Success Without ‘A’ Pass: an Educational Experiment Revisited

In 1963, the University of Sussex inaugurated an innovative Early Leavers Scheme in response to two government reports which confirmed that it was still the norm for talented working‐class children to leave school aged 15 or 16 and indicated that the hopes of the 1944 Education Act were as yet unfulfilled. This article explores what the scheme has meant to some of the people who got to university because of it. Research on relevant documentation of the scheme and its outcomes held in the University of Sussex archives and information gathered from four people admitted to the scheme and its impact on them inform this article. The scheme is contextualised with relevant policy documents, government reports and academic publications to provide a framework for the accounts of those who took part in it and it is tentatively suggested that these have implications for higher education policy today.     

Educational Programs for Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities: Can They Be Both Effective and Inclusive?

One of the most controversial issues in special education over the last 40 years has been the extent to which students with learning disabilities (LD) should be educated in general education classrooms. Recent mandates in federal law requiring that all students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum and make adequate yearly progress relative to this content have intensified this debate. In this article, a brief summary of research regarding the nature of instruction that produces significantly improved educational outcomes for students with LD is provided. This is followed by a review of research related to the delivery of this high‐quality instruction in inclusive, general education classrooms and in resource settings. We conclude that this research provides the foundation for reconsidering full inclusion and how services are delivered for elementary students with LD.     

Gas chromatographic method for the determination of hexaconazole residues in black tea

A highly reliable, quantitative and sensitive analytical method for determining the residues of the fungicide, hexaconazole in black tea is described. The proposed method is based on liquid-liquid extraction followed by gas chromatographic determination, using nitrogen phosphorus detector (GC-NPD) for the identification and quantitation of hexaconazole. The most was cleaned up by adsorption column chromatography using activated florisil. Performance of the method was assessed by evaluating quality parameters such as recovery value, repeatability, reproducibility, linearity and limits of detection and quantitation. When the method was assessed for repeatability, the percentage of recovery ranged between 86% and 96% while the relative standard deviation was between 0.30% and 2.35%. In studies on reproducibility the recovery ranged from 81% to 85% and relative standard deviation from 1.68% to 5.13%, implying that the method was reliable. A field trial was conducted to verify the application of this method with real samples. Results prove that the validated method was suitable for extracting hexaconazole residues.     

Age-Related Differences in Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance among Female Masters Swimmers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine age-related differences in muscular strength and muscular endurance among 73 female masters swimmers aged 24 to 71 years. Each subject was assessed on measures of body size, grip strength, peak isokinetic torque of shoulder and knee flexion and extension, and endurance of shoulder and knee movements. Although swim training appears to have resulted in higher strength values for these swimmers than for less active women, an age-related decline in muscular strength values was nevertheless apparent. The results fail to reveal a similar age-related trend for muscular endurance, suggesting that swim training influences muscular endurance more than muscular strength among adult women.     

Entering the occupational category of ‘Farmer’: new pathways through professional agricultural education in Ireland

Purpose: Understand the emergence of new potential career trajectories in the liberalised Irish dairy farming sector through analysis of the narratives of students of a Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management

Design/methodology/approach: A review of the literature highlights that entry to a working life in agriculture has been characterised by protracted farm succession processes; a strong association between being a farmer and owning land in the family name; lingering male identities esteeming manual labour; and a pragmatic need at farm level for manual work. The abolition of milk quota in 2015 was predicted to catalyse expansion of production on dairy farms with an increase in milk production; accompanied by a demand for qualified personnel. The BNIM method was employed.

Findings: Results confirm that agricultural education is perceived and experienced as offering new pathways for young farmers to enter the occupational category of ‘farmer’, helping to manoeuvre around the constraints of non-inheritance. The students’ narratives evidenced managerial identities, being strongly influenced by encountering management approaches through their agricultural education. All students desired to eventually own a farm someday and to be to employed as a professional dairy farm manager was a perceived as an intermediary goal.

Practical implication: Discontinuation of the traditional family farming model based on family farm/land ownership is not imminent even among a cohort qualified to become employed dairy farm managers.

Theoretical implication: This paper contributes to theoretical framework which highlights the shift in farmer masculine identity and the career trajectory of graduates of specialised agricultural education programmes.     

Baseball

The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare kinematic, temporal, and kinetic characteristics of American and Korean professional pitchers in order to investigate differences in pitching mechanics, performance, and injury risks among two different cultures and populations of baseball pitchers. Eleven American and eight Korean healthy professional baseball pitchers threw multiple fastball pitches off an indoor throwing mound positioned at regulation distance from home plate. A Motion Analysis three‐dimensional automatic digitizing system was used to collect 200 Hz video data from four electronically synchronized cameras. Twenty kinematic, six temporal, and 11 kinetic variables were analyzed at lead foot contact, during the arm cocking and arm acceleration phases, at ball release, and during the arm deceleration phase. A radar gun was used to quantify ball velocity. At lead foot contact, the American pitchers had significantly greater horizontal abduction of the throwing shoulder, while Korean pitchers exhibited significantly greater abduction and external rotation of the throwing shoulder. During arm cocking, the American pitchers displayed significantly greater maximum shoulder external rotation and maximum pelvis angular velocity. At the instant of ball release, the American pitchers had significantly greater forward trunk tilt and ball velocity and significantly less knee flexion, which help explain why the American pitchers had 10% greater ball velocity compared to the Korean pitchers. The American pitchers had significantly greater maximum shoulder internal rotation torque and maximum elbow varus torque during arm cocking, significantly greater elbow flexion torque during arm acceleration, and significantly greater shoulder and elbow proximal forces during arm deceleration. While greater shoulder and elbow forces and torques generated in the American pitchers helped generate greater ball velocity for the American group, these greater kinetics may predispose this group to a higher risk of shoulder and elbow injuries.