Physiological responses to maximal intermittent exercise: differences between endurance-trained runners and games players.

Six games players (GP) and six endurance-trained runners (ET) completed a standardized multiple sprint test on a non-motorized treadmill consisting of ten 6-s all-out sprints with 30-s recovery periods. Running speed, power output and oxygen uptake were determined during the test and blood samples were taken for the determination of blood lactate and pH. Games players tended to produce a higher peak power output (GP vs ET: 839 +/- 114 vs 777 +/- 89 W, N.S.) and higher peak speed (GP vs ET: 7.03 +/- 0.3 vs 6.71 +/- 0.3 m s-1, N.S.), but had a greater decrement in mean power output than endurance-trained runners (GP vs ET: 29.3 +/- 8.1% vs 14.2 +/- 11.1%, P less than 0.05). Blood lactate after the test was higher for the games players (GP vs ET: 15.2 +/- 1.9 vs 12.4 +/- 1.7 mM, P less than 0.05), but the decrease in pH was similar for both groups (GP vs ET: 0.31 +/- 0.08 vs 0.28 +/- 0.08, N.S.). Strong correlations were found between peak blood lactate and peak speed (r = 0.90, P less than 0.01) and between peak blood lactate and peak power fatigue (r = 0.92, P less than 0.01). The average increase in oxygen uptake above pre-exercise levels during the sprint test was greater for endurance-trained athletes than for the games players (ET vs GP: 35.0 +/- 2.2 vs 29.6 +/- 3.0 ml kg-1 min-1, P less than 0.05), corresponding to an average oxygen uptake per sprint (6-s sprint and 24 s of subsequent recovery) of 67.5 +/- 2.9% and 63.0 +/- 4.5% VO2 max respectively (N.S.). A modest relationship existed between the average increase in oxygen uptake above pre-exercise values during the sprint test and mean speed fatigue (r = -0.68, P less than 0.05). Thus, the greater decrement in performance for the games players may be related to higher glycolytic rates as reflected by higher lactate concentrations and to their lower oxygen uptake during the course of the 10 sprints.     

The quality agenda: governance and regulation of preschool teachers’ work

The increased regulation of teachers’ work is a global phenomenon across education sectors. In Australia the governance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) embeds international priorities for quality improvement in educational programmes. The implementation of a National Quality Framework (NQF) for the assessment of ECEC services has mobilised the production of a suite of regulatory texts. The regulation of teachers’ work is legitimised through the discourse of quality embedded in policy guidelines. Drawing on interview data from preschool teachers, this paper employs institutional ethnography (IE) to investigate teachers’ accounts of producing a Quality Improvement Plan. As teachers operationalise the expectations of quality assurance in the NQF, their work is oriented to gathering evidence of an approved quality of practice. The findings indicate a shift in professional focus to increased documentation of ‘quality of practice’, goal setting and evidence of the collaborative construction of Quality Improvement Plans.     

Supporting Personalized Learning through Individualized Learning Plans

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students’ college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students’ career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented in the junior high schools in McLean County (Illinois) Unit District No. 5. Based upon this experience, we share important factors for school leaders that can affect successful implementation in their schools.     

Developing creativity and problem-solving skills of engineering students: a comparison of web- and pen-and-paper-based approaches

Problem-solving is a key engineering skill, yet is an area in which engineering graduates underperform. This paper investigates the potential of using web-based tools to teach students problem-solving techniques without the need to make use of class time. An idea generation experiment involving 90 students was designed. Students were surveyed about their study habits and reported they use electronic-based materials more than paper-based materials while studying, suggesting students may engage with web-based tools. Students then generated solutions to a problem task using either a paper-based template or an equivalent web interface. Students who used the web-based approach performed as well as students who used the paper-based approach, suggesting the technique can be successfully adopted and taught online. Web-based tools may therefore be adopted as supplementary material in a range of engineering courses as a way to increase students’ options for enhancing problem-solving skills.     

Psychometric stability of nationally normed and experimental decoding and related measures in children with reading disability

Achievement and cognitive tests are used extensively in the diagnosis and educational placement of children with reading disabilities (RD). Moreover, research on scholastic interventions often requires repeat testing and information on practice effects. Little is known, however, about the test-retest and other psychometric properties of many commonly used measures within the beginning reader population, nor are these nationally normed or experimental measures comparatively evaluated. This study examined the test-retest reliability, practice effects, and relations among a number of nationally normed measures of word identification and spelling and experimental measures of achievement and reading-related cognitive processing tests in young children with significant RD. Reliability was adequate for most tests, although lower than might be ideal on a few measures when there was a lengthy test-retest interval or with the reduced behavioral variability that can be seen in groups of beginning readers. Practice effects were minimal. There were strong relations between nationally normed measures of decoding and spelling and their experimental counterparts and with most measures of reading-related cognitive processes. The implications for the use of such tests in treatment studies that focus on beginning readers are discussed.     

The changing structure of teacher compensation, 1970–1994

This paper considers how the structures of teacher salaries in public school districts have changed over the last quarter century and whether salary increases have been allocated so as to achieve the greatest gain in educational quality. Using New York state data for the 1970–1994 period, we find that even though some districts appear to behave in ways consistent with the often expressed goal of recruiting and retaining the most able college graduates, most districts do not. The vast majority of districts have inefficiently allocated a disproportionately large share of resources to veteran teachers for whom job tenure is only marginally affected. This finding has important implications for the policy debate regarding whether increased spending on education will, or could, improve educational performance as well as the design of alternative compensation schemes.     

Engaging Gypsy and Traveller pupils in secondary education in Wales: tensions and dilemmas of addressing difference

Despite decades of research and policy, we are still some way in the U.K. from ameliorating barriers for Gypsy and Traveller pupils. A complex set of factors exist which influence young people’s engagement with secondary education. This interpretive-deductive study, which draws upon ‘tensions and dilemmas of difference’, presents Gypsy/Traveller learners’ perceptions and those of their parents and teachers about the barriers encountered. Findings around ‘intra-cultural conflict’ demonstrate significant tensions between and within cultures that are profound for young people during this stage of education. Resilient, supportive mothers and strong bonds with teachers and children from the mainstream community, appeared essential in helping young people to manage criticism and resist pressure to conform to cultural norms. However, a fundamental shift in societal attitude is required and critical thought paid to inclusive education, or young learners who remain in education may end up on the periphery of both societies.     

The Ako Conceptual Framework: toward a culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition to add to the critical discourse and development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. By drawing on the socio-cultural theory and the concept of Zone of Proximal Development, the ACF conceptualises the intersection of culture and pedagogy using a Tongan epistemology. The ACF positions the vā (a space that is relational which enables authentic relationships to be established, nurtured and maintained) and tauhi vaha`a/vā (a responsibility that teachers, schools, educational leaders and practitioners have to establish, nurture and maintain authentic relationships) as the fundamental concepts in the development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies. It is theorised that by recognising Tongan strengths-based principles, values and educational concepts, the taumu`a `oe ako (the purpose for teaching and learning), founga ako (the concepts of teaching), and feinga ako (the concepts of learning) can be aligned. Thereby, recognising and acknowledging the various knowledge systems that the students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds arrive at school with. The concepts and implications of the ACF are discussed in this article.     

Educating in the Seventh Fire: Debwewin,Mino‐bimaadiziwin,and Ecological Justice

The Anishinaabe Seven Fires Creation Story can be read as a theory on which all human beings share a fundamental love of reflecting reality in what they think and do. In this article, Marc Kruse, Nicolas Tanchuk, and Robert Hamilton argue that this ethical theory is correct but that the colonial ideology taught in our schools can obscure our knowledge of this fact. Specifically, the authors claim that decolonizing education requires teaching students and teachers alike to see the presence of value whenever they encounter other beings animated by a responsiveness to reality. All living things strive to perceive and respond to reality — to live and continue to learn — even if epistemic faculties differ. All living things, then, the authors conclude, are rightly seen as our relatives and kin, as bearers of value to whom we owe moral respect, as Anishinaabe elders have long taught.     

Interprofessional education in gross anatomy: Experience with first‐year medical and physical therapy students at Mayo Clinic

Interprofessional education (IPE) in clinical practice is believed to improve outcomes in health care delivery. Integrating teaching and learning objectives through cross discipline student interaction in basic sciences has the potential to initiate interprofessional collaboration at the early stages of health care education. Student attitudes and effectiveness of IPE in the context of a combined gross anatomy course for first‐year students in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees curricula were evaluated. Integrated teams of MD and DPT students participated in part of the gross anatomy dissection course at Mayo Medical School. A survey was administered to 42 MD and 28 DPT students that assessed their attitudes toward IPE and cooperation among health care professionals. Pre‐ and post‐experience surveys were evaluated. Positive comments were related to opportunities for developing a better understanding of the nature and scope of each other's programs, encouraging teamwork and communication, mutual respect, and reducing the perceptual divide between disciplines. Ninety‐two percent of the students agreed that interprofessional learning would help them in becoming a more effective member of the health care team. This initial experience with IPE in gross anatomy provides a basis for continued development of interdisciplinary educational strategies. Anat Sci Ed 1:258–263, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.