Arithmetic disabilities and ADD subtypes: implications for DSM-IV

This study investigated whether specific academic deficits were associated with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) subtypes. Twenty students (ages 8-12) with attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) were compared to 20 students with attention-deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/noH). Group differences were compared using a MANCOVA, and paired t tests were used to compare within-group differences. Dependent variables for the within-group differences were four achievement subtest scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised: Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, Calculation, and Applied Problems. Consistent with much of the previous research, no significant between-group differences were found on the achievement measures. Significant differences did, however, appear in the six within-group comparisons, all involving lower performance on the Math Calculations subtest. For students with ADD/H, only one comparison (with Math Applied Problems) reached significance. Students with ADD/noH, however, had significantly lower scores on the Calculation subtest compared to all of the other achievement subtests. These results provided additional support for the hypothesis that inattention exerts a specific and deleterious effect on the acquisition of arithmetic computation skills. These findings have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD as conceptualized in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), because they suggest that students with ADHD-Predominantly Inattentive Type may be at increased risk for arithmetic calculation deficits.     

Toward Interdisciplinary Learning: Development and Validation of an Assessment for Interdisciplinary Understanding of Global Carbon Cycling

Research in Science Education - This study developed and validated an assessment that measures interdisciplinary understanding using the topic of carbon cycling, the Interdisciplinary Science...     

Analysis of speed accuracy using video analysis software

Determining an athlete’s speed from broadcast video is a common practice in sport. Many software packages that perform data extraction from video files are expensive; however, open source software is also available, but lacks published validation for speed measurements. The purpose of this research was to examine the error of speed measurements extracted from video during an ice hockey skating exercise using open source software. The subject completed four exercises, at two speeds recorded by broadcast cameras set at five angles. The speeds from the broadcast cameras were compared to speeds calculated from a high-speed camera placed orthogonally to the exercise. Speeds from the broadcast cameras correlated well with the high-speed video for motion more than 12 m away from the broadcast camera. When comparing all the measured speeds, no significant difference was found between the speeds calculated by the high-speed camera (slow: 4.46 m/s ± 0.2; fast: 7.2 m/s ± 0.7) and the speed calculated from the broadcast cameras (slow: 4.50 m/s ± 0.4; fast: 7.34 m/s ± 0.6) (p > 0.05). The open source method was found to be less accurate when the athlete was close to (within 12 m of camera position) or moving directly toward the broadcast cameras.     

Effects of health-related physical education on academic achievement: project SPARK.

The effects of a 2-year health-related school physical education program on standardized academic achievement scores was assessed in 759 children who completed Metropolitan Achievement Tests before and after the program. Schools were randomly assigned to condition: (a) Specialists taught the Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids curriculum; (b) classroom teachers were trained to implement the curriculum; and (c) controls continued their usual programs. The Trained Teacher condition was superior to Control on Language, Reading, and Basic Battery. The Specialist condition was superior to Control on Reading, but inferior on Language. Despite devoting twice as many minutes per week to physical education as Controls, the health-related physical education program did not interfere with academic achievement. Health-related physical education may have favorable effects on students' academic achievement.     

Free-weight resistance exercise on pulse wave reflection and arterial stiffness between sexes in young,resistance-trained adults

We sought to determine the sex-specific effects of an acute bout of free-weight resistance exercise (RE) on pulse wave reflection (aortic blood pressures, augmentation index (AIx), AIx at 75?bpm (AIx@75), augmentation pressure (AP), time of the reflected wave (Tr), subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR)), and aortic arterial stiffness in resistance-trained individuals. Resistance-trained men (n?=?14) and women (n?=?12) volunteered to participate in the study. Measurements were taken in the supine position at rest, and 10 minutes after 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 75% 1-repetition maximum on the squat, bench press, and deadlift. A 2?×?2?×?2 ANOVA was used to analyse the effects of sex (men, women) across condition (RE, control) and time (rest, recovery). There were no differences between sexes across conditions and time. There was no effect of the RE on brachial or aortic blood pressures. There were significant condition?×?time interactions for AIx (rest: 12.1?±?7.9%; recovery: 19.9?±?10.5%, p?=?.003), AIx@75 (rest: 5.3?±?7.9%; recovery: 24.5?±?14.3%, p?=?.0001), AP (rest: 4.9?±?2.8?mmHg; recovery: 8.3?±?6.0?mmHg, p?=?.004), and aortic arterial stiffness (rest: 5.3?±?0.6?ms; recovery: 5.9?±?0.7?ms, p?=?.02) with significant increases during recovery from the acute RE. There was also a significant condition?×?time for time of the reflected wave (rest: 150?±?7?ms; recovery: 147?±?9?ms, p?=?.02) and SEVR (rest: 147?±?17%; recovery: 83?±?24%, p?=?.0001) such that they were reduced during recovery from the acute RE compared to the control. These data suggest that an acute bout of RE increases AIx, AIx@75, and aortic arterial stiffness similarly between men and women without significantly altering aortic blood pressures.     

Behavioral Inhibition, Heart Period, and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia: An Attachment Perspective

This study shows that relations between behavioral inhibition and cardiac activity may be clarified by identifying attachment status, whereas relations between security of attachment and cardiac activity may be clarified by identifying inhibition status. Assessments at 4.5 years (N = 126) included heart period (HP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), behavioral inhibition (BI), and security of attachment. There was no main effect of BI status (Low, Medium, High) on either HP or RSA. Instead, it was only the Secure children who showed the predicted relation between low BI and high HP or RSA, with the Low BI-Secure group having significantly higher HP than either the High BI-Secure or the Low BI-Insecure groups. Turning to attachment, both HP and RSA increased significantly from an assessment during separation from mother to an assessment 3 min after reunion. The only subgroups showing a significant increase in HP, however, were those with both secure attachment and an absence of high BI.     

Students' conceptions of learning in an engineering context

Research on student learning in higher education has highlighted the central role that students' conceptions of learning play in influencing their approaches to learning. This article reports on a study of conceptions of learning among engineering students on a one-year foundation course. Students were interviewed about their conceptions of learning at three intervals during their academic year. The data was analysed using a phenomenographic perspective and from the data five qualitatively different conceptions of learning were identified. The resulting characterisation of these conceptions of learning is presented using excerpts from the interviews and some implications for student learning are discussed.