Early Childhood Teachers Reconstruct Beliefs and Practices Through Reflexive Action

Professional development, which results in sustained transformative change, requires that teachers engage in critical reflection regarding teaching practices. In this study, a group of five bilingual and generalist early childhood teachers engaged in a journey in which they elected to try to reconstruct their beliefs and practices about teaching and learning. In response to a school district's needs, these teachers were enrolled as a cohort in an early childhood graduate program that served as part of their professional development endeavor. The teachers used reflection and ongoing dialogue that bridged theory and practice as they raised questions about their daily practices in relation to theoretical perspectives. We provide a glimpse of these teachers' ongoing transformative journeys and provide suggestions for early childhood teachers to engage in sustained professional development.     

Discursive strategies and learning of the school language: an ethnographic study in a classroom with high ethnic and linguistic diversity / Estrategias discursivas y aprendizaje de la lengua escolar: un estudio etnográfico en un aula de alta diversidad étnica y lingüística

Abstract

Research on the dialogic and intersubjective nature of children’s learning has emphasised the study of educational discourse and the semiotic mechanisms involved in understanding the students’ constructive activity. These studies have been carried out in classrooms where there was continuity between the language of instruction and the students’ first language. However, the number of classrooms in which students have an initial language which is not the language of instruction is increasing. This article analyses the educational discourse in a multilingual classroom when the teacher interacts with seven students in a teaching unit about language. The study uses interactional ethnography. The results show the use of teacher inquiry into the students’ beliefs about the task and the semiotic procedures used to construct a shared intersubjective framework. The discussion emphasises the similarity of some of these procedures with those used in the family in the initial stages of language acquisition, as well as the variations which the teacher uses of the social and specific framework of reference.     

The relationship between teacher’s autonomy support and students’ autonomy and vitality

Abstract

Within education, some teachers’ interpretation of professionalism emphasizes conformity to the perceived norms of collective associations. Unprofessional behaviour, often equated with ‘unethical’ behaviour, is seen by many to be that which threatens solidarity and loyalty to colleagues. Informal norms typified by casual collegial relations as well as more formal attachments to organized unions or teachers’ federations exert a significant influence on individuals’ behaviour within the group. Professional ethics, in this sense, become concerned primarily with how one relates to colleagues rather than how one fulfils moral responsibilities to students. Qualitative findings from interviews with elementary and secondary school teachers suggest that, as a result of an ethic of collegial loyalty, some teachers experience personal moral and ethical dilemmas that they find difficult to resolve. Some respondents acknowledged that this can enable serious situations to be ignored or ‘covered up’. This paper examines some of the tensions and dilemmas experienced by teachers and raises questions about the ethical adequacy of defining professionalism in terms of inter‐colleague behaviour.     

Granite desalination using electromigration. Influence of type of granite and saline contaminant

We describe the results of electromigration desalination of two soluble salt-contaminated Galician granites. The efficacy of electromigration, which had not been previously applied to granite, was assessed for two types of granite contaminated with a 20% NaCl solution and seawater. Desalination effectiveness was evaluated as follows: (1) analysis of anode and cathode ion content during testing; (2) analysis of ions at different distances from the electrodes after testing; (3) pH assessment of the stone surfaces; and (4) evaluation of colour changes. Results were very satisfactory; by the end of testing, chloride was reduced by almost 100% in both the NaCl and seawater contaminated samples. Sulfate reduction was also significant, despite this ion's lower mobility. The granite pH values remained close to neutral and colour changes were minimal. The difference in effectiveness of the process for the two types of stone was associated with their dissimilar pore structure.     

Exercise cardiac power and the risk of heart failure in men: A population-based follow-up study

Background:Little is known about exercise cardiac power(ECP),defined as the ratio of directly measured maximal oxygen uptake with peak systolic blood pressure during exercise,on heart failure(HF)risk.We examined the association of ECP and the risk of HF.Methods:This was a population-based cohort study of 2351 men from eastern Finland.The average time to follow-up was 25 years.Participants participated at baseline in an exercise stress test.A total of 313 cases of HF occurred.Results:Men with low ECP(<9.84 mL/mmHg,the lowest quartile)had a 2.37-fold(95%confidence interval(95%CI):1.68-3.35,p<0.0001)hazards ratio of HF as compared with men with high ECP(>13.92 mL/mmHg,the highest quartile),after adjusting for age.Low ECP was associated with a 1.96-fold risk(95%CI:1.38-2.78,p<0.001)of HF after additional adjustment for conventional risk factors.After further adjustment for left ventricular hypertrophy,the results hardly changed(hazards ratio=1.87,95%CI:1.31-2.66,p<0.001).One SD increase in ECP(3.16 mL/mmHg)was associated with a decreased risk of HF by 28%(95%CI:17%-37%).Conclusion:ECP provides a noninvasive and easily available measure from cardiopulmonary exercise tests in predicting HF.However,ECP did not provide additional value over maximal oxygen uptake.     

Visual function,performance, and processing of basketball players vs. sedentary individuals

BackgroundAthletes tend to have better visuo-motor performance than do sedentary individuals. However, several basic visual-function and perceptual parameters remain unexplored to date. In this study, we investigated whether differences exist in visual function, performance, and processing between basketball players and individuals without a sport-involvement background.MethodsA total of 33 healthy men with no visual impairment or pathology were divided into 2 groups, depending on the involvement in sport (semi-professional basketball players and sedentary individuals). We tested their baseline heart-rate variability in the resting position apart from subjective questionnaires to determine their physical fitness level, and we checked their visual function, performance, and processing through an extended battery of optometric tests.ResultsThe 2 groups differed in resting heart-rate variability parameters (p < 0.001), confirming their dissimilarities in regular time practising sports per week. The basketball players showed a closer breakpoint and recovery nearpoint of convergence, a higher fusional-vergence rate, better discriminability halos, and better eye–hand coordination (all p values < 0.05).ConclusionThese results show evidence that athletes, basketball players in this case, exhibit better performance in several visual abilities in comparison to a group of individuals without sporting backgrounds, suggesting an improvement due to the systematic involvement of those skills during basketball practice.     

Adaptation and evaluation of a learning analytics dashboard to improve academic support at three Latin American universities

Despite the success of academic advising dashboards in several higher educational institutions (HEI), these dashboards are still under-explored in Latin American HEI's. To close this gap, three different Latin American universities adapted an existing advising dashboard, originally deployed at the KU Leuven to their own context. In all three cases, the context was the main ruling factor to these adaptations. In this paper, we describe these adaptions using a framework that focuses on four different elements of the context: Objectives, Stakeholders, Key moment and Interactions. Evaluation of the adapted dashboards in the three different Latin American universities is conducted through pilots. This evaluation shows the value of the dashboard approach in different contexts in terms of satisfaction, usefulness and impact in academic decision-making and advising tasks. The main contribution of this paper is the systematic reporting of the adaptations to an academic advising dashboard and showing the value of an academic advising dashboard on academic decision-making and advising tasks.     

New curve sprint test for soccer players: Reliability and relationship with linear sprint

ABSTRACT

The speed performance is involved not only in linear sprints, but also in a wide spectrum of multi-directional movements, such as curve sprinting. Curved sprint can be defined as sprint with gradual and continuous change of direction (COD). Although ~85% of the actions performed at maximum velocity in a professional soccer league are curvilinear sprints, there is not any specific test to assess this ability. This study aimed to analyse the reliability of a new curve sprint test, and compare its results with those obtained by soccer players in linear sprint. Forty experienced soccer players performed 3 attempts of curve sprint (using the penalty arc) to right and left side (17 m), and 3 linear sprints (17 m) in two different days. The ICCs (inter-session reliability) were 0.93 for sprint curve right side (CSRS) and 0.89 for sprint curve left side (CSLS), considered “acceptable”. The CVs (intra-session reliability) were 0.87% in CSRS and 1.15% in CSLS. The coefficient of determination (R²) between linear and curve sprinting was ~35%. The association between curve sides was “very large” (r = 0.878; p < 0.01). In summary, we showed that “curve sprint test” is highly reliable, and that curvilinear and linear sprints are different and independent actions.     

Twenty-four-hour movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills in preschool children: A compositional and isotemporal substitution analysis

ABSTRACT

Studies that have analysed the association between the different movement behaviours and fundamental movement skills (FMS) have considered it in an independent manner, disregarding the compositional nature of 24-h movement behaviours (24-h MB). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the 24-h MB and FMS in preschoolers using a compositional data analysis . Two hundred and four preschoolers (4.5 ± 0.8 years old; 101 boys) provided objectively assessed physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) data (Actigraph wGT3X), and FMS (TGMD-2). Sleep duration (SD) was reported by parents. Association of daily composition of movement behaviours with FMS was explored using compositional analysis and isotemporal substitution (R Core Team, 3.6.1). When considered as a 24-h MB composition (PA, SB and SD), adjusted for age, BMI and sex, the composition predicted locomotor (r² = 0.31), object control (r² = 0.19), and total motor score (r² = 0.35), respectively (all P < 0.001). Reallocation of time from light to moderate-to-vigorous PA was associated with greatest positive changes in total motor score. Achieving adequate balance between movement behaviours over the 24-h period, and its relationship with locomotor and object control skills should be considered and further investigated in early childhood.