Validity and reliability of rating perceived exertion in women with fibromyalgia: exertion-pain discrimination

The present study aimed (1) to assess the validity and reliability of the Borg category-ratio (CR-10) scale for monitoring exercise intensity in women with fibromyalgia (FM) and (2) to examine whether women with FM can discriminate between perceived exertion and exercise-induced pain. Thirty-three women with FM performed two incremental treadmill tests (1 week separated). Heart rate, oxygen uptake, minute ventilation and respiratory quotient were measured. The ratings of perceived exertion (RPE: CR-10 scale) and exercise-induced pain were obtained at each workload. The Spearman’s correlation of RPE with the physiological responses ranged from 0.69 to 0.79. The regression models explained ~50% of the variability of the studied physiological responses. We found “perfect acceptable” agreement in 69% of the observations. Weighted Kappa was 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59–0.72). There were differences between RPE and pain at workloads 3 (1.50; 95%CI: 0.85–2.16), 4 (2.10; 95%CI: 1.23–2.96), 5 (3.40; 95%CI: 1.29–5.51) and 6 (3.97; 95%CI: 1.61–6.33). The main findings of the present study suggest that the Borg CR-10 scale is valid and moderately reliable for monitoring exercise intensity in women with FM, and these patients were able to discriminate between exertion and exercise-induced pain.     

The role of student and alumni associations in the democratization process in Spain

Alumni associations are institutions that are used to create, maintain, or modify relations between educational organizations and their publics. Thus, student and alumni associations were a fundamental part of the workings of the education and employment engine in Spain during the political transition. Public relations managers of higher education institutions could gain information from alumni associations, professional associations, student associations, government, and the public in general, and therefore, achieve their goals with greater ease.     

Knowledge,Belief, and Science Education

This article intends to show that the defense of “understanding” as one of the major goals of science education can be grounded on an anti-reductionist perspective on testimony as a source of knowledge. To do so, we critically revisit the discussion between Harvey Siegel and Alvin Goldman about the goals of science education, especially where it involves arguments based on the epistemology of testimony. Subsequently, we come back to a discussion between Charbel N. El-Hani and Eduardo Mortimer, on the one hand, and Michael Hoffmann, on the other, striving to strengthen the claim that rather than students’ belief change, understanding should have epistemic priority as a goal of science education. Based on these two lines of discussion, we conclude that the reliance on testimony as a source of knowledge is necessary to the development of a more large and comprehensive scientific understanding by science students.     

Gross motor teaching in preschool education: where,what and how do Singapore educators teach? (Enseñanza de la motricidad gruesa en educación infantil: ¿dónde,qué y cómo enseñan las maestras en Singapur?)

ABSTRACT

Fostering the development of gross motor (GM) skills is important in itself and beneficial for the holistic development of children. While early childhood curriculum frameworks for GM teaching have been recently articulated, there is limited research on actual pedagogical practices. This study explored GM teaching practices in Singapore Kindergarten 1 classrooms (4–5 years), focusing on where (indoors vs outdoors), what (types of GM skills) and how (teaching strategies and opportunities for practice) preschool educators teach. The study is part of a longitudinal project in which 108 Kindergarten 1 classrooms were observed and videotaped during a full ‘typical day’ (3–4 hours). GM teaching was observed to occur predominantly indoors. Non-locomotor skills were the most frequently taught to children, followed by locomotor and manipulative skills. Many educators were observed using explicit teaching strategies before and during GM activities, with low involvement after activities had been completed. While GM teaching was predominantly teacher-led, opportunities for unguided practice and play were more frequent outdoors. We conclude that Singapore preschool educators need support to better enact the guidelines of the GM curriculum framework. The study enriches the thin classroom-based international literature on GM education.     

New Approaches to University in Spain: Academic Change,Creative Dimensions and Ethical Commitment in the Establishment of the European Higher Education Area

This paper discusses the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), its creation, its guidelines, and its inherently innovative potential. It looks closely at the theoretical proposals, the innovative regulations and institutional practices in the process of academic change that relate to teaching, research and management. It also describes the emergence of creative processes in quality assurance and methodological renewal. These bring new professional challenges and educational opportunities to the fore; challenges which raise ethical issues for those involved in these approaches to universities in Spain and the European Union.     

People and Technology Today： Some Educational Implications

The present article approaches some of the educational implications borne by humanity with technological progress We begin by pointing out significant data that classify what is considered relevant. Then, confronting the future is discussed by analyzing the attitudes necessary to promote the goals. Confronted with these challenges, three possible focuses are suggested in accordance to the novel realities issued from science and technology： The first is the revitalization of humanism; The second is, the society of knowledge calls for both ＂radicalism and responsibility＂, which is also a response to our own decisions, without avoiding their consequences nor discharging them in others; The third is, understanding the true and full significance of solidarity. Finally, some approaches and educational suggestions are highlighted allowing parents, professors and students the greatest opportunity for profiting from the limitless resources that science and technology provide us for personal growth.     

Use of repertory grids in facilitating knowledge construction and reconstruction in geology

This article describes a case study of the social construction of knowledge when undergraduate students are engaged in collaborative analysis of repertory grids produced by themselves and their instructor. The research is based on the elicitation of students' private understanding and instructors' public knowledge with the use of the repertory grid. This technique is derived from Kelly's personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955), a constructivist theory that emphasizes the idiosyncratic nature of meaning. The teaching experience that follows was conducted adopting the educational paradigm of self-organized learning, in which the principles of constructivism, conceptual change, personal construct psychology, public knowledge and private understanding, and social learning are integrated to some extent. Results indicate that the repertory grid technique is (a) an approach that motivates students to be responsible for their own learning; (b) one means to get students to communicate their understanding and make this understanding open for inspection and scrutiny; (c) a way to negotiate the meanings of the concepts under study; (d) a tool to match students' understanding with their instructor's knowledge; and (e) a way for students to structure their knowledge. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Building Educational Tools Based on Formal Concept Analysis

The increasing demand for quality in educational software makes it necessary to use tools and methodologies that support both the design and the development process of this kind of software. In this paper we propose Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) as the basis for a practical and well founded methodological approach to the design of educational applications. FCA is a technique that can be applied to model the linguistic conceptualizations that experts make when describing their expertise domain. Thus, FCA can be used as a complementary tool to support design decisions about the structure and the interface of educational applications. We also present how we are using FCA in two different projects: a help system for the Unix operating system, and a multimedia tutorial for improving second language text comprehension. In the final discussion we raise some questions about FCA applicability and introduce some future lines of work. © IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers