The influence of playing surface on physiological and performance responses during and after soccer simulation

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of playing surface on physiological and performance responses during and in the 48 h after simulated soccer match play. Blood lactate, single-sprint, repeated-sprint and agility of eight amateur soccer players were assessed throughout a 90-min soccer-simulation protocol (SSP) completed on natural turf (NT) and artificial turf. Counter-movement jump, multiple-rebound jump, sprint (10 m, 60 m), L-agility run (L-AR), creatine kinase (CK) and perception of muscle soreness (PMS) were measured before, immediately after, 24 h and 48 h after exercise. Analyses revealed significant changes in blood lactate and single-sprint performance (both P < 0.05) during the SSP but with no significant differences between surfaces. Conversely, repeated-sprint performance demonstrated an interaction effect, with reductions in performance evident on NT only (P < 0.05). Whilst L-AR and 10-m sprint performance remained unchanged, 60-m sprint and multiple-rebound jump performance were impaired, and PMS and CK were elevated immediately following the SSP (all P < 0.05) but with no surface effects. Although performance, CK and PMS were negatively affected to some degree in the 48 h after the SSP, there was no surface effect. For the artificial and natural surfaces used in the present study, physiological and performance responses to simulated soccer match play appear to be similar. Whilst a potential for small differences in performance response exists during activity, surface type does not affect the pattern of recovery following simulated match play.     

The Cooperative Classroom Environment Measure (CCEM): Refining a Measure that Assesses Factors Motivating Student Prosociality

A classroom’s social environment and student dispositions towards social interaction together exert a substantial influence on academic outcomes. The strength of this effect is highlighted by research showing the positive effect of cooperative learning on student achievement, but can also be seen in the contribution that student social dispositions, specifically one’s disposition toward helping others (i.e. prosocial), has on individual achievement. The current study sought to assess the psychometric properties of the original Cooperative Classroom Environment Measure (CCEM) and refine the measure to increase its validity for use in the classroom. The CCEM was developed to provide information to educators about factors in the classroom environment contributing to student prosociality. The original form was answered by 431 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory life science class. Following data collection, both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch analysis were used to remove problematic items and generate a refined form. The psychometric properties of this refined form were examined using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis, and supported the presence of six (out of eight originally hypothesized) subscale constructs analogous to those influencing prosociality in other contexts. Additional evidence showed the presence of a single prominent underlying latent factor (termed Prosocial) that could account for significant variance in all subscale constructs. These findings provided preliminary evidence for the use of both the CCEM subscales and whole survey measures for investigations into optimizing classroom social environments for prosocial action.     

Sustainability of educational change: The role of social geographies

The paper examines the conceptual and strategicrole of social geographies in contributing toor undermining sustainable school improvement.It develops a four-fold definition ofsustainability as involving improvement overtime, within available or achievable resourcesthat does not impact negatively on thesurrounding environment and that promotesecological diversity and capacity more widely.A conceptual framework of social geographies isdeveloped along with its implications forsustainability. This analysis is then appliedto a further framework of seven strategicgeographies of educational change whichdeliberately try to arrange, order or exploitspace in particular ways to secure schoolchange. These are market geographies, networkgeographies, virtual geographies, geographiesof scaling up, standardized geographies,differential geographies and geographies ofsocial movements. The paper concludes byreviewing the other contributions to the volumeon the theme of social geographies ofeducational change, and describes the SpencerFoundation funded conference from which theysprang.     

人草大战

我突然怀念起曾经住过的在城市陋屋区的旧房子来,陋室在12层的公寓上,没有电梯,只有一间屋子,半个卫生间。事情是这样的:这一切发生得非常简单。我们搬到乡下后不久,我的妻子,詹妮弗,觉得后院需要一次彻底的整理。“后院怎么了?”我问道“,看看我们院子里的草长得多壮实,多招摇。我敢打赌,这一带可没有哪家能比得上我们。”这时候詹妮弗透露了一个小秘密,我们草坪上的根本就不是草,只有壮实、招摇的毒葛。我认为,毒葛长得欣欣向荣,可不像后院的其他植物,我们也许应该除掉其他东西,比如说那个看起来病怏怏的玫瑰。我据理力争“:为什么要把真…     

Budgeting models and university efficiency: A Ghanaian case study

In recent years universities in Africa have come under increasing pressure from governments and donors to improve their efficiency. A World Bank report in 1988 suggested that African universities were amongst the most inefficient in the developing world. The attack on African higher education mirrors a trend to be found in higher education systems worldwide as institutions used to a large degree of autonomy and preferential funding come under increasing scrutiny.In Ghana, a response to these pressures has been made by the Ministry of Education and the country's three universities. A new system of programme linked budgeting (PLB), to be introduced in 1996, aims to reform the way universities are funded and thereby to improve their efficiency. A case study undertaken in 1993 analysed the new budgeting system to be introduced and found that it was PLB in name only. The need for political and institutional stability had in fact led to the development of an input based model which almost entirely neglected output measures. Despite a positive attempt at budgetary reform, the specification of the model seriously impaired its ability to affect the economic behaviour of the universities in ways likely to improve efficiency. In the worst case, the new budgeting system could even cause a deterioration in efficiency.The lessons of this study are applicable to both the developing and developed world. Governments, sensitive to the difficulties of introducing radical change in institutional funding, tend to adulterate the pursuit of economic efficiency when political expediency becomes a priority. This study of the Ghanaian universities suggests that ignoring the economic effects of changes in funding may be attractive but may, in fact, lead to decreases in efficiency and result in more severe difficulties - both economic and political - being faced in the longer term.     

Four studies dealing with mediated persuasive messages,attitudes, and learning styles

Conclusions A fundamental assumption of the research presented above was that attitude change is an important concern of the educator, and that if attitudes are important, information on how attitudes might be formed or changed with media is needed. Four studies were conducted to examine the use of media to deliver persuasive messages. The results of the four studies presented in this article tended to support the following conclusions. First, attitudes toward educationally relevant topics, such as conservation, smoking, and disabled persons, can be modified by using persuasive messages delivered by media. Next, it appeared that some types of media may be more effective than others at delivering information designed to change attitudes. Motion pictures seem to be more effective than slides. There also seems to be sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation into the relationship between the content of persuasive messages, the media used to deliver those messages, and the learning styles of the target audience. In short, attitudes can be modified by mediated messages, and the degree of modification may be related to the characteristics of the students who view the message and to the way the message is mediated.