Housing quality and access to material and learning resources within the home environment in developing countries

This study examined home environment conditions (housing quality, material resources, formal and informal learning materials) and their relations with the Human Development Index (HDI) in 28 developing countries. Home environment conditions in these countries varied widely. The quality of housing and availability of material resources at home were consistently tied to HDI; the availability of formal and informal learning materials a little less so. Gross domestic product (GDP) tended to show a stronger independent relation with housing quality and material resources than life expectancy and education. Formal learning resources were independently related to the GDP and education indices, and informal learning resources were not independently related to any constituent indices of the overall HDI.     

Comparison of methods for determining power generated on a rope-braked cycle ergometer during low-intensity exercise

This study compares the instrumentation and analysis techniques used when determining the power expended pedalling a rope-braked ergometer manufactured by Monark (Sweden) during a low intensity test. Power values were generated by eight subjects. The instrumentation consisted of load cells to measure the rope brake forces, a tachometer to measure the flywheel velocity and instrumented pedal cranks manufactured by Schoberer Rad Messtechnik (SRM). The subjects pedalled a rope-braked ergometer at 60 rev min^-1, against a resistance of 3 kg, for 5 minutes. Three different measurements of the mean power were recorded and these were compared with the value given by Monark. The SRM cranks provided two sets of results using different software packages supplied with the cranks. SRM standard software is used for taking measurements during training and cycle races over long time periods. An additional piece of software is provided by SRM called Ptnew, which gives readings of torque and pedal cadence over periods up to 30 seconds. Using the values supplied by Monark each subject generated 180 W of power. The mean power for the eight subjects, measured using the SRM cranks, was 170.36 W (SD 4.11) using the alternative SRM software (Ptnew) over a 30 second period and 173.68 W (SD 2.21) using the standard SRM software. From the direct measurement of the brake forces and flywheel velocity the mean power across the eight subjects was 148.90 W (SD 5.89). The SRM cranks measure the input power, whereas the direct measurement system measures the power output excluding mechanical losses. These values give a figure for the mechanical efficiency for the roped-braked ergometer of 88%. It was found that Monark overestimates the power generated by the subjects when compared with both the SRM systems and the direct measurement instrumentation.     

Consistency and accuracy of indexing systematic review articles and meta‐analyses in medline

Background: Systematic review articles support the advance of science and translation of research evidence into healthcare practice. Inaccurate retrieval from medline could limit access to reviews. Objective: To determine the quality of indexing systematic reviews and meta‐analyses in medline . Methods: The Clinical Hedges Database, containing the results of a hand search of 161 journals, was used to test medline indexing terms for their ability to retrieve systematic reviews that met predefined methodologic criteria (labelled as ‘pass’ review articles) and reviews that reported a meta‐analysis. Results: The Clinical Hedges Database contained 49 028 articles; 753 were ‘pass’ review articles (552 with a meta‐analysis). In total 758 review articles (independent of whether they passed) reported a meta‐analysis. The search strategy that retrieved the highest number of ‘pass’ systematic reviews achieved a sensitivity of 97.1%. The publication type ‘meta analysis’ had a false positive rate of 5.6% (95% CI 3.9 to 7.6), and false negative rate of 0.31% (95% CI 0.26 to 0.36) for retrieving systematic reviews that reported a meta‐analysis. Conclusions: Inaccuracies in indexing systematic reviews and meta‐analyses in medline can be partly overcome by a 5‐term search strategy. Introducing a publication type for systematic reviews of the literature could improve retrieval performance.     

Reciprocal Negative Affect in Parent-Child Interactions and Children's Peer Competency

The relationship between preschool children's peer competency and the exchange of reciprocal negative affect displays during physical play with parents was examined. Teacher ratings of children's peer competency were obtained from children's preschools. Parents and children (41 families) were observed during a physical play paradigm called "the hand game" which permitted physically stimulating play, yet which also permitted clear recording of participants' facial expressions. Interactions were coded second by second for 8 min using a system of 12 mutually exclusive and exhaustive codes to categorize the affect displayed by participants. Fathers who typically responded to their children's negative affect displays with negative affect of their own had children who shared less, were more aggressive, and avoided others. Implications of the findings for theories of family-peer relationships are discussed.     

Build Your Program by Building Your Team: Inclusively Transforming Services,Staffing and Spaces

ABSTRACT

User feedback told the story of the largest and busiest campus library being dated in both physical form and programmatic function. Under the framework of a newly-developed strategic plan, library leadership initiated a comprehensive and inclusive assessment program to understand fully user needs by engaging users, campus partners, and, importantly, library personnel. Simultaneously, they embarked on a review of change management literature for guidance on implementing the required transformation. Informed by the change management philosophy of John Kotter, the library utilized the findings of the assessment program to craft and implement a sustainable transformation of its services, staffing, and spaces.     

Energy Cost of Rebound-Running

Using Sonstroem, Harlow, and Josephs' (1994) expanded version of the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model (EXSEM; Sonstroem &; Morgan, 1989), we explored how 9 older adults (6 women and 3 men, aged 65–72 years) involved in a resistance training program experienced and perceived changes in physical self-worth (i.e., improved strength, functional competency, physical condition, and body satisfaction). We conducted three in-depth interviews with each participant over the course of the program. In individual log books, participants recorded the weight lifted and the number of repetitions for each exercise. Our findings showed the course of changes in physical self-perceptions in these older adults and how actual individual changes in strength performance related to perceived changes in important psychological outcomes.     

Using Early Learning Standards to Provide High-Quality Education for All Children: The Early Learning Guidelines Toolkit

Today with the rise in the number of 3- to 6-year-old children enrolled in center-based early childhood programs, and a focus on program quality, it becomes imperative for educators to have a better understanding of the role research plays in establishing high-quality programs as these programs provide much of the foundation that supports early learning and development (Child Trends, 2014). Although psychology, and the role of child development research in particular, has always been integral to the field of early childhood education beginning with the seminal works of Piaget, Bronfenbrenner, Bruner, and others (Lickona,1971), the field had never fully embraced the use of research to inform practice, until the 1990s. This had been, in part, because the field of early childhood education originally viewed itself as a field of practitioners that provided for the everyday care and needs of young children, whereas it viewed child development researchers as scientists who paid little attention to the practical needs of classroom teaching (Takanishi, 1981 Takanishi, R. (1981). Early childhood education and research: The changing relationship. Theory into Practice, 20, 86–92.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Although, today, there is no longer this ideological divide between the two areas, with the child development research being used to inform educational practice and policy (Center for the Developing Child, 2007), nevertheless there still remains a gap in the ability of educators to effectively implement evidence-based practices. Given the increased focus on providing young children with access to high-quality education, and the need for teachers to implement evidence-based practices the present paper attempts to bridge the gap by providing a brief overview of the science of early childhood development, its importance for development of early learning standards, and an overview of the Early Learning Toolkit which was developed to provide early learning educators guidance and resources to support the implementation of early learning standards within their own states as well as well across the nation. The goal of this article is to bridge theory and practice in early childhood education.     

信息技术与数学探究式教学

文章在掌握初步《几何画板》的基础上,以理论和实例相结合的方式论述了信息技术作为认知工具在数学教学中的运用,着重于用信息技术来展示数学教学中的思维过程,变抽象思维为形象的动态图画。     

Beginning literacy: links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning

Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.