Book review

Gender & Technology: Empowering Women, Engendering Development** London and New York: Zed Books Ltd. . By Everts, Saskia (1998)

Privatising Agricultural Extension in India** Policy Paper 10, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, P.O. Box 11305, New Delhi 110 012, India, February 2000. 95 p. 64 . By Rasheed Sulaiman V and V.V. Sadamate.     

Improving school attendance: can participation in outdoor learning influence attendance for young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties?

The link between good attendance in school and academic performance has been acknowledged for some time now. However, improving school attendance for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) or pupils at risk of exclusion can be a challenging task for educational leaders. This paper begins with a discussion of earlier studies on outdoor learning and school attendance. It adds to the discourse by presenting findings from a one-year outdoor learning programme situated within an English special school for young people with SEBD. The research reported here is part of a larger study that used an action research design. The paper concludes that although improvements in attendance can be achieved, the factors affecting attendance are complex and that improvements may be restricted to programmes that utilise an outdoor learning approach rather than being achievable across the whole school curriculum.     

Acute cardiovascular responses to interval exercise: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Interval exercise training is increasingly recommended to improve health and fitness; however, it is not known if cardiovascular risk is different from continuous exercise protocols. This systematic review with meta-analyses assessed the effect of a single bout of interval exercise on cardiovascular responses that indicate risk of cardiac fibrillation and infarction compared to continuous exercise. Electronic databases Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane were searched. Key inclusion criteria were: (1) intervals of the same intensity and duration followed by a recovery period and (2) reporting at least one of blood pressure, heart rate variability, arterial stiffness or function. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and GRADE approach were used. Meta-analyses found that systolic blood pressure responses to interval exercise did not differ from responses to continuous exercise immediately (MD 8 mmHg [95% CI ?32, 47], p = 0.71) or at 60 min following exercise (MD 0 mmHg [95% CI ?2, 1], p = 0.79). However, reductions in diastolic blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation with interval exercise were observed 10–15 min post-exercise. The available evidence indicates that interval exercise does not convey higher cardiovascular risk than continuous exercise. Further investigation is required to establish the safety of interval exercise for clinical populations.     

What we are really doing with ICT in physical education: a national audit of equipment, use, teacher attitudes, support, and training

This paper reports on the results from a detailed national audit of information communication technology (ICT) in physical education (PE), examining attitudes, training, numbers of pieces of equipment and hardware owned, and its employment and use across nine Local Education Authorities, six types of schools, and four types of Specialist College. After setting the context, a summary of the survey methods used and an overview of the findings from 500 schools are presented. Results from 252 questionnaires returned suggested that the majority of PE teachers felt that ICT was a valuable teaching tool; however, parity of training and ownership of equipment were not standard across the range of schools or regions. Furthermore, the data suggest a growing trend in ICT use in PE across England.     

College Students’ Therapy Preferences: The Role of Psychological Mindedness

The current study examined expectations and preferences of psychotherapy approach in 225 college students. Psychodynamic-interpersonal (PI) techniques were generally favored over cognitive-behavioral (CB) techniques both in expectations of what is characteristic of a typical therapy session and perceived helpfulness. There was no difference in findings between therapy naïve college students and those with a history of psychotherapy. Psychological mindedness was correlated with PI ratings, but not CB ratings. College counselors may want to emphasize emotional and relational strategies when working with college students and may benefit from examining the psychological mindedness of new clients to assist with determining their treatment plan.     

Disconnections Between Teacher Expectations and Student Confidence in Bioethics

This study examines how student practice of scientific argumentation using socioscientific bioethics issues affects both teacher expectations of students’ general performance and student confidence in their own work. When teachers use bioethical issues in the classroom students can gain not only biology content knowledge but also important decision-making skills. Learning bioethics through scientific argumentation gives students opportunities to express their ideas, formulate educated opinions and value others’ viewpoints. Research has shown that science teachers’ expectations of student success and knowledge directly influence student achievement and confidence levels. Our study analyzes pre-course and post-course surveys completed by students enrolled in a university level bioethics course (n = 111) and by faculty in the College of Biology and Agriculture faculty (n = 34) based on their perceptions of student confidence. Additionally, student data were collected from classroom observations and interviews. Data analysis showed a disconnect between faculty and students perceptions of confidence for both knowledge and the use of science argumentation. Student reports of their confidence levels regarding various bioethical issues were higher than faculty reports. A further disconnect showed up between students’ preferred learning styles and the general faculty’s common teaching methods; students learned more by practicing scientific argumentation than listening to traditional lectures. Students who completed a bioethics course that included practice in scientific argumentation, significantly increased their confidence levels. This study suggests that professors’ expectations and teaching styles influence student confidence levels in both knowledge and scientific argumentation.