The primary school’s invasion of the privacy of the child: unmasking the potential of some current practices

Privacy has been defined as “the protective buffer within which people can avoid another party’s taking something from them, keeping watch over them, or entering into their lives in a way that is both unwelcome and undesirable”. It is a premise of this paper that such a position needs to be taken very seriously in contemporary society, and particularly in the case of schools, as school personnel have the capacity to engage in practices which show great disregard for individual and family privacy. This is illustrated in the case of primary school education in the Republic of Ireland. Particular attention is paid to assessment, pedagogical and curricular practices that derive from patterns of systematic and mandatory disclosure that are confessional, performative and public.     

Critique in academic disciplines and active learning of academic content

This article argues for increased theoretical specificity in the active learning process. Whereas constructivist learning emphasizes construction of meaning, the process articulated here complements meaning construction with disciplinary critique. This process is an implication of how disciplinary communities generate new knowledge claims, which is comprised by an interaction of roles – authors construct claims and peers critique them. Because disciplinary critique drives and shapes generation of knowledge claims, specialized features of these claims both justify and define their meaning. Here science is offered as an example, in which critique drives measurement of key concepts, thereby anchoring their meaning in operational definitions. The account of active learning proposed sheds new light on both historical and contemporary characterizations of active learning in terms of taking a critical stance toward content, in which the learner questions and challenges content. Thus students, rather than teachers, should actively challenge their emerging understanding of content.     

Creating research culture in Caribbean universities

Recent expansion of tertiary education in the Caribbean via the creation of two new universities invites reflection on what impedes the creation of research culture, and what enables it. We contend that research culture in the Caribbean comes up against the strictures of post-colonial dependence, university education in the region being largely a one-way traffic of ideas from metropolitan centers to island peripheries. To offset this, we call for change both in the external environments in which the universities are set, and their internal environments, within which the ethos of inquiry must become commonplace. Demand for research knowledge has to be cultivated throughout the Caribbean. Accordingly, we call for collaborative approaches between university communities and the various publics they serve, to find and solve problems that can lead to the improvement of well being.     

Four Wives

我们每个人的生命中都会有四位"妻子",她们分别是精神、家庭和朋友、地位和财富、我们的身体。后三位均会在临死前离我们而去,而永恒陪伴我们的却是我们的精神。     

Can changes in resistance exercise workload influence internal load,countermovement jump performance and the endocrine response?

This study examined the influence of differing volume load and intensity (%1 repetition maximum[%1RM]) resistance exercise workouts on session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) countermovement jump (CMJ) performance and endocrine responses. Twelve participants performed a workout comprising four exercises (bench press, back squat, deadlift and prone bench pull) in randomised order as either power (POW); 3 sets × 6 repetitions at 45%1RM × 3 min inter-set rest, strength (ST); 3 sets × 3 repetitions at 90%1RM × 3 min inter-set rest, or hypertrophy (HYP); 3 sets × 10 repetitions at 70%1RM × 1 min inter-set rest in a randomised-crossover design. CMJ performance and endocrine responses were measured immediately pre-, post-, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h post-exercise. POW sRPE (3.0 ± 1.0) was lower than ST (4.5 ± 1.0) (P = 0.01), and both were lower than HYP (8.5 ± 1.0) (P = 0.01). Duration of CMJ decrement was longer (P ≤ 0.05) for HYP (72 h) compared to POW (12 h) and ST (24 h). Testosterone concentration was greater (P ≤ 0.05) immediately post-exercise in HYP compared to POW and ST. In conclusion, less inter-set rest, greater volume load and intensity (%1RM) may increase sRPE, duration of CMJ performance decrement and testosterone responses in resistance exercise.     

Stress and risk for depression in competitive athletes suffering from back pain – Do age and gender matter?†

Back pain (BP), a prominent problem for competitive athletes, is a primary reason for limitations in athletic performance and daily life restrictions. As studies on the relationship between psychological variables and BP in athletes are scarce, the aim of this study was to investigate stress and depression in competitive athletes with BP. In a cross-sectional design, data of 154 competitive athletes (51% female; M_age?=?18.81 years, SD_age?=?5.05 years) were collected, assessing Performance stress, Socio-emotional stress, Risk for depression and Psychological well-being and the two BP parameters BP Intensity and Disability. Two multiple linear regressions were conducted to predict (1) BP Intensity and (2) Disability from Performance stress, Socio-emotional stress, Risk for depression and Psychological well-being. Multiple linear regressions demonstrated that Performance stress (β?=?.21, p?=?.01) was the only significant predictor of BP Intensity (F_1,142?=?6.68, p?=?.01, R²?=?.05), whilst Risk for depression (β?=?.24, p?=?.01) was the only significant predictor of Disability (F_1,142?=?8.46, p?=?.01, R²?=?.06). Neither gender nor age explained a significant amount of variance in the models. Study results showed that, as in the general population, the variables stress and depression are related to BP in competitive athletes. In particular, BP intensity was found to be associated with stress and BP-related disability was associated with depression, whereas age and gender showed no association with the BP parameters. A longitudinal investigation is warranted to determine the direction of the observed relationships.     

An intensification approach to double-block algebra: A pilot implementation of Intensified Algebra in a large urban school district

Double-block instruction has become a popular strategy for supporting struggling mathematics students in algebra I. Despite its widespread adoption, little consistent evidence supports the attributes of a successful double-block design or the effectiveness of this instructional strategy. In this study, the authors examine a pilot implementation of a double-block strategy—instantiated in the program Intensified Algebra—that combines core algebra content with insights from research on how students learn mathematics and explicit noncognitive supports focused on key attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors essential to student success. The results of the study show that, when implemented with fidelity, participation in the program significantly increased student achievement on the state end-of-course algebra I assessment.     

The state-of-the-art in digital technology-based assessment

The role of digital technology in assessment has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Naturally, technology offers many practical benefits, such as increased efficiency with regard to the design, implementation and scoring of existing assessments. More importantly, it also has the potential to have profound, transformative effects on the field of assessment by facilitating the integration of formative activities with accountability requirements and broadening the range of abilities and the scope of constructs that can be assessed. This article provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in digital technology-based assessment, with particular reference to advances in the automated scoring of constructed responses, the assessment of complex 21^st century skills in large-scale assessments and innovations involving high fidelity virtual reality simulations. Key challenges with respect to each are highlighted before the extent to which digital technology is truly transforming assessment is considered.