Classroom Questioning with Immediate Electronic Response: Do Clickers Improve Learning?

A number of studies have focused on how students and instructors feel about digital learning technologies. This research is focused on the substantive difference in learning outcomes between traditional classrooms and classrooms using clickers. A randomized block experimental design involving four sections of undergraduate Operations Management classes was used to determine if clicker systems increase student learning of both quantitative and conceptual material in Operations Management. Learning was measured using the difference between the scores on an entrance examination and the final examination. The findings of this research provide evidence that the use of immediate feedback using a technology like clickers can have a positive impact on student learning as measured by test scores.     

Acute effects of intense interval training on running mechanics

The aims of this study were to determine if there are significant kinematic changes in running pattern after intense interval workouts, whether duration of recovery affects running kinematics, and whether changes in running economy are related to changes in running kinematics. Seven highly trained male endurance runners (VO 2max = 72.3 +/- 3.3 ml kg -1 min -1 ; mean +/- s) performed three interval running workouts of 10 X 400 m at a speed of 5.94 +/- 0.19 m s -1 (356 +/- 11.2 m min -1 ) with a minimum of 4 days recovery between runs. Recovery of 60, 120 or 180 s between each 400 m repetition was assigned at random. Before and after each workout, running economy and several kinematic variables were measured at speeds of 3.33 and 4.47 m s -1 (200 and 268 m min -1 ). Speed was found to have a significant effect on shank angle, knee velocity and stride length (P ? 0.05). Correlations between changes pre- and post-test for VO 2 (ml kg -1 min -1 ) and several kinematic variables were not significant (P > 0.05) at both speeds. In general, duration of recovery was not found to adversely affect running economy or the kinematic variables assessed, possibly because of intra-individual adaptations to fatigue.     

Age,Physical Activity,Physical Fitness,Body Composition,and Incidence of Orthopedic Problems

Abstract

The incidence of orthopedic problems was examined in 5, 582 men and women who attended the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas between 1974 and 1982. The effects of age, physical activity, physical fitness, and body mass index (EMI) on the occurrence of these problems were examined using a proportional hazards approach. The expected risk of orthopedic problems per person-year was 0.045 for men and 0.046 for women. For men, physical fitness, BMI, and physical activity were associated with orthopedic problems, while for women, physical activity was the main predictor. Age was not a factor for either gender. The effect of change in physical fitness, physical activity, and BMI was examined in a subset of 2, 325 persons with more than one visit to the clinic. For women, physical activity and a decrease in BMI were associated with orthopedic problems, while for men none of those factors were significant. Again, age was not a factor in either group. The absence of any age effect on the occurrence of problems suggests that with regard to orthopedic problems, moderate amounts of physical activity in generally healthy persons may be recommended without special consideration as to age.     

Film Theory and Criticism

William T. Pilkington and Don Graham, eds., Western Movies (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1979–$13.95/$6.95)

William R. Meyer, The Making of the Great Westerns (New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1979 – $20.00)

Michael Pitts, Famous Movie Detectives (Metuchen, New Jerseys Scarecrow Press, 1979 – $11.95)

Gerald Mast's The Comic Mind (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979– $7.95 paper)     

The discrete charm of the bourgeoisie: quantum and continuous perspectives on innovation and growth

This paper discusses the relative merits of discrete versus continuous perspectives on innovation, technical change, and economic growth. It discusses the innovation time series literature in some detail to extract the continuous and clustering properties of the historical record on innovation. It then proposes a mosaic/avalanche model based on percolation theory and self-organized criticality to address this question.