Languages,cultural capital and school choice: distinction and second-language immersion programmes

This paper argues that languages, increasingly marginalised in schools in English-speaking countries, are gaining ‘elitist’ ground as part of the ‘value-added’ marketisation of schools and parents’ desire for their children to gain ‘positional goods’ through schooling. In arguing our case, the paper draws on survey and other data derived from second-language immersion programmes in two Queensland secondary schools, where key learning areas such as mathematics and science are taught through the medium of another language. As a corollary, we also argue that some schools – in our case, government schools – are using their immersion programmes as markers of distinction in a period of post-comprehensive schooling and emerging school markets, which includes both government and non-government schools. There is also a global policy context to such programmes in respect of countries such as Spain, China and Germany supporting the teaching of their respective languages in nations around the world.     

The adverse effects of parents’ school selection errors on academic achievement: Evidence from the Beijing open enrollment program

One major concern with public school open enrollment programs is the potential for parents’ school selection errors to adversely affect their children's academic achievement. In this study of the Beijing middle school open enrollment program, we estimate the degree to which children's school outcomes were negatively affected by the poor choices their parents made during the school selection process. We do this by examining parents’ responses to a survey on school choices combined with actual school applications, school admission records, and High School Entrance Examination test scores for 4717 students entering middle schools in Beijing via randomized lotteries. We find that the children of parents who made judgment errors in school selection were admitted to lower quality schools and achieved lower test scores on the High School Entrance Examination. Parents who had less education, whose children performed at lower levels in primary school, and who were less attentive to teachers’ opinions about schools were more prone to make these errors. Providing assistance to parents, especially those less prepared to make informed choices about school selection, is consequently important for supporting more efficient and equitable open enrollment programs.     

Knowledge management supporting education and research at a university cleanroom

At the university, each institute or chair can be seen as a small independent enterprise in respect of education and research. For this reason, the efficiency of management as well as the improvement of education and research within this unit is more and more at a premium. The students need a good working environment and the opportunity to gain and share information in order to carry out successful research and course work. This paper shows how education at a university semiconductor laboratory can be improved by using a content management system to build a knowledge management system. The structuring and implementation will be shown as well as students’ rating of it. The results support the conclusion that the knowledge base is a great step forward for improving education and research in a complex environment.     

On the value of foreign PhDs in the developing world: Training versus selection effects in the case of South Africa

When seeking to improve science in emerging economies, uncertainty exists whether PhD training in an emerging economy can yield comparable results to PhD training in the developed world. Scientific achievements may vary because of excellent training at good universities, but also because excellent students select (and are selected by) good universities. This paper compares the career effects of overseas and domestic PhD training for scholars working in an emerging economy, South Africa. We differentiate between and examine both selection and training effects for PhDs from three tiers of South African and two tiers of foreign universities. South African academics with PhDs from universities in industrialised countries generally achieve greater career success than those with local PhDs, but training by universities in industrialised countries is not necessarily better than local training. Our results suggest that the perceived superiority of foreign PhD training stems from selection rather than do training effects, and pure selection effects in fact explain career outcomes better than training effects. Focusing on training rather than selection, PhDs from top South African universities produce a similar quantity and quality research output to those trained by the leading universities in the developed world. From the perspective of an emerging economy with limited resources wishing to advance science, the development of local universities should thus be stressed, although it is clear that individuals who are able to study for a PhD abroad gain personally when they return.     

Effect of cadence on volume and myoelectric activity during agonist-antagonist paired sets (supersets) in the lower body

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cadence on volume load (VLoad) and muscle activity during agonist –antagonist paired sets (APS) in the lower body. Twelve trained men (24.0 ± 3.3 years; 78.3 ± 9.7 kg; 1.77 ± 0.58 m) volunteered to participate in this study. After the 10 maximum repetition test for leg extension and seated leg curl, participants performed three experimental protocols: first protocol (traditional)—three sets of only leg extension (60 bpm); second protocol (fast cadence)—three sets of leg extension, with each set preceded by one set on the seated leg curl with fast cadence (90 bpm); third protocol (slow cadence)—similar to the second, but seated leg curl with slow cadence (40 bpm). The total number of repetitions, VLoad and the electromyography activity for the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and rectus femoris muscles were recorded. The VLoad was higher during APS than the traditional method, but the cadence (fast or slow) of antagonist exercise did not influence VLoad. Muscle activity of vastus lateralis was higher during traditional protocol; on the other hand, rectus femoris showed higher activity on APS fast cadence protocol, indicating that APS has a different influence on quadriceps components.     

Of half-bloods and street dogs,Arnold Clavio vs. the Azkals: discourses and definitions of national identity

Football might not be as popular as basketball in the Philippines, but it has a loyal following. In 2012, broadcaster Arnold Clavio claimed that members of the Men’s National Team, the Azkals, were not true Filipinos. Most of the Azkals are children of Filipinos and foreign nationals, and spent their childhood abroad. Clavio’s statement prompted an online writing storm, which the researcher analyzed to examine how Filipinos constructed their identity. Analysis showed that Azkals supporters constructed the Filipino as a ‘citizen of the world’, with a dynamic identity defined by individual emotions. Clavio supporters tended to construct the Filipino as a ‘citizen of the country only’, with an identity fixed by location and acted out in culture. The debate centred on whether Filipino identity could be inherited but changed, or was fixed and immutable. These struggles raise interesting questions on national identity and unity, whether or not football is involved.     

Development,construct validity and test–retest reliability of a field-based wheelchair mobility performance test for wheelchair basketball

The aim of this study was to develop and describe a wheelchair mobility performance test in wheelchair basketball and to assess its construct validity and reliability. To mimic mobility performance of wheelchair basketball matches in a standardised manner, a test was designed based on observation of wheelchair basketball matches and expert judgement.

Forty-six players performed the test to determine its validity and 23 players performed the test twice for reliability. Independent-samples t-tests were used to assess whether the times needed to complete the test were different for classifications, playing standards and sex. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to quantify reliability of performance times.

Males performed better than females (P < 0.001, effect size [ES] = ?1.26) and international men performed better than national men (P < 0.001, ES = ?1.62). Performance time of low (≤2.5) and high (≥3.0) classification players was borderline not significant with a moderate ES (P = 0.06, ES = 0.58). The reliability was excellent for overall performance time (ICC = 0.95).

These results show that the test can be used as a standardised mobility performance test to validly and reliably assess the capacity in mobility performance of elite wheelchair basketball athletes. Furthermore, the described methodology of development is recommended for use in other sports to develop sport-specific tests.     

Energy expenditure and EPOC between water-based high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training sessions in healthy women

The present study compared the energy expenditure (EE) during and after two water aerobics protocols, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate continuous training (CONT). A crossover randomized design was employed comprising 11 healthy young women. HIIT consisted of eight 20s bouts at 130% of the cadence associated with the maximal oxygen consumption (measured in the aquatic environment) with 10s passive rest. CONT corresponded to 30 min at a heart rate equivalent to 90–95% of the second ventilatory threshold. EE was measured during and 30 min before and after the protocols and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) was calculated. Total EE during session was higher in CONT (227.62 ± 31.69 kcal) compared to HIIT (39.91 ± 4.24 kcal), while EE per minute was greater in HIIT (9.98 ± 1.06 kcal) than in CONT (7.58 ± 1.07 kcal). Post-exercise EE (64.48 ± 3.50 vs. 63.65 ± 10.39 kcal) and EPOC (22.53 ± 4.98 vs.22.10 ± 8.00 kcal) were not different between HIIT and CONT, respectively. Additionally, oxygen uptake had already returned to baseline fifteen minutes post-exercise. These suggest that a water aerobics CONT session results in post-exercise EE and EPOC comparable to HIIT despite the latter supramaximal nature. Still, CONT results in higher total EE.     

Aerobic exercise training performed by parents reduces mice offspring adiposity

The present study aimed to determine the effects of physical training performed by parents on mice offspring adiposity. Male and female parents underwent an aerobic training protocol for 7 weeks. The trained and sedentary parents were allowed to mate and the resultant offspring divided in: S (Offspring from Sedentary Parents), T (Offspring from Trained Parents), ST (Offspring from Sedentary Father and Trained Mother) and TS (Offspring from Trained Father and Sedentary Mother). After weaning, offspring was euthanized, blood collected and samples of mesenteric and inguinal fat pads used to isolate adipocytes for morphologic and histological analyses. Lee index, mesenteric fat pad, sum of visceral fat and total fat weight of female T was reduced in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.05). Periepididymal and sum of visceral fat in male T group was also reduced when compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). The diameter of mesenteric and inguinal adipocytes of T group was smaller compared to all groups comparisons for both sexes (p < 0.05). In summary, exercise training performed by parents reduced visceral offspring adiposity, the diameter of subcutaneous adipocytes and improved metabolic parameters associated to metabolic syndrome.