A model study of optimal training reduction during pre-event taper in elite swimmers

The aim of this study was to assess responses to taper in elite athletes using computer simulations. Parameters of a non-linear model were derived from training and performance data over two seasons for eight elite swimmers. The fit between modelled and actual performances was statistically significant for each swimmer (r(2) = 0.56 +/- 0.06; P < 0.01). The simulations were used to estimate characteristics of step and progressive tapers that would maximize performance either (1) after regular training only or (2) after overload training of a 20% step increase in regular training for 28 days. The highest performance with a step taper was greater with than without prior overload training (101.4%, s = 1.6 vs. 101.1%, s = 1.4 of personal record; P < 0.01) but required a longer taper duration (22.4 days, s = 13.4 vs. 16.4 days, s = 10.3; P < 0.05). The optimal progressive taper led to a better performance only after the overload period (101.5%, s = 1.5; P < 0.001). Negative and positive influences of training were estimated as indicators of fatigue and adaptations to training respectively. During the optimal taper, the negative influence was completely removed, independently of the prior training, whereas the positive influence increased only after overload training. Our computer simulations show that the characteristics of an optimal training reduction in elite athletes depend on the training performed in the weeks prior to a taper.     

Literacy in the digital age: Learning from computer games

The need for literacy and the English curriculum to attend to digital literacies in the twenty-first century is well established. Although studies in digital literacies have examined the inclusion of computer games in schools, there has not been an extended study of English teachers incorporating computer games into their teaching and learning through action research projects. This paper outlines the structure and progress of a research project exploring the uses of computer games in English classrooms. We argue that much can be learned about the teaching of both print and digital literacies from examining computer games and young people's engagement in online digital culture in the world beyond school.     

Kooperation von Projekt- und Workflow-Management-Systemen

Zusammenfassung. Während Projekt-Management-Systeme zur Planung fast jedes Projekts eingesetzt werden, gewinnen Workflow-Management-Systeme für die Realisierung von prozessorientierten Anwendungen zunehmend an Bedeutung. Da sich beide Systemarten um das Management von Abläufen kümmern, ist eine Kooperation entsprechender Systeme für die Praxis sehr relevant. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir die einschlägigen wissenschaftlichen und kommerziellen Ansätze vor und untersuchen sie ausführlich. Da diese nur über eine unzureichende Funktionalität verfügen, entwickeln wir anschließend Architekturen, die ein besseres Zusammenspiel der beiden Systemarten erlauben. Dabei gehen wir auch auf den in der Literatur bisher nicht betrachteten Fall ein, dass die Projektplanung auf einem höheren Abstraktionsniveau erfolgt als die Modellierung und Ausführung der Workflows. Wir zeigen für diesen in der Praxis häufig anzutreffenden Fall auf, wie eine Kooperation der beiden Systemarten mit einer auf Event-Condition-Action-Rules basierenden generischen Kopplungsarchitektur realisiert werden kann.CR Subject Classification: K.6.1, H.4.1Eingegangen am 9. Dezember 2003 / Agenommen am 24. März 2004, Online publiziert: 1. Juli 2004     

档案行业面临的十项挑战

21世纪开始之际，档案行业面临着严峻的挑战。本判断和分析了档案工作所面临的十项最为迫在眉睫的挑战，其中包括：电子献的管理；将更多的资源投入到非字资料方面；对于件的全球性的认识：为档案录和利用提出新的方法；档案利用和馆藏发展重点的扩大；对档案馆的信息管理进行更多的研究；美国档案工作协会的发展；档案事业各方资源的丰富；以及使档案行业不负众望地承担社会利益的保障的角色。     

Communication and Environmental Designs Analyzing Organizational Culture to Improve Human Performance

The relationship between environmental design, communication, and organizational culture is examined to provide performance improvement practitioners with an analytical tool that helps determine appropriate interventions. Organizations are comprised of people who communicate and socially construct artifacts, norms, values, and assumptions that guide how they conduct business. That is, employees interact to create, maintain, and reify their organizational culture. One artifact of organisational culture that should be apparent to human performance technologists is the environmental design of the office in which the organization operates. While some performance improvement interventions focus on the orientation of humans to their physical surroundings (ie., ergonomics), our analysis focuses on the communication patterns and organizational culture imbedded in the physical environment. We posit that performance technologists should look beyond the explicit environment and analyze organizational culture to begin understanding the implicit nature of how employees perform. A case study is provided to illustrate how three levels of organizational culture can be used to analyze an environment in which employees work to determine appropriate performance improvement solutions.     

Common student misconceptions in electrochemistry: Galvanic,electrolytic, and concentration cells

This study replicates, with additions, research done by Garnett and Treagust. Garnett and Treagust's interview questions for galvanic and electrolytic cells were used with modifications; concentration cell questions were asked in a similar manner. These questions were administered to 16 introductory college chemistry students after electrochemistry instruction. Student misconceptions most commonly encountered included notions that electrons flow through the salt bridge and electrolyte solutions to complete the circuit, plus and minus signs assigned to the electrodes represent net electronic charges, and water is unreactive in the electrolysis of aqueous solutions. New misconceptions identified included notions that half-cell potentials are absolute and can be used to predict the spontaneity of individual half-cells, and electrochemical cell potentials are independent of ion concentrations. Most students demonstrating misconceptions were still able to calculate cell potentials correctly, which is consistent with research suggesting that students capable of solving quantitative examination problems often lack an understanding of the underlying concepts. Probable origins of these student misconceptions were attributed to students being unaware of the relative nature of electrochemical potentials and chemistry textbooks making misleading and incorrect statements. A minor technical flaw in the Garnett and Treagust study is also addressed. J Res Sci Teach 34: 377–398, 1997.