Impact of question-answering tasks on search processes and reading comprehension

This study examined the effect of (a) high- and low-level questions and (b) reading the text before the questions asked on performance, delayed text recall, and deep text comprehension, as well as on specific text-inspection patterns. Participants were 37 undergraduate students who answered either high- or low-level questions using the software Read&Answer to read and answer questions on the computer screen. Additionally, half of the sample read first a text and then answered the questions (reading-first condition), whereas the other half answered the questions without having read the text in advance (no-reading-first condition). All participants had the text available to search for the answer. Results indicated that high-level questions facilitated deep comprehension but not immediate performance or delayed recall of text, independently of the reading condition, and that high- and low-level questions differentially affected text-inspection patterns.     

‘[We're on the right track,baby], we were born this way’! Exploring sports participation in Norway

Based on quantitative data from the Norwegian Statistisk Sentralbyrå (Statistics Norway) study of Mosjon, Friluftsliv og Kulturaktiviteter, this paper explores trends in Norwegians' participation in sports, with a focus on young people. Norway boasts particularly high levels of sports participation as well as sports club membership and young Norwegians are the quintessential sporting omnivores. Among other things, the Statistics Norway study reveals substantial increases in participation (among young people and females especially) during the period 1997–2007, a shift in the peak of participation to the late teenage years, a relatively high level of lifelong participants, a re-bound effect in the post-child rearing years and a growth in lifestyle sports. Young Norwegians grow up in a socio-economic context of relative equality between the sexes and high standards of living. An abundance of natural and artificial outdoor and indoor sporting facilities alongside a well-established voluntary sports club sector and an elementary school system that emphasizes physical exercise and recreation, as well as high levels of parental involvement, add to the favourable socio-economic conditions to create seemingly optimal circumstances for sports participation. All these reinforce the sporting and physical recreation cultures deeply embedded in Norwegian society and embodied by the very many middle-class parents in a country which, for the time being at least, remains relatively young in demographic terms. In terms of lessons to be learned for policy towards sports and physical education beyond Norway, there may be grounds for some optimism around parental involvement in children's sport as well as the potential appeal of lifestyle sports. That said, it is likely to be the greater socio-economic equalities in Scandinavian countries such as Norway that make them unrealistic benchmarks for sports participation elsewhere.     

Activating the curriculum: a socio-ecological action research frame for health and physical education

The health and physical education (HPE) profession needs to find alternatives to its individualistic and performative focus if it is to remain relevant and meaningful for all learners. This paper presents a way of framing HPE that helps to shift the focus from the individual as autonomous decision-maker, and goes beyond sport and fitness testing as the main contexts for learning. To do this we present the socio-ecological action research (SEAR) frame for unit development that was co-created and enacted over a six-month period involving dialogue between teachers, students, parents, researchers and community. This paper presents findings from semi-structured interviews, student artefacts and field notes collected as one component of a broader three-phase study which spanned three years. The data describe how generalist primary teachers (n=4) from a small Victorian community and their students (aged 8–10 years) tackled a unit of work that positioned centrally the everyday physical experiences of active school travel (AST). Teachers supported students in exploring barriers to their AST, and developing strategies that would counteract some of the negative perceptions that had limited their AST in the past. The findings suggest that the unit of work evolved from an exploration of AST into a much broader exploration of the whole community. This paper does not provide evidence for an alternative way to view HPE, rather it represents an embryonic exploration of how a SEAR frame might support teachers in applying inquiry-based pedagogies that extend beyond the individual as autonomous decision-maker, and promote opportunities for exploration and understanding of environmental, social and personal factors that influence our health and everyday physically active lives. Despite students being positioned as central actors within the SEAR frame, obtaining genuine student voice throughout the process proved challenging.     

The use of S-Monovette is effective to reduce the burden of hemolysis in a large urban emergency department

Background

Due to the high prevalence of hemolysis in specimens received from the emergency department (ED), several strategies have been proposed to improve sample quality, but none of these seem effective to overcome the problem. In a preliminary study we showed that the use of S-Monovette blood collection system was effective to lower the risk of hemolysis in venous blood samples collected from intravenous catheters. This study was hence aimed to verify whether the replacement of a conventional vacuum system with S-Monovette may be effective to reduce the burden of hemolysis in the daily practice of a large urban ED.

Materials and methods

The study was divided in two observational periods of 4 months each. In the former period, blood was collected from intravenous catheters using BD Vacutainer SST II Plus plastic serum tubes, whereas in the latter period the blood was drawn from intravenous catheters using S-Monovette blood tubes in aspiration mode. Sample hemolysis was automatically assessed in all serum samples by photometrical measurement.

Results

The total number of hemolysed serum specimens was 624/14155 (4.41%) in the first phase of the study, and 342/13319 (2.57%) in the second phase of the study (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Results of our study confirm that the introduction of the Sarstedt S-Monovette blood tubes has reduced the hemolysis rate in the emergency department compared to the previously used BD Vacutainer® SST II Plus plastic serum tubes.Key words: preanalytical phase, hemolysis, blood specimen collection, catheter, emergency department     

Cognitive authorities in health education classrooms: A nexus analysis on group-based learning tasks

Socio-technical changes have transformed information practices and challenged conceptions of cognitive authorities, referring to information sources that are deemed credible and legitimate and influence people's thinking. Cognitive authorities in group-based knowledge-construction projects in health education lessons were explored in this study. Nexus analysis was used to analyze participant interviews and video-observed social actions in three secondary school health-education classrooms (Grades 8–9) in Finland. The findings show how group-based projects employing multiple information sources offer opportunities for the distribution and co-construction of cognitive authorities. However, explicit negotiations on the authority of sources were rare. Cognitive authorities appeared as contextual and situational but also guided by broader discourses circulating in the scene of action. By embedding information literacy instruction throughout the curriculum, information professionals and teachers can support young learners to recognize relevant authorities in different spheres of knowledge and to become competent users of health information.     

TRANSITION TO SCHOOL: THE EXPERIENCES OF CANADIAN AND IMMIGRANT FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Transition to school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) places demands on children, parents, and school settings. The unique experiences of parents from diverse backgrounds have not been studied extensively. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 5 Canadian and 5 immigrant families during the transition to school for their children with ASDs. Parent perceptions of support systems during this transition and their experiences with preschool and elementary school staff were analyzed to understand their experiences. Thematic analyses of parent interviews revealed that parents perceived the quality of care during preschool as more supportive than the care received in elementary school. A variety of resources, such as familial, educational, and community support, seemed to help some Canadian and immigrant families in different ways. The transition to school experiences of parents of children with ASDs has important implications for school psychologists who facilitate and mediate parent–school partnerships and interagency collaboration.     

Children's literacy interest and its relation to parents’ literacy‐promoting practices

This study examined how children's literacy interests related to parent literacy‐promoting practices across time. Using a sample of 909 preschool‐age children and the newly developed Child Activities Preference Checklist, literacy interest appeared to be a complex construct, not easily captured by a single measure. In a subsample of 230 children with longitudinal data, parent literacy practices and child literacy interests related concurrently and across time. Parent literacy practices were more stable than child literacy interests, with children's literacy interest continuing to develop over the preschool year. Parent practices of exposing children to literacy and teaching them literacy concepts appeared to be distinct constructs. Exposure to literacy was especially important in the growth of literacy interests and the hypothesis that exposure has a negative effect on children with little initial interest was not fully supported.     

Reading difficulties and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity behaviours: evidence of an early association in a nonclinical sample

Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co‐occurs with reading disability. A cross‐sectional study in an Italian‐speaking, nonclinical sample was conducted in an attempt to document the existence of an early association between reading difficulties (RD) and ADHD behaviours. We recruited a sample of 369 children in their first year at primary school. Of the sample, 8.4% displayed RD; 7.0% had ADHD; 3.5% presented both RD and ADHD behaviours; 50% of the children with ADHD displayed RD; 41.9% of those with RD displayed ADHD behaviours. Low socioeconomic status was associated with a fourfold increased probability of displaying RD (odds ratio = 3.98), but not ADHD behaviours. In this nonclinical sample, we detected an early association between ADHD behaviours and RD. A key role in this association may be played by inattention symptoms, which occurred with significantly increased frequency also in the group presenting only RD.     

Iraqi,Syrian, and Palestinian Refugee Adolescents' Beliefs About Parental Authority Legitimacy and Its Correlates

This study examined intra‐ and interindividual variations in parental legitimacy beliefs in a sample of 883 Arab refugee adolescents (M_age = 15.01 years, SD = 1.60), 277 Iraqis, 275 Syrians, and 331 Palestinians in Amman, Jordan. Confirmatory factor analyses showed distinct latent factors for moral–conventional, prudential, and personal legitimacy items. Older adolescents rated legitimacy lower for personal issues, but higher for prudential issues. Beliefs were associated with socioeconomic status (fathers' education, family size), particularly for personal issues, but were more pervasively associated with displacement‐related experiences. Greater war trauma was associated with less prudential legitimacy for all youth and more authority legitimacy over moral–conventional issues for Syrian youth. Greater hopefulness was associated with more authority legitimacy over all but personal issues.