Listening to Students: Examining Underlying Mechanisms That Contribute to the AVID Program's Effectiveness

This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program from the student perspective, specifically focusing on factors associated with student resilience. The AVID program aims to close the achievement gap among predominantly minority and low-income students without a family history of college attendance. Qualitative focus groups were conducted to better understand student perceptions of the program and quantitative survey results were used to compare scores on measures of school support, school engagement, and resilience among AVID and non-AVID students. Both qualitative and quantitative results provided evidence suggesting that the AVID program improved school support and engagement, as well as in the development of individual resilience factors, such as self-awareness, problem-solving ability, and self-esteem. Qualitative results also highlight the importance of providing consistency for students in the learning environment. Future directions and recommendations are provided.     

The politics of naming: critiquing “learner-centred” and “teacher as facilitator” in English language and humanities classrooms

“Learner-centred” and “teacher as facilitator,” among the most influential concepts (re)shaping education over the past decades, are often represented as bringing democratic participation, equality, and empowerment to learners and helping transform and liberate societies. At the same time, these concepts are constructed in binary terms with “teacher-centred” and “teacher as authority” projecting the two ends as being mutually exclusive. Drawing on data collected through interviews and scholarly works from teachers teaching Humanities and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in Asian and English-speaking Western universities, this article examines their positionings, mode, and form of critique/criticality of learner-centred education. It demonstrates in what ways equality as the starting point (Ranciere) is not embedded in how learner-centred education has largely been promoted in these contexts. As well, while Ranciere’s concepts of equality and dissensus may empower those seen as marginalised and disadvantaged, these concepts fail to acknowledge the multiplicities and dynamics of positions of those presupposed to be “powerful” and “privileged.”     

城中村居民居住模式对其就业和收入的影响方式分析——以昆明市为例

空间失配理论,最早由美国学者John Kain于1968年提出。该理论认为:在美国城市衰败内城居住的黑人,正处于其居住与工作地之间空间不匹配现象中。中国城中村,当前聚居着大量低技术、低收入的群体,他们的住房条件简陋,治安状况混乱以及社会资本不足,这种居住模式已经影响到他们的就业和收入。依据空间失配理论,基于昆明市三个城中村的调查数据,运用指标分析和回归分析两种方法,研究昆明市城中村居民居住模式对其就业和收入的影响方式。结果表明:昆明市城中村当前还不存在空间失配现象,但以后很可能会出现此现象,家庭人口、受教育程度和车辆拥有情况对居民收入有显著的正向影响。     

Impact of grade retention and school engagement on student intentions to enrol in higher education in Portugal

Grade retention and inequalities that derive from grade retention can influence student school trajectories and careers. Grade retention can discourage students from education, and increase school failure and dropout. This study explored the relationship between grade retention and student intentions to enrol in higher education. We also studied the role of school identification and behavioural engagement in this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,089 students (grades 6 to 10) from Portugal, one of the European countries with the highest rates of grade retention. We employed multilevel probit regression modelling with random intercept and fixed slopes to explore both the individual and school level effects of grade retention. The analyses showed that retained students had a lower probability of intent to enrol in higher education and that there was a contextual effect of the number of retained students in the school, on students' probability of intent to enrol in higher education. This association was partially explained at the individual level by students' school identification. Retained students presented lower levels of school identification, which in turn results in lower probabilities of enrolling in higher education. Student behavioural engagement was not associated with grade retention nor student intentions. Our findings suggest the need for interventions that foster students' school identification to overcome the adverse effects of grade retention.     

Physiological determinants of speciality of elite middle- and long-distance runners

The aim of this study was to determine which physiological variables predict excellence in middle- and long-distance runners. Forty middle-distance runners (age 23 ± 4 years, body mass 67.2 ± 5.9 kg, stature 1.80 ± 0.05 m, VO(2max) 65.9 ± 4.5 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)) and 32 long-distance runners (age 25 ± 4 years, body mass 59.8 ± 5.1 kg, stature 1.73 ± 0.06 m, VO(2max) 71.6 ± 5.0 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)) competing at international standard performed an incremental running test to exhaustion. Expired gas analysis was performed breath-by-breath and maximum oxygen uptake (VO(2max)) and two ventilatory thresholds (VT(1) and VT(2)) were calculated. Long-distance runners presented a higher VO(2max) than middle-distance runners when expressed relative to body mass (P < 0.001, d = 1.18, 95% CI [0.68, 1.68]). At the intensities corresponding to VT(1) and VT(2), long-distance runners showed higher values for VO(2) expressed relative to body mass or %VO(2max), speed and oxygen cost of running (P < 0.05). When oxygen uptake was adjusted for body mass, differences between groups were consistent. Logistic binary regression analysis showed that VO(2max) (expressed as l · min(-1) and ml · kg(-1) · min(-1)), VO(2VT2) (expressed as ml · kg(-0.94) · min(-1)), and speed at VT(2) (v(VT2)) categorized long-distance runners. In addition, the multivariate model correctly classified 84.7% of the athletes. Thus, VO(2max), VO(2VT2), and v(VT2) discriminate between elite middle-distance and long-distance runners.     

Implementation fidelity of a program designed to promote personal and social responsibility through physical education: a comparative case study

The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study was to examine the implementation fidelity of a program designed to deliver the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model (Hellison, 2003) through physical education and its relationship with short-term outcomes for elementary school students. The research questions were: (a) was the program implemented with fidelity, and (b) did better fidelity yield better student outcomes. Thus, we conducted a study on the implementation process used by two teachers who delivered the same program in two physical education classes in two different elementary schools in Spain. Data sources included observations and interviews with teachers and nonparticipant observers. Findings indicated that fidelity of implementation in Case 1 was higher and most children in those classes acquired the first three of five TPSR responsibility levels. Implementation fidelity in Case 2 was weaker and achievement of responsibility goals was minimal (only the first of five levels) and less stable for those students. This study is the first to directly examine the connection between TPSR implementation fidelity and student outcomes.     

优秀男子铁人三项运动员赛前训练周期中血红蛋白、血尿素、肌酸激酶和睾酮值的变化分析

对优秀男子铁人三项运动员2009年全国锦标赛赛前训练期的血红蛋白（HB）、血尿素（BU）、肌酸激酶（CK）和睾酮（T）值进行测试和分析,探讨男子铁人三项运动员赛前训练期机能变化规律,结果显示：随着训练负荷的变化,身体各项机能指标也产生了明显的变化,赛前基本调整到最佳状态,表明赛前的训练安排达到较好效果。     

基于体系架构的信息资源管理模型

针对目前信息资源管理中大量重复建设、信息孤岛和投资浪费等问题,分析了如何利用体系架构方法论进行信息资源管理。对国际上几个主要的体系架构框架进行了比较研究,并提出了基于体系架构的IRM模型,即"EA-IRM模型"。作者还结合美国联邦政府应用FEA的案例分析了利用体系架构生命周期不同阶段的成果指导信息资源管理的方法。