Development of a grinding-specific performance test set-up

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a performance test set-up for America's Cup grinders. The test set-up had to mimic the on-boat grinding activity and be capable of collecting data for analysis and evaluation of grinding performance. This study included a literature-based analysis of grinding demands and a test protocol developed to accommodate the necessary physiological loads. This study resulted in a test protocol consisting of 10 intervals of 20 revolutions each interspersed with active resting periods of 50 s. The 20 revolutions are a combination of both forward and backward grinding and an exponentially rising resistance. A custom-made grinding ergometer was developed with computer-controlled resistance and capable of collecting data during the test. The data collected can be used to find measures of grinding performance such as peak power, time to complete and the decline in repeated grinding performance.     

Influence of using challenging tasks in biology classrooms on students’ cognitive knowledge structure: an empirical video study

Empirical analysis of secondary biology classrooms revealed that, on average, 68% of teaching time in Germany revolved around processing tasks. Quality of instruction can thus be assessed by analyzing the quality of tasks used in classroom discourse. This quasi-experimental study analyzed how teachers used tasks in 38 videotaped biology lessons pertaining to the topic ‘blood and circulatory system’. Two fundamental characteristics used to analyze tasks include: (1) required cognitive level of processing (e.g. low level information processing: repetiition, summary, define, classify and high level information processing: interpret-analyze data, formulate hypothesis, etc.) and (2) complexity of task content (e.g. if tasks require use of factual, linking or concept level content). Additionally, students’ cognitive knowledge structure about the topic ‘blood and circulatory system’ was measured using student-drawn concept maps (N?=?970 students). Finally, linear multilevel models were created with high-level cognitive processing tasks and higher content complexity tasks as class-level predictors and students’ prior knowledge, students’ interest in biology, and students’ interest in biology activities as control covariates. Results showed a positive influence of high-level cognitive processing tasks (β?=?0.07; p?.01) on students’ cognitive knowledge structure. However, there was no observed effect of higher content complexity tasks on students’ cognitive knowledge structure. Presented findings encourage the use of high-level cognitive processing tasks in biology instruction.     

Challenges to Institutionalizing Participatory Extension: The Case of Farmer Livestock Schools in Vietnam

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this article is to analyze the introduction of participatory extension approaches (PEA) in the predominantly supply-driven, hierarchical Vietnamese extension system. Drawing on the case of the so-called Farmer Livestock School (FLS) concept, the authors investigate the potential and challenges of scaling up and out the FLS/PEA principles of participatory training methods, encompassing intensive and interactive training sessions, group-based sharing of experience, practical learning, and learning-by-doing processes.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The article is based on data collected and synthesized from 36 pilot communes from 2000 to 2007 and draws on the extensive insider experience of two of its authors during their work for a DANIDA-funded livestock project.

Findings: At the micro-scale and with external support, FLS has been a successful experiment of using participatory extension approaches in farmer training and extension in the livestock sector. Yet, possibilities of scaling up and institutionalizing FLS remain a challenge given the capacity and resource limitations and the resistance at various levels within the Vietnamese extension system.

Practical Implications: The starting point for successfully institutionalizing participatory extension approaches should be to assess the existing system's root problems and capacities and then gradually and systematically introduce institutional innovations rather than aiming at a complete overhaul of a system that may result in the creation of a parallel universe.

Originality/Value: The FLS project provided a unique opportunity to study the enabling and constraining factors of institutionalizing participatory extension approaches in a traditionally top-down oriented extension system beyond the immediate duration of an externally orchestrated project.     

Creating Inclusive,Literacy-Embedded Play Centers in a Children's Museum: Connecting Theory to Practice

Preservice teachers enrolled in an early literacy or developmental preschool course collaborated in order to create inclusive, literacy-embedded play centers at a local children's museum. Using a grounded theory approach, theoretical questions were generated after analyzing multiple data sources. The focus of this paper is how preservice teachers connected theory to practice in an authentic setting. The importance of connecting theory to practice, the place of play in assessment, and the viability of children's museums as alternative field placements are discussed. Implications for preservice teacher education are presented.     

Ohne Schulabschluss in die Berufsausbildung: Ergebnisse einer Längsschnittuntersuchung

Young people who leave school without obtaining a secondary school certificate bear an increased risk of not completing vocational training and being excluded from stable employment in their working life. However, some of these young people do achieve access to vocational training and employment. Based on a longitudinal study of school-to-work transitions of a representative sample of graduates from Praxisklassen in Bavaria (a course especially designed for potential school drop outs at the lower secondary school – Hauptschule), patterns of transition that lead into vocational training and employment are compared with patterns that end up in exclusion from education, training and employment. Determinants of successful transitions, which can be targeted by pedagogical measures, are inter alia: participation in internships in enterprises during the last year of schooling, help and support received from parents and professional career guidance. However, besides these influential factors, regional labor market conditions are important for a successful school-to-work transition. This close link to the labor market ultimately limits the effects of educational interventions.     

Towards professionalisation? Restructuring of administrative work force in universities

This article examines the restructuring ofadministrative staff in universities throughempirically documenting such processes andproviding a theoretically foundedinterpretation and analysis of change. Theempirical material is drawn from a context ofNorwegian universities the last two decades.Two major changes can be observed in thisperiod. First, a period of steep growth inuniversity administration in early 1990sfollowed by a period of moderate growth and insome cases even decline. The second dominantdevelopment pattern in the 1980s and 1990s isthe change within administrative staff,which could be interpreted as a professionalisation of administrative staff.The article concludes by presenting possibleexplanations to the structuring of theadministrative work force in universities onthe basis of different theoretical approachesto organisational change.     

Managing the complexity of centres of excellence: accommodating diversity in institutional logics

This article discusses how Centres of Excellence (CoE) and the existence of several logics in these centres can contribute to the differentiation of the strategic profiles of universities. The study sees research centres as a way to organize research activities in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to target both excellence but also societal challenges through focused thematic research. It reveals how societal challenges and their interpretation by these centres contribute to the differentiation of the strategic profiles of universities. Studies of centres of excellence programs in Sweden and Japan reveal differences in how their mission is formulated for relevance and excellence. The results indicate that contrasting missions of HEIs are accommodated through the dual logics of these centres relating both to autonomy and industry collaboration. The study shows that long-term funding gives these centres flexibility to set the agenda and focus on their strategic core activities. In other words, a logic of autonomy guides their strategic choices of research activities over the long-run as well as collaborators. Nevertheless, these centres are also developing strategies to cope with dilemmas stemming from the excellence-relevance and evaluation templates that emerge in the nexus of their collaborative ties with industry, government and universities.