Relationship of Organ Weight and Swimming Performance in the Albino Rat

Abstract

The relationship between organ weight and swimming capacity was determined in 42 male albino rats. Upon completion of a 4-week training program, the animals were forced to swim to exhaustion with 2 percent of the body weight attached. They were sacrificed and specific gravity and organ weights determined. The results warrant the following conclusions: A significant (p < .05) but low correlation exists between the relative weight of the spleen and lungs with swimming performance. The correlation of relative heart weight and swimming performance approached statistical significance (p < .06). Attaching a weight proportional to the body weight to increase the energy cost of swimming penalizes the heavier animals. Correcting for the inverse relationship between body weight and swim time does not alter appreciably the relationships between organ weights and swim time.     

Interactions among Dietary Pattern,Physical Activity and Skinfold Thickness

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the effects of a specifically designed perceptual-motor training program on the level of perceptual-motor development, self-concept, and academic ability of kindergarten children. Subjects for the study were 40 kindergarten children randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Each group received the same kindergarten program with one exception, the experimental group was exposed to a specifically designed perceptual-motor program 30 min daily for 5 mo, while the control group received a free play period for 30 min daily. Results of the study indicated that the data tended to support the specificity of training concept. The variables showing the greatest change were the perceptual-motor tests which measured changes on specific aspects of the training program. There appeared to be some immediate transfer to academic abilities but this was not pronounced enough to suggest that perceptual-motor training was of real benefit in developing academic abilities for normal kindergarten children. In addition the follow-up test indicated no long term effects on academic performance.     

Influence of Motor and Sensory Sets on Reaction Latency and Speed of Discrete Movements

Abstract

College men and women were tested as to reaction time and speed of an arm movement using both motor-oriented and stimulus-oriented set. The results confirmed a hypothesis based on neuromotor coordination theory that predicted slower movement and greater reaction latency when the motor set was used. However, the 20 percent of subjects who had a natural motor set tendency moved faster with an enforced motor set than with an enforced sensory set. The conditions of enforced set caused a moderate positive correlation between reaction and movement times. Women subjects reacted and moved slower than men, but were similarly influenced by the two enforced set conditions. Their natural set tendency was definitely stimulus-oriented, while men tended to have a neutral orientation.     

Improving K-12 pedagogy via a Cloud designed for education

Cloud computing offers an opportunity to improve K-12 pedagogy with services tailored to teachers’ needs in individual classrooms. The Cloud can deliver services such as remote access to learning tools in a cost effective manner to school systems struggling with reductions in local and state funding. This article explores the distinct ways that a Cloud designed specifically for education can be applied to K-12 education's academic mission. It uses observations from a case study in North Carolina rural high schools using an educational Cloud called the Virtual Computing Lab to access dynamic geometry and algebra software.     

Comparing secondary teachers on logical consistency in educational philosophy and flexibility in teaching

This study of secondary inservice teachers was designed to measure the possible relationship between the consistency with which they logically relate philosophical views (theory) to educational ideas (practice) and their teaching flexibility (as demonstrated in actual teaching practice).Using the GNC Scale of Logical Consistency of Ideas about Education, two groups of teachers were identified, i.e., those who were logically consistent in their ideas about education and those who were not so. Each of the logically consistent teachers was found to be so within an empirical, rather than rationalistic framework of educational theory.Flexibility was ascertained by data gathered through the use of the Flanders Verbal Interaction System. Each teacher tape recorded his/her own classes and then completed a Flanders' Matrix.The Mann-Whitney U Test was used as a basis for the statistical analysis. Neither group was found to be either more flexible or to exhibit more indirect behavior within the classroom, i.e., being logically consistent in ideas about education (as measured by the GNC Scale) was not found to be related to being flexible in teaching (as measured by the FVIS).