Family child care in four Midwestern states: Multiple measures of quality and relations to outcomes by licensed status and subsidy program participation

Quality of family child care in four Midwestern states was examined using four measures designed to assess structural and/or process quality to determine if dimensions converge or vary across types of family child care (licensed and license-exempt/registered) and subsidy receipt (programs serving children whose care is paid by subsidies and programs not serving subsidized children). Two instruments designed specifically for use with family child care that measure both structural and process quality were used (Family Day Care Rating Scale and Quality Instrument for Informal Child Care), as well as one instrument measuring process quality (Caregiver Interaction Scale) and one instrument measuring structural quality (Midwest Child Care Assets Index). The two instruments designed to measure both structural and process quality in family child care were highly correlated with each other, while both of these were moderately correlated with the measure of process quality. The measure of structural quality was not significantly correlated with the measure of process quality. Licensed family child care homes scored higher than license-exempt/registered family child care homes on three of the four measures (all but the Caregiver Interaction Scale), and family child care homes receiving child care subsidies scored lower than those not receiving subsidies on three of the four measures (all but the Assets Index).     

Exploring Opportunities for Argumentation in Modelling Classrooms

On several levels it can be said that the act of modelling in science is inherently an argumentative act. That is, in virtually all aspects of modelling, from developing a question to judging between competing models that might answer that question, an individual is engaged in persuasive acts. Those acts may be private or public. They may be mental, written or oral, but they are about judging ideas and making sense of them; convincing oneself or others that the ideas and ways of looking at and explaining a phenomenon are useful. These acts are what scientists find exciting. They are what make science intellectually interesting and challenging. Inviting students into this practice is one way to help them learn both the content and process of science. This paper introduces a framework that is attentive to the research on how people learn while simultaneously pushing for curriculum and instruction that engages students in elements of the practice of science. We explore how this framework can be used to foster argumentation by describing the theoretical underpinnings of the framework and using classroom examples to illustrate the utility of the framework for promoting argumentation.     

A Cross‐age Study of Children’s Knowledge of Apparent Celestial Motion

The US National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy recommend that students understand the apparent patterns of motion of the Sun, Moon, and stars by the end of early elementary school, yet no research has specifically examined these concepts from an Earth‐based perspective with this age group. This study examines children’s understanding of the patterns of apparent celestial motion among first‐grade, third‐grade, and eighth‐grade students, and investigates the extent to which these concepts develop from elementary to middle school in students without targeted instruction. Twenty students at each grade level (total n = 60) were interviewed using a novel interview setting: a small dome representing the sky, which allowed students to demonstrate their ideas. Analysis reveals that elementary and middle school students hold a variety of non‐scientific ideas about all aspects of apparent celestial motion. While the eighth‐grade students’ understanding of the apparent motion of the Sun shows a greater level of accuracy compared with the third‐grade students, across the majority of topics of apparent celestial motion, the overall level of accuracy shows little change from third grade to eighth grade. Just as prior research has demonstrated the need for instruction to improve children’s understanding of the nature of celestial objects and their actual motions, these results support the need for research on instructional strategies that improve students’ understanding of celestial motion as seen from their own perspective.     

Integration without assimilation? Ethno‐nationalism in Israel and universal laïcité in France

The adoption of multiculturalism and multiethnic views of society seems to be a convergent tendency among Western democracies where population flows are becoming increasingly heterogeneous. However, the established citizenship models and migrant groups' experiences have different impacts on the multicultural discourse in each country. This ‘integration without assimilation’ thesis has been examined comparing two countries – Israel and France – that differ largely in their definition of nationhood. Despite large demographic changes in both countries, the evolution of conceptions of citizenship in France and in Israel reflects a reaffirmation of existing models – the particularist Israeli ethno‐nationalism and the universalist French republicanism and laïcité – and the continuity of their assimilationist and homogenizing tendencies towards a Jewish uniform identity in the former and towards a uniform secular (or catho‐laique) identity in the latter.     

Impact of the choice of threshold on physical activity patterns in free living conditions among adolescents measured using a uniaxial accelerometer: The HELENA study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the choice of threshold on physical activity patterns measured in adolescents under free living conditions (FLC) using a uniaxial accelerometer. The study comprised 2043 adolescents (12.5–17.5 years) participating in the HELENA Study. Participants wore a uniaxial accelerometer for 7 days. The PA patterns were assessed using thresholds determined from six different studies. For each of the thresholds used, the number of adolescents fulfilling the recommendation of 60 min of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) per day was also calculated. A significant difference was found between thresholds regardless of the activity level: differences of 38%, 207%, 136%, and 2780% for sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous intensity PA, respectively (P < 0.001). Time of MVPA varied between methods from 25.3 to 55.2 min · day^–1. The number of adolescents fulfilling the recommendation varied from 5.9% to 37% according to the thresholds used. The kappa coefficient for concordance in the assessment of the number of adolescents achieving the PA recommendations was generally low. The definition of the threshold for PA intensity may considerably affect the PA patterns in FLC when assessed using a uniaxial accelerometer and the number of participants fulfilling the recommendations.     

Effects of Exercise on the Basal Concentration of ATP in Muscle Tissue

Abstract

The problem involved the determination of the base concentration of ATP in muscle tissue of white rats. These animals had been forced to exercise (train) by swimming.

The method used to analyze for ATP involved bioluminescene and spectrophotometry. The luciferin-luciferase system served as the bioluminescence source. The Fisher's t test for significance was computed from the data collected. The peak height, obtained from the reaction of ATP and the luciferase system which was recorded, indicated the amount of ATP present.

The results obtained were not significant at the .05 level. Based on the findings of this study it was concluded that there was not a significant change in the base concentration of ATP in the experimental rats as compared to the control rats, and that there was a definite trend of an increased basal concentration of ATP in the exercised animals.     

Item difficulty in the evaluation of computer-based instruction: an example from neuroanatomy

This article reports large item effects in a study of computer-based learning of neuroanatomy. Outcome measures of the efficiency of learning, transfer of learning, and generalization of knowledge diverged by a wide margin across test items, with certain sets of items emerging as particularly difficult to master. In addition, the outcomes of comparisons between instructional methods changed with the difficulty of the items to be learned. More challenging items better differentiated between instructional methods. This set of results is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that instruction may be more efficient if sets of consistently difficult items are the targets of instructional methods particularly suited to them. Second, there is wide variation in the published literature regarding the outcomes of empirical evaluations of computer-based instruction. As a consequence, many questions arise as to the factors that may affect such evaluations. The present article demonstrates that the level of challenge in the material that is presented to learners is an important factor to consider in the evaluation of a computer-based instructional system.     

Breakfast,glycaemic index and health in young people

The often cited phrase “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” may have been largely anecdotal and lacking empirical evidence originally, particularly where children and adolescents (young people) are concerned. However, there is now a large body of evidence demonstrating that regular breakfast consumption is associated with a variety of nutritional and lifestyle-related health outcomes in large diverse samples of young people, which may prevent weight gain, nutrient deficiency and reduce risk factors for chronic disease. This evidence has been reviewed previously, but the link between breakfast composition and health has received less attention. There is emerging evidence in young people that suggests certain breakfasts are particularly beneficial for health, with much of this evidence focusing on ready-to-eat cereals and breakfast glycaemic index (GI). Substituting a high GI (HGI) breakfast for a low GI (LGI) breakfast may be particularly beneficial for overweight young people through increased glycaemic control and satiety. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to extend previous reviews on breakfast consumption and health to provide a greater understanding of the role of breakfast composition, particularly breakfast GI. Unlike the evidence on breakfast consumption, which has often been based on large cross-sectional studies, the evidence on breakfast GI is based primarily on controlled experimental studies, often with relatively small samples. At times, it was necessary to refer to the adult-based literature in this review to support findings from young people or to highlight areas that are particularly lacking in empirical evidence in this population. Since breakfast consumption has declined in young people and also decreases from childhood to adolescence, strategies to promote regular consumption of a healthy breakfast in young people are warranted. Future research in young people should place greater emphasis on breakfast composition, consider the mechanisms controlling relationships between breakfast consumption and health, and investigate the benefits of habitual consumption of LGI compared with HGI breakfasts.