Young Adult Fairy Tales for the New Age: Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast

Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast attests to the resilience of the traditional folktale form. Block's work is a modern adaptation of some of the most familiar old tales, all with heroines struggling against a plastic, soulless culture beset by drugs, sex, and violence. Her heroines in these feminist retellings survive not with the help of magic but by their own ingenuity and resourcefulness. Using the folktale template, Block conveys her often strong social messages (the destructiveness of sexual violence or drug abuse, for example) with stark symbolism, surreal settings, and deceptive simplicity. The results are powerful, revisionist tales that ultimately celebrate the triumph of love—in all its manifestations—as the antidote to the neuroses of contemporary American society.     

Post-warmup strategies to maintain body temperature and physical performance in professional rugby union players

We compared the effects of using passive-heat maintenance, explosive activity or a combination of both strategies during the post-warmup recovery time on physical performance. After a standardised warmup, 16 professional rugby union players, in a randomised design, completed a counter-movement jump (peak power output) before resting for 20 min and wearing normal-training attire (CON), wearing a passive heat maintenance (PHM) jacket, wearing normal attire and performing 3 × 5 CMJ (with a 20% body mass load) after 12 min of recovery (neuromuscular function, NMF), or combining PHM and NMF (COMB). After 20 min, participants completed further counter-movement jump and a repeated sprint protocol. Core temperature (T_core) was measured at baseline, post-warmup and post-20 min. After 20 min of recovery, T_core was significantly lower under CON and NMF, when compared with both PHM and COMB (P < 0.05); PHM and COMB were similar. Peak power output had declined from post-warmup under all conditions (P < 0.001); however, the drop was less in COMB versus all other conditions (P < 0.05). Repeated sprint performance was significantly better under COMB when compared to all other conditions. Combining PHM with NMF priming attenuates the post-warmup decline in T_core and can positively influence physical performance in professional rugby union players.     

What is really causing the obesity epidemic? A review of reviews in children and adults

Obesity prevention is a public health priority and intervention strategies have focused primarily on healthy eating and physical activity in children and adults. To date, no review has systematically compiled and synthesised the scientific evidence from published review articles to determine whether there is clear consensus on the causes of obesity. A systematic review of the literature was conducted searching PubMed/Medline for narrative and systematic review articles published between January 1990 and October 2014 that examined the causes of obesity. In total, 12 of 65 articles met the inclusion criteria; 7 reviews focused on adults (1 systematic, 6 narrative) and 5 reviews on children (2 systematic, 3 narrative). The most popular cause of obesity identified in reviews of adult studies was “combined physical activity and diet” (3 of 7 studies), whereas the most popular cause specified in reviews of child studies was deemed “inconclusive” (2 of 5 studies). While a number of reviews have examined the causes of obesity, the methodology and conclusions varied widely, and few were conducted systematically. Currently, no consensus exists across published literature reviews regarding the primary cause of the obesity epidemic, and more research, particularly prospective studies using state-of-the-art measures, is warranted.     

The relationship between research self-efficacy,research disposition and publication output

The study had two main aims: (i) to develop a model incorporating research self-efficacy and research disposition as predictors of publication output; and (ii) to assess the fit and robustness of this model to dichotomous groups based on gender, academic qualifications and rank. Data were drawn from a survey of lecturers (n = 331) working in two large Australian universities. The survey response rate was 33.6% and the lecturers were affiliated with a diverse range of research disciplines. Well-fitting measurement models for both research self-efficacy and disposition were produced using AMOS. However, a structural model which included these two measurement models would not satisfactorily fit the full sample. Subsequent testing yielded acceptable results when separate analyses employing the group variables of gender, academic qualifications and rank were undertaken. The model with rank offered the best fit of the data and, across all models, research self-efficacy proved to be the most important predictor of output. The results of the study provide an understanding of the scope and nature of research self-efficacy and, in addition, contribute to knowledge about the factors that underlie research disposition. As a consequence, the results have implications for career development programmes designed to foster research skills and further research. Additionally, the results point to some possible interventions aimed to boost research endeavour and output.     

Introducing Argumentation About Climate Change Socioscientific Issues in a Disadvantaged School

Research in Science Education - Improving the ability of young people to construct arguments about controversial science topics is a desired outcome of science education. The purpose of this...     

Early Childhood Education and Care for Children with Disabilities: Facilitating Inclusive Practice*

In this case study, a co-operative inquiry process was used to facilitate the expansion of inclusive early childhood education and care practices in a rural community in the Midwest. A university and a community researcher first engaged in interviews and site visits, during which they learned how a three-member inclusion team of early care and education professionals initiated changes in practice from self-contained to inclusive special education and therapy. Key practices included responding to families’ priorities, changing roles, and providing integrated services and support for children’s successful transitions into Kindergarten. The second part of the research consisted of action planning during focus groups and community meetings, which resulted in social recognition from the school district, technical assistance through state improvement grant funding, and better preschool options for young children with disabilities. *We gratefully acknowledge partial funding of this research by the Dean's Office at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and State Improvement Grant funding by the Department of Public Instruction.     

Teacher adaptation to flexible learning environments

Learning Environments Research - Teaching practices respond to the prompts, resources and inherent potential of a school’s physical, social and cultural landscape. This study involved how...     

A survey of pre-service primary teachers' experiences of science in schools

In 1990, a large proportion of third year primary trainee teachers at Victoria College had observed or taught very few or no science lessons during the first two years of their course. The students felt that a lack of content knowledge, a crowded school curriculum, and problems associated with managing resources and equipment, were the main factors contributing to the low level of science being taught in schools. By the end of their third year significantly more students had taught science than after the second year. There was also a change in approach to teaching science with more practical activities being included than previously. The science method unit taught to the students in the third year of their course contributed to this increase. The students considered the hands-on activities in class to have been the most effective aspect of the unit in their preparation for the teaching of primary science. Specializations: children's learning in science, primary teacher education. Specializations: student understanding of biology, evaluation of formal and informal educational settings. Specializations: gender, science and technology, environmental education. Specializations: children's learning in science, language and science.