Tracing the Sources

This article explores health journalists’ sourcing patterns in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium across a range of different media including newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online health news websites. A cross-sectional quantitative content analysis of health news items collected in February 2015 (N?=?981) was established to examine the number and origin (e.g. industry, citizens, experts) of sources (N?=?1998) mentioned in health news stories with particular attention paid to differences across various media types. Despite recent claims of media convergence, cross-media comparisons are scarce and, for a specialized beat such as health, nonexistent. The key findings of this study indicate that ordinary citizens and academic experts constitute the two largest source categories. The small share of industry-related sources confirms journalists’ skeptical attitude towards content provided by the industry. But on closer inspection, large differences can be observed across various media types. On the one hand, ordinary citizens occur with relatively high frequency on television but hardly make an appearance in online news items. Academic sources, on the other hand, are dominant online but nearly absent in television news items. In sum, this analysis demonstrates that health journalists’ source uses differ across various media platforms.     

A validity study of two paper-pencil tests of concrete and formal operations

Two group paper-pencil batteries, the Longeot (consisting of three subtests) and three puzzles (KLR) from Science Teaching and the Development of Reasoning, were administered to 607 students from ninth and tenth grade mathematics and science classes. A subsample of 69 students was then administered three Inhelder tasks (chemicals, rods, and shadows). In general, the expected developmental trends were confirmed, with formal status being most difficult to attain on the Inhelder tasks and easiest to attain on the Longeot. The correlations between the KLR and Inhelder (0.61, p < 0.01) and the Longeot and Inhelder (0.55, p < 0.05) were moderately high. According to the method of Shayer (Note 2), it was found that each of five paper-pencil subtests discriminates at or between the 2B (late concrete) and 3A (early formal) levels while the sixth subtest, the mealworm puzzle, was found to discriminate at the 3A level. This study indicates that either group battery may be useful in identifying transitional subjects. However, if a more stringent criterion of “formal” is needed, a “success” rate of four or five out of the six subtests may be required. Both group batteries are relatively easy to administer and score with a minimum of guidance, although the KLR scoring might need to be simplified for use by the practitioner. Sex differences found on the KLR and the Longeot are suggestive of the potential differential use of these tests by researchers investigating sex differences in achievement or aptitude.     

Assessing Musical Performance Musically

The last decade has seen changes in the systems used in the summative assessment of musical performance at the end of compulsory schooling. One trend has been the replacement of holistic assessment by segmented assessment. The author discusses the subjectivity, reliability and musical validity of the two systems, and summarises an experiment which investigates the extent to which holistic assessment can be accounted for by means of a segmented marking system. Multiple regression analysis produces a regression equation which accounts for 71% of the variance in holistic marks produced by 29 assessors marking 10 performances. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of this study for assessment in musical performance and other fields.     

The role of attention in expert classroom practice

In this paper we outline a new theoretical model of expert practice that identifies the importance of attentional skills. We report on a small-scale pilot study of the classroom practice of experienced teachers of mathematics based on this model, through which a method of articulating aspects of classroom practice has been developed. This study took place in England, where current policy in teacher education places considerable emphasis on lesson planning. Our study raises issues about the relationships between the different kinds of knowledge that we see as constituting expert practice.     

Comparison of Activity Type Classification Accuracy from Accelerometers Worn on the Hip,Wrists, and Thigh in Young,Apparently Healthy Adults

The purpose of this article is to compare accuracy of activity type prediction models for accelerometers worn on the hip, wrists, and thigh. Forty-four adults performed sedentary, ambulatory, lifestyle, and exercise activities (14 total, 10 categories) for 3–10 minutes each in a 90-minute semi-structured laboratory protocol. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were developed for four accelerometers (right hip, both wrists, and right thigh,) to predict individual activities and activity categories, with direct observation (DO) as criterion. The wrist-mounted accelerometers achieved the highest accuracy for individual activities (80.9%–81.1%) and activity categories (86.6%–86.7%); accuracy was not different between wrists. The hip-mounted accelerometer had the lowest accuracy (66.2% individual activities, 72.5% activity categories); thigh-mounted accelerometer accuracy (71.4% individual activities, 84.0% activity categories) fell between the wrist- and hip-mounted accelerometers. ANNs developed for accelerometers worn on the wrists and thigh provided high accuracy for activity type prediction and represent a potential approach to physical activity (PA) assessment.     

家的修复力

1 When Becky Rohrer rescued an abandoned wreck of a house and lovingly transformed it into a cozy inn, she ended up healing her life as well. Emotionally and spiritually, the distance she's traveled from the life she once lived to where she is today seems almost impossible to measure.……     

Tabula Rasa: case studies of shared governance

This article reviews recently published work which has attempted to understand the key role of subject leaders in secondary schools more clearly. There have been important developments in three areas: theoretical ideas (e.g. the use of contingency theory); policy issues especially with the publication of the TTA (1998) standards for subject leaders and more recently, moves to introduce performance management; and research which has focused on the work of subject leaders and unravelling the characteristics of effective and ineffective departments. Some key issues which need further work include the use of non-contact time, the management of data, monitoring and evaluation and addressing the training needs of subject leaders.