Pedagogical renewal: Improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools

This study reports on an investigation of classroom interaction and discourse practices in Nigerian primary schools. Its purpose was to identify key issues affecting patterns of teacher–pupil interaction and discourse as research suggests managing the quality of classroom interaction will play a central role in improving the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in contexts where learning resources and teacher training are limited. The study was based on the interaction and discourse analysis of video recordings of 42 lessons and 59 teacher questionnaires from 10 States, drawn mainly from the north of Nigeria. The findings revealed the prevalence of teacher explanation, recitation and rote in the classroom discourse with little attention being paid to securing pupil understanding. The wider implications of the findings for improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools through more effective school-based training are considered.     

Is open access affordable? Why current models do not work and why we need internet‐era transformation of scholarly communications

Progress to open access (OA) has stalled, with perhaps 20% of new papers ‘born‐free’, and half of all versions of record pay‐walled; why? In this paper, I review the last 12 months: librarians showing muscle in negotiations, publishers’ Read and Publish deals, and funders determined to force change with initiatives like Plan S. I conclude that these efforts will not work. For example, flipping to supply‐side business models, such as article processing charges, simply flips the pay‐wall to a ‘play‐wall’ to the disadvantage of authors without financial support. I argue that the focus on OA makes us miss the bigger problem: today’s scholarly communications is unaffordable with today’s budgets. OA is not the problem, the publishing process is the problem. To solve it, I propose using the principles of digital transformation to reinvent publishing as a two‐step process where articles are published first as preprints, and then, journal editors invite authors to submit only papers that ‘succeed’ to peer review. This would reduce costs significantly, opening a sustainable pathway for scholarly publishing and OA. The catalyst for this change is for the reputation economy to accept preprints as it does articles in minor journals today.     

The culture of the kitchen: Recipes for transformative education within the African American cultural experience

Toby S. Jenkins uses the cultural space of the African American kitchen as a guide for creating academic spaces of liberation and inclusion.     

Developing a standardized comprehensive health survey for use with deaf adults

THERE IS LIMITED INFORMATION on how communication barriers impact on the health of deaf individuals. The present article describes the development of a standardized interview tool to collect health-related information from deaf adults via face-to-face interviews in American Sign Language (ASL). Questions were selected largely from existing standardized questionnaires. Key steps in standardizing the instrument included the creation of an ASL gloss version of the survey and extensive interviewer training. The instrument was pilot-tested and revised prior to implementation. There were 139 questions on the final instrument. A total of 203 interviews were conducted between November 2002 and March 2003. A standardized interview survey administered in ASL proved an effective and well-accepted means of collecting health-related information from a diverse sample of deaf individuals. Several challenges were encountered throughout the process, and the resulting lessons will be useful to future research efforts.     

When Developmental Education is Optional,What Will Students Do? A Preliminary Analysis of Survey Data on Student Course Enrollment Decisions in an Environment of Increased Choice

Historically, college students needing additional academic preparation have been assigned to developmental/remedial courses. In 2013 Florida took a drastic departure from this model by passing Senate Bill 1720, which prohibited institutions from requiring placement tests and made developmental education optional for many students, regardless of prior academic preparation. For this pilot study we conducted a survey at two colleges in the Florida College System to begin to understand the kinds of courses students will take now that developmental education is optional and the factors that students considered when making their course enrollment decisions.     

Reduce,manage or cope: a review of strategies for training school staff to address challenging behaviours displayed by students with intellectual/developmental disabilities

Members of a knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) research team assessed the training needs of the teaching staff at a school for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). In response to this need, KTE researchers retrieved peer‐reviewed articles for training staff working with individuals with IDD who exhibit challenging behaviours. These articles were categorised according to the following training content: (1) interventions designed to reduce the frequency of challenging behaviours; (2) appropriate ways to manage challenging behaviours in the moment to promote safety for all parties and/or to terminate the ongoing behaviour; and/or (3) procedures or perspectives relevant to coping with or ameliorating the negative impacts of challenging behaviours on staff. We then examined the training methods (teaching strategies, training duration) involved in teaching the content and assessed the effectiveness of these programmes. Overall, we found that effective training programmes consisted of workshops, practica and feedback on specific skill performance. Some forms of brief training were effective for increasing staffs' knowledge/skills and reducing the frequency of challenging behaviour.     

Book reviews

Women, sport and performance, C.L. Wells, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 1985. xi+333 pp, $24.00 (hb), ISBN 0 931250 87 0

Research designs and statistics for physical education, Anne L. Rothstein, Prentice Hall, New York, 1985. xiii + 353 pp, £31 (hb), ISBN 0 13 774142 1

Limits of human performance, American Academy of Physical Education Papers No. 18, D.H. Clarke and H.M. Eckert (eds), Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 1985. 144 pp, £14.50 (pb), ISBN 0 931250 99 4

Sports physiology, (2nd edn) E.L. Fox, Holt Saunders, Eastbourne, 1984. xii+418 pp, £18.95 (hb), ISBN 0 03 063771 6

Sport management ‐ macro perspectives, P. Chelladurai, Sports Dynamics, London, Ontario, 1985. 191 pp, $11.95 (pb), ISBN 0 9691619 0 5

Microelectronics in the sport sciences, Charles F. Cicciarella, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois (distributed in the UK by Eddington Hook & Co.), 1986. 105 pp, $12.00 (pb), ISBN 0 87322 056 0

The biomechanics of sports techniques, (3rd edn) J.G. Hay, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1985. xvii+539 pp, £15.95 (pb), ISBN 0 13 078304 8     

Influence of single‐leg training on muscle metabolism and endurance during exercise with the trained limb and the untrained limb

We have previously shown that single‐leg training results in improved endurance for exercise with the untrained leg (UTL) as well as for exercise with the trained leg (TL). The purpose of this study was to see whether the improved endurance of the untrained leg could be explained on the basis of changes in muscle metabolism. Exercise time to exhaustion at 80% of maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂ max) was determined for each leg separately, pre‐ and post‐training. Muscle metabolite concentrations were measured pre‐ and post‐training in biopsy samples obtained immediately before this endurance test and at the pre‐training point of exhaustion (END1). After six weeks of single‐leg training endurance time was increased for both the UTL and the TL (UTL 34.0+16.4 min vs 97.9±26.3 min, P<0.01; TL 28.3 + 10.1 min vs 169.0 + 32.6 min, P < 0.01). No changes in muscle metabolite concentrations were found in resting muscle. Training increased muscle ATP (P <0.05) and glycogen (P <0.01) concentrations and decreased muscle lactate concentration (P<0.05) in the TL at END1. No significant changes in muscle metabolite concentrations were found for the UTL. The improved endurance of the contralateral limb after single‐leg training could not be explained on the basis of changes in muscle metabolism.