Taking an internet field trip

Teachers in today’s mathematics classrooms are confronted with the challenge of meeting the needs of students with diverse needs and backgrounds. The NCTM standards and the literature on diverse learners suggest that all students may benefit from strategies that promote cultural and historical connections and the use of technologies, such as Internet Field Trips, and manipulatives that focus on the active engagement of students through exploration and communications. In a passionate plea for bridging the culture gap in our classrooms, Moore (1994) proposes that, Mathematics is definitely not culture-free … no mathematics teacher could even contemplate seriously taking only the values of his culture and a textbook which is a product of his culture and imposing both himself and the textbook upon individuals possessed by a culture that diverges from his in any significant area. (p. 13)     

Hill on a mountaintop: A longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the relative age effect in competitive youth football

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to examine the origin and persistence of the relative age effect (RAE) in competitive youth football. To examine its origin, birthdates of 121 category one Premier League academy players recruited over 6 years were compared with 691 Under 8 (U8) players in one of the regional grassroots leagues from which academy players are selected. To examine the persistence of the RAE we conducted a longitudinal comparison of retention rates in early-birth and late-birth academy players from U9 to U15, and made a cross-sectional comparison of birthdate distributions from U7 to U18 in 10,857 regional league players. The results revealed birthdate asymmetry in both the academy and grassroots players but a much larger RAE in the academy. Longitudinal analysis revealed that the cumulative probability of retention at the academy was higher for early-birth than late-birth players. A small to medium RAE persisted across grassroots football age groups though it declined somewhat from U15 to U18. The implication of these results for academy player recruitment is discussed.     

Teaching handwriting skills to children with intellectual disabilities using an adapted handwriting programme

Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle with handwriting, but there is very little research to inform intervention approaches. In this study, we developed a teaching manual based on Handwriting Without Tears®, a comprehensive handwriting programme designed for typically developing children. Three children with intellectual disabilities participated in the study and received handwriting instruction based on the manual three times a week over a 32‐week period. Our aims were to explore whether Handwriting Without Tears® can be used as a comprehensive handwriting curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities and to evaluate improvement in handwriting skills. We found that the intervention was successfully incorporated into small group teaching sessions within the child's regular classroom, and that all three children made improvements. Our data show promising results and support the need for larger evaluation studies.     

Reconsidering Happiness in the Context of Social Justice Education

That happiness leads to lack of harm and suffering, representing both a good and a means to good, is promoted, for example, by educational philosophers such as Nel Noddings. But happiness should not be seen as an unproblematic goal, for education or otherwise. In this article, we critically investigate the importance of happiness in the educational context. More specifically, we emphasize the necessity of problematizing happiness as an emotional practice in social justice education. In order to contextualize our analysis, we enumerate two theoretical perspectives that endorse happiness in education. These are the educational philosophy of Noddings and the paradigm of positive psychology. After exploring how happiness is promoted theoretically and practically, we elaborate a critical perspective on happiness in relation to education. We use the work of Sara Ahmed, among others, to illustrate some ways in which happiness can function to serve unjust relations in education. We thus explore happiness as an intersubjective affect, as opposed to considering it as an intrasubjective feeling. We argue that educators who want to foster social justice in education need to consider the positive and the negative consequences of encouraging happiness in education. Fostering happiness can be progressive and empowering, but it can also be regressive and unjust.     

相对运动强度与绝对运动强度对血清酶活性的影响

目的探讨相对运动强度和绝对运动强度对血清酶活性变化的影响。实验方法受试者为急性心肌梗塞康复病人(PMIP)和正常人(HS) ,实验前后测定了他们血清乳酸脱氢酶(L DH)、乳酸脱氢酶同工酶1(L DH- 1)、肌酸激酶(CK)、肌酸激酶亚单位MB(CK- MB)活性。结果两组受试者运动前酶的活性均无显著差异(P>0 .0 5 ) ;实验中,PMIP与HS的相对强度分别为最大心率的85 .1%、86 .0 % (P>0 .0 5 ) ,绝对强度分别为跑台等级的5 .3与6 .3(P<0 .0 5 ) ,PMIP与HS运动后即刻酶活性与运动前相比均有显著上升(P<0 .0 5 ) ,但两组间无显著差异(P>0 .0 5 ) ,2 4 h后HS组的酶活性基本恢复到运动前水平,但PMIP组仍高于运动前水平。结论运动后酶活性上升的幅度与运动所达到的相对强度有关;强度达85 % HRmax的运动能引起血清酶活性的升高,但此时L DH- 1/L DH和CK- MB/CK的比值与运动前相比无明显变化;如果PMIP的康复运动量等同于测试中的运动量,他们第2天似应停止活动以便能够得到充分的恢复。