Fatness and fitness in relation to functional movement quality in overweight and obese children

This study aimed to investigate the independent and combined associations between several fatness indicators and fitness components with functional movement quality in overweight/obese children. A total of 56 children (33 girls, aged 8–12) classified as overweight/obese according to the World Obesity Federation standard cut points, participated in this study. Participants underwent assessments of fatness [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and bioelectrical impedance measures], fitness [1 repetition maximum bench and leg press, and ALPHA test battery], and functional movement quality [4 tests from Functional Movement Screen ^TM (FMS)]. All fatness outcomes, except waist circumference, were negatively associated with total FMS score, after controlling for cardiorespiratory fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness, lower limbs muscle strength, and speed-agility were positively associated with the total FMS score, regardless of BMI. Our results suggest that children with greater fatness indicators demonstrate lower functional movement quality independently of their fitness level, whereas children with better fitness level (i.e. cardiorespiratory fitness, lower limbs muscular strength, and speed-agility) demonstrate greater functional movement quality independently of their fatness level. However, children´s weight status seems to be more determinant than their fitness level in terms of functional movement quality, whereas being fit seems to moderately attenuate the negative influence of fatness.     

Going Against the Grain in an Urban Arizona High School: Secondary Preservice Teachers Emerging as Culturally Responsive Educators

This one year study examines the journey of two preservice urban high-school teachers in Arizona as they enact Culturally Responsive Teaching in a year-long student teaching residency. Factors that influenced their Culturally Responsive Teaching practices are discussed along themes that emerged from interviews and classroom observations. Recommendations for ways of integrating Culturally Responsive Teaching in teacher education programs are provided.     

Sites,funds and spheres of exchange in a Clean Development Mechanism project

This article analyses the implementation and operation of a wind farm in ancestral indigenous lands in Colombia. A wind farm operates at different levels: creating energy, social programmes, jobs, carbon credits and revenues. However, such emerging objects are distributed unevenly. To understand the hierarchy in place in the carbon market, this article explains the disconnection between clean energy production sites and carbon funds in which credits are created. Given the fundamental need to understand the creation of objects of property that are, nevertheless, not fully interchangeable between the site and the fund, this article aims to draw renewed attention to the concept of spheres of exchange. The argument is built upon ethnographic fieldwork undertaken on-site in the Utility Company’s offices and the World Bank headquarters.     

Lernmittelfreiheit und Einheitslehrbuch: Eine Vergleichende Untersuchung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Using formative assessment to promote argumentation in a university bilingual science course

Formative assessment, bilingualism, and argumentation when combined can enrich bilingual scientific literacy. However, argumentation receives little attention in the practice of bilingual science education. This article describes the effect of a formative assessment-based pedagogical strategy in promoting university students’ argumentation. It examines the written and oral arguments produced by 54 undergraduates (28 females and 26 males, 16–21 years old) in Colombia during a university bilingual (Spanish-English) science course. The data used in this analysis was derived from students’ written responses, and audio and video recordings. The first goal of this study was to determine how this teaching strategy could help students increase the use of English as a means of communication in argumentation in science. The second goal was to establish the potential of the strategy to engage students in argumentative classroom interactions as an essential part of formative assessment. The findings show that the strategy provided participants with opportunities to write their argumentation in Spanish, in English and in a hybrid version using code-switching. Educational implications for higher education are discussed.     

En Confianza: Co-constructing Professional Strength and Voice With Latina Early Childhood Educators

It is well documented in the literature that early pre-K reading experiences prepare children for the benefits of formal literacy instruction in the later grades. This is particularly true for young children from nonmainstream backgrounds. The objective of this article is to share the findings of a 4-year qualitative study investigating the relationships forged and teaching ideologies constructed by Latino pre-K teachers via critical “storying” within a culturally responsive professional learning community. Findings suggest that as teachers learned to recognize, listen to, and learn from the personal/professional individual and collective life histories of each other, their teaching efficacy was enhanced increasing their ability to develop effective literacy instruction that was culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of young children.     

Design and calibration of a drill-guided system by laser for structural strengthening of historic bridge

Restoring the spans of a historic bridge requires installing tensors to ensure the structural and mechanical stability of the rows of stones that form the resistant body of the bridge. Once the positions where the structure-crossing tensors should be installed have been determined, the entry and exit points of each drill hole must be marked on both sides of the bridge. However, the exit point of each drill hole is not visible from the entry point, making it impossible to drill precisely. Here, we present a method based on a calibrated system that combines precision topography with laser technology. Using this method, drill holes longer than 12 m can be achieved with centimetric precision.