Frog dissection via the world-wide web: Implications for widespread delivery of instruction

While valuable instructional products are available for development and distribution via a variety of media, the Internet provides one of the most effective delivery mediums to date. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a set of Internet-based instructional materials on frog dissection and anatomy, and report on the effectiveness of Internet delivery for encouraging high levels of use and user satisfaction.A previous version of this paper was presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the Internet Society, Honolulu, HI.     

Quantifying the effects of load carriage and fatigue under load on sacral kinematics during countermovement vertical jump with IMU-based method

We present a method for quantifying sacral kinematics during countermovement jumping (CMJ) using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The IMU-derived sacral kinematic trajectories reproduced motion capture acceleration, velocity, and displacement to within mean (standard deviation) differences of 0.024 (0.088) m/s², 0.023 (0.026) m/s, and 0.003 (0.032) m, respectively, across 252 jumps performed by 14 subjects. The method also quantified differences in maximum sacral displacement to within 1 % and differences in maximum propulsive velocity to within 0.7 % of motion capture estimates. This builds upon existing IMU-based methods for quantifying jump performance, which do not provide sacral kinematic trajectories. The utility of this method is demonstrated by its ability to discriminate jump performance metrics across a diverse subject population. In particular, we found that 21 participants adopted multiple strategies to maximize jump height in unloaded and loaded fresh conditions, but converged to a common strategy when jumping fatigued and under load. Changes in kinematic parameters were evident across conditions, and several changes were significantly associated with changes in jump performance (i.e., height). These parameters include changes in the depth of the countermovement, duration of the propulsive phase and maximum propulsive velocity. Collectively, these results point toward the future use of this method in naturalistic environments and for multiple objectives including biomechanical performance assessment and tracking, fatigue assessment, and jump training.     

The Raw Materials of Reform: Rethinking the Knowledge of School Improvement

Despite widespread conviction that adequateknowledge exists for improving schools, weargue that the knowledge needed for successfulschool reform goes far beyond what is currentlyavailable and accessible. Drawing on theexample of ATLAS, a collaboration among fourexperienced reform organizations in the UnitedStates – the Coalition of Essential Schools,the School Development Program, EducationDevelopment Center, and Harvard Project Zero –we argue that four significant ``problems ofknowledge' made it difficult to collect,integrate, and use what the members of theseorganizations had learned about schoolimprovement. First, the ATLAS partners quicklyfound that, while they had substantialknowledge and resources in many areas ofschooling, there were many other aspects ofschooling, school change, and organizationaldevelopment where further knowledge wasrequired. Second, even in areas where thepartner organizations had considerableexperience, they often found that it was hardto articulate and share that knowledge in atimely and efficient way. Third, in someinstances, the lessons that members of thepartner organizations took away from theirprevious experiences were either inconsistentwith one another or downright contradictory.Fourth, the difficulties of creating andmaintaining a new collaborative organizationmay have discouraged the development andsharing of knowledge across the partnerorganizations.     

School is fun at recess: informal analyses of written language for students with learning disabilities

The purpose of an informal analysis of written language is to identify what writers can do as well as what they find difficult about writing. This article reviews the varied components of written language, suggests informal means for assessment, and summarizes the cognitive and linguistic factors that influence varied aspects of writing performance. Two informal evaluation scales are presented that stress the interconnection between oral and written language processes.     

如何节省高等教育费用,从高中阶段开始

教育费用问题,是一个世界性的问题。普及教育与教育费用的收取,始终是一个难以协调的问题。即便是高度发达的美国,也无法避免。     

Learning outcomes and ways of thinking across contrasting disciplines and settings in higher education

This article describes the ways in which learning outcomes have been, or will be, investigated within the TLRP projects in higher education. It introduces the term ways of thinking and practising which has been used in one of the projects to describe the intentions of staff in higher education. This term covers what staff see as the essential nature of their discipline and so defines learning outcomes more broadly than is typical in the current specification of intended learning outcomes. The article considers the wide range of differences in learning outcomes that exist across higher education, reflecting different institutional missions and priorities, as well as the fundamental differences that exist between subject areas in the nature of learning outcomes, and considers some of the problems encountered in how to conceptualize and assess them.