Techniques and considerations for determining isoinertial upper‐body power

Power is an integral aspect of many sports. Although power output of the lower body is often measured during jumping and cycling movements, much less is known about power as pertains to the upper body musculature. Recently, isoinertial methods ‐ with constant gravitational load ‐ of power testing have become common, but little is known of the reliability and criterion validity of these tests as they pertain to sport performance. In addition, the varied methodology makes a lucid model more evasive. The aims of this review are to examine the various methods of assessing upper body power, to establish its role in predicting athletic performance, and to assess the body of literature that has assessed power output of the upper extremities by isoinertial methods. To our knowledge, only two studies on isoinertial upper‐body power have shown a direct correlation to sporting ability (Baker, 2001; Baker et al., 2001); therefore, many unanswered questions exist as to the efficacy of these tests as predictors of athletic ability or as a method to track athletes’ training over time. From this review we hope to allow the sport coach to assess the overall utility of these tests in terms of availability, safety and external validity.     

Project THREAD: Technology helping restructure educational access and delivery

This article describes Project THREAD (Technology Helping Restructure Educational Access and Delivery), an initiative funded by the U.S. Office of Education through its PT3 grant program. The project’s overarching goal is to prepare teachers to integrate modern technologies to fundamentally enhance teaching and learning in K-12 schools. Project initiatives include: (a) a series of in-service workshops for university faculty, administrators, field supervisors, and mentor teachers; (b) one-on-one follow-up support provided by project staff; (c) a minigrant program to support the development of technology-based learning activities for university courses; (d) expanded opportunities for students to apply technology in thier courses and field experiences; and (e) a redesign of selected courses that impact a large number of teacher candidates. The project’s evaluation is described, along with a discussion of outcomes and lessons learned. in recognition of the project’s scope and accomplishments thus far, the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), was named the 2002 winner of the Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).     

History of education in Brazil: the construction of a knowledge field

This article analyses the general characteristics of the construction of the field of history of education in Brazil. To do so, it highlights the existing historiography and aims to describe the process of institutionalisation of this knowledge field, which, in general terms, has been focused on the area of teacher training. Since the nineteenth century, however, it has also been possible to identify systematic historiographical efforts in Brazil that are not directly related to the school system, but rather to the teaching of and research into the history of education within Brazilian universities. The article addresses the organisation of the field, the ways in which it has been structured and the strategies of academic legitimisation employed to achieve this. These include the regular production of dissertations and doctoral theses, the publication of books and journals, academic events and the creation of research groups and scientific associations, through which research findings have found national and international circulation. This set of indicators creates conditions for an understanding of the expansion and reconfiguration of the field of history of education that began in the 1980s, as well as of the challenges this phenomenon presents to current historiography and teacher training in Brazil.     

The somatic marker as a “short cut” to verbal immediacy

This study examined the relationships between the somatic‐marker hypothesis, developed by Damasio (1994) as it relates to homophily and verbal immediacy in the classroom. Damasio has hypothesized that when particular events occur in one's life, there is a “memory” of that event in the brain. As a result, when a similar event occurs, the somatic marker recreates that first event. Students were provided three different scenarios about the first day of a communication class. In the scenarios, the instructor presented information about himself. One instructor provided only autobiographical, demographic data (the control). Another provided information hozu he had had difficulty with public speaking (the selfish marker). The third provided information about how the instructor had helped someone else who had difficulty in public speaking (the altruistic marker). The results indicated that while homophily differences were not significant, there was a significant difference between the control group and the altruistic marker.     

Role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between childhood abuse and probable PTSD in a sample of substance abusers

This study examined associations among childhood abuse, emotion dysregulation, and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within a sample of 93 substance use disorder (SUD) patients in residential treatment. SUD patients with probable PTSD (vs. non-PTSD) reported (a) greater severity of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and (b) significantly higher levels of overall emotion dysregulation and the specific dimensions of difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior when upset, difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors when distressed, limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity. Additionally, significant positive associations were found between both childhood physical and emotional (but not sexual) abuse on the one hand and dimensions of emotion dysregulation on the other. Further analyses indicated that difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors when distressed accounted for the associations of both childhood physical and emotional abuse with probable PTSD status. Findings of the present study highlight a potential mechanism underlying the relationships between both childhood emotional and physical abuse and PTSD in SUD patients.     

ABRETE SESAMO: Investigación sobre TV infantil

RESUMEN

En 1977 el equipo de estudios para la programación infantil de Televisión Española comenzó a trabajar en un proyecto orientado a elaborar un programa infantil dirigido a un público de 3 a 6 años de un nivel socioeconómico deprimido. Se tomó como modelo, “Sesame Street”, un programa de una cadena americana con unos objetivos pedagógicos determinados emitiéndose en este país. El trabajo que se presenta es una investigación formativa llevada a cabo para proporcionar a esta nueva serie una orientación teórico-práctica lo más acorde posible con la realidad del país.

Fue por tanto necesario realizar algunos cambios e incluir temas ausentes en el programa americano, pero considerados importantes aquí. Finalmente, se describe el esquema ideal de metas pedagógicas de este nuevo programa denominado Barrio Sésamo.     

Diferencias evolutivas en procesamiento de textos mediante una tarea de ordenación de frases

Resumen

Este estudio presenta los resultados de una investigación en la que se describen algunas diferencias evolutivas en el procesamiento de la prosa expositiva. Treinta y cinco chicos de diferentes edades, 12 de 5.^o de E.G.B., 12 de 8.^o de E.G.B, y 11 de 3.^o B.U.P y F.P. (10, 13 y 16 años respectivamente), realizaron una tarea de ordenación de frases para formar un texto coherente. Había un total de tres textos de tipo expositivo, constando cada uno de seis oraciones. Se tomaron varias medidas en cada texto: una primera de ordenación global, otra de supraordenación, una tercera de coherencia local (conexiones entre seis pares de frases), y una última medida de errores de conexión. Los resultados confirman una clara tendencia evolutiva en todas las medidas empleadas. Finalmente, se discuten los resultados relacionándolos con otros estudios que analizan el desarrollo de estrategias de comprensión, y se comentan varias repercusiones educativas del trabajo, así como algunas cuestiones abiertas.     

Coherence estimate between a random and a periodic signal: Bias, variance, analytical critical values, and normalizing transforms

The present work deals with recent results on the sampling distribution of the magnitude-squared coherence (also called just coherence) estimate between a random (Gaussian) and a periodic signal, in order to obtain analytical critical values, alternative expressions for the probability density function (PDF) as well as the variance and bias of the estimate. A comparison with the more general case of coherence estimation when both signals are Gaussian was also provided. The results indicate that the smaller the true coherence (TC) values the closer both distributions become. The behaviour of variance and bias as a function of the number of data segments and the TC is similar for both coherence estimates. Additionally, the effect of a normalizing function (Fisher's z transform) in the coherence estimated between a random and a periodic signal was also evaluated and normality has been nearly achieved. However, the variance was less equalized in comparison with coherence estimate between two Gaussian signals.     

A locus of control and social distance comparison of Canadian and West Indian-born students

Three hundred and seventy-nine participants were tested in the West Indies and in Canada, with the Rotter Locus of Control Scale and the Wolfgang Interpersonal Distance Test. The results indicated that West Indian adolescent students were more internally controlled than their Canadian counterparts. Also, overall, West Indian students showed more approach behavior toward significant interpersonal figures than Canadian students. In addition, no correlation was apparent between locus of control and social distance, suggesting that they are separate constructs. Implications of the findings for social adjustment of West Indian immigrants in Canada are discussed.