Ethical issues of behavior modification research in schools

Behavior modification research in the classroom was examined by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects because of the increasingly widespread use of behavioral procedures in the schools, the effectiveness of these procedures in changing academic and social behavior, and the consequent concern about potential misuse. In order to foster the responsible use of behavior modification procedures in the schools on a practical as well as a research basis, the following ethical issues being considered by researchers and the involved public are discussed: informed consent, determination of classroom goals, legitimacy of rewards and aversive controls in the classroom, conceptions of behavior modification as manipulative and mechanistic, who can implement the procedures, research design, and accountability. The authors conclude that the issues regarding protection of human subjects in behavior modification research are no different from other treatment-oriented research with children. However, the high degree of parental and teacher involvement in both research and practice requires shared responsibility for the prevention of misuse of behavior modification procedures.     

Arts education partnerships: sources of harmony and dissonance with cultural institutions’ collaborative efforts

ABSTRACT

Due to budget constraints, schools in the United States have increasingly turned to community arts organizations for support. School-community arts partnership stakeholders collaborate because of shared missions to provide students with valuable arts learning experiences. Investigations of these initiatives indicate that these partnerships improve arts learning opportunities and increase public support and resources for arts education. However, not much is known about the experiences and perspectives of the arts organizations that participate in these partnerships. Coordinating collective efforts with a multitude of institutions and interests poses challenges. In this study, we examine survey data collected from arts organization administrators who participated in a large-scale school-community arts partnership initiative. We find that these organizations are generally positive about their impacts on students’ educational outcomes, but there is substantial variation in these views. We also find that organizations differ in their levels of support for these collective efforts. Sources of this variation appear to be attributable to organizations’ preexisting resources and extent to which they are established. While this difference in levels of support is potentially inevitable, we find evidence that the operations handled by the “backbone” organization, i.e. the initiative’s facilitators and overseers, can significantly influence organizations’ levels of support for these efforts. Organizations are more likely to support these collaborative efforts when they believe the backbone organization ensures transparency with initiative operations, provides regular, effective communication, and effectively resolves competing priorities.     

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Life Skills Scale for Sport

ABSTRACT

This research adapted the Life Skills Scale for Sport (LSSS) into Portuguese and provided evidence for its construct validity. Study 1 included four translators and five academics who developed a Portuguese version of the LSSS (P-LSSS). During this study, evidence for the content and substantive aspects of construct validity was provided using an expert panel and 25 sports participants. Study 2 included 413 participants that completed the P-LSSS. Within this study, evidence for the structural aspect of construct validity was provided via factor analyses. Study 3 included 134 participants who completed the P-LSSS and a measure of motivation. This study provided evidence for the external aspect of construct validity, with results showing more self-determined motivation had positive relationships with participant’s life skills development. Overall, our findings provided evidence for the construct validity of P-LSSS scores. Researchers and practitioners can use the P-LSSS to assess life skills development within sports participants.     

Fantasy,Pragmatism and Journalistic Socialisation: UK Journalism Students’ Aspirations and Motivations

ABSTRACT

Despite the sustained growth in journalism as a choice of degree path for young people, our understanding of students’ aspirations and motivations remains relatively underdeveloped. At the same time, journalism careers appear increasingly uncertain, as the industry responds to digitalisation and convergence. In this mixed-methods study – employing 35 interviews and a survey of 837 UK journalism students – we ask what areas of journalism do students aspire towards, how do they feel about their future career prospects, and what is motivating them to study journalism in the first place? We find that intrinsic motivations (calling and talent, dynamic job) prevail over public service ones, with students drawn to soft news beats over hard news. Aspirations are also strikingly gendered, opening up questions of journalism education in this process. We also find that while students articulate an aspirational career in respected media outlets, they are pragmatic about their immediate career prospects. Here, journalism education appears to play a significant role in socialising students towards careers beyond journalism. Findings are discussed in the light of ongoing debates around journalistic socialisation and the future of journalism.     

Autonomy,Candour and Professional Teacher Practice: A Discussion Inspired by the Later Works of Michel Foucault

Autonomy is considered to be an important feature of professionals and to provide a necessary basis for their informed judgments. In this article these notions will be challenged. In this article I use Michel Foucault's deconstruction of the idea of the autonomous citizen, and his later attempts to reconstruct that idea, in order to bring some new perspectives to the discussion about the foundation of professionalism. The turning point in Foucault's discussion about autonomy is to be found in his proposal for an ethics of the self. This ethics invites a break with the normalising discourses of modernity. As I see it, this makes it particularly relevant to a discussion about the principles of professionalism. The conception of parrhesia is central. I use the role of the teacher to illustrate my arguments.     

Light-induced cracking and abrasion of inkjet prints: Damage and mitigation

This study is part of a larger research project at the Image Permanence Institute dedicated to digital print preservation issues – the Digital Print Preservation Portal (DP3). Previous DP3 studies determined that certain digital print types are prone to cracking and/or abrasion, and that factors such as low relative humidity, pollutants, and light increase the brittleness of the ink-receiving layer of some inkjet papers. The purpose of this investigation was to explore if light also increases the propensity of inkjet prints to abrade, and to examine the potential of framing glazings to mitigate light-induced physical damage (cracking and abrasion) by attenuating some portion of the UV spectrum. Inkjet papers and prints were subjected to xenon lighting (to simulate daylight through window glass) without glazing, or in sealed framing packages with plain framing glass (soda-lime) or UV filtering glass. Before and after light exposure, brittleness, and abrasion resistance were evaluated independently using two tests: ISO 18907 (Imaging materials – Photographic films and papers – Wedge test for brittleness) and a rub test utilizing a Sutherland® Rub Tester. In this study, exposure to light increased the cracking and/or abrasion tendency of some specimens. The use of UV filtering glass reduced this light-induced propensity in all cases. Plain glass protected all samples from at least one of these two types of surface damage, but was less effective than UV glass. Light-induced brittleness and sensitivity to abrasion were mostly, though not exclusively, caused by UV radiation. It was also seen that some prints may become brittle and/or prone to abrasion in the absence of image fade. Budgeting the amount of light these objects can be exposed to, protecting them from UV radiation, and handling prints with caution especially after exhibition, is essential in order to limit physical damage.     

Effects of interval aerobic training combined with strength exercise on body composition,glycaemic and lipid profile and aerobic capacity of obese rats

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interval aerobic training combined with strength exercise in the same training session on body composition, and glycaemic and lipid profile in obese rats. Sixteen lean Zucker rats and sixteen obese Zucker rats were randomly divided into exercise and sedentary subgroups (4 groups, n = 8). Exercise consisted of interval aerobic training combined with strength exercise in the same training session. The animals trained 60 min/day, 5 days/week for 8 weeks. Body composition, lipid and glycaemic profiles and inflammatory markers were assessed.

Results showed that fat mass was reduced in both lean and obese rats following the exercise training (effect size (95% confidence interval (CI)) = 1.8 (0.5–3.0)). Plasma low-density lipoprotein–cholesterol and fasting glucose were lower in the exercise compared to the sedentary groups (d = 2.0 (0.7–3.2) and 1.8 (0.5–3.0), respectively). Plasma insulin was reduced in exercise compared to sedentary groups (d = 2.1 (0.8–3.4)). Some exercise × phenotype interactions showed that the highest decreases in insulin, homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance, fasting and postprandial glucose were observed in the obese + exercise group (all, P < 0.01). The findings of this study suggest that interval aerobic training combined with strength exercise would improve body composition, and lipid and glycaemic profiles, especially in obese rats.     

Remote effects of lower limb stretching: preliminary evidence for myofascial connectivity?

The skeletal muscles and the fibrous connective tissue form an extensive, body-wide network of myofascial chains. As fascia can modify its stiffness, strain transmission along these meridians is supposable. The goal of this trial therefore was to collect pilot data for potential remote effects of lower limb stretching on cervical range of motion (ROM). Twenty-six healthy participants (30 ± 6 years) were included in the matched-pairs intervention study. One group (n = 13) performed three 30 s bouts of static stretching for the gastrocnemius and the hamstrings, respectively. An age- and sex-matched control group (CG; n = 13) remained inactive. Pre- and post-intervention, maximal cervical ROM in flexion/extension was assessed. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed systematic differences between groups (P < .05). ROM increased following stretching (143.3 ± 13.9 to 148.2 ± 14°; P < .05) but remained unchanged in the CG (144.6 ± 16.8 to 143.3 ± 16.8°; P > .05). Our data point towards existence of a strain transfer along myofascial meridians. Further randomised controlled studies on conditions, factors and magnitude of tensile transmission are warranted.