SPECIFIC COGNITIVE PREDICTORS OF EARLY MATH PROBLEM SOLVING

Development of early math skill depends on a prerequisite level of cognitive development. Identification of specific cognitive skills that are important for math development may not only inform instructional approaches but also inform assessment approaches to identifying children with specific learning problems in math. This study investigated the specific cognitive correlates of math problem solving across early grade levels (1–4) while controlling for basic calculation skills. As expected, basic calculation skill was a significant predictor of math problem solving across the entire sample. However, the addition of cognitive measures almost doubled the variance explained (R² = .61). Additionally, only select cognitive variables contributed to the prediction of math problem solving, and these variables change in importance as children develop higher‐level math skills. Results are discussed within a developmental model, which emphasizes the increasing importance of abstract code representations required in higher levels of math performance.     

Science and cycling: current knowledge and future directions for research

Abstract

In this holistic review of cycling science, the objectives are: (1) to identify the various human and environmental factors that influence cycling power output and velocity; (2) to discuss, with the aid of a schematic model, the often complex interrelationships between these factors; and (3) to suggest future directions for research to help clarify how cycling performance can be optimized, given different race disciplines, environments and riders. Most successful cyclists, irrespective of the race discipline, have a high maximal aerobic power output measured from an incremental test, and an ability to work at relatively high power outputs for long periods. The relationship between these characteristics and inherent physiological factors such as muscle capilliarization and muscle fibre type is complicated by inter-individual differences in selecting cadence for different race conditions. More research is needed on high-class professional riders, since they probably represent the pinnacle of natural selection for, and physiological adaptation to, endurance exercise. Recent advances in mathematical modelling and bicycle-mounted strain gauges, which can measure power directly in races, are starting to help unravel the interrelationships between the various resistive forces on the bicycle (e.g. air and rolling resistance, gravity). Interventions on rider position to optimize aerodynamics should also consider the impact on power output of the rider. All-terrain bicycle (ATB) racing is a neglected discipline in terms of the characterization of power outputs in race conditions and the modelling of the effects of the different design of bicycle frame and components on the magnitude of resistive forces. A direct application of mathematical models of cycling velocity has been in identifying optimal pacing strategies for different race conditions. Such data should, nevertheless, be considered alongside physiological optimization of power output in a race. An even distribution of power output is both physiologically and biophysically optimal for longer ( >4km) time-trials held in conditions of unvarying wind and gradient. For shorter races (e.g. a 1km time-trial), an‘all out’ effort from the start is advised to‘save’ time during the initial phase that contributes most to total race time and to optimize the contribution of kinetic energy to race velocity. From a biophysical standpoint, the optimum pacing strategy for road time-trials may involve increasing power in headwinds and uphill sections and decreasing power in tailwinds and when travelling downhill. More research, using models and direct power measurement, is needed to elucidate fully how much such a pacing strategy might save time in a real race and how much a variable power output can be tolerated by a rider. The cyclist's diet is a multifactorial issue in itself and many researchers have tried to examine aspects of cycling nutrition (e.g. timing, amount, composition) in isolation. Only recently have researchers attempted to analyse interrelationships between dietary factors (e.g. the link between pre-race and in-race dietary effects on performance). The thermal environment is a mediating factor in choice of diet, since there may be competing interests of replacing lost fluid and depleted glycogen during and after a race. Given the prevalence of stage racing in professional cycling, more research into the influence of nutrition on repeated bouts of exercise performance and training is required.     

Collaborative feedback and reflection for professional growth: preparing first-year pre-service teachers for participation in the community of practice

Teaching has been described as an emerging community of practice. Within such professional communities, the processes of reflection and collaborative dialogue, or critical transformative dialogue, are central to the maintenance and improvement of professional practice for individuals, and the field. This paper reports on the challenges experienced by a group of first-year pre-service teachers engaging in a process of reflection and critique with peers, as they participated in a program focused on the development of core practices of teaching. These pre-service teachers' responses indicated their growing understanding of the importance of engaging in ongoing critical dialogue, as part of the “unnatural” aspects of teaching. The paper concludes with a reflection on the value of feedback from the earliest stages of professional learning.     

Getting inside the insider researcher: does race-symmetry help or hinder research?

This article engages with methodological concerns connected to insider education research and the ‘race-symmetry’ shared between the researcher and teacher participants. To do this, race critical reflexive strategies are utilized to show how and why this practice productively contributed to the knowledge about race making constructed in my study, a research process I describe as getting inside my insiderness. However, these reflexive practices also helped me to develop a deeper awareness of the potential for what I now describe as White shadows to infiltrate research of this type. The conceptualization of White shadows is a useful tool to describe research practices that silence or deflect attention away from issues connected to race, and hence, White shadows help expose concerns about the potential for Whiteness to remain protected by research. There are two interconnected aims of this paper. First, to illustrate the sort of race reflexive practices called for, and in doing so, to demonstrate why they are valuable and helpful in (educational) research. Second, I hope to encourage a rethink of the insider–outsider relationship that typifies ethnographic research by shifting attention to explore the inside of insider research.     

The proletarianisation of academic labour in Australia

Australian universities over the last 25 years have been unified, internationalised, corporatised and become mass educational providers. This process is replicated globally as a response to rapid mass enrolments and marketisation. In the light of these changes, a corporate and managerial model has been identified, which has been the subject of growing discontent within the academic workforce. However, from a political economy perspective there is a lack of understanding on how and by what means academic labour has been commodified in this process. This paper, using Australia as its case study, argues that the managerial culture has alienated academics from their labour. This has resulted in them losing control over their skills and thus becoming disassociated from the educational purposes of their work. Higher education has been subjected to systemic regulatory governance that has fundamentally transformed the nature of academic labour. We contend that the regulatory state has reached so deep down into the university that academics have effectively become a de-professionalised and proletarianised labour force.     

Effect of post-match cold-water immersion on subsequent match running performance in junior soccer players during tournament play

In this study, we investigated the effects of two hydrotherapy interventions on match running performance and perceptual measures of fatigue and recovery during a 4-day soccer tournament. Twenty male junior soccer players were assigned to one of two treatment groups and undertook either cold-water immersion (5 × 1 min at 10 °C) or thermoneutral water immersion (5 × 1 min at 34 °C) after each match. High-intensity running distance (>15 km · h?1) and total distance covered, time spent in low (<80% maximum heart rate), moderate (80-90% maximum heart rate), and high (>90% maximum heart rate) heart rate zones, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded for each match. Perceptions of general fatigue and leg soreness were recorded approximately 22 h after each match. There were decreases in both groups across the 4-day tournament for high-intensity running distance (P = 0.006, Cohen's d = 0.63), total distance run (P < 0.001, d = 0.90), time in high heart rate zone (P = 0.003, d = 0.90), and match RPE (P = 0.012, d = 0.52). Cold-water immersion was more effective than thermoneutral immersion for reducing the perception of leg soreness (P = 0.004, d = -0.92) and general fatigue (P = 0.007, d = -0.91), ameliorating the decrement in total distance run (P = 0.001, d = 0.55), and maintaining time in the moderate heart rate zone (P = 0.01, d = 1.06). In conclusion, cold-water immersion mediates the perceptions of fatigue and recovery and enhances the restoration of some match-related performance measures during a 4-day tournament.