OECD 2000. Literacy in the Information age: Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey

International Review of Education -     

Is race or ethnicity a predictive factor in Shaken Baby Syndrome?

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have concluded that shaken baby syndrome occurs more often among Whites than among Blacks. The purpose of this study was to determine whether race is a predictive factor in Shaken Baby Syndrome when population and referral patterns are considered. METHODS: A retrospective medical record review of closed head injuries due to child abuse during the time period January 1992 to July 1997 was conducted at three pediatric tertiary care medical centers in North Carolina. Patients included children, ages 0-4 years, identified from medical record reviews and child abuse databases. Only North Carolina residents were included. The specific rates of shaken baby syndrome in Whites versus non-Whites in the referral area were computed. RESULTS: The difference in the rate of shaken baby syndrome from the referral area was not statistically significant among Whites versus non-Whites (26.7/100,000 versus 38.6/100,000, p = .089) Most of the perpetrators were male (68%), and most victims (76%), lived with their mothers and biologic father or mother's boyfriend. CONCLUSION: Race was not a significant factor in predicting shaken baby syndrome in the referral area studied, and therefore is not a useful factor in targeting groups for intervention.     

The lower body muscle activation of intermediate to experienced kayakers when navigating white water

In white-water kayaking, the legs play a vital part in turning, stabilising and bracing actions. To date, there has been no reported information on neuromuscular activation of the legs in an authentic white-water environment. The aim of the current study was to identify lower body muscle activation, using ‘in-boat’ electromyography (EMG), whilst navigating a white-water run. Ten experienced male kayakers (age 31.5?±?12.5 yr, intermediate to advanced experience) completed three successful runs of an international standard white-water course (grade 3 rapids), targeting right and left sides of the course, in a zigzag formation. Surface EMG (sEMG) outputs were generated, bilaterally, for the rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius, expressed as a percentage of a dynamic maximal voluntary contraction (dMVC). Only RF showed significantly higher activation than any muscle on the left side of the body, and only on the left side of the course (P?=?.004; ETA²?=?0.56). Other results showed no significant difference between muscle activation in the right and left legs during each run, nor when assessed at either the right or left side of the course (P?>?.05). These findings indicate that contralateral symmetry in lower limb muscle activation is evident during white-water kayaking. This symmetry may provide a stable base to allow more asymmetrical upper body and trunk movements to be fully optimised. Lower body symmetry development should be considered useful in targeted training programmes for white-water kayakers.     

Using SERVQUAL to Measure the Quality of the Classroom Experience

Over the last three decades, higher education institutions have found themselves using vernacular that was once chiefly found in business disciplines, such as value‐added and competitive advantage. With the rising costs of tuition, newer‐generation students are seeing themselves more and more as customers and universities are beginning to adopt customer‐centric strategies and missions. However, even with this paradigm shift, little research has been done to extend traditional service management concepts to educational settings. This research attempts to bridge this gap by applying the SERVQUAL scale, a well‐validated and widely used service operations construct, to the classroom environment. The findings show that the SERVQUAL scale exhibits both reliability and convergent and divergent validity; in fact, in these regards, it outperforms traditional student assessment scales. Moreover, the scale can explain significant amounts of variances in student‐related outcome variables such as satisfaction and learning. This innovative approach to measuring classroom service quality does indeed show that students can be viewed as customers and has far‐reaching implications to all stakeholders in the delivery of higher education.