Researching adult transformation as autobiography

Literature on adult learning research generally underplays imagination in its explanations of how meaning perspectives and life‐worlds are transformed. The use of autobiographical accounts, telling the story of stability and change, is proposed here as a promising source for research into adult learning. As literary texts, they make the investigation of imaginative forms such as metaphor, image and symbol both possible and warranted. This article raises the question about appropriate methods for this autobiographical approach to the study of adult transformation. An interpretive approach to the texts of research conversations in a co‐operative inquiry is appropriate for researching both their content as literature and the processes by which the narrators construct meaningful accounts of their adult transformation. Some proposals about research into autobiographical learning are presented on the basis of this writer's work in progress.     

Word learning: An ERP investigation of word experience effects on recognition and word processing

Adults of varying reading comprehension skill learned a set of previously unknown rare English words (e.g., gloaming) in three different learning conditions in which the type of word knowledge was manipulated. The words were presented in one of three conditions: (1) orthography-to-meaning (no phonology); (2) orthography-to-phonology (no meaning); and (3) phonology-to-meaning (no orthography). Following learning, participants made meaning judgments on the learned words, familiar known words, and unpresented (unlearned) rare words while their ERPs were recorded. The behavioral results showed no significant effects of comprehension skill on meaning judgment performance. Contrastingly, the ERP results indicated comprehension skill differences in P600 amplitude; high-skilled readers showed stronger familiarity effects for learned words, whereas less-skilled readers did not distinguish between learned words, familiar words, and unlearned words. Evidence from the P600 and N400 illustrated superior learning of meaning when meaning information was coupled with orthography rather than phonology. These results suggest that the availability of word knowledge (orthography, phonology, and meaning) at learning affects subsequent word identification processes when the words are encountered in a new context.     

Validation of Accelerometer-Based Energy Expenditure Prediction Models in Structured and Simulated Free-Living Settings

This study compared accuracy of energy expenditure (EE) prediction models from accelerometer data collected in structured and simulated free-living settings. Twenty-four adults (mean age 45.8 years, 50% female) performed two sessions of 11 to 21 activities, wearing four ActiGraph GT9X Link activity monitors (right hip, ankle, both wrists) and a metabolic analyzer (EE criterion). Visit 1 (V1) involved structured, 5-min activities dictated by researchers; Visit 2 (V2) allowed participants activity choice and duration (simulated free-living). EE prediction models were developed incorporating data from one setting (V1/V2; V2/V2) or both settings (V1V2/V2). The V1V2/V2 method had the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) for EE prediction (1.04–1.23 vs. 1.10–1.34 METs for V1/V2, V2/V2), and the ankle-worn accelerometer had the lowest RMSE of all accelerometers (1.04–1.18 vs. 1.17–1.34 METs for other placements). The ankle-worn accelerometer and associated EE prediction models developed using data from both structured and simulated free-living settings should be considered for optimal EE prediction accuracy.     

Muscle coordination,activation and kinematics of world-class and elite breaststroke swimmers during submaximal and maximal efforts

The aims of this study were to describe muscular activation patterns and kinematic variables during the complete stroke cycle (SC) and the different phases of breaststroke swimming at submaximal and maximal efforts. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was collected from eight muscles in nine elite swimmers; five females (age 20.3 ± 5.4 years; Fédération Internationale de Natation [FINA] points 815 ± 160) and four males (27.7 ± 7.1 years; FINA points 879 ± 151). Underwater cameras were used for 3D kinematic analysis with automatic motion tracking. The participants swam 25 m of breaststroke at 60%, 80% and 100% effort and each SC was divided into three phases: knee extension, knee extended and knee flexion. With increasing effort, the swimmers decreased their SC distance and increased their velocity and stroke rate. A decrease during the different phases was found for duration during knee extended and knee flexion, distance during knee extended and knee angle at the beginning of knee extension with increasing effort. Velocity increased for all phases. The mean activation pattern remained similar across the different effort levels, but the muscles showed longer activation periods relative to the SC and increased integrated sEMG (except trapezius) with increasing effort. The muscle activation patterns, muscular participation and kinematics assessed in this study with elite breaststroke swimmers contribute to a better understanding of the stroke and what occurs at different effort levels. This could be used as a reference for optimising breaststroke training to improve performance.     

Early school entrance for intellectually superior children: An analysis

A four-year follow-up study comparing the performance of intellectually superior children admitted early to school and the performance of normal children admitted at the regular time is presented. Achievement scores, self-emotional adjustment, and school success (promotion/retention) are discussed. Results of a stepwise multiple linear regression reveal nonsignificant findings regarding variables that contribute to school success. The effects of early school admission involving “gifted” children are discussed.     

Lenses on Learning: Administrators' Views on Reform and the Professional Development of Teachers

If the intellectual norms and values embedded in the mathematics education reform movement are to move beyond individual classrooms and significantly influence entire schools and districts, school and district administrators will need to become centrally, rather than peripherally, involved. This paper discusses the ways administrators' ideas about the nature of mathematics, learning, teaching, and school culture affect their interpretations of the nature and intent of the elementary mathematics reform movement and their thoughts about of how they might support it. In particular, administrators' views of parents' concerns, professional development for teachers, and of how new ideas move around in a school are discussed. I argue that administrators have well-formed ideas about mathematics, learning, and teaching, which influence their views of reform and their ideas of how to provide support. These ideas need to be taken into account if administrators are to be central actors in reform. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessing the Impact of a Ceremony in Honor of the Body Donors in the Development of Ethical and Humanistic Attitudes among Medical Students

Activities related to body donation programs, such as donor memorial ceremonies, provide the opportunity to complement student training, especially with regard to the ethical and humanistic elements involved in medical training. This study sought to assess the impact of a ceremony in honor of the body donors has on ethical and humanistic attitudes in medical students. Medical students were surveyed about their perceptions of changes in themselves, respect for donors and donor families, and their relationship with patients. The effect of the students' contact with the family of the donor was analyzed in students who had contact with the cadaver in the dissection room and had either participated or not participated in the donor memorial ceremony. A total of 370 questionnaires were answered by first-, second-, and third-year medical students at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre in 2017. The students who participated in the ceremony presented more positive responses in relation to commitment to their studies, reflection on death, and positive development of empathy when compared to those who did not attend the ceremony. Most of the students that attended the ceremony suggested the event led to an improvement in the doctor–patient relationship. These results suggest that cadaver dissection with accompanied memorial ceremony involving contact with donor families is an effective means of fostering ethical and humanistic attitudes among medical students from the beginning of the course.