Cardiorespiratory and perceptual responses to arm crank and wheelchair exercise using various handrims in male paraplegics

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of 10-in [0.25-m] versus 16-in [0.41-m] wheelchair handrims on cardiorespiratory and psychophysiological exercise responses during wheelchair propulsion at selected velocities. Fifteen male paraplegics (27.0 +/- 5.5 yrs) performed three discontinuous exercise tests (ACE = arm crank ergometer; WERG = wheelchair roller ergometer) and two 1600-m performance-based track trials (TRACK) under simulated race conditions. There were no significant differences in HR, VO2, VE, HLa, or category-ratio ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) using different handrims during wheelchair propulsion at 4 km.h-1. In contrast, at 8 km.h-1 subjects demonstrated a 13% lower steady state VO2 (p less than .05) using the 10-in handrims, coincident with a 23% lower VE. Steady state HR during WERG at 8 km.h-1 using the 10-in (124.4 +/- 3.9 b.min-1) or 16-in (130.6 +/- 4.6 b.min-1) handrims were not significantly different. There were also no significant differences between ACE or WERG conditions during maximal effort for VO2 or VE. However, HRpeak during ACE was 7% higher than HRpeak during WERG16 (183 +/- 15 b.min-1 vs. 171 +/- 12 b.min-1, p less than .05), and whole blood HLa during ACE was also significantly higher (by 2.3-2.5 mmol; p less than .05) compared to WERG. There were no significant differences for HR, performance time, or RPE between trials using different handrim diameters during the 1600-m event.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The Early Childhood Teacher's Voice in the Research Community La Voix de l'Educateur des Jeunes Enfants dans le Monde de la Recherche La Voz del Profesor de la Primera Infancia en la Comuniad Investigadora

This paper focuses attention on the early childhood teacher's place in the research community. It provides a look at the teachers' perspectives of research and then points out ways and reasons for early childhood teachers to become more active as classroom researchers, research partners and consumers of research through pre-service and in-service opportunities. After providing a definition of teacher research as systematic inquiry into one's own classroom, it discusses the value of such research and identifies historical support for it. The paper presents examples of partnership research using a video camera as a tool for data collection and teachers' reactions to it. It also provides quotes of individual teacher's introduction to teacher research and some points to consider in embarking on classroom research. Cette conference traite de la place de l'enseignant de la petite enfance dans le monde de la recherche. Nous allons examiner les perspectives des enseignants en matiere de recherche, puis indiquer comment et pourquoi rendre les enseignants de la petite enfance plus actifs en tant que chercheurs dans le cadre de la classe, partenaires de recherche et consommateurs de recherche grace a des opportunites offertes avant et pendant leur enseignement. Apres avoir fourni une definition de la recherche des enseignants en tant qu'examen systematique de leur propre classe, nous examinerons la valeur de cette recherche a l'aide d'une camera video comme outil de collecte de donnees et les reactions des enseignants. Nous citerons egalement l'opinion d'enseignants formes a cette recherche et nous signalerons quelques aspects a considerer avant de lancer une recherche en classe. Esta charla centra su atencion en la posicion del profesor de pequenos en la comunidad investigadora. Ofrece un idea de las perspectivas de investigacion de los profesores y luego senala maneras y razones para que los profesores de ninos pequenos sean mas activos como investigadoes de clase, socios de investigacion y consumidoes de investigacion a traves de oporunidades de preservicio y en servicio. Despues de facilitar una definicion de la investigacion de profesores como encuesta sistematica del aula propia, se habla del valor de dicha investigacion y se identifica un apoyo historico para la misma. Esta charla presenta ejemplos de investigacion conjunta usando videocamara como herramienta para la recopilacion de datos y reacciones de los profesores. Tambien ofrece citas de introducciones individuales de profesores a la investigacion de profesores y algunos puntos a considerar al emprender la investigacion de una clase.     

Satisfied Fools: Using J. S. Mill's Notion of Utility to Analyse the Impact of Vocationalism in Education within a Democratic Society

This paper proposes a new interpretation of John Stuart Mill's notion of utility, which is used to provide a utilitarian justification for an eclectic, rather than a vocational, education. Vocational education is strongly promoted in recent policy documents, which makes it important to raise the question of justification. Many existing interpretations of Mill's utilitarianism argue for a hierarchy of pleasures. Although this enables one to justify an eclectic education, it is an interpretation that could be dismissed as ‘un‐utilitarian’. This paper proposes an alternative interpretation of Mill's notion of utility as a hierarchy of preferences. Our interpretation not only provides grounds for justifying an eclectic or critical education, it is also consistent with utilitarianism as an ethical theory. The paper also shows how the resultant curricula will better support democracy and participation in civil society.     

Restructuring support staff classification levels for academic health sciences library positions

Nonprofessional library support staff traditionally hold what are considered to be low-paying, nonchallenging positions. These negative factors make retaining creative and productive employees difficult. This article outlines the approach taken at the Medical College of Georgia's Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library to devise a structure of library staff positions that becomes progressively more demanding. A new nine-level Library Staff Classification Plan resulted. This plan also enables and encourages employees to acquire more skills and to accept more responsibility in order to qualify for higher-level library positions or to advance their present position to receive comparable rewards. The plan expresses the level of responsibilities expected, the employee qualifications desired, and lists representative duties across the spectrum of typical library tasks.     

The new library building at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

The new University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Library opened in June 1983, replacing the 1968 library building. Planning a new library building provides an opportunity for the staff to rethink their philosophy of service. Of paramount concern and importance is the need to convey this philosophy to the architects. This paper describes the planning process and the building's external features, interior layouts, and accommodations for technology. Details of the move to the building are considered and various aspects of the building are reviewed.     

Differential effects of norm-referenced and self-referenced feedback on performance expectancies,attributions, and motivation

When feedback is provided to students in a norm-referenced manner that compares the individual's performance to that of others, people who perform poorly tend to attribute their failures to lack of ability, expect to perform poorly in the future, and demonstrate decreased motivation on subsequent tasks. The present study examined the hypothesis that the deleterious effects of failure might be attenuated when failure is expressed in self-referenced terms—relative to the individual's known level of ability as assessed by other measures. In this study, subjects received feedback indicating that they did well or poorly on an anagram test, and this feedback was described as either norm-referenced (comparing the individual's performance to that of others) or as self-referenced (comparing performance to other measures of the individual's ability). As predicted, compared to norm-referenced failure, self referenced feedback resulted in higher expectancies regarding future performance and increased attributions to effort. Contrary to expectations, attributions to ability were not affected. The implications of the results for the structure of academic feedback are discussed.