The Disappearance of the Perfect 10: Evaluating Rule Changes in Women's Artistic Gymnastics

The 2004 Olympic Games saw a range of judging scandals in the sport of artistic gymnastics that prompted the International Gymnastics Federation to make changes to the sport's judging system. Therefore, following these games, the International Gymnastics Federation reworked the gymnastics scoring system, where the most prominent change was the removal of the ‘perfect 10’ as the highest score possible, to be replaced by an open-ended scoring system. The goal of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the open-ended system that was introduced in 2006 through examining some of the sport's key values – an approach loosely aligned with broad internalism. It is suggested that the dual purposes of analysing what is achieved and the manner of achieving it are key values of the sport and are differentiated through the way judging utilises two categories known, in gymnastics, as ‘difficulty’ and ‘artistry’. This paper argues that the method of judging ‘difficulty’ is an improvement on previous judging methods. Our analysis of the definition and judging of ‘artistry’ in artistic gymnastics, however, reveals a less certain result.     

Sibling negotiations and the construction of literacy events in an urban area of Tanzania

This study presents findings from analyses of naturally occurring literacy events, where children jointly focus on reading and writing letters of the alphabet, illustrating social constructions of learning created through language and embodied action. Video recorded data from two different families living in an urban low-income area in Tanzania is presented to illustrate the findings. The analysis shows how participation frameworks are negotiated in terms of symmetries and asymmetries between younger and older siblings with both older and younger siblings initiating these frameworks: older siblings using different directives to guide the younger child's focus of attention and younger children both following and resisting such strategies.     

Participation in science and technology: young people’s achievement‐related choices in late‐modern societies

Young people’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a matter of international concern. Studies and careers that require physical sciences and advanced mathematics are most affected by the problem and women in particular are under‐represented in many STEM fields. This article views international research about young people’s relationships to, and participation in, STEM subjects and careers through the lens of an expectancy‐value model of achievement‐related choices. In addition it draws on sociological theories of late‐modernity and identity, which situate decision‐making in a cultural context. The article examines how these frameworks are useful in explaining the decisions of young people – and young women in particular – about participating in STEM and proposes possible strategies for removing barriers to participation.     

版权销售是否为单行线?--在英国市场推广翻译小说所面临的挑战

编者按:Camilla Ferrier来自于Marsh Agency,这是一家位于伦敦的文字作品代理商,专门负责向欧洲、远东和南美市场销售英国、加拿大及美国作家作品的翻译权.作为版权经理,她的主要工作是确保单行线渠道的畅通--即版权出口的顺畅.以下她从代理公司的角度出发,介绍英国对国外作品英文版的进口状况,以及英国出版的翻译小说数量如此之少的社会和文化原因.     

Learning about “Half”: Critical Aspects and Pedagogical Strategies in Designed Preschool Activities

This is an empirical inquiry concerning children’s concept development and early mathematics teaching. The intention is to broaden the understanding of preschool children’s perceptions of the concept “half” (as 1 of 2 equal parts of a whole), in designed mathematics teaching settings. Three teachers working with 4–5-year-old children participate in an in-service program, involving continuous and cooperative reflection and theoretically designed teaching activities. Observations of pedagogical strategies and children’s responses reveal that: children show qualitatively different ways of experiencing the same concept; the ways of experiencing are critical for how the intended learning object is perceived; and the dimensions of the learning object are related to each other, suggesting a hierarchical organization of how to perceive aspects of “half.”     

Einschätzungen der schulischen Motivation und des Arbeitsverhaltens durch Grundschullehrkräfte und deren Bedeutung für Verzerrungen in Leistungserwartungen

Several studies have shown that teachers’ achievement expectations for their students may be biased to some extent by students’ ethnic or social background as well as gender. The present study investigates whether these biases in teachers’ expectations of students’ performance in early language and mathematics are partly explained by differences in teachers’ perceptions of students’ motivation and learning behaviour. The analyses are based on data from a sample of N?=?901 first-grade students from N?=?66 classrooms with 69 teachers. The results support the hypothesis for biases associated with social background and gender. Ethnic bias, however, occurred independently of differences in perceived motivation and learning behaviour. We discuss the relevance of stereotypical assumptions for teaching as well as educational disparities.     

What is to be learnt? Critical aspects of elementary arithmetic skills

Educational Studies in Mathematics - In this paper, we present a way of describing variation in young children’s learning of elementary arithmetic within the number range 1–10. Our aim...     

Reflection and professional identity in teachers’ future-oriented discourse

Educational researchers have recently suggested that Schön's influential model of the ‘reflective practitioner’ lacks a prospective, or future, dimension. In this study, we examine instances of future-oriented talk produced by novice English as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers during mentoring meetings in one North American university setting. Context-specific functions of future-oriented discourse (e.g., planning, prediction) are investigated in relation to reflective thinking and teacher identity. We illustrate how teacher mentoring meetings represent discursive spaces in which novice teachers have an opportunity to verbalize plans, predict outcomes, consider possibilities, and reflect on their evolving pedagogical practices. We argue that teacher mentors should become aware of these important functions, and encourage prospective reflection in novice teachers.     

IT Entry knowledge and skills of university teachers vis-à-vis their interest levels: the case of the oldest university in Asia

Technology, considered as the new language of teaching and learning, is an irrevocable reality. Any institution of higher learning is expected to look into the future without losing sight of its core capabilities-the malleability of its faculty members. Today, more than ever, teachers are expected to operate in an environment where “hiteach”, “hi-touch” and “hi-tech” govern their instructional behaviors. It is in this light that this study was conducted to situate teachers coming from a time-tested institution, such as the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, in terms of their IT knowledge, skills, and interests with a view to identifying implications on how faculty development programs may be made more responsive to the present-day educational structure.     

High intensity and reduced volume training attenuates stress and recovery levels in elite swimmers

This study investigated the effect of increased high-intensity interval training (HIT) at the expense of total training volume on the stress and recovery levels of elite swimmers. Forty-one elite swimmers participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either a HIT or a control group (CON). Eleven swimmers did not complete the questionnaires. For 12 weeks both groups trained ~12 h per week. The amount of HIT was ~5 h vs. 1 h, and total distance was ~17 km vs. ~35 km per week for HIT and CON, respectively. HIT was performed as 6–10 × 10–30 s maximal effort interspersed by 2–4 min of rest. The Recovery Stress Questionnaire – Sport was used to measure the swimmers’ stress and recovery levels. After the 12 week intervention, the general stress level was 16.6% (2.6–30.7%; mean and 95% CI) lower and the general recovery level was 6.5% (0.7–12.4%) higher in HIT compared to the CON, after adjusting for baseline values. No significant effects could be observed in sports-specific stress or sports-specific recovery. The results indicate that increasing training intensity and reducing training volume for 12 weeks can reduce general stress and increase general recovery levels in competitive swimmers.