Learning to promote health at an emergency care department: identifying expansive and restrictive conditions

This article reports on the findings of a planned workplace health promotion intervention, and the aim is to identify conditions that facilitated or restricted the learning to promote health at an emergency care department in a Swedish hospital. The study had a longitudinal design, with interviews before and after the intervention and follow-up interviews one year after the intervention. Data were collected through individual interviews with employees and managers, in total 69 interviews. In addition, data were collected from documents. The study provided insight into conditions which were found to act as expansive and restrictive reinforcements for learning to promote health. The conclusion is that the workplace health promotion intervention was shaped by conditions that existed outside the local workplace level which restricted the workplace health promotion. Nevertheless, collective employee-driven activities had the capacity to facilitate learning for change in order to create a health-promoting workplace. The advantage of combining theories of learning and workplace health promotion provided a holistic analytical view of learning to promote health at work and helped to uncover and monitor changed conditions during a planned workplace health promotion intervention.     

Conceptually blindfolded in the optics laboratory. Dilemmas of inductive learning

In modern schooling, student activity and group work are emphasized as important vehicles for learning. Following the perspectives formulated by Piaget and other constructivist thinkers, self-discovery by students of scientific principles is seen as a means for avoiding the pitfalls ascribed to teacher centered lecturing. Teacher explanation in this pedagogical philosophy is often seen as counterproductive to real learning. In the study reported, it is illustrated by means of an example from student group work in a physics laboratory how the understanding of basic principles of optics do not follow from mere observation and physical manipulation of a particular type of educational instrument; the optical bench. It is argued that the optical bench itself is a product of a specific theory of optics and that it embodies principles of understanding the word which are discursive in nature and which are not accessible to learners unless they are provided guidance. In the instance analyzed, students already in some sense had an understanding of the principles illustrated (e.g., that light can only go straight forward, that it cannot go through solid objects, etc.), but they failed to realize the significance of these observations, since they fere not familiar with a theoretical position in which these observations called for an explanation. ‘Seeing’, also in the case of the optics laboratory, relies on the use of cultural tools that provide the observer with relevant contextualizations.     

Validating the proposed structure of the relationships among test anxiety and its predictors based on control-value theory: evidence for gender-specific patterns

Control-value theory (CVT) proposes a framework for the structure of the relationships between the various predictors of achievement-related emotions, particularly anxiety. Despite existing evidence for the role of anxiety predictors, research has not yet justified their proposed structure. Hence, the current study validated the structure of test anxiety (TA) predictors as proposed by CVT. A sample of German adolescent students (N = 845) completed questionnaires that measured their school-related self-efficacy, test-related cognitions (expected grades and their perceived relevance) and the two major facets of TA: worry and emotionality. Multi-group structural equation modelling was used to test for gender differences in the interplay of the variables. Findings supported the assumptions of CVT for girls and boys, in that the proposed structure of relationships among the various predictors of TA was largely equivalent for both genders. However, emotionality was not related to subjective relevance for boys. Implications for further research on predictors of anxiety and its application to the school context are discussed.     

Ressourcen und Anreize im Bildungswesen

Zusammenfassung  ?konomen haben viel Vertrauen in M?rkte und individuelle Entscheidungen. Jeder Staatseingriff bedarf der Begründung. Das gilt auch dann, wenn dies einen für die Wohlfahrt eines Landes so wichtigen Bereich wie die Bildung betrifft. Es muss zun?chst geprüft werden, ob und wo Marktversagen bei individuellen Entscheidungen über Bildungsinvestitionen vorliegt. Weiter bleibt zu diskutieren, wie der Staat geeignete Rahmenbedingungen für ein Bildungssystem setzen kann. Sollen mehr ?ffentliche Mittel in den Bildungssektor flie?en? Oder sind vielmehr im Bildungssystem Anreize zu setzen, damit sich sowohl die Lernenden als auch die Lehrenden intensiver im Bildungsprozess engagieren? Zur Gestaltung von Anreizen gibt es in der bildungs?konomischen Literatur eine Vielzahl von Ansatzpunkten, von denen in diesem Beitrag exemplarisch (und für Deutschland m?glicherweise besonders interessant) die Einführung zentraler Abschlussprüfungen und leistungsabh?ngiger Bezahlung von Lehrkr?ften diskutiert werden.

Problems in achieving a global perspective of the text in computer-based writing

When writing in a word processor, it is difficult to achieve a global perspective of a long text. For many writers, this creates a conflict with the strategies of on-screen drafting and revision encouraged by the medium. The lack of a global perspective may lead to an insufficient mental representation of the text, and a difficulty in achieving text coherence. This paper reports recent research directed at global aspects of writing, and suggests some distinctions between different types of global view of a document that may be helpful in the design of a computer-based writing system.     

Genetics and Neuroscience in Dyslexia: Perspectives for Education and Remediation

ABSTRACT— Our understanding of the causes of a developmental disorder like dyslexia has received recent input from both neuroscience and genetics. The discovery of 4 candidate genes for dyslexia and the identification of neuronal networks engaged when children read and spell are the basis for introducing this knowledge into education. However, the input from educational practitioners as well as empirical knowledge from research on learning also contribute significantly to our understanding of how children acquire the basic skills for learning to read and spell. It is imperative to merge the knowledge acquired from research in the fields of neuroscience, genetics, and empirical education, as well as to understand how the learning brain and instruction interact. Doing so can be seen as a major step in attaining an optimal approach for teaching, reading, and spelling and for finding the best suited and most effective treatment concepts for dyslexic children and adolescents.     

Flexible goal imitation: Vicarious feedback influences stimulus-response binding by observation

This study investigated whether vicarious feedback influences binding processes between stimuli and observed responses. Two participants worked together in a shared color categorization task, taking the roles of actor and observer in turns. During a prime trial, participants saw a word while observing the other person executing a specific response. Automatic binding of words and observed responses into stimulus-response (S-R) episodes was assessed via word repetition effects in a subsequent probe trial in which either the same (compatible) or a different (incompatible) response had to be executed by the participants in response to the same or a different word. Results showed that vicarious prime feedback (i.e., the feedback that the other participant received for her or his response in the prime) modulated S-R retrieval effects: After positive vicarious prime feedback, typical S–R retrieval effects emerged (i.e., performance benefits for stimulus repetition probes with compatible responses, but performance costs for stimulus repetition probes with incompatible responses emerged). Notably, however, S–R-retrieval effects were reversed after vicarious negative prime feedback (meaning that stimulus repetition in the probe resulted in performance costs if prime and probe responses were compatible, and in performance benefits for incompatible responses). Findings are consistent with a flexible goal imitation account, according to which imitation is based on an interpretative and therefore feedback-sensitive reconstruction of action goals from observed movements. In concert with earlier findings, this data support the conclusion that transient S–R binding and retrieval processes are involved in social learning phenomena.     

The Use of Health Related Quality of Life Measurement in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy Practice: An Exploratory Study

Background: The American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) recommends health related quality of life (HRQL) measurement with all cardiovascular and pulmonary patients. The current pattern of use of HRQL measurement among cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapists is unknown. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pattern of use of HRQL measurement among cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapists. Design: The study used a semi-structured interview format within the context of 3 focus groups. Methods: Eleven physical therapists participated in this study and all were members of the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Participants participated in a conference call and were provided a question tree to guide discussion. Results: Several primary themes emerged, including decreased knowledge, barriers, and poor indicators of patient status. In addition, several subthemes developed including lack of familiarity, lack of use, administrative and cost limitations, inappropriateness of tool for patient population, correlation between function and quality of life, and suggestions for future outcome measures. Conclusions: A lack of familiarity and use of HRQL measurement and barriers to their use were established. In addition, ideas for future research on HRQL measurements with specific patient populations in physical therapy practice were defined.Key Words: health related quality of life, outcomes measurement     

Swelling damage in clay-rich sandstones used in the church of San Mateo in Tarifa (Spain)

This study shows that the sandstone used in the construction of the Church of San Mateo in Tarifa (Cádiz, Spain) is highly sensitive to processes of decay because of a combination of factors that are intrinsic and extrinsic to the material. The mineralogy, texture and porous system of the sandstone and the proximity of the church to the sea all play a part in these processes. X-ray diffraction reveals that there are interstratified chlorite/smectite clays among the minerals that make up the rock. These mixed layer clays have been shown to undergo hydric expansion. This phenomenon may be accompanied and augmented by the presence of NaCl which acts as an electrolyte in osmotic swelling processes. Two varieties of sandstone were used in the construction of the church, namely grey sandstone and brown sandstone. The latter is more porous and undergoes greater hydric expansion, showing a higher degree of deterioration. Ultrasound analysis has demonstrated that both varieties are anisotropic because they contain bedding planes and are affected by the preferred orientation of the phyllosilicates in the rock. The anisotropic nature of these stones was confirmed by capillary suction tests. The capillary front reaches a relatively low height which means that when water is absorbed, the anisotropic textural properties combined with the presence of chlorite–smectite mixed layers in the sandstone result in mechanical (shear) stress between the first few centimetres of the wet stone and the dry area behind. The latter effect favours the development of flakes, so causing the decay of the ornamental stone and the church façade.     

PISA and its consequences: Shaping education policies through international comparisons

As the field of education has become a highly internationalised policy field in the last decade, international organisations such as the OECD play an ever more decisive role in the dissemination of knowledge, monitoring of outcomes, and research in education policy. Although the OECD lacks any binding governance instruments to put coercion on States or to provide material incentive, it has successively expanded its competences in this field. OECD advanced its status as an expert organisation in the field of education mainly by designing and conducting the international comparative PISA study. With PISA, the OECD was able to greatly influence national education systems. Basically, States were faced with external advice based on sound empirical data that challenged existing domestic policies, politics, and ideas. One prominent case for the impact of PISA is Germany. PISA was a decisive watershed in German education policy‐making. Almost instantly after the PISA results were publicised in late 2001, a comprehensive education reform agenda was put forward in Germany. The experienced reform dynamic was highly surprising because the traditional German education system and politics were characterised by deep‐rooted historical legacies, many involved stakeholders at different levels, and reform‐hampering institutions. Hence, a backlog of grand education reforms have prevailed in Germany since the 1970s. The external pressure exerted by PISA completely changed that situation.