Twenty-metre shuttle run test performance of English children aged 11-15 years in 2007: comparisons with international standards

Recent international normative data for the 20-m shuttle-run test demonstrated a below-average performance index for UK children. The aims of the present study were to create an international comparison of 20-m shuttle-run test performance in a sample of English children and to identify age- and sex-specific differences in test performance. Mass, stature, body mass index, and 20-m shuttle-run test performance were measured in 2041 children aged 11-15 years (963 boys, 1078 girls). Performance was expressed as maximum running velocity and a performance index was created by generating z-scores. The shuttle-run test performance index was higher than the existing published value (-0.046, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.070 to -0.022) for all children (0.061, 95% CI = 0.006 to 0.115), for boys (0.075, 95% CI = -0.022 to 0.171), and for girls (0.048, 95% CI = -0.010 to 0.106). Boys' relative performance increased significantly (F = 4.43, P = 0.002) throughout the measured age range, whereas girls' relative performance tended to decrease (F = 1.98, P = 0.096). The results were favourable when compared with existing values. Differences in performance index may be due to the different geographical areas from which present and past samples were drawn. Reasons for differences in the performance indices between boys and girls warrant further investigation.     

‘The teacher said I'm thick!’ Experiences of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder within a school setting

Children and young people who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can often experience difficulties within an education setting. ADHD can impact upon their educational achievements and subsequent future employment. This paper draws upon data gathered from a small scale study and has sought to elicit the ‘voice’ of young people who have ADHD and their experience within a school setting. Findings of this study indicate that there is a need for teachers to be more informed about the impact that ADHD can have on a pupil and teachers need to develop positive strategies to support these individuals within the classroom. Ideally, adequate training around ADHD should begin within initial teacher training prior to entering the teaching profession.     

How can organisations learn: an information systems development perspective

This article sets out to argue that organisations can learn but that they cannot do so in their own right without infrastructural support. This article further examines the notion that individuals in organisations also require the cognitive participation of the organisation itself as a learning entity to learn. The close reliance and affiliation required between individuals and organisations to enable their learning from one another are discussed. In continuation of this, specific examples are provided through the industry sector of information systems development (ISD) projects to illustrate of how organisations can learn. Finally, the question of how one identifies organisational learning is analysed. Following on from the ISD and its use in the analogy of organisational learning, the article discusses an organisational empirical research project currently being undertaken by the authors, which utilises blogs. Though there are many potential organisational learning connotations associated with blogs, they could be perceived as a type of information system. The ongoing research being undertaken with the company using the blogs will attempt to identify indicators of learning at the individual, group and organisational levels. The significance of the issues explored in this article lies in the fact that it addresses an ISD approach to study how an organisation learns, and why this perspective is useful towards understanding the process of organisational learning. This article contributes to the organisational learning debate through an illustrative industry example of ISD projects. In doing so, we wish to argue that though individual learning can occur in ISD projects, the collective nature of projects primarily engenders the interpretive aspect of organisational learning. We further believe that it is the interactive nature of an ISD project that allows an organisation to learn in tandem with project members as exemplified through the stages of a project life cycle. We feel that this article contributes to the ISD and organisational learning literature in terms of linking both concepts together.     

Multi-label Arabic text categorization: A benchmark and baseline comparison of multi-label learning algorithms

Multi-label text categorization refers to the problem of assigning each document to a subset of categories by means of multi-label learning algorithms. Unlike English and most other languages, the unavailability of Arabic benchmark datasets prevents evaluating multi-label learning algorithms for Arabic text categorization. As a result, only a few recent studies have dealt with multi-label Arabic text categorization on non-benchmark and inaccessible datasets. Therefore, this work aims to promote multi-label Arabic text categorization through (a) introducing “RTAnews”, a new benchmark dataset of multi-label Arabic news articles for text categorization and other supervised learning tasks. The benchmark is publicly available in several formats compatible with the existing multi-label learning tools, such as MEKA and Mulan. (b) Conducting an extensive comparison of most of the well-known multi-label learning algorithms for Arabic text categorization in order to have baseline results and show the effectiveness of these algorithms for Arabic text categorization on RTAnews. The evaluation involves four multi-label transformation-based algorithms: Binary Relevance, Classifier Chains, Calibrated Ranking by Pairwise Comparison and Label Powerset, with three base learners (Support Vector Machine, k-Nearest-Neighbors and Random Forest); and four adaptation-based algorithms (Multi-label kNN, Instance-Based Learning by Logistic Regression Multi-label, Binary Relevance kNN and RFBoost). The reported baseline results show that both RFBoost and Label Powerset with Support Vector Machine as base learner outperformed other compared algorithms. Results also demonstrated that adaptation-based algorithms are faster than transformation-based algorithms.     

Test–retest Reliability and Construct Validity of an Online and Paper Administered Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES)

ABSTRACT

The Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES) has been used internationally; however, PANES properties have not been assessed in all geographical contexts. Our objectives were to assess the reliability and validity of an online and paper version of the PANES in Canadian adults. Reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), percent of overall agreement (p₀) and Cohen’s Kappa coefficient (κ). Lower 95% confidence interval (CI) ICC ranged from 0.10 to 0.70. Lower 95%CI for κ statistics ranged from ?0.20 to 0.64 and p₀ ranged from 80.1% to 95.7%. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (α) estimated internal consistency of the PANES (α = 0.58 for the paper version and α = 0.55 for the online version). Mean scores for the PANES Built Environment Index (BEI) significantly differed by neighborhood street pattern (p < .05). The PANES administrated via paper or online provides reliable overall agreement and valid estimates of the self-reported neighborhood built environment supportiveness of physical activity.     

Conducting Confirmatory Latent Class Analysis Using Mplus

Latent class analysis (LCA) is an increasingly popular tool that researchers can use to identify latent groups in the population underlying a sample of responses to categorical observed variables. LCA is most commonly used in an exploratory fashion whereby no parameters are specified a priori. Although this exploratory approach is reasonable when very little prior research has been conducted in the area under study, it can be very limiting when much is already known about the variables and population. Confirmatory latent class analysis (CLCA) provides researchers with a tool for modeling and testing specific hypotheses about response patterns in the observed variables. CLCA is based on placing specific constraints on the parameters to reflect these hypotheses. The popular and easy-to-use latent variable modeling software package Mplus can be used to conduct a variety of CLCA types using these parameter constraints. This article focuses on the basic principles underlying the use of CLCA, and the Mplus programming code necessary for carrying it out.     

The effects of auditory information on 4-month-old infants' perception of trajectory continuity

Young infants perceive an object's trajectory as continuous across occlusion provided the temporal or spatial gap in perception is small. In 3 experiments involving 72 participants the authors investigated the effects of different forms of auditory information on 4-month-olds' perception of trajectory continuity. Provision of dynamic auditory information about the object's trajectory enhanced perception of trajectory continuity. However, a smaller positive effect was also obtained when the sound was continuous but provided no information about the object's location. Finally, providing discontinuous auditory information or auditory information that was dislocated relative to vision had negative effects on trajectory perception. These results are discussed relative to the intersensory redundancy hypothesis and emphasize the need to take an intersensory approach to infant perception.     

Recommendations for Preparing and Scoring Constructed-Response Items: What the Experts Say

We determined the recommendations for preparing and scoring constructed-response (CR) test items in 25 sources (textbooks and chapters) on educational and psychological measurement. The project was similar to Haladyna's (2004) Haladyna, T. M. 2004. Developing and validating multiple-choice test items , 3rd, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] analysis for multiple-choice items. We identified 12 recommendations for preparing CR items given by multiple sources, with 4 of these given by at least half of the sources; and 13 recommendations for scoring CR items given by multiple sources, with 5 given by at least half of the sources. Many recommendations received minority support or were unique to individual sources. Research is needed both on the effect of the recommendations for measurement properties and the extent to which the recommendations are adopted in practice.