Perceptual Influence of Ugandan Biology Students’ Understanding of HIV/AIDS

In Uganda, curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS has largely depended on public and private media messages about the disease. Media campaigns based on Uganda’s cultural norms of communication are metaphorical, analogical and simile-like. The topic of HIV/AIDS has been introduced into the Senior Three (Grade 11) biology curriculum in Uganda. To what extent do students’ pre-conceptions of the disease, based on these media messages influence students’ development of conceptual understanding of the disease, its transmission and prevention? Of significant importance is the impact the conceptions students have developed from the indirect media messages on classroom instruction on HIV/AIDS. The study is based in a theoretical framework of conceptual change in science learning. An interpretive case study to determine the impact of Ugandan students’ conceptions or perceptions on classroom instruction about HIV/AIDS, involving 160 students aged 15–17, was conducted in four different Ugandan high schools: girls boarding, boys boarding, mixed boarding, and mixed day. Using questionnaires, focus group discussions, recorded biology lessons and informal interviews, students’ preconceptions of HIV/AIDS and how these impact lessons on HIV/AIDS were discerned. These preconceptions fall into four main categories: religious, political, conspiracy and traditional African worldviews. Results of data analysis suggest that students’ prior knowledge is persistent even after biology instructions. This has implications for current teaching approaches, which are mostly teacher-centred in Ugandan schools. A rethinking of the curriculum with the intent of offering science education programs that promote understanding of the science of HIV/AIDS as opposed to what is happening now—insensitivity to misconceptions about the disease—is needed.     

The Musical Ear Test,a new reliable test for measuring musical competence

This paper reports results from three experiments using the Musical Ear Test (MET), a new test designed for measuring musical abilities in both musicians and non-musicians in an objective way with a relatively short duration (< 20 min.). In the first experiment we show how the MET is capable of clearly distinguishing between a group of professional musicians and a group of non-musicians. In the second experiment we demonstrate that results from the MET are strongly correlated with measures of musical expertise obtained using an imitation test. In the third experiment we show that the MET also clearly distinguishes groups of non-musicians, amateurs and professional musicians. The test is found to have a large internal consistency (Cronbach alpha: 0.87). We further show a correlation with amount of practice within the group of professionals as well as a correlation with a forward digit span test.     

Mirror self-recognition beyond the face

Three studies (N=144) investigated how toddlers aged 18 and 24 months pass the surprise-mark test of self-recognition. In Study 1, toddlers were surreptitiously marked in successive conditions on their legs and faces with stickers visible only in a mirror. Rates of sticker touching did not differ significantly between conditions. In Study 2, toddlers failed to touch a sticker on their legs that had been disguised before being marked. In Study 3, having been given 30-s exposure to their disguised legs before testing, toddlers touched the stickers on their legs and faces at equivalent levels. These results suggest that toddlers pass the mark test based on expectations about what they look like, expectations that are not restricted to the face.     

Die 1960er Jahre als Formationsphase von modernem Doping und Anti-Doping

Many contemporary forms of doping and anti-doping developed in the 1960s regarding substances, social perception, doping and anti-doping strategies and actors. The first significant steps towards regulation were made during this period. Anti-doping in West Germany was based on the principle of partnership between sport and state. However, it was not a specifically German solution but in line with the common anti-doping strategies of most other European countries. At the same time limits and obstacles of anti-doping became apparent.     

Differences in impact characteristics,joint kinetics and measurement reliability between forehand and backhand forward badminton lunges

ABSTRACT

This study identified the effect of badminton lunging directions on impact characteristics, joint kinetics and measurement reliability. A total of 14 badminton players performed 20 lunges in both forehand and backhand sides. Ground reaction force (GRF) and three-dimensional joint moment variables were determined for further analyses. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to determine any differences between the two lunge directions and intra-class correlation (ICC) and sequential averaging analysis (SAA) were used to estimate the minimum number of trials. Compared to the forehand side, participants experienced significantly larger total GRF impulse (+ 3.8%, p = 0.021) and transverse moment (hip + 63.5%, p < 0.001; knee + 80.7%, p = 0.011), but smaller hip (?7.7%), knee (?18.7%) and ankle frontal moments (?58.0%, p < 0.05) in backhand lunges. The minimum number of trials was similar for both lunge directions, as the averaged absolute differences was less than one in both ICC and SAA. Furthermore, smaller minimal number of trials was determined by the ICC (7.9–8.0), compared with the SAA approach (9.5–10.3). Lunge direction would influence GRF and joint loading, but not on the measurement reliability. These results give important insights to establish performance or equipment evaluation protocols during badminton lunges.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Multimodal Meaning-Making in Science

Research in Science Education -     

Lifelong learning and the continued participation of older Norwegian adults in employment

The number of people aged 60 and over across the globe is expected to double by 2050, reaching a share of more than 20 percent of the population total. Governments are therefore taking more and more policy actions to encourage ageing workers to extend their working lives and their employers to retain them. According to the OECD lifelong learning opportunities and inclusive labour markets will be essential to ensuring that workers of all educational backgrounds have the possibility of extending their working lives. This article examines the relationship between adult education completed after age 40 and the subsequent active participation of older adults in employment, using individual register data from Statistics Norway. The results show a substantial effect of upgrading formal education on subsequent labour market participation. Overall effects are quite similar for males and females. Attaining a lower level tertiary degree has the largest impact on labour market participation both for males and females. Completing a secondary education has a strong, long term impact among males. The results suggest that facilitating access to formal education among older workers may be an important contribution to extending working lives.     

Dynamic in situ chromosome immobilisation and DNA extraction using localized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) phase transition

A method of in situ chromosome immobilisation and DNA extraction in a microfluidic polymer chip was presented. Light-induced local heating was used to induce poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) phase transition in order to create a hydrogel and embed a single chromosome such that it was immobilised. This was achieved with the use of a near-infrared laser focused on an absorption layer integrated in the polymer chip in close proximity to the microchannel. It was possible to proceed to DNA extraction while holding on the chromosome at an arbitrary location by introducing protease K into the microchannel.