Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners

Learning Environments Research - Students’ perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school...     

Cost-Consequences Analysis: A Case Study

The means and resources used by an organization are best understood within the context of results and payoffs. Organizations, both public and private, are means to societal ends. In order to be accountable for their value to society, organizations must demonstrate that what they produce and/or deliver is of positive value for the time, money, and resources invested. If an organization is to spend time, money, and resources on interventions, social initiatives, organizational re-alignment, or a quality management/continuous improvement process, leaders and decision makers frequently want to know if the value of their results is worth the investments. The Cost-Consequences Analysis offers a coarse-grain estimate of return-on-in-vestment when there is not the necessity nor time and/or resources available for a complete determination of all of the variables that actually go into a return-on-investment analysis.     

Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption

Recovery from a bout of exercise is associated with an elevation in metabolism referred to as the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). A number of investigators in the first half of the last century reported prolonged EPOC durations and that the EPOC was a major component of the thermic effect of activity. It was therefore thought that the EPOC was a major contributor to total daily energy expenditure and hence the maintenance of body mass. Investigations conducted over the last two or three decades have improved the experimental protocols used in the pioneering studies and therefore have more accurately characterized the EPOC. Evidence has accumulated to suggest an exponential relationship between exercise intensity and the magnitude of the EPOC for specific exercise durations. Furthermore, work at exercise intensities >or=50-60% VO2max stimulate a linear increase in EPOC as exercise duration increases. The existence of these relationships with resistance exercise at this stage remains unclear because of the limited number of studies and problems with quantification of work intensity for this type of exercise. Although the more recent studies do not support the extended EPOC durations reported by some of the pioneering investigators, it is now apparent that a prolonged EPOC (3-24 h) may result from an appropriate exercise stimulus (submaximal: >or=50 min at >or=70% VO2max; supramaximal: >or=6 min at >or=105% VO2max). However, even those studies incorporating exercise stimuli resulting in prolonged EPOC durations have identified that the EPOC comprises only 6-15% of the net total oxygen cost of the exercise. But this figure may need to be increased when studies utilizing intermittent work bouts are designed to allow the determination of rest interval EPOCs, which should logically contribute to the EPOC determined following the cessation of the last work bout. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, the earlier research optimism regarding an important role for the EPOC in weight loss is generally unfounded. This is further reinforced by acknowledging that the exercise stimuli required to promote a prolonged EPOC are unlikely to be tolerated by non-athletic individuals. The role of exercise in the maintenance of body mass is therefore predominantly mediated via the cumulative effect of the energy expenditure during the actual exercise.     

Exploring the Influence of Efficacy Beliefs and Homework Help in Predicting Reading Achievement Among Underserved Children in an Afterschool Program

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a local afterschool program in helping underserved elementary school students improve their reading achievement. The study followed a cohort of students with 28 participants who were low-income, ethnic minority children in the 1st–6th grades between the ages of 6 and 12. Data on students’ developmental assets and school progress were collected at two different time points. Overall, students showed increased perceptions of efficacy about having the ability and skills to do well on a task and getting good grades in school, as well as improvements in reading achievement over time. While changes in homework completion predicted changes in reading achievement, changes in efficacy beliefs and program exposure did not. Results suggest that teacher perceptions of homework completion may be an important pathway through which afterschool programs can help narrow the reading achievement gap experienced by ethnic minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds.     

A promising route to neuromorphic vision

The human vision system has a very strong capability in perceiving surround-ings.Such visual perception starts in the retina,which receives and preprocesses the...     

Poetry in the Social Curriculum

Sylvia Rimm received her doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She has published Underachievement Syndrome: Causes and Cures (Watertown, Wis.: Apple Publishing, 1986); How to Parent So Children Will Learn (Watertown, Wis.: Apple Publishing, 1989); Gifted Kids Have Feelings Too (with Christine Priest) (Watertown, Wis.: Apple Publishing, 1990); and Education of the Gifted and Talented (with Gary Davis) (Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, 1993), now in its fourth edition. She has co-authored or authored tests for identifying talents, interests, and achievement. She currently directs Educational Assessment Service in Watertown, Wisconsin, is head of the Family Achievement Clinic at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and is a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, where she has taught courses in the principles of parenting and the psychology of the gifted.     

e-Science and data management resources on the Web

The way research is conducted has changed over time, from simple experiments to computer modeling and simulation, from individuals working in isolated laboratories to global networks of researchers collaborating on a single topic. Often, this new paradigm results in the generation of staggering amounts of data. The intensive use of data and the existence of networks of researchers characterize e-Science. The role of libraries and librarians in e-Science has been a topic of interest for some time now. This column looks at tools, resources, and projects that demonstrate successful collaborations between libraries and researchers in e-Science.