Sleep restriction and degraded reaction-time performance in Figaro solo sailing races

Abstract

In solo offshore sailing races like those of the Solitaire du Figaro, sleep must be obtained in multiple short bouts to maintain competitive performance and safety. Little is known about the amount of sleep restriction experienced at sea and the effects that fatigue from sleep loss have on sailors’ performance. Therefore, we assessed sleep in sailors of yachts in the Figaro 2 Beneteau class during races and compared response times on a serial simple reaction-time test before and after races. Twelve men (professional sailors) recorded their sleep and measured their response times during one of the three single-handed races of 150, 300 and 350 nautical miles (nominally 24–50 h in duration). Total estimated sleep duration at sea indicated considerable sleep insufficiency. Response times were slower after races than before. The results suggest that professional sailors incur severe sleep loss and demonstrate marked performance impairment when competing in one- to two-day solo sailing races. Competitive performance could be improved by actively managing sleep during solo offshore sailing races.     

Evaluating the effects of faculty development: theoretical framework and empirical implementation

ABSTRACT

This article implements a systemic framework to evaluate the long-term effects of a program characterized by a SoTL approach and a hybrid learning environment. The importance of the difference between the perception of long-term effects on individual professional development on the one hand and the development of collective practices on the other, is interpreted with reference to certain shortcomings of the faculty development program’s learning design and its non-alignment with institutional practices. Based on this in-depth research, concrete ways to take account of the complexity of faculty development programs are proposed, both for research into and development of such programs and their impact at individual and institutional levels.     

Actors: From Audience to Provider

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes actors' experiences of distance learning systems in a wide variety of cultural and organizational contexts. In line with the project of this special series of issues, results of research, much of which is longitudinal, allow us to suggest answers to the following questions: Who are the actors of distance learning? How has their experience of learning systems evolved over the last thirty years? What roles have information and communication technologies (ICTs) played in this evolution? How do actors assess the effects of these learning systems on themselves, on the system itself, or on the organization? What are the future perspectives?     

Inferencias causales y clasificación: su relación en niños de 4–7 años

Resumen

La presente investigación analiza la relación entre la adquisición de la clasificación y la ca- pacidad para realizar inferencias causales. Además, se pretende comprobar en qué medida los contenidos de las historias causales (en términos de animado/inanimado, de los antecedentes y los consecuentes) provocan diferencias en la ejecución. Participaron 70 niños de 8 centros públicos de EGB de Murcia, el rango de edad oscilaba entre 4;0 y 7;10. Los resultados indican cómo a medida que los sujetos dominan la clasificación muestran una mayor capacidad para realizar inferencias causales. No aparecen diferencias en la ejecución debida a los contenidos de las historias. Finalmente, se propone un modelo causal, a partir del modelo de equilibrio de la teoría de Piaget, sobre el desarrollo de las inferencias causales.     

Love Foolosophy: Pedagogy,parable, perversion

Abstract

Popular filmic and literary stereotypes of teachers from Brodie and Chips to Keating and Schneebly have not only reflected a public desire for radically innovative and perverse teaching practices, but also created those paradigms in ways that are not always readily identifiable or traceable. This article seeks to analyse tensions between traditional institutional protocols and contemporary populist opinion on the role of the effective teacher. In doing so, the article takes Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989) as a primary example of those tensions and argues for a perverse ‘foolosophical’ view of pedagogical performance and a new appreciation for the necessity of ignorance in the classroom. Since ignorance and understanding are not taken as unambiguous antonyms, the article proposes that effective teaching and learning occur most effectively in the interstices between humility and hospitality.     

Utilising creative methodologies to elicit the views of young learners with additional needs in literacy

The research described in this article aimed to explore and examine the dominant ‘assessment’ and ‘participation’ stories of upper‐primary pupils with long‐standing and marked literacy learning needs, their views on how their level of participation in the assessment and remediation of their additional needs might be increased and also how they perceive themselves as literacy learners. This qualitative small‐scale study adopted a case study approach and utilised creative methodologies in the context of focus groups to investigate sensitively the views and experiences of Key Stage 2 pupils with additional needs in literacy. The findings discussed here are based on the outcomes from the four Northern Irish schools that participated in the original cross‐border (Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland) study. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting holistic and empowering pathways for learners with additional needs in literacy.     

Unveiling the Colours of Cellulose Nitrate Black and White Film-based Negatives in Colonial Photography

ABSTRACT

Aiming at contributing to the preservation of black and white (B&W) film-based negatives held by Portuguese archives, four photographic collections from the first half of the twentieth century were selected for study. During the macro assessment of the collections the preservation condition and hues found in photographic negatives from the Elmano Cunha e Costa (ECC) were noticed, distinguishing this collection from the remaining ones. Additional attention was given considering that the ECC collection was formed in a colonial context in the 1930s, while the others were formed on the Portugal mainland. The ECC collection results from an ethnographic survey of Angolan tribes recorded with B&W film-based negatives. In this collection, sets of negatives with pink, lemon yellow, greenish, orange brownish, and red brownish hues were found. To identify the origin of such hues, the image layer was analysed by microscale energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (μ EDXRF) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Additionally, to assess the base decay and its effect on the formation of hues, the plastic supports were characterized by Fourier transform infrared microscopy (μ FTIR). To complement the assessment of the film-base decay, pH was measured by using combined microelectrodes. The identification of mercury, iodine, chromium, and iron by μ EDXRF allowed correlation of the hues found in the negatives with chemical corrective treatments performed to improve the image quality. SEM-EDX confirmed those results and proved that the elements found were in the photographic emulsion layer. The results obtained are relevant since the hues identified may now be used as markers to indicate the technical work performed on colonial photography. Additionally, the visual and molecular assessment of the negatives’ supports (good to fair condition) allow proposing that the original storage conditions may have had a beneficial contribution to their present condition.     

Distributed Teaching Presence and Participants' Activity Profiles: a theoretical approach to the structural analysis of Asynchronous Learning Networks1

The rapid spread of learning networks based on asynchronous written communication — Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) — makes it crucial to assess the possibilities offered by these new environments to facilitate and promote learning processes and learning outcomes. Our interest in this area is specifically directed towards the study of distributed teaching presence understood as the exercise of educational influence, i.e. as the help provided to each other participant in an ALN to promote individual and collective learning. We adopt a multi-method approach that integrates the structural analysis of presence (access and participation) and connectivity (reciprocity and responsiveness) with the content analysis of the participants’ contributions. This article focuses on structural analysis as a relevant and powerful tool for the study of collaborative learning in networking and asynchronous contexts. Its main objective is to show how a relevant and useful system of indicators and profiles, which identify and examine the distribution of educational influence in ALNs, can be constructed. We present the theoretical assumptions surrounding the concept of distributed teaching presence and illustrate the analysis with data from two didactic sequences in higher education. The results show that the structural analysis, when theoretically grounded and oriented, is a powerful tool for identifying different activity profiles related to different levels and modalities of the exercise of educational influence and for assessing the distributed teaching presence in learning networks. Finally, we discuss the benefits and constraints of this kind of analysis.     

Engineering Education in ERASMUS: an overview

The ERASMUS Programme has meant a leap forward in both the quality and the quantity of student exchange programmes in engineering. About 4700 engineering students will be involved in the first three years of the programme. There is a variety of organisational patterns in the inter-university co-operation programmes, ranging from bilateral exchanges of short duration (three months) to fully integrated multilateral programmes leading to a double qualification. The ERASMUS exchanges have proved to be highly beneficial to students: in addition to the basic academic training, the period abroad allows students to improve their language proficiency, obtain cultural and social enrichment, and develop important personal virtues like openness, adaptability and the ability to stand on their own feet.     

Evaluating the teaching and learning experience for the child with dyslexia in special and mainstream settings in Ireland

This study examines and evaluates special provision for pupils with dyslexia in three different settings: reading schools, reading units and mainstream support. The research focused on the teaching and learning context for pupils with dyslexia, the support teacher, the mainstream teacher and the experience of the student. The main participants were teachers and tutors supporting pupils with dyslexia, and the parents of these children. Survey methods included questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and quantitative data on pupils' reading attainment. In addition, a total of six schools, two representing each model of support, were selected as case studies. This article reports part of a larger survey, which evaluated the effectiveness of three models of special provision for children with dyslexia in primary school. The study shows that there are academic and social benefits for the child with dyslexia who is enrolled in a special setting. However, placement in a reading school or reading unit per se does not guarantee that a child will ‘catch up’ with his or her peers. The findings reported a similarity in the methods and practices teachers use in both mainstream and special settings. The discussion suggests that if teachers are to ‘catch them before they fall’ there are serious questions that must be asked about how we are teaching basic literacy skills. The findings suggest an urgent need for a more balanced approach to teaching reading and writing.