Evaluating the effectiveness of university widening participation activities in rural Australia

This article explores the effect university widening participation activities have had in improving access to university of students from rural government-run schools in New South Wales, Australia. An effective effort to evaluate the success of widening participation programs in rural Australia, specifically New South Wales, has not been achieved to date. This article addresses this issue in three distinct ways. First, previous efforts to evaluate widening participation effectiveness are explored and their successes and failings are described. Second, a method to rigorously evaluate university-run outreach programs in Australia’s unique socio-cultural context is constructed and explained. Third, this method is employed using a sample of Australian rural schools to evaluate outreach effectiveness. A mixed-method design combining multilevel growth models and in-depth interviews of careers advisors revealed teacher support of university outreach presence in schools did not necessarily translate to an opinion of outreach effectivity in raising university access levels. This was supported by quantitative analyses showing widening participation efforts in rural New South Wales have had little to no effect on the progression of rural students to university between 2010 and 2016.     

On Defining “Wisdom”: Baltes,Ardelt, Ryan,and Whitehead

Wisdom has been a topic of religion and philosophy since the dawning of human civilization. But only during the last two or three decades wisdom has become a topic of empirical research in developmental psychology, adult and old age education, as well as in management and leadership studies. The aim of this paper is to elaborate a new definition of “wisdom,” in order to provide a more adequate foundation for empirical wisdom research. To reach this goal, two empirical wisdom theories (Baltes and Ardelt) and two philosophical wisdom approaches (Ryan and Whitehead) are presented, discussed, compared, and synthesized. The results show that despite the fact that Baltes’ definition of “wisdom” is somewhat wider than Ardelt’s, their approaches have many aspects in common. Additionally, also Whitehead’s ideas on wisdom are quite similar to Baltes’ core criteria concerning wisdom-related knowledge, but Whitehead mentions two additional aspects which go beyond Baltes’ approach. Further, according to Ryan, wise persons must have very few unjustified beliefs; this necessary condition for a wise person is neither mentioned by Baltes, nor by Ardelt or Whitehead. Based on the ideas of these four approaches, a new definition of “wisdom” is presented, in which wisdom is relativised to time indices and moral systems. This definition consists of a cognitive, an ethical, and a reflective component. Further it is shown that Fischer’s and Dawson’s Lectical Assessment System is a major candidate for measuring wisdom on the basis of our new definition.     

Biomechanics of the two-handed dyno technique for sport climbing

The two-handed dyno technique was studied in nine experienced climbers. According to textbooks, the preferred technique is to jump only as high as necessary and to grab the upper hold exactly at the dead point (highest position of the body centre of mass). Piezoelectric force transducers were connected to the right and left footholds and to the lower and upper handholds. From the forces, the vertical take-off velocity and the jump height were calculated. The results showed that in unsuccessful jumps, the vertical take-off velocity is too small. In successful jumps, however, the vertical take-off velocity is higher than required. In order to reach the same required minimal height, the successful jumper produced a higher force than the unsuccessful (including marginal fail) jumper did. The force produced by the feet was approximately 1.8 times higher than that of the hands. Unsuccessful jumps were significantly closer to the dead point than successful ones. The peak force at the fingers after touchdown at the upper hold ranged from 1.1 to 1.63 times body weight. Overshooting, i.e. jumping higher than required resulted in a smaller peak force and a greater chance of performing a successful jump. In successful jumps, the climber jumps higher than required and grabs the upper hold before and below the dead point. Furthermore, the closer to the dead point the climber grasps the upper hold, the higher is the peak reaction force at the fingers. The advice for the climber is to jump higher than necessary (at least 10 cm), and to grab the handhold before the dead point. This results in a high success rate and a minimal finger injury risk.     

Activity identification and classification in wheelchair rugby using fractal dimensions

The purpose of the study was to develop an evidence-based method for identification and classification of wheelchair sports (rugby) activities and performance during a match using fractal dimensions. The approach involves five wheelchair rugby athletes of different classifications who were monitored during six different matches using mobile devices with in-built accelerometers. The linear acceleration signals were processed using two different approaches based on calculating fractal dimensions. One was based on Rényi’s entropy, which produced the probability dimension (S ₀), and the other was based on Hausdorff’s definition, resulting in the Hausdorff dimension (D _H). When both dimensions were individually plotted as cumulative distribution plots, they offered two approaches to analyze the performance of a wheelchair rugby athlete. Combining the two dimensions produced a two-dimensional (2D) mapping that identified five different activities of each athlete during a wheelchair rugby match—(1) no activities, (2) low activities, (3) high-speed coasting, (4) high-speed pushing, and (5) extreme collisions. In the 2D mapping, four boundary lines separate the five different activities, which produced a template for each athlete. It was found in this research that the classification and skill level of the athlete had an effect on the boundary line values that form the template. The outcome of the activity identification was also verified by comparing with video footage of the athletes. The method developed in this research has possible applications for coaching, match analysis, and talent identification.     

Student-centred anti-smoking education: Comparing a classroom-based and an out-of-school setting

The present study monitored a student-centred educational anti-smoking intervention with fifth graders by focusing on their cognitive achievement and intrinsic motivation. In order to assess the potential influence of the setting on self-directed learning, the intervention was conducted in two different learning environments: a classroom-based group in class at school; and an out-of-school group in an outreach setting at a youth camp. A control group didn’t experience any specific intervention. Outcomes were assessed with an achievement test and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. Although in both learning settings similar cognitive levels were achieved, the out-of-school group showed a larger decrease in cognitive achievement and lower intrinsic motivation scores for interest and perceived choice. This empirical study adds new evidence to student-centred learning schemes in different learning environments, especially in an interdisciplinary context.     

Under-threes’ mathematical learning – teachers’ perspectives

This project highlights preschool teachers’ views of toddlers’ learning in mathematics. The Swedish national curriculum covers even the youngest children who are 1–3?years old. Interesting questions are thus: what should mathematics be for this age group and how should preschool teachers work with maths to achieve the curriculum objectives? Data were collected through interviews with six preschool teachers working in four different preschools. The data show that the teachers emphasize the body as very important for the learning process, which means that for these children, it is not a matter of simply talking about mathematical concepts, but experiencing them bodily. The teachers also report that they now pay more attention than previously to what material the children use and how they interact with it. They are more aware of how they organize and offer the various materials in the preschool and how this influences the way children use them and, consequently, their learning processes.