Novice teacher vertical professional development? Exploring teachers’ and coaches’ beliefs throughout a two-year induction program

Learning Environments Research - The pedagogical beliefs of novice teachers and their coaches throughout a two-year induction program and how those beliefs impact their induction experiences were...     

Effect of hand paddles and parachute on the index of coordination of competitive crawl-strokers

We investigated the effects of hand paddles and parachute on the relative duration of stroke phases and index of coordination of competitive crawl-strokers. Eleven male-swimmers (age: 21.9 ± 4.5 years; 50-m best time: 24.23 ± 0.75 s) were evaluated in four maximal-intensity conditions: without equipment, with hand paddles, with parachute, and with both hand paddles and parachute. Relative stroke phase duration of each arm, swimming velocity, and stroke rate were analysed from video (60 Hz). The index of coordination was quantified based on the lag time between propulsive phases of each arm, which defined the coordination mode as catch-up, opposition or superposition. The stroke rate decreased in all conditions (P < 0.05) and swimming velocity decreased with parachute and with paddles + parachutes (P < 0.05). The coordination mode changed from catch-up in free swimming (-2.3 ± 5.0%) to opposition with paddles (-0.2 ± 3.8%), parachute (0.1 ± 3.1%), and paddles + parachute (0.0 ± 3.2%). Despite these variations, no significant differences were observed in relative duration of right and left arm-stroke phases, or in index of coordination. We conclude that the external resistances analysed do not significantly influence stroke phase organization, but, as a chronic effect, may lead to greater propulsive continuity.     

Defining Excellence

The following excerpts are from Chapter Two of Mario D. Fantini's 1986 Regaining Excellence in Education, reprinted by permission of Merrill Publishing Company.     

Effects on response time and accuracy of technology-enhanced cloze tests: an eye-tracking study

Educational technology research and development - The transition from paper-based tests to corresponding computer-administered tests allows for the incorporation of improved interfaces that support...     

Quantons are Quaint but Basic and Real,and the Quantum Theory Explains Much but not Everything: Reply to my Commentators

The commentators on my target article (Bunge 2003) have pointed out some gapsand controversial points in it. However, we all agree that (a) although the quantum theory is basically correct, its orthodox or Copenhagen interpretation, particularly the claim that quantum events are mind-dependent, is false; and (b) quantons – the referents of the quantum theory – however strange, exist on their own, even if some of their properties depend partially upon their environment. I only differ from some of my commentators on whether the quantum theory has no precursors at all; on whether it can explain everything physical, including the universe as a whole; and on whether the quantum theory of measurement is relevant. In this collective reply I will (a) emphasize the peculiarities of quantons by contrast to classons, while at the same time rejecting the hypothesis of absolute novelty; (b) show why the standard quantum theory of measurement fails to explain how measuring devices work; and (c) state that quantum cosmology, which claims to know the state-vector of the universe, is so far just a fantasy.     

Resource Centres in Departments of Higher Education: a survey in Great Britain

This paper presents the results of a survey conducted among departmental resource centres in higher education. The survey aimed at quantifying, validating and supplementing information gathered through visits, case studies and the literature and was constructed around six areas: information about each center; details of the learning resources housed in them; an assessment of their use; feedback and evaluation activities; information about the staff in charge of centres; and finally a section on general comments made by respondents.     

Risk factors for infant maltreatment: a population-based study

CONTEXT: Of the approximately 900,000 children who were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect by US child protective services in 2002, the birth-to-3 age group had the highest rate of victimization (1.6%) and children younger than 1 accounted for the largest percentage of victims (9.6%). OBJECTIVE: To identify perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors associated with maltreatment of infants up to 1 year of age. DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: 189,055 children born in 1996 in Florida. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Infant maltreatment, defined as a verified report of abuse, neglect, or threatened harm that occurred between day 3 of life and 1 year. RESULTS: 1,602 children (.85%) of the 1996 birth cohort had verified instances of maltreatment by age 1. Of 15 perinatal and sociodemographic variables studied, 11 were found to be significantly related to infant maltreatment. Five factors had adjusted relative risks (RR) of two or greater: Mother smoked during pregnancy (RR 2.8); more than two siblings (RR 2.7); Medicaid beneficiary (RR 2.1); unmarried marital status (RR 2.0); low birth weight infant (RR 2.0). Infants who had four of these five risk factors had a maltreatment rate seven times higher than the population average. CONCLUSIONS: Data on nearly all risk factors found to be significantly associated with infant maltreatment are available on the birth certificate. Such information can be incorporated into a population-based risk-assessment tool that could identify subpopulations at highest risk for infant maltreatment. Because resources are limited, these groups should be given priority for enrollment in child abuse prevention programs.