Confronting the urban in urban school refor

The ways in which urban schools respond to and are affected by the urban environment are explored through a case study analysis of Lowell Middle School, located in the West Oakland section of Oakland, California. The connection between the social environment and urban schools is generally ignored in most school reform initiatives. The unwillingness of policymakers to confront the environmental aspects of the problems facing urban schools is due to the often unstated belief that nothing can actually be done to address the plight of urban areas. In many of these communities, the urban public school is one of few social institutions that provide a degree of stability and social support to the individuals and families that are served. As the only public agency charged with serving all young people regardless of their status, the urban school has the potential to play a leading role in the revitalization of urban areas. This possibility is explored within the context of ongoing efforts at Lowell Middle School to promote educational reform by bridging the gap between the school and the community.     

The Effectiveness of Concept Maps in Teaching Physics Concepts Applied to Engineering Education: Experimental Comparison of the Amount of Learning Achieved With and Without Concept Maps

A study was conducted to quantify the effectiveness of concept maps in learning physics in engineering degrees. The following research question was posed: What was the difference in learning results from the use of concept maps to study a particular topic in an engineering course? The study design was quasi-experimental and used a post-test as a measuring instrument. The sample included 114 university students from the School of Industrial Engineering who were divided into two equivalent homogeneous groups of 57 students each. The amount of learning attained by the students in each group was compared, with the independent variable being the teaching method; the experimental group (E.G.) used concept maps, while the control group (C.G.) did not. We performed a crossover study with the two groups of students, with one group acting as the E.G. for the topic of optical fibers and as the C.G. for the topic of the fundamental particles of matter and vice versa for the other group. For each of the two topics studied, the evaluation instrument was a test of 100 dichotomous items. The resulting data were subjected to a comparative statistical analysis, which revealed a significant difference in the amount of learning attained by the E.G. students as compared with the C.G. students. The results allow us to state that for the use of concept maps, the average increment in the E.G. students’ learning was greater than 19 percentage points.     

Characteristics and publication patterns of theses from a Peruvian medical school

Background: Many medical schools require a student thesis before graduation. Publishing results in a peer‐reviewed journal could be an indicator of scientific value and acceptability by the scientific community. The publication pattern of theses published by medical students in Peru is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics and publication pattern of theses in biomedical‐indexed journals conducted by medical students in a university with the highest research output in Peru. Methods: Data from registered theses between 2000 and 2003 were obtained from the university library. Publication of theses in biomedical journals was assessed in 2008 by a search strategy using PubMed, Google Scholar, LILACS, LIPECS and SciELO. Results: Four hundred and eighty‐two medical theses were registered between 2000 and 2003; 85 (17.6%) were published in biomedical‐indexed journals. Of the published theses, 28 (5.8%) were published in MEDLINE‐indexed journals, 55 (11.4%) in SciELO‐indexed journals, 61 (12.6%) in LILACS‐indexed journals and 68 (14.1%) in LIPECS‐indexed journals. Most of the published theses (80%) were in Spanish and published in Peruvian journals; and 17 theses (20%) were published in foreign journals (all of them indexed in MEDLINE). In addition, 37 (43.5%) belong primarily to internal medicine, and 24 (28.2%) belong primarily to infectious diseases. Medical students were first authors in 71 (83.5%) of the articles. Conclusion: In this study, most of the published theses were in Spanish, published in local journals and indexed in LIPECS. The percentage of published theses in biomedical journals at this university is comparable with others coming from developed countries.     

BMI group-related differences in physical fitness and physical activity in preschool-age children: a cross-sectional analysis

In the Ballabeina study, we investigated age- and BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness (20 m shuttle run), agility (obstacle course), dynamic (balance beam) and static balance (balance platform), and physical activity (PA, accelerometers) in 613 children (M age = 5.1 years, SD = 0.6). Normal weight (NW) children performed better than overweight (OW) children in aerobic fitness, agility, and dynamic balance (all p <.001), while OWchildren had a better static balance (p < .001). BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness and agility were larger in older children (p for interaction with age = .01) in favor of the NW children. PA did not differ between NW and OW (p > or = .1), but did differ between NW and obese children (p < .05). BMI-group-related differences in physical fitness can already be present in preschool-age children.     

Enhancing the Popularity and the Relevance of Science Teaching in Portuguese Science Classes

PARSEL Project emerged from the urgent need to overcome the problem of lack of scientific literacy in the population, which should be a priority in a society where science occupies a central place. Indeed, nowadays for any citizen to participate in a responsible and informed way in society he has to be scientifically acknowledgeable. Nevertheless, not only are scientific levels low in the general population, but also there is an increasing number of students who avoid science and technology courses and related professions. Within this context, PARSEL aims at raising science and scientific courses’ popularity and relevancy as well as at enacting teachers’ professional development. In order to achieve these goals, the PARSEL group developed 54 pan-European modules, which were tested and evaluated by several teachers in several European countries and Israel. Teachers maintained a close relationship with the university, were highly encouraged to appropriate the modules and to adapt them to their local conditions and, also to discuss and share their experiences. In Portugal, modules were tested by a group of eight teachers, and their students. This paper presents data concerning teachers’ evaluation. Data was collected by means of interviews, observation and written documents and reveals that teachers positively evaluated PARSEL’s impact on their own professional development. Furthermore, they considered modules as well as the teaching-learning approach essential for making science learning relevant and popular for their students.     

International student mobility in a German and Portuguese university: Which factors in the host institution matter?

In a globalising world, international mobility in higher education is an important phenomenon for students and higher education institutions. It is therefore essential to understand the factors that determine international students' satisfaction with higher education institutions that serve as hosts. Through research of an exploratory, quantitative nature, this study presents results from a survey among 289 incoming international students in two universities in Germany and Portugal. Our findings show that the factor we define as educational experience was an important determinant of student satisfaction. Furthermore, the appraisal of academic reputation is dependent on the university. We conclude that satisfaction with academic factors is more important for international students than satisfaction with non-academic aspects.     

The location of the tibial accelerometer does influence impact acceleration parameters during running

Tibial accelerations have been associated with a number of running injuries. However, studies attaching the tibial accelerometer on the proximal section are as numerous as those attaching the accelerometer on the distal section. This study aimed to investigate whether accelerometer location influences acceleration parameters commonly reported in running literature. To fulfil this purpose, 30 athletes ran at 2.22, 2.78 and 3.33 m · s^–1 with three accelerometers attached with double-sided tape and tightened to the participants’ tolerance on the forehead, the proximal section of the tibia and the distal section of the tibia. Time-domain (peak acceleration, shock attenuation) and frequency-domain parameters (peak frequency, peak power, signal magnitude and shock attenuation in both the low and high frequency ranges) were calculated for each of the tibial locations. The distal accelerometer registered greater tibial acceleration peak and shock attenuation compared to the proximal accelerometer. With respect to the frequency-domain analysis, the distal accelerometer provided greater values of all the low-frequency parameters, whereas no difference was observed for the high-frequency parameters. These findings suggest that the location of the tibial accelerometer does influence the acceleration signal parameters, and thus, researchers should carefully consider the location they choose to place the accelerometer so that equivalent comparisons across studies can be made.     

Body dissatisfaction in women’s artistic gymnastics: A longitudinal study of psychosocial indicators

Body dissatisfaction is prevalent in women’s artistic gymnastics (WAG). Cross-sectional research points to social and individual risk factors, however it does not account for potential changes in body dissatisfaction during an athletic season. This study aimed to determine how gymnasts’ body dissatisfaction, risk factors for eating disorders, media internalisation, perfectionism and mood state change during pre-competition, competition and post-competition seasons and to identify how these psychosocial indicators impact on body dissatisfaction during the athletic year. The sample consisted of 20 Brazilian elite women’s artistic gymnasts aged 10–16 years. Data were obtained from a 9-month study using: Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ); Eating Attitude Test-26; Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3); Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS); Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) and triceps and subscapular skinfolds. Body dissatisfaction was higher during the competition season and disordered eating, perfectionism and vigour values were higher in the pre-competition season. Disordered eating has been found as the strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction during all seasons, and mood state partly contributed to body dissatisfaction in the competitive season. Stakeholders should understand that body dissatisfaction and the prevalence of disordered eating may change over time.