Beyond the ‘learning society’: what have we learnt from widening participation research?

This article emerges from a recent review of evidence, conducted by the authors and others, on the lifelong barriers to widening participation in higher education in England. This has led us to a consideration of the quality and relevance of the research activity in this large field of endeavour, and to the creation of a typology of the kinds of widespread problems we then encountered. These include pseudo‐research, poor quality reporting of research, deficiencies in datasets, analytical errors, a lack of suitable comparators, obfuscation, a lack of scepticism in general, and the regular misattribution of causal links in particular. The article discusses each of these, and illustrates them using generally high‐profile research studies and publications. We found a substantial proportion of non‐empirical pieces. Of the remainder, we found a substantial proportion that did not report sufficiently well their methods or their findings. Of the remainder that were empirical and did explain their methods and findings sufficiently, we found a substantial proportion in which the findings could not support the conclusions drawn from them. The article ends with a plea for a great deal more ‘learning’ and openness to new ideas among those engaged, lifelong, in researching lifelong learning.     

Dyslexia and second language reading: A second bite at the apple?

An unexpected and remarkable preference for second language reading among some dyslexics has been noted, presenting a challenge to accepted theory on dyslexia and the capacity for second language learning. The current study was designed to examine this phenomenon by systematically looking at the differential reading scores in the first and second languages of reading-disabled young Swedish adults who claimed to prefer reading in their second language (English). Three groups were selected for study: a group of 10 reading-disabled young adults who prefer to read English; a second group of 10 reading-disabled with no special preference for second language reading, matched on word recognition efficiency, age group, gender and educational level and a group of 10 normal readers matched on age group and educational level. The test battery was designed to compare overall reading efficiency in English and Swedish and therefore encompassed both speed and accuracy measures. The battery covered seven phonological measures, four orthographic measures,three isolated word reading measures, two continuous text reading measures, a comprehension task and an author recognition task. All tasks were carried out in both English and Swedish. The results showed that two dyslexic groups differed significantly in the degree to which task performance, including reading efficiency, was impeded by the English format. A tentative hypothesis was forwarded as to how the exceptional and unexpected facility with English might be explained.     

Is the frequency of dyslexic problems among prison inmates higher than in a normal population?

The primary objective of this study was to compare a sample ofprison inmates with the norms obtained for large samples of 12year-old students on tests measuring word decoding skills,reading and spelling abilities. Theoretically, we assumed thatphonological processing deficits are a strong predictor ofdyslexic problems, and thus, only those inmates who did not seemto possess appropriate levels of phonological decoding skillsshould be defined as dyslexics. The results showed that theinmates performed better or at the same level as 12 year-oldstudents on all tasks measuring reading, spelling, and worddecoding skills, and that 4 out of 35 inmates (11%) with Swedishas their native language exhibited phonological decoding skillssubstantially below the average of grade 6 students. Thus, bycomparing the group of inmates with 12 year-old students, and byusing phonological decoding skills as an indicator of reading andwriting disabilities, our conclusion was that the frequency ofpossible dyslexic problems found in a group of prison inmateslooks very much like comparable incidence figures from a generalpopulation.     

Person centred planning ‘in action’: exploring the use of person centred planning in supporting young people's transition and re‐integration to mainstream education

This study, by Emma Corrigan of the Plymouth Excellence Cluster and Community Psychology Service, explores the use of person centred planning (PCP) in supporting young people who have experienced school exclusion, in their transition and re‐integration to mainstream settings. Young people of different ages participated in the PCP process and multiple stakeholder perspectives provided insight into the implementation and outcomes of PCP over time. Reported findings indicate a positive impact upon young people's social‐emotional well‐being, attendance in school, and educational achievement, and highlight a range of ‘supports’ and ‘barriers’ that can facilitate and/or obstruct the use of PCP in practice. This research contributes towards practice‐based evidence at a time when legislative reform advocates a broader use of PCP to support special educational needs in the UK. Potential gains, pitfalls and further actions are considered to support a wider application of PCP within the new statutory framework and to inform implications for future practice and further research.     

Cow's milk as a post-exercise recovery drink: implications for performance and health

Abstract

Post-exercise recovery is a multi-facetted process that will vary depending on the nature of the exercise, the time between exercise sessions and the goals of the exerciser. From a nutritional perspective, the main considerations are: (1) optimisation of muscle protein turnover; (2) glycogen resynthesis; (3) rehydration; (4) management of muscle soreness; (5) appropriate management of energy balance. Milk is approximately isotonic (osmolality of 280–290?mosmol/kg), and the mixture of high quality protein, carbohydrate, water and micronutrients (particularly sodium) make it uniquely suitable as a post-exercise recovery drink in many exercise scenarios. Research has shown that ingestion of milk post-exercise has the potential to beneficially impact both acute recovery and chronic training adaptation. Milk augments post-exercise muscle protein synthesis and rehydration, can contribute to post-exercise glycogen resynthesis, and attenuates post-exercise muscle soreness/function losses. For these aspects of recovery, milk is at least comparable and often out performs most commercially available recovery drinks, but is available at a fraction of the cost, making it a cheap and easy option to facilitate post-exercise recovery. Milk ingestion post-exercise has also been shown to attenuate subsequent energy intake and may lead to more favourable body composition changes with exercise training. This means that those exercising for weight management purposes might be able to beneficially influence post-exercise recovery, whilst maintaining the energy deficit created by exercise.     

Transposition of Knowledge: Encountering Proportionality in an Algebra Task

This article reports on an analysis of the process in which knowledge to be taught was transposed into knowledge actually taught, concerning a task including proportional relationships in an algebra setting in a grade 6 classroom. We identified affordances and constraints of the task by describing the mathematical praxeology of the two different types of knowledge exposed, in the task as such and in the activity of the classroom. Through the teacher’s explicit process of reasoning, modeling, revising, solving, and repeatedly explaining the task, we found that the transposition of knowledge was seriously affected by the contextualization of the task. Modeling word problems about everyday situations has its limitations and can, as in this case, make the problem unsolvable unless it is accepted as a “textbook task” disguised as real but adjusted to the norms of school mathematics. Such constraints may obscure mathematical ideas afforded by the task. We conclude that learning opportunities embedded in a task do not necessarily surface when a task is treated in a classroom setting.     

Identification of cellulose nitrate X-ray film for the purpose of conservation: Organic elemental analysis

Cellulose nitrate was widely used as a film base for photography, cinematography, and radiography in the first half of the twentieth century. Its stability is inherently poor and subject to environmental storage conditions. The risk of fire and the cross-infection effect on the cellulose acetate film stored at the same location necessitate that cellulose nitrate is identified within collections and stored separately. Not only medical archives, but also museums using radiography in their research may hold a sizeable amount of historical X-ray films. The Natural History Museum, London has been using film for X-radiography since before World War II. This suggests that some of the X-ray materials in its collections have a cellulose nitrate rather than ‘safety’ (cellulose acetate or polyester) film base. X-ray sheets rarely contain information related to their composition so science-based identification methods must be used. We propose the determination of nitrogen content in the film by organic elemental analysis (OEA) as a reliable method for the identification of films (X-ray, photographic, or cinematographic) with a cellulose nitrate base. Though it is a destructive method, the sample size required is small (<1?mg). This method does not require any sample preparation apart from weighing the samples and wrapping them in tin foil. OEA proved to be more accurate than the ‘float’ test in trichloroethylene and quicker and more straightforward to perform than infrared spectroscopy.     

Physiological load associated with a Zumba® fitness workout: a comparison pilot study between classes and a DVD

The objectives were to compare the metabolic load elicited by Zumba^® classes and DVD workouts and link the physiological responses to participants’ psychological characteristics. Fifteen women (25.4 ± 4.3 years old; 164.9 ± 5.1 cm; 56.9 ± 5.8 kg; 23.9 ± 4.9% body fat) performed three Zumba^® classes and three Zumba^® DVD workouts using a repeated measure design. Energy expenditure was assessed by extrapolating oxygen cost from heart rate (HR) using regressions from a preliminary incremental running test. Differences between Zumba^® classes and Zumba^® DVD workouts were assessed by Student’s T tests and repeated measures analysis of variance and correlations between physiological and psychological variables by the Pearson’s coefficient. Results showed that Zumba^® classes allowed greater energy expenditure compared to Zumba^® DVD workouts (6.8 ± 0.9 vs 5.6 ± 0.9 kcal · min^?1, 95% confidence interval (CI) limits: 0.3–2.1, P = 0.016), with significant differences in the time spent with a HR above 85% of HR reserve (14.7 vs 1.7%, 95% CI: 5.6–20.4, P = 0.021). Furthermore, women with a greater autonomy score showed a smaller difference between DVD and class (r = 0.511, P = 0.048), while greater differences were shown in women with greater interpersonal skills (r = ?0.563, P = 0.028). The results suggest that while both types of workouts are suitable to maintain fitness Zumba^® classes allow greater energy expenditure.