Calibration of two objective measures of physical activity for children

A calibration study was conducted to determine the threshold counts for two commonly used accelerometers, the ActiGraph and the Actical, to classify activities by intensity in children 5 to 8 years of age. Thirty-three children wore both accelerometers and a COSMED portable metabolic system during 15 min of rest and then performed up to nine different activities for 7 min each, on two separate days in the laboratory. Oxygen consumption was measured on a breath-by-breath basis, and accelerometer data were collected in 15-s epochs. Using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, cutpoints that maximised both sensitivity and specificity were determined for sedentary, moderate and vigorous activities. For both accelerometers, discrimination of sedentary behaviour was almost perfect, with the area under the ROC curve at or exceeding 0.98. For both the ActiGraph and Actical, the discrimination of moderate (0.85 and 0.86, respectively) and vigorous activity (0.83 and 0.86, respectively) was acceptable, but not as precise as for sedentary behaviour. This calibration study, using indirect calorimetry, suggests that the two accelerometers can be used to distinguish differing levels of physical activity intensity as well as inactivity among children 5 to 8 years of age.     

Learning to play the seminar game: students’ initial encounters with a basic working form in higher education1

This paper demonstrates how the introduction of the word scholarship in respect to teaching has become confused and misplaced and used to sustain and enhance a particular type of credibility to activities related to the enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education. Bourdieu's concept of symbolic culture is used to construct the argument and show how the use of the term ‘Scholarship of Teaching’ needs to be re‐examined and conceptualized. Twenty‐five academics from a variety of disciplines were interviewed to give their perceptions on the notion of scholarship, the scholarship of teaching, and the scholarship in teaching. These data were used to develop a framework for understanding and possibly reconsidering the role of the scholarship of teaching.     

Documenting diversity: an early portrait of a collaborative teacher education initiative

This article documents a two‐year journey developing and implementing a teacher education programme that required preservice teachers and teachers, administrators, and students in six cooperating schools to address issues of diversity, multi‐/transculturalisms, inclusion, anti‐racism/anti‐oppression and social justice. We describe approaches and analyse changing attitudes, commitment and activism among those who participated in this ‘Diversity’ cohort initiative—a collaboration between the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education and the Vancouver School Board. We profile the courage and commitment of those who began to see themselves as important allies and agents of change in Canada’s most multicultural environment. We acknowledge the less successful aspects, and generate implications for teacher education partnerships that seek to embrace ‘critical’ multicultural, inclusive, and social justice education.     

History of the Film (General)

Robert M. Honderson's D. W. Griffith: The Years at Biograph (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $7.50)

Martin Levin's edited collection, Hollywood and the Great Fan Magazines (Arbor House/ World, $10.00)

Kalton C. Lahue and Sam Gill's Clown Princes and Court Jesters (A.S. Barnes, $8.50)

Collecting Classic Films (Hastings House, $6.95)

Sheilah Graham's The Garden of Allah (Crown, $5.95)

Hugo Munsterberg's The Film: A Psychological Study (sub-titled The Silent Photoplay in 1916) (Dover Paperbacks, $2.00)

Sergei Eisenstein's Notes of a Film Director (Dover Paperbacks, $3.00)

Jay Leyda's Film Essays and a Lecture (Praeger Paperbacks, $2.95)

George P. Garrett, O.B. Hardison Jr., and Jane R. Gelfman, Film Scripts One (Appleton-Century-Crofts, price to be set)

Peter Noble's The Negro in Films (Port Washington, NY: Konnihat Press, $10.00)

Eileen Bowser's edited collection, Film Notes (Museum of Modern Art, $5.00)     

Aspiring girls: great expectations or impossible dreams?

This study explores girls’ aspirations for their future. The context was an ex-coalmining area where concerns had been raised by the local authority about the levels of girls’ achievement. The focus of the research was the views of Year 6 girls as they prepared for their transition to secondary school and Year 11 girls as they prepared for their transition to post-compulsory school life. Perspectives of their staff were also sought, focusing on the impact of school and its community on girls’ aspirations. Findings indicated that while the aspirations of the primary school girls were similar, those of the secondary girls differed significantly. Staff viewed this as reflective of the local context and school ethos. These responses offer a basis on which schools could build strategies to increase aspirations and provide support towards their achievement.     

Implementing the Process of Modularisation in Higher Education: Some Trans-National Issues

This article examines the modularisation movement in higher education in the light of a comparative study of recent experience at the universities of Ghana and Bristol. Particular attention is given to an identification of motivating factors, both internal and external, and to an analysis of similarities and differences in the implementation of the modularisation process. The analysis focuses primarily upon perspectives articulated by government and administrators in the modularisation debate; but points to the need for further studies that more directly document the nature of the academic response.     

The benefits and challenges of the integrated programme for children with disabilities in mainstream kindergarten-cum-child care centres in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: implications for social change

Initially developed from policies implemented under British rule, the integrated programme for children with disabilities has not been widely publicised in the context of early childhood education in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Local communities have responded differently to the integrated programme implemented in mainstream kindergarten-cum-child care centres (Kg-cum-CCCs), which serve children from 2 to 6 years old. This study focuses on the perceived benefits and challenges of the integrated programme implemented in mainstream Kg-cum-CCCs. Thirty stakeholders (18 school personnel and 12 parents of children with and without disabilities) from six integrated Kg-cum-CCCs took part in a series of semi-structured in-depth interviews, providing a comprehensive database for this study. The data were analysed with reference to previous studies on the integrated programme for children with disabilities in the context of the current educational experience in the HKSAR. The findings indicate that the stakeholders believe that the integrated programme can benefit children with and without disabilities, but that it can also cause challenges for these children. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Learning from Evaluation at the Open University II. Helping students to learn from audio-visual media

Much of previous media research suggests that there are no significant differences between the teaching effectiveness of different media. As a distance teaching institution, however, the Open University is highly dependent on media to perform functions which in a more conventional context would be handled by live, face-to-face, tuition. Consequently, the University has a keen interest in exploiting the special properties of different media to the full, and in developing students' skills to handle different media. The new technology foundation course, T101 'Living with Technology', attempts both of these aims with some success. The main conclusions drawn from a study of the way audio-visual media are used in the course are that the characteristics of television, radio and audio-cassettes do lend themselves to particular teaching functions but that, in a distance teaching context, a factor of overriding importance is the extent to which any educational medium is accessible and controllable by the learner. The findings also suggest that students can be helped to learn more effectively from audio-visual media, providing a carefully structured approach is taken to the gradual development of learning skills, and the various media are well integrated with each other.     

Listening to Young People with Physical Disabilities' Experiences of Education

There is a general acceptance that inclusion is morally and ethically the most appropriate form of education. However, more research needs to focus on how best to accommodate and support the educational needs of all students, including those with physical disabilities. Listening to young people with physical disabilities talk about their educational experiences is one way to do this. The aim of this research was to investigate the life stories of a small number of young people with physical disabilities, in particular focusing on their educational experiences. Nine young people, between the ages of 10 and 13 years, who used a manual or powered wheelchair and had the cognitive ability to participate in a series of biographical interviews, were recruited. They collaborated in the writing of their life stories. One theme identified in the analysis of these life stories was their educational experiences. The results highlight that the participants held mixed views about their education. The four who attended a segregated special school were generally positive about their experiences. Participants who had attended a mainstream school talked about positive and negative experiences. Individual and differing perspectives on friendships and the ethos of their school were noted. It is suggested that young people with physical disabilities need to be considered as individuals and that if schools are to achieve the goal of inclusion they need to develop ways to accommodate each individual's needs.