational center for more than 45 years. Important aspects of RGDB's activities are the development of electronic resources and setting up the library site for distant users. The National Electronic Children's Library in Russia is a specialized digital collection of publications about children and for children. This article focuses on these aspects and the future steps of the project.     

THE MEDIUM IS NOT THE MESSAGE: IMPROVING AUSTRALIAN EDUCATIONAL AID TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA STUDENTS

Australia, like many developed countries expends a proportion of its budget in assisting lesser developed countries (LDC) in educational enterprises. Such efforts may have muted results if Australian educators assume that overseas students eventually adapt to their teaching. This paper argues that institutions which accept overseas students into their courses are obliged professionally to cater for students’ learning problems particularly, if the language of instruction is not the mother tongue. Often these problems have their genesis in the LDC because students are educated in a language in which their teachers’ themselves lack facility. Moreover, in the Papua New Guinea context the learning problems with English are associated with a lack of equivalence between the concepts in the academic discourse and the students’ existing conceptual framework. Learning problems in English are more about concept acquisition than translation.