Flexible Interventions to Increase Family Engagement at Natural History Museum Dioramas

A research/practice collaboration designed, implemented, and tested strategies to facilitate family engagement with natural history dioramas. Across a series of design studies, 295 family groups with at least one adult and one child aged 4–18 were observed at a wildlife diorama of deer in their natural habitat. Each mini‐study tested a different intervention intended to encourage families to engage more deeply with the diorama. Compared to a baseline condition where families used the original diorama with no intervention, findings suggested that all interventions supported increased engagement, but that some interventions were more successful at engaging younger children, increasing conversations about biodiversity and ecosystems issues, or in developing science skills such as observation and classification. We make recommendations for supporting family learning at dioramas and also reflect upon how our research/practice partnership was vital to the work.     

The Role of Life-Space,Social Activity,and Depression on the Subjective Memory Complaints of Community-Dwelling Filipino Elderly: A Structural Equation Model

Subjective memory complaints are one of the major concerns of the elderly and remain a challenging area in gerontology. There are previous studies that identify different factors affecting subjective memory complaints. However, an extended model that correlates life-space on subjective memory complaints remains a blank spot. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of life-space, social activity and depression on subjective memory complaints among the selective group of Filipino elderly in the community. To test the factors affecting subjective memory complaints, a structural equation modeling was employed among all parameters. One hundred eighty-nine Filipino elderly aged 60 years and above located in Parañaque City, Makati City and Malabon City were given a multiaspect questionnaire consisting of a robotfoto, Life-Space Assessment (LSA), Research and Development (RAND) Social Health Battery, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Subjective Memory Questionnaire (SMQ). Results revealed that life-space and social activity inversely affect depression while subjective memory complaints are directly affected by depression. New pathways emerged suggesting the interrelationship between life-space and social activity. Additionally, social activity directly affects subjective memory complaints. This study provides a confirmation of the impact of the factors affecting subjective memory complaints. Incorporation of these factors into the existing practice can help the health care providers in optimizing the quality of care rendered and quality of life of the elderly.     

Introducing emergency preparedness in childbirth education classes

In the wake of recent natural and man-made disasters and emergency situations, pregnant women are especially vulnerable. The authors of this column encourage childbirth educators to include disaster preparedness instruction and emergency childbirth techniques in their class content.     

学术评等的光与影

在英语中,“评等”一词具有双重涵义:“层级系列”和“腐败或污秽”.本文指出,学者在学术期刊发表研究的压力来自于极度化的学术“评等”.本文首先陈述这种压力的迹象,并探讨影响因子和高等教育排行榜所引发的后果.本文将排行榜与四大发展趋势相结合:1)专业技能的理性主义成为韦伯所强调的科层制权威的特征之一;2)高等教育管理和规制的政治化趋势在新管理主义和学术评估中的高度体现;3)商业性学术出版的定价和资金筹措利用以上趋势实现利润的最大化;4)尽管编辑或期刊本身持反对观点或重视期刊的不同目标,但却只能在新规则体系中做出决定.在阐述上述四大发展趋势的基础上,本文将对笔者所编辑的期刊《比较教育评论》展开讨论,指出排行榜的替代选项,并建议推进更具生命力和参与度的教育研究.具体而言,本文建议将学术论文作为学术交流的副产品,将此作为目前仅将影响因子视为判断学术期刊质量的标准尺度的替代性或互补性方式.最后,本文主张期刊和读者都应注重学术交流的内涵价值,将学术交流视为最重要的产物.     

Childhood aerobic fitness predicts cognitive performance one year later

Aerobically fit children outperform less fit peers on cognitive control challenges that involve inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether, compared with less fit children, more fit 9- and 10-year-old pre-adolescents exhibit superior performance on a modified compatible and incompatible flanker task of cognitive control at the initial time of fitness testing and approximately one year later. We found that more fit children demonstrated increased flanker accuracy at both test sessions, coupled with a superior ability to flexibly allocate strategies during task conditions that required different amounts of cognitive control, relative to less fit children. More fit children also gained a speed benefit at follow-up testing. Structural MRI data were also collected to investigate the relationship between basal ganglia volume and task performance. Bilateral putamen volumes of the dorsal striatum and globus pallidus volumes predicted flanker performance at initial and follow-up testing one year later. The present findings suggest that childhood aerobic fitness and basal ganglia volumes relate to cognitive control at the time of fitness testing and may play a role in cognitive performance in the future. We hope that this research will encourage public health and educational changes that will promote a physically active lifestyle in children.