Assessing Training Needs of HIV Program Providers

This article describes a mixed‐methods needs assessment, or developmental evaluation, that was conducted for the providers and stakeholders of Oklahoma's community‐based organizations (CBOs). The needs assessment, which was the first phase in developing training on outcome monitoring for their HIV prevention programs, relied on three evaluation approaches: Behavioral‐objectives, participatory, and empowerment. This article describes the background for the needs assessment, the needs assessment process, and the lessons learned. When dealing with such a complex issue as HIV prevention where multiple goals must be achieved for success, a mixed‐methods approach to needs assessment may better capture real‐world needs. Furthermore, it may increase acceptance of the needs assessment findings and conclusions by the diverse groups that have a stake in the evaluation. However, as this study exemplified, implementing and reporting a mixed‐methods needs assessment that is based on differing evaluation approaches is complex, challenging, and resource intensive. This study can contribute to theory building for mixed‐methods evaluation.     

High-intensity interval training programme for obese youth (HIP4YOUTH): A pilot feasibility study

Recently, there has been growing interest in high-intensity interval training (HIT) as a strategy to improve health. In this pilot study, we examined the feasibility of a 4-week low-volume HIT and its effects on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), blood pressure (BP) and enjoyment in overweight and obese youth. Twelve adolescents (body mass index (BMI): 34.8 ± 3.9 kg · m^?2, 14.9 ± 1.5 years) participated in 12 sessions of HIT (10 × 60 s cycling bouts eliciting ~90% maximal heart rate, interspersed with 90 s recovery, 30 min/session, 3 sessions/week) over ~4 weeks. All the participants completed the study and exercise attendance averaged 92%. Despite no changes in body weight and total fat, HIT resulted in significant (P < 0.01) increases in CRF (pre: 20.1 versus post: 22.2 ml · kg^?1 · min^?1) and exercise time (pre: 425 versus post: 509 s) during peak oxygen uptake test, and a reduction in resting systolic BP (pre: 115.8 versus post: 107.6 mmHg). The majority of study participants (83%) enjoyed HIT and more than half of the participants (58%) reported that HIT is a more enjoyable form of exercise compared to other types of exercises. Low-volume HIT is a useful strategy to promote exercise participation and improve cardiovascular health in overweight and obese youth.     

Environmental communications in New Zealand’s skiing industry: building social legitimacy without addressing non-local transport

This qualitative study investigates how skiers’ transport is addressed in environmental communications (ECs) produced by ski areas on New Zealand’s South Island. Ski areas can build social legitimacy by positioning themselves as pro-environmental. Skiers’ transport, which accounts for more CO₂ emissions than the daily operations of ski areas in New Zealand, is one of the most pressing issues facing the industry. The topic of skiers’ transport was explored via an analysis of the ski areas’ ECs in addition to semi-structured, in-depth interviews with managers from the ski areas and with skiers. The research found that the impacts of skiers’ non-local transport are largely ignored by both ski area managers and skiers. Ski areas are viewed as detached from transport networks, they do not face pressures from skiers to mitigate those impacts, and they are thus able to build social legitimacy by engaging in and communicating relatively simple pro-environmental initiatives (such as recycling). These findings demonstrate a need to reconceptualise what constitutes a sustainable sport tourism organisation in order to account for the salience of transport-related impacts and to consider the extent to which ski areas are responsible for mitigating emissions stemming from tourists’ transport.     

President's Page

This month President Judy Springer has invited Eileen Spector to use this space to make some important observations. Eileen was Persident of the Chicago Chapter for two years. She is now National Awards Committee Chair, as well as Treasurer of the Chicago Chapter. She is a Senior Trainning Specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where she does program development, internal consulting, O. D. and classroom instruction, She specializes in communications, management training, computer user training and basic psychology.     

High efficiency vortex trapping of circulating tumor cells

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important biomarkers for monitoring tumor dynamics and efficacy of cancer therapy. Several technologies have been demonstrated to isolate CTCs with high efficiency but achieve a low purity from a large background of blood cells. We have previously shown the ability to enrich CTCs with high purity from large volumes of blood through selective capture in microvortices using the Vortex Chip. The device consists of a narrow channel followed by a series of expansion regions called reservoirs. Fast flow in the narrow entry channel gives rise to inertial forces, which direct larger cells into trapping vortices in the reservoirs where they remain circulating in orbits. By studying the entry and stability of particles following entry into reservoirs, we discover that channel cross sectional area plays an important role in controlling the size of trapped particles, not just the orbital trajectories. Using these design modifications, we demonstrate a new device that is able to capture a wider size range of CTCs from clinical samples, uncovering further heterogeneity. This simple biophysical method opens doors for a range of downstream interventions, including genetic analysis, cell culture, and ultimately personalized cancer therapy.     

Human stones

Stones occur in several parts of the human body—kidneys, bladder, prostate gland, gallbladder, salivary glands, pancreas. Although not regarded as life-threatening, they can be a source of considerable pain and discomfort. The world-wide occurrence of the various types of stone is such that many people are likely to be affected at one time or another, either directly or indirectly.     

Not the nine o'clock service: Using children's culture

This paper discusses current thinking and practice about the use of popular culture in the primary school to teach literacy. It attempts to question the methods that attempt to galvanise children's interest in popular texts to teach the current literacy curriculum. It argues that there is an incompatibility between the pleasures and practices of the world of popular culture and the traditional environment and curricula of school. The paper argues that instead of ‘using’ children's culture to teach the literacy curriculum in school, children's vibrant, sophisticated and valuable culture needs to be embedded within it.     

Including children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms: implications for pedagogy from a systematic review

This paper reports on the outcomes of the first in a series of three systematic literature reviews in inclusive education. The aims include establishing what research has been undertaken in the area of effective pedagogical approaches to enable children with special educational needs to be included in mainstream classrooms, synthesising themes in a purposive sample of the literature and examining how this research might inform practice. One outcome of this first literature review was an overview of the various ways that teachers are effectively including children with special educational needs. In this paper, using the literature, we share some of the characteristics of the teaching approaches that have been shown to lead to positive outcomes in the areas of academic attainment, social involvement and improved behaviour. We discuss how these approaches, particularly those involving peer group interactions, might be used by teachers to support all learners.     

An Australian perspective of a forest school: shaping a sense of place to support learning

There is growing discussion on the use of local outdoor environments to enhance a person’s sense of belonging. Sense of belonging and sense of place are components that can promote positive learning identities and attachments to community and, in turn, address issues of cycles of disadvantage. This article researched the impact of an interpretation of the forest school approach to learning in a primary school in regional Western Australia. Using a case-study approach, the research aimed to develop understandings of experiences with regard to self-esteem, sense of belonging and engagement and how these factors supported learning. Results indicated that strategies such as those suggested by the forest school approach can promote a sense of self, belonging and relational connections. These in turn can help to develop dimensions of place, identified as place attachment and place meaning. This has implications for future planning by providing greater depth in understanding the impact of the forest school approach to teaching and learning within the context of the single case primary school. It also raises questions as to how place-shaped identity nurtured in this approach to learning can be positively transferred back into the school and classroom setting.     

Adolescent Work, Vocational Development, and Education

This review examines contemporary issues in vocational development with emphasis on adolescents' work experiences in social context. Attention is directed to the changing social and cultural context for vocational development, the influence of work experience on adolescent development and educational achievement, and theoretical approaches that guide contemporary studies of vocational development and career maturity. In light of the utility of current theories, new directions are suggested to enhance understanding of adolescent employment, vocational development, and educational pursuits. Social policy initiatives to promote adolescents' exercise of agency and their vocational development are considered.