Results From the Quality Early Childhood Training Program

High-quality child care is related to children's positive developmental outcomes. One way to increase quality of care is to provide training to child care providers. This study used assessment-based training to determine if overall quality of care in center-based preschools could be enhanced. Participants were recruited from six center-based child care programs serving preschool-age children and included program administrators, teachers, teacher aides, and enrolled children. Program administrators (N?=?6) were assessed with the Program Administration Scale (Talan & Bloom, 2004), classrooms (N?=?14) with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised (ECERS-R; Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 2005) and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation—Research Edition (ELLCO; Smith & Dickinson, 2002), teachers (N?=?24) with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2007), and children (N?=?135) with an author-created measurement designed to assess typical skills across five child domains. Assessments were administered at two time points and individualized targeted training was provided in between. Results demonstrated that after 7 months of intervention, the largest effect sizes were seen at the program administration and classroom levels and that smaller effect sizes were found at the teacher and child levels.     

‘Impact’ in the proposals for the UK's Research Excellence Framework: Shifting the boundaries of academic autonomy

Evaluation of university-based research already has a reasonably long tradition in the UK, but proposals to revise the framework for national evaluation aroused controversy in the academic community because they envisage assessing more explicitly than before the economic, social and cultural ‘impact’ of research as well as its scientific quality. Using data from the 2009 public consultation on the proposals for a Research Excellence Framework, this paper identifies three main lines of controversy: the threats to academic autonomy implied in the definition of expert review and the delimitation of reviewers, the scope for boundary-work in the construction of impact narratives and case studies, and the framing of knowledge translation by the stipulation that impact ‘builds on’ research. Given the behaviour-shaping effects of research evaluation, the paper demonstrates how the proposed changes could help embed impact considerations among the routine reflexive tools of university researchers and enhance rather than restrict academic autonomy at the level of research units. It also argues that the REF could constitute an important dialogical space for negotiating science–society relations in an era of increasing heteronomy between academia, state and industry. But the paper raises doubts about whether the proposed operationalisation of impact is adequate to evaluate the ways that research and knowledge translation are actually carried out.     

Student enrollment decisions and academic success: evaluating the impact of classroom space design

Learning Environments Research - Instruction based on active learning is being promoted in higher education by the creation of new collaborative teaching and learning spaces, but capacity does not...     

Strategic Ambiguity: How Pre-Tenure Faculty Negotiate the Hidden Rules of Academia

Innovative Higher Education - The tenure evaluation process is characterized by a lack of clarity and governed by unspoken rules. At the same time, while institutions have increased the presence of...     

Converting a Face-To-Face Introductory Research Methods Course to an Online Format: Pedagogical Issues and Technological Tools

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a step-by-step conversion of a face-to-face (F2F) entry level social work research methods course to a computer-mediated format. An overview of teaching practices and the important pedagogical foundations associated with this curricular effort are discussed followed by an introduction to the electronic platform utilized in the course. Five new teaching practices that guide the F2F-to-online course conversion of this introductory research methods course are presented with corresponding teaching activities and technological tools. A conversion matrix aligns the teaching practices, classroom activities, and provides references for the identified tools.     

The role of deliberate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis

Experts acquire domain‐specific skills as a result of the activities in which they participate throughout their development. We examine the domain‐specific activities in which two groups of elite youth soccer players participated between six and 12 years of age. Our goal was to examine early participation differences between those who progressed to professional status at 16 years of age and those who did not. Data were contrasted to a control group of recreational‐level players and examined in the context of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation, which supports the importance of late specialization and early diversity between six and 12 years of age. The elite players who went on to attain professional status accumulated more hours per year in soccer play activities, but not in soccer practice, competition or other sports, between six and 12 years of age, compared with those who did not progress. The two elite groups averaged more hours per year in soccer practice compared with recreational‐level players, but not soccer play, competition or other sports. We propose the “early engagement hypothesis” to explain our results. Accordingly, practice and play in the primary sport between six and 12 years of age contributes to the development of expert performance in English soccer.     

Optofluidics incorporating actively controlled micro- and nano-particles

The advent of optofluidic systems incorporating suspended particles has resulted in the emergence of novel applications. Such systems operate based on the fact that suspended particles can be manipulated using well-appointed active forces, and their motions, locations and local concentrations can be controlled. These forces can be exerted on both individual and clusters of particles. Having the capability to manipulate suspended particles gives users the ability for tuning the physical and, to some extent, the chemical properties of the suspension media, which addresses the needs of various advanced optofluidic systems. Additionally, the incorporation of particles results in the realization of novel optofluidic solutions used for creating optical components and sensing platforms. In this review, we present different types of active forces that are used for particle manipulations and the resulting optofluidic systems incorporating them. These systems include optical components, optofluidic detection and analysis platforms, plasmonics and Raman systems, thermal and energy related systems, and platforms specifically incorporating biological particles. We conclude the review with a discussion of future perspectives, which are expected to further advance this rapidly growing field.     

Sense of Belonging and Persistence in White and African American First-Year Students

The authors argue for the inclusion of students’ subjective sense of belonging in an integrated model of student persistence (Cabrera et al., J Higher Educ 64:123–139, 1993). The effects of sense of belonging and a simple intervention designed to increase sense of belonging are tested in the context of this model. The intervention increased sense of belonging for white students, but not for African American students. However, sense of belonging had direct effects on institutional commitment and indirect effects on intentions to persist and actual persistence behavior for both white and African American students.     

The effect of unilateral arm swing motion on lower extremity running mechanics associated with injury risk

Many field sports involve equipment that restricts one or both arms from moving while running. Arm swing during running has been examined from a biomechanical and physiologic perspective but not from an injury perspective. Moreover, only bilateral arm swing suppression has been studied with respect to running. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of running with one arm restrained on lower extremity mechanics associated with running or sport-related injury. Fifteen healthy participants ran at a self-selected speed with typical arm swing, with one arm restrained and with both arms restrained. Lower extremity kinematics and spatiotemporal measures were analysed for all arm swing conditions. Running with one arm restrained resulted in increased frontal plane knee and hip angles, decreased foot strike angle, and decreased centre of mass vertical displacement compared to typical arm swing or bilateral arm swing restriction. Stride length was decreased and step frequency increased when running with one or both arms restrained. Unilateral arm swing restriction induces changes in lower extremity kinematics that are not similar to running with bilateral arm swing restriction or typical arm swing motion. Running with one arm restrained increases frontal plane mechanics associated with risk of knee injury.