Positive Shyness in the Brain: Frontal Electroencephalogram Alpha Asymmetry and Delta–Beta Correlation in Children

Positive shyness is thought to be an approach-dominant form of shyness, whereas non-positive shyness is thought to be an avoidance-dominant form of shyness. This study examined electrocortical and behavioral correlates of motivation and emotion in relation to these shy subtypes in 67 children (M_age = 10.41 years, SD = 3.23). Using resting state electroencephalography, findings revealed that positive shy and low shy children had greater relative left frontal alpha asymmetry compared to non-positive shy children, and positive shy children had a higher frontal delta–beta correlation compared to other groups. Non-positive shy children scored highest on parent-reported school avoidance. These findings converge with previous work reporting distinct correlates in positive and non-positive shyness, extending this to two brain measures of motivation and emotion.     

Career Choice: An Exploration of Personal Possibilities by Young People in Australia and Singapore

In most cultures, young people begin to think about plans for the future during adolescence. In particular, the question of career choice becomes especially salient. Among the various crises associated with adolescence in Western cultures, that of choosing a career has been singled out by some researchers as the most problematic developmental task facing youth (Grinder, 1975; Connell et al, 1975). Wish-fulfilling fantasies decline and realistic thinking about education and work increases (Lessing, 1968) and the development of the self is accompanied by developing views on the world of work (Pryor, 1983). In developing countries, it has been suggested that the level of development becomes a pressure on the career orientation of youth. For example, to the extent that certain sets of values defined as ‘modern’ are accepted, then the desire for upward mobility, consumerism and enhanced life-style become associated with educational and occupational criteria (Saha, 1981; Chang, 1983).     

Layers and links: Learning to juggle ‘one more thing’ in the classroom

This paper presents a model—hypertextual function—to consider teachers’ thinking, practice, and development in the use of technology. Hypertextual function is a multi-dimensional model linking a teacher's knowledge about students (familiarity) and technology (facility), with a teacher's teaching practice of integrating technology with content (transparency) and across disciplines and experiences (connectivity), and a teacher's sense of support (collegiality). Additionally, a teacher's context affects each of these. Such a model is important as technology becomes more pervasive and integrating technology into classrooms adds another layer of complexity to teaching. Case studies and graphic representations of the proposed model are presented.     

Responses to Educational Television: a case‐study

The paper focuses on the need to evaluate responses to educational television despite the difficulties involved. Case‐study and survey methods were used in one Local Education Authority and responses to a documentary schools' broadcast by 129 pupils in four schools examined in detail. Pupils who engaged in spoken or written follow‐up activities to the programme were more prone to change attitudes as a result when compared with a control group who experienced no follow‐up. Greater tentativeness was shown by the group engaging in extensive follow‐up (talking and writing) and this group also achieved higher essay marks than pupils who had not engaged in discussion follow‐up. Implications for classroom practice in relation to ETV are considered.     

‘... for more and better religious education’

Mahner and Bunge argue that (1) science and religion are incompatible, in order to develop their thesis, that (2) a religious education ... is an obstacle to the development of a scientific mentality, and that therefore we should only teach our children (3) how science explains the existence of religion in historical, biological, psychological and sociological terms, and that (4) religious education should be kept away from public schools ... I offer brief comments on each of these strands of their argument. Religionists, to use Mahner and Bunge's term, generally come from a specific stance so I shall make it clear, from the outset, that these remarks come from a Christian standpoint, even though many of them are much more widely applicable. Although I agree with some of the observations which Mahner and Bunge make, my conclusions are generally opposite to theirs on each of the four points.     

English language learners with reading-related LD: linking data from multiple sources to make eligibility determinations

Results are reported for an exploratory study of eligibility decisions made for 21 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) with learning disabilities (LD) and no secondary disabilities who received special education support in reading. Eligibility determinations by an expert panel resulted in decisions that differed significantly from those of school multidisciplinary teams. The panel agreed that some students appeared to have reading-related LD (n = 5) but also identified students that they believed had disabilities, but not necessarily reading-related LD (n = 6). Another group of students (n = 10) had learning problems that the panel believed could be attributed to factors other than LD or for whom substantive additional data would be required to validate eligibility. Issues associated with referral, assessment, and eligibility determinations for ELLs are discussed, and recommendations for improving practice are offered, with an emphasis on the importance of linking data from multiple sources when deciding whether ELLs qualify for special education.     

Waiting for Boyer: A Cross-Generational Dialogue

The following is a one-act play containing a dialogue between two physical education and sport science professors (Metzler, 1994) as they travel back from the 1995 NAPEHE Conference, “Beyond Scholarship Reconsidered: The Mosaic of Scholarship in Physical Education.” The play's dialogue is drawn from three major sources: the authors' biographies, their personal opinions regarding Scholarship Reconsidered, and the published professional literature in physical education and the sport sciences. The characters represent two cohorts in faculty: those who are early in their careers and those who have canied out the first half of their careers under the current model of scholarship in higher education.     

Eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage dissociates the lactate and gas exchange thresholds

We tested the hypothesis that exercise-induced muscle damage would increase the ventilatory (V(E)) response to incremental/ramp cycle exercise (lower the gas exchange threshold) without altering the blood lactate profile, thereby dissociating the gas exchange and lactate thresholds. Ten physically active men completed maximal incremental cycle tests before (pre) and 48 h after (post) performing eccentric exercise comprising 100 squats. Pulmonary gas exchange was measured breath-by-breath and fingertip blood sampled at 1-min intervals for determination of blood lactate concentration. The gas exchange threshold occurred at a lower work rate (pre: 136 ± 27 W; post: 105 ± 19 W; P < 0.05) and oxygen uptake (VO(2)) (pre: 1.58 ± 0.26 litres · min(-1); post: 1.41 ± 0.14 litres · min(-1); P < 0.05) after eccentric exercise. However, the lactate threshold occurred at a similar work rate (pre: 161 ± 19 W; post: 158 ± 22 W; P > 0.05) and VO(2) (pre: 1.90 ± 0.20 litres · min(-1); post: 1.88 ± 0.15 litres · min(-1); P > 0.05) after eccentric exercise. These findings demonstrate that exercise-induced muscle damage dissociates the V(E) response to incremental/ramp exercise from the blood lactate response, indicating that V(E) may be controlled by additional or altered neurogenic stimuli following eccentric exercise. Thus, due consideration of prior eccentric exercise should be made when using the gas exchange threshold to provide a non-invasive estimation of the lactate threshold.