Physical Education's Role in Public Health: Responses

In this study, we used the trans-contextual model of motivation (TCM) to examine the effect of Sport Education (SE) on students' participation in a voluntary lunch recess sport club. A total of 192 participants (ages 9-14 years) completed measures of the TCM constructs before and after a 12-week SE intervention period. Participants had the opportunity to participate in weekly, voluntary lunch recess sport club sessions during the intervention period. SE elicited a moderate increase in autonomous motives in physical education. The TCM accounted for a significant proportion of the explained variance in lunch recess sport club intention and participation. Autonomy-supportive curricular models, such as SE, may have the potential to facilitate transfer of motivation and participation in physical activity from a physical education to an extracurricular context.     

Effects of instructional strategies using cross sections on the recognition of anatomical structures in correlated CT and MR images

This research is an effort to best utilize the interactive anatomical images for instructional purposes based on cognitive load theory. Three studies explored the differential effects of three computer‐based instructional strategies that use anatomical cross‐sections to enhance the interpretation of radiological images. These strategies include: (1) cross‐sectional images of the head that can be superimposed on radiological images, (2) transparent highlighting of anatomical structures in radiological images, and (3) cross‐sectional images of the head with radiological images presented side‐by‐side. Data collected included: (1) time spent on instruction and on solving test questions, (2) mental effort during instruction and test, and (3) students' performance to identify anatomical structures in radiological images. Participants were 28 freshmen medical students (15 males and 13 females) and 208 biology students (190 females and 18 males). All studies used posttest‐only control group design, and the collected data were analyzed by either t test or ANOVA. In self‐directed computer‐based environments, the strategies that used cross sections to improve students' ability to recognize anatomic structures in radiological images showed no significant positive effects. However, when increasing the complexity of the instructional materials, cross‐sectional images imposed a higher cognitive load, as indicated by higher investment of mental effort. There is not enough evidence to claim that the simultaneous combination of cross sections and radiological images has no effect on the identification of anatomical structures in radiological images for novices. Further research that control for students' learning and cognitive style is needed to reach an informative conclusion. Anat Sci Ed 1:75–83, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Community universities in the South of Brazil: prospects and challenges of a model of non-state public higher education

In recent years, higher education institutions have been encouraged to engage more strongly with their local communities, and address their historically weak links with their surrounding populations. In the latter part of the twentieth century, a number of community universities were established in the South of Brazil, characterised by democratic local community involvement, expansion of access in non-metropolitan regions, and close ties with local industry. This article analyses these innovative institutions in relation to the complex demands of the so-called knowledge economy and multifaceted relationships between public and private, exploring the ways in which the public good role of universities manifests itself in relation to the local. Given their hybrid nature – independent from the state but with a public good mission – these institutions can be seen to represent a new model of non-state public higher education. Implications are drawn out for the potential role of these institutions in the current policy context of Brazil, and internationally, in light of their context-specificity and the significant challenges from the highly commercialised for-profit sector.     

International education and the ‘second phase’: a framework for conceptualizing its nature and for the future assessment of its effectiveness

International education involves a dichotomy of study between the largely theoretical discipline of comparative education, and the still relatively under‐researched body of international schools. The last 40 years has seen the rapid growth both in scale and diversity of this type of school, plus the emergence of a discrete industry. This dimension of international education now seems to be entering a ‘second phase’, characterized in the main by a desire to exert more influence. This seems to hinge on the bringing of order and greater structure to the growing industry, and the creating of a deeper and more meaningful educational experience. This paper offers an introductory framework for conceptualizing the complex nature and ambition of this ‘second phase’, and offers an introductory platform for the future assessing of its overall effectiveness.     

Intrinsic reinforcing properties of putatively neutral stimuli in an instrumental two-lever discrimination task

Four experiments examined the influence of a stimulus presented after one response in a two-lever choice task. In Experiment 1, food-deprived rats trained on a concurrent variable-interval extinction schedule responded more often on the extinction lever when such responding periodically produced a visual stimulus than when it did not. In Experiments 2 and 3, a similar signal-induced enhancement effect was found even when food was delivered randomly with respect to responding on both levers or when no food was presented. In Experiment 4, a response-contingent visual stimulus elevated responding to the lever on which it was presented, but an auditory cue suppressed responding. These findings indicate that visual stimuli may possess intrinsically reinforcing properties for rats.     

Indigenous higher education in Mexico and Brazil: between redistribution and recognition

Abstract

Indigenous groups in Latin America face a double exclusion from higher education, with low levels of access to institutions and little acknowledgement of their distinctive cultural and epistemological traditions within the curriculum. This article assesses current policies in Mexico and Brazil towards indigenous populations in higher education, considering the various responses to the challenge, including affirmative action programmes in mainstream universities, intercultural courses and autonomous institutions. These policies and initiatives are analysed using the theoretical frames of redistribution and recognition, focusing on demands for formal equality and material wellbeing on the one hand, and a distinctive cultural and educational space on the other. While state-sponsored policies focus primarily on the redistributive element, initiatives based on recognition come largely from autonomous organisations, raising a series of dilemmas and tensions around educational justice for indigenous populations in the region.