Indigenous knowledge practices for sustainable lifelong education in pastoralist communities of Kenya

International Review of Education - Despite setting high hopes on education, very few pastoral nomad children in Kenya transition from primary education to secondary education. This article argues...     

Scan and Learn: Quick Response Code Enabled Museum for Mobile Learning of Anatomy and Pathology

In the past, medical museums played a significant role in anatomy and pathology training. The attraction of medical museums has declined recently due to the emergence of information technology and innovative medical curricula. An innovative mobile learning platform has been developed using quick response (QR) codes for the museum specimens at the Lee Kong Chain School of Medicine, Singapore. High-quality images of the potted specimens were captured and combined into an album and a video using Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 and Windows Movie Maker, respectively. Subsequently, QR codes were generated linking to PDF documents with annotations, pathology, and clinical history concerning the specimens. Quick response codes were piloted in gastrointestinal teaching module for Year 2 medical students. Survey responses were obtained from students to verify the efficacy of QR as a learning tool. The majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy to access the information about the specimen with QR codes (4.47 ± 0.84), while 96% of students agreed that they are able to correlate the specimen with the annotated images (4.56 ± 0.56). The majority of students (78%) agreed that QR codes are useful for their learning (4.22 ± 0.87), while 75% of students felt QR codes motivate them to visit Anatomy Resource Centre. Most of the students agreed that QR codes are useful for revision of materials (4.13 ± 1.07) and independent learning (4.38 ± 0.87). These findings suggest that QR codes are not only effective for students learning but also enhance their exploration experience with the museum specimens.     

Complexities in Religious Education with Asian/Asian Canadians and Indigenous Realities: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on Residential Schools

Abstract

This panel presentation focuses on the complex relationship between Asian/Asian Canadians and Canada’s Indigenous peoples (First Nation, Meti, Innuit). In spite of many commonalities the two sets of communities share while being racialized as “visible minorities” with histories of oppression and exclusion, the former are still settlers on the land of the latter, and, along with Canada’s settlers of European origin, must take part in responding to the “Calls to Action” rising out of the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.     

Lifestyle, body composition, and physical fitness changes in Hungarian school boys (1975-2005)

General socioeconomic conditions as well as the physical environment have undergone remarkable changes in Hungary during the past 30 years. Unfortunately, these positive processes have resulted in a reduction of habitual physical activity along with unfavorable changes in dietary habits. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to compare some selected morphological and functional parameters of 7-14-year-old Hungarian schoolboys living in the middle of the 1970s and at the beginning of the new millennium. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in morphological and functional characteristics of the Hungarian schoolboy populations, because they were assessed 30 years apart. Means of height, body mass, body mass index (BMI), the sum of five skinfold tests, percentage of body fat, and two running performance times (400 m and 1,200 m) of the boys (N = 3,672) studied in 1975 were compared to those of the boys (N = 3,758) in 2005. Data were analyzed using two-tailed independent samples t tests (p < .05). We observed significant secular changes in body mass and height. In addition, boys in 2005 had significantly more subcutaneous fat compared to 1975. The running times for the two distances were significantly poorer at the time of the second investigation. The remarkable and unfavorable changes in body composition and cardiorespiratory performance were attributed to the continuously decreasing intensity of habitual physical exercise and a lifestyle that had become more sedentary (watching TV playing computer games, etc.). Radical interventions are necessary to reduce these risks associated with the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Hungary, and the challenge to resolve the problem requires combined efforts at the educational, societal, corporate, and governmental levels.     

Burnout in elite rugby: relationships with basic psychological needs fulfilment

In this study, we examined the utility of self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002) as a framework for understanding the antecedents of athlete burnout in elite New Zealand rugby union players (n=133). Perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness (i.e. basic psychological needs) were hypothesized to be negatively related to burnout scores, while players classified as "high-burnouts" were predicted to report lower needs fulfilment than players with low burnout. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that relatedness was a low to moderate predictor of burnout, but players' competence and autonomy accounted for substantial portions of variance in two athlete burnout symptoms: reduced accomplishment and sport devaluation. The proportion of variance accounted for in the exhaustion dimension of athlete burnout was not substantive. Multivariate analysis of variance supported these results, as "high-burnout" players had lower competence and autonomy scores than athletes reporting low burnout symptoms. The two groups did not report significantly different relatedness scores. Implications of these results for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Associations between fundamental movement skill competence,physical activity and psycho-social determinants in Hong Kong Chinese children

Associations between fundamental movement skills (FMS), perceived competence, enjoyment and physical activity (PA) have not been widely investigated among Chinese school children. We hypothesised that FMS would be directly related to self-reported and objectively measured PA, and indirectly related to these outcomes via perceived physical and movement skill competence, and enjoyment. Participants were 763 primary school children (age = 9.3 ± 1.7 years; 474 girls) across grades. FMS were measured for a subsample (n = 603) using Test of Gross Motor Development-2. PA using accelerometers was obtained from this subgroup (n = 238). All participating children completed a questionnaire measuring their PA participation, enjoyment, and perceived physical and movement skill competence. Structural equation modelling revealed positive associations between locomotor skills and perceived movement skill competence (β = .11, 95% CI [.001, .22]), and between perceived movement skill competence and objectively measured PA (β = .59, 95% CI [.04, 1.14]). Perceived physical competence and enjoyment mediated the association between locomotor skills and self-reported PA (β = .08, 95% CI [.02, .12]), but not objectively measured PA. Given inconsistent findings for subjective and objective measures of PA, further mediation analyses of the association between FMS and PA may be warranted.     

Understanding and reducing the fear of COVID-19

Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B -     

Effectiveness and Relevance of Training for International Counseling Graduates: A Qualitative Inquiry

The present study was a qualitative study that sought to examine the experiences and perceptions of international counseling graduates (ICGs) who had returned to their home country to work, focusing on the effectiveness and relevance of the training they had received in the United States. Participants were also asked to outline the roles they played in the development of professional counseling in their own country. Eight themes emerged from in-depth interviews involving nine participants: (a) Pioneering and Leadership, (b) American-centric Training, (c) Sojourner and Returnee Adjustment Distress, (d) Personal Investment from Trainers, (e) Student-Centered Training, (f) Time and Financial Constraints, (g) Independent Learning, and (h) Research. The data indicated that participants’ perceptions of the effectiveness and relevance of their training were mixed. Implications for training international counseling students are considered.     

A comparison of teacher and principal perception of an outstanding biology teacher

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of agreement or disagreement between principals and teachers when using established criteria to measure the effectiveness of a biology teacher. To obtain information regarding their perceptions of an outstanding biology teacher, twenty-two principals and forty-one biology teachers were chosen randomly from English-speaking high schools within a 50 km radius of metropolitan Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The measuring instrument was a modified version of Dieter's questionnaire that evolved from his doctoral study of the National Association of Biology Teachers-Outstanding Biology Teacher Award Program. The data collected from the two populations were tested using one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) or by applying normal approximation. Results indicated that both the principals and teachers agree on the relative importance of most criteria, particularly those related to the teacher's classroom behavior and academic background in biology. From such results, it was possible to construct one stereotype of the outstanding biology teacher. A number of recommendations were made from the results of the study, which were directed to the (a) teachers and their professional organization, (b) principals and the school boards, (c) teacher training institutions, and (d) researchers in teacher evaluation.