What Should High–Risk Operations Evaluate Relative To Safety And Safety Training

This article presents a concise argument for strategic planning for training effectiveness evaluation for high–risk operations including nuclear power training. The article looks at external criteria for such evaluation including considerations of: (1) the safety of the general population, (2) the safety of employees, and (3) the cost–effective delivery of the organization's products and services (e.g., the delivery of energy).     

Continuity in special education placements: Are reevaluations really necessary?

A 3-year catch-up prospective study of 654 rural special education students was conducted to determine what proportion had a change in classification and/or programming. Information was gathered through a record review of all handicapped students from preschool through secondary school. Change was found to be more common than is generally perceived: 38.2% of the students had a classification change (21.9% by termination and 16.3% by reclassification). Changes in the type of program occurred for 33.1%, and changes in frequency of services occurred for 71.2% of the students in classroom programs. Rates of changes varied significantly between classifications. The relatively high rates of change stress the need for thorough reevaluation services.     

The missing base molecules in atmospheric acid–base nucleation

Transformation of low-volatility gaseous precursors to new particles affects aerosol number concentration, cloud formation and hence the climate. The clustering of acid and base molecules is a major mechanism driving fast nucleation and initial growth of new particles in the atmosphere. However, the acid–base cluster composition, measured using state-of-the-art mass spectrometers, cannot explain the measured high formation rate of new particles. Here we present strong evidence for the existence of base molecules such as amines in the smallest atmospheric sulfuric acid clusters prior to their detection by mass spectrometers. We demonstrate that forming (H₂SO₄)₁(amine)₁ is the rate-limiting step in atmospheric H₂SO₄-amine nucleation and the uptake of (H₂SO₄)₁(amine)₁ is a major pathway for the initial growth of H₂SO₄ clusters. The proposed mechanism is very consistent with measured new particle formation in urban Beijing, in which dimethylamine is the key base for H₂SO₄ nucleation while other bases such as ammonia may contribute to the growth of larger clusters. Our findings further underline the fact that strong amines, even at low concentrations and when undetected in the smallest clusters, can be crucial to particle formation in the planetary boundary layer.     

In the face of adversity: four physical educator’s experiences of resilience in high-poverty schools

Background: Emotional resilience can be vital to longevity in high-poverty school settings. Equally important to staying the course is the ability to remain motivated despite the unique challenges presented by teaching in high-poverty schools. Students within these schools need teachers who are able to manage their emotions and remain positive and optimistic, persist, remain confident, and continually focus on learning and self-improvement no matter their work environment. This study explored four PE teachers’ perceptions of their resilience teaching in high-poverty schools through the lens of resilience theory.

Research design: This study utilized an exploratory multiple case study design (Yin 2003). The main premise of the case study method is to better understand complex educational and social phenomena, while retaining the holistic and meaningful particularities of real-life circumstances (Yin 2003). Teacher interviews and teacher shadowing were used to examine the experiences of PE teachers in high-poverty schools.

Findings: Results indicate that several psychological factors (relating to positive personality, motivation, focus, and perceived social and administrative support) protected the PE teachers in this inquiry from the potential negative effect of stressors by prompting their metacognitions and challenge appraisal. These processes promoted facilitative responses that proved to be key to developing and maintaining their capacities for resilience. The teachers demonstrated a sustained commitment to self-improvement and student success by implementing effective teaching practices.

Conclusion: The teachers in this study possessed strong individual dispositions and were able to demonstrate behaviors that facilitated an elevated level of resilience. School administrators must establish a strong culture of support to enable teacher resilience. Identifying ways to increase the resilience capacity of physical education teachers has the potential to decrease the concerns surrounding teacher attrition and increase job satisfaction for teachers working in high-poverty schools. Implications also indicate a need for physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to identify candidates with the individual dispositions that aid in resilience and provide them with experiences in high-poverty schools. This partnership may assist in minimizing the effects of reality shock oftentimes experienced by new teachers.     

What makes a matrix so effective? An empirical test of the relative benefits of signaling, extraction, and localization

What type of display helps students learn the most and why? This study investigated how displays differing in terms of signaling, extraction, and localization impact learning. In Experiment 1, 72 students were assigned randomly to one cell of a 4 × 2 design. Students studied a standard text, a text with key ideas extracted, an outline that localized ideas topically, and a matrix that localized ideas topically and categorically. One version of the displays signaled the displays’ organization and one version did not. The matrix display proved best for facilitating fact and relationship learning because of its ability to localize related information within topics and categories. Simply signaling or extracting text ideas was not helpful. Experiment 2 demonstrated that not all matrices are created equal because they can vary in terms of how information is localized. About 54 students were assigned randomly to one cell of a 2 × 2 design that varied localization of matrix topics and categories. Students studied matrices high or low in topical organization and high or low in categorical organization. Results confirmed that a high, natural ordering of matrix topics is necessary to highlight relationships and bolster relationship and fact learning.     

Cultural capital and its effects on education outcomes

In this study we distinguished between two forms of cultural capital, one that is static, representing the highbrow activities and practices of parents, and one that is relational, representing cultural interactions and communication between children and their parents. We used data for 28 countries from the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment to examine whether these two types of cultural capital were associated with students’ reading literacy, sense of belonging at school, and occupational aspirations, after controlling for traditional measures of socioeconomic status. We examined whether one type of cultural capital had stronger effects than the other and whether their effects differed across outcomes and across countries. The results provide compelling evidence that dynamic cultural capital has strong effects on students’ schooling outcomes, while static cultural capital has more modest effects.     

Challenges and promises of overcoming epistemological and methodological partiality: Advancing engineering education through acceptance of diverse ways of knowing

The purpose of this paper is to explore some challenges and promises when the epistemological diversity embedded in qualitative research traditions is introduced to research communities with one dominant research paradigm, such as engineering education. Literature is used from other fields and empirical data are used from engineering education, including the practices of the European Journal of Engineering Education and the Journal of Engineering Education, with the expectation that the ideas that are presented are relevant to a broad range of education disciplines. A number of challenges are identified as the epistemological diversity of qualitative research is introduced to the primarily positivist field of engineering education. Ultimately, embracing epistemological diversity holds the promise of researchers being able to ask: ‘What questions and answers become possible from these newly created positions and what can be learned from these alternative approaches?’.