CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS READMITTED FOLLOWING ACADEMIC SUSPENSION

The study was an investigation of the usefulness of 50 variables in predicting the academic performance of 86 students readmitted to Bronx Community College following academic suspension. The variables included scores on the City University of New York placement tests, the Maudsley Personality Inventory, and the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes. Other variables included 8 educational history items, 20 biographical items, and students' opinions about the contribution of 12 factors to their previous academic failure. The criterion measure was the academic performance (pass or fail) in the re‐entry semester.

The principal conclusions to be derived from this study are that, for the population of academic failures characterized by average high school achievement and average scholastic aptitude, specific academic skills are important, past academic record seems unimportant, and a general factor called incentive seems important in the attainment of passing grades upon readmission.     

Effects of volleyball match-induced fatigue on knee joint position sense

Abstract

It has been suggested that a greater number of injuries during the last third of practice sessions or matches could be related to alteration of lower limb neuromuscular control due to neuromuscular fatigue. This fatigue-related effect can be mediated by changes in joint proprioception. In athletes, the use of functional fatigue protocols could have the advantage of mimicking the demands of sporting activity, thus reflecting more specifically the changes in neuromuscular control and proprioception observed in sport settings. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of fatigue induced by a volleyball match on knee joint position sense in elite volleyball players. Seventeen female volleyball players aged 18.9±4.2 years from the Portuguese national team volunteered for the study. Knee joint position sense was evaluated by an open kinetic chain technique and active knee positioning, and was reported using absolute, relative, and variable angular errors. Joint position sense measures were obtained before and immediately after a simulated volleyball match of five sets. To ensure that the match was sufficiently intense to induce fatigue, the perceived exertion or exercise intensity was assessed at the end of the match using Borg’ s rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. All participants completed the volleyball match (90min duration), reaching or exceeding 15 on the RPE scale (15.59±0.71; range 15–17), equivalent to “hard/heavy work”. After the volleyball match, a significant increase in absolute (2.11°) and relative (1.71°) angular errors was detected. Match-induced fatigue significantly exacerbated the overestimation of the test position. Moreover, the reliability and accuracy in estimating knee angles decreased from rest to the fatigued state, as shown by the increase (264%) in variable error. Our results show that fatigue induced by a volleyball match has a marked effect on knee joint position sense in elite female volleyball players. Knee joint position sense was less accurate and less consistent after the volleyball match. Fatigue induced by a simulated competitive volleyball match resulted in proprioceptive deficits, decreasing sensorimotor system acuity in female volleyball players.     

Comparison of Dynamic Visual Acuity Between Water Polo Players and Sedentary Students

In this study, we examined differences in dynamic visual acuity between elite and subelite water polo players and sedentary students. To measure dynamic visual acuity binocularly, we asked participants to indicate the orientation of a broken ring, similar to the Landolt C, which increased in size as it moved across a computer screen. Two different speeds, three possible trajectories, and two different levels of contrast were evaluated. There were statistically significant differences between elite players and sedentary students for each combination of speed, contrast, and trajectory. Elite players achieved better dynamic visual acuity scores, and results also improved for some combinations of speed, contrast, and trajectory. Comparison between elite and subelite groups failed to reveal any     

An intersubjective developmental perspective on interactions between deaf and hearing mothers and their deaf infants

Most research into interactions between mothers and their infants with hearing impairments focuses on mothers' and infants' behaviors separately, speculating about the interplay among these behaviors and their effects on child development. In the present article, an intersubjective developmental theory focusing on the development of the "interworld" between deaf and hearing mothers and their deaf infants is used to integrate and interpret the seemingly incoherent research on early mother-deaf child interaction. Inspired by Stern's work (e.g., Stern, 1985), the intersubjective developmental theory distinguishes four stages in the development of intersubjectivity: emerging (birth-2 months), physical (2-8 months), existential (8-13 months), and symbolic (13 months and older), each characterized by a different type of mother-infant interaction. The integration of research findings on early mother-deaf child interaction into these four developmental stages offers new perspectives that can advance research and resolve certain early-intervention issues.     

Influence of gender on ventilatory efficiency during exercise in young children

In this study, we assessed the ventilatory response in 84 children (46 males: age 8.1 +/- 1.0 years, body mass 34.2 +/- 7.9 kg, height 1.32 +/- 0.16 m; 38 females: age 8.0 +/- 0.8 years, body mass 31.7 +/- 8.7 kg, height 1.31 +/- 0.08 m) during a cycle ergometer test to determine if there was an influence of gender on ventilatory efficiency. The test commenced at 25 W and increased by 10 W every minute. Expired air was collected through a face mask and analysed breath by breath. The ventilatory anaerobic threshold was determined according to gas exchange methods and we focused our attention on the analysis of carbon dioxide production (VCO(2)), ventilation (V(E)), the ratio V(E)/VCO(2) and its slope. Differences between the sexes at maximal power output were strongly significant for V(E) and VCO(2) (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0004 respectively) and moderately significant for the V(E)/VCO(2) ratio (P = 0.05). The slope of V(E) versus VCO(2) was 30.8 +/- 4.2 for males and 29.4 +/- 3.2 for females, with no difference between the sexes (P = 0.1). In conclusion, although the peak values of V(E) and VCO(2) were significantly different between the sexes, there were no such differences in ventilatory efficiency during a maximal incremental test expressed as the slope of V(E)/VCO(2), at least in young children.     

Some Internet Applications for Language Teaching: a Web-Assisted Course of English for Construction

The web expands the possibilities of language teaching, particularly in the field of specific areas, like engineering, architecture or the construction industry. It facilitates easy, instantaneous access to sources of information, specialized texts and data that were either unavailable in the past or took a considerable amount of time to access. In addition to providing these specific texts that can be used as teaching and practise material, and serving as an electronic board with information on classes, deadlines, contents, syllabus, etc., the web should also affect the way languages are taught, as well as the learning styles of the students. As many of us start using the web as a teaching resource, we should move from a phase of simply using the new media with the old content, on to developing not only new contents but also new teaching procedures and strategies based on these new media. By showing some of the web pages (http://www.ugr.es/~jmperez/Aparejadores1.html) developed for an English for Construction course at the English Department at the University of Granada, I will comment and reflect on how the Internet is beginning to affect our ways of teaching and learning. Quelques applications d’Internet À l’enseignement des langues. Un cours Web d’anglais pour la

construction. Le Web offre de nouvelles possibilités pour l'enseignement des langues, en particulier dans les domaines particuliers tels que l'ingénierie, l'architecture, ou l'industrie du bÂtiment. Il rend l'accès aux sources d'information facile et instantané notamment pour les données jadis difficilement accessibles voire totalement inaccessibles. Le Web met À disposition des matériaux de cours mais aussi des informations relatives À la gestion de ceux-ci (horaire, programmes, contenus, etc.). Il devrait de plus affecter les faÇons d'apprendre les langues autant que les styles d'apprentissage des étudiants. Comme notre propre pratique d'enseignant nous le montre, nous avons tendance À " faire du vieux avec du neuf ". Nous devrions progressivement arriver À développer de nouveaux contenus mais aussi de nouvelles procédures et stratégies d'apprentissage adaptées aux caractéristiques de ces nouveaux médias. Sur la base de l'analyse de certaines des pages d'un cours d'anglais pour la construction développé au Département d'anglais de l'Université de Grenade, (http://www.ugr.es/~jmperez/Aparejadores1.html), nous tenterons de montrer comment Internet progressivement modifie nos faÇons d'enseigner et d'apprendre. Quelques applications d’Internet à l’enseignement des langues. Un cours Web d’anglais pour la

construction. Einige Internet-Applikationen für den Sprachunterricht. Ein Web-unterstützter Englischkurs für den

Konstruktionsbau. Das Web erweitert die Möglichkeiten des Sprachunterrichtes, insbesondere in spezifischen Bereichen wie denen der Ingenieurwissenschaften, Architektur, oder Konstruktionsbau. Es ermöglicht den einfachen und schnellen Zugang zu Informationsquellen, speziellen Texten und Daten. Diese waren vorher nicht verfügbar, oder ihr Zugang war nur mit grossem Zeitaufwand verbunden. Das Web stellt nicht nur Kursmaterial zur Verfügung, sondern auch Informationen bezüglich deren Verwaltung (Stundenplan, Programme, Inhalt, etc.). Das Web kann auch die Art beeinflussen, wie Sprachen gelehrt werden, und hat somit auch Einfluss auf den Lernstil der Studenten. Wie die eigene Praxis uns zeigt, tendieren wir zum Einsatz der neuen Medien, allerdings mit altem Inhalt. Wir sollten daher nicht nur progressiv neuen Inhalt entwickeln, sondern auch neue Unterrichtsformen und-strategien, die auf den neuen Medien bauen. Anhand von einigen Web-Seiten (http://www.ugr.es/ ~jmperez/Aparejadores1.html), die für einen Englischkurs im Konstruktionsbau vom English Department der Universität von Grenada entwickelt wurde, werde ich kommentieren bzw. reflektieren wie das Internet die Art und Weise wie wir lehren und lernen, uns bereits beeinflusst.     

Canadian and US adult learning (1945–1970) and the cultural politics and place of lifelong learning

This essay examines adult learning in Canada and the USA (1945–1970). It explores this emergence in relation to moves to establish academic adult education as a cultural force that could help citizen learners to negotiate a way forward amid the collision of instrumental, social, and cultural change forces altering life, learning, and work in the emerging postindustrial society. In this regard, it focuses centrally on lifelong learning as an idea designed to have broad appeal in rapid-change postindustrial culture. In particular, it attempts to explicate a cultural politics of lifelong learning, which academic adult educators hoped would give the field a higher profile within what they perceived to be an emerging change culture of crisis and challenge. Two key factors are considered in these deliberations. First, this essay explores the relationship between public education (understood as schooling for children) and adult education. It takes up how this problematic relationship interfered with a post-war turn to lifelong learning. Second, it examines the shift in the meaning of the social in understanding adult education as social education in postindustrial society. It argues that the post-war discourse of democracy delimited this meaning, locating the social predominantly within a concern with preserving the dominant culture and society.     

Labor Market and Teaching Staff Considerations for Making Early Childhood Education Work for Migrant Head Start Teachers: The Case of Michigan Migrant Head Start

This paper considers the case of the Michigan Migrant Head Start program to describe and analyze the labor market conditions and teaching staff characteristics to identify the challenges faced by Migrant Head Start grantees in attracting, hiring, retaining, and training degreed teachers. The emphasis is on describing and analyzing the child care labor market characteristics that confront Migrant Head Start grantees in upstream locations and on describing the characteristics and opinions of Migrant Head Start teachers and interpreting their significance for developing educational programs that facilitate the ability of Migrant Head Start teachers to become degreed in early childhood education. The implications of the findings for making early childhood education work for Migrant Head Start teachers are discussed from the perspective of administrators of Migrant Head Start programs and teacher preparation programs at community colleges and universities.     

AIDA: An integrated authoring environment for educational software

This paper describes an integrated authoring environment, AIDA (Ambiente Integrado de Desenvolvimento de Aplicações educacionais). It is an open tool, giving the author a high degree of freedom both in package characteristics and design methodologies used. This environment integrates several modules. The core of the design module is a prototyping tool, allowing the creation of evolutionary prototypes. These prototypes can include several types of multimedia components and can be used as part of the final package. The AIDA environment also includes other options that support evaluation, learning materials re-use, communication between authoring team members and translation and cultural adaptation of packages to work in different environments. An experimental version of this authoring environment was implemented and the results of its evaluation are encouraging. In this paper we also present an example of a package created with the AIDA authoring environment.     

Overcoming a Learning Bottleneck: Inquiry Professional Development for Secondary Science Teachers

This paper examines the summer component of a year-long professional development program. The program was developed based on recent models of effective professional development that indicate that teachers should guide the direction and focus of the professional development program. Specific activities in the summer program were adapted from a long-running, successful program for university faculty development. In this study we explore the conceptions of inquiry teachers developed during the program, as well as the products teachers created. The discrepancies between program goals and the teachers’ products and conceptions are described and reasons for these differences explored. The results suggest that engaging teachers in identifying key issues in their own professional development is an effective strategy.