Right is Wrong: an examination of the effect of right justification on reading

Previous attempts to examine the effects of different types of text format on reading have focused on the improvement of reading. The present study investigated the effect of using a text format that might be predicted to disrupt reading. In this study 56 individuals were presented with reading material presented in right-justified format and in'ragged'uneven line format. Subjects performed significantly worse on right-justified material. Subjects who were classified as good readers on the basis of a pretest were more affected than poor readers. It is suggested that this may result from differences in the reading style of good and poor readers.     

Open access to scientific knowledge: Its state,problems, and prospects of development

The concept of “open access” to scientific and teaching information has become one of the specific forms of the worldwide trend towards the formation of global interactive knowledge. This paper presents the basic information on open access (OA) to scientific and teaching information, its current status, financing options, problems and prospects of development, and the participation of Russia in this process.     

Integrating Art Education Models: Contemporary Controversies in Spain

In this article, a basic controversy for art education in Spain is analysed, and its antecedents in thought and social and artistic practices are reviewed. The controversy refers to the question whether school art education should be oriented towards the fine arts or towards the manual arts. Consequently, which should be the cultural model of reference in contemporary art education? These two controversies are considered as two dimensions whose poles have, to a certain extent, the capacity to articulate various educational trends. The values associated with each pole of each dimension are discussed: for the first dimension, creativity, originality, self‐efficacy and the value of accomplished work; for the second, increase of cultural capital and intercultural solidarity. Finally, the possibility is considered of elaborating educational models that would integrate the various mentioned educative values. The question is raised of the compatibility of these educational values, and it is pointed out that art education has the capacity to generate educational spaces of interchange and dialogue in which to combine languages and perspectives that can contribute to human development and to the mutual coexistence of social groups.     

The Developmental Process of Clinical Supervisors in Training: An Investigation of the Supervisor Complexity Model

The authors investigated C. E. Watkins's (1994) supervisor complexity model (SCM). The Psychotherapy Supervisor Development Scale (PSDS; C. E. Watkins, L. J. Schneider, J. Haynes, & R. Nieberding, 1995) was used to ascertain development over a 15‐week supervision practicum for 12 doctoral students and to compare their development with 7 doctoral students who had not yet begun their practicums. A set of retrospective interview questions produced responses that were used to investigate the viability of the 4 proposed discrete developmental stages in the SCM. The PSDS findings are congruent with theory. The retrospective interview findings, although interesting, are less definitive. Recommendations for research and training are presented.     

The potential role of citizen conservation in re-shaping approaches to murals in an urban context

Public visual spaces, populated by a blend of community murals, unauthorised street art, and historic painted mercantile signs, are often the mark of an urban environment that is both progressive and eclectic. Changes in the aesthetic and cultural value of these urban mural forms have led to an increase in the appreciation and, in some instances, promotion of their artistic merit and cultural significance as examples of public art. However, examining the significance of these works, with a view to implementing a conservation approach is problematic. This is due to a number of practical and theoretical considerations that are primarily a result of the ephemeral existence of urban murals outside conventional exhibition spaces, and issues associated with their often fragmented ownership and uncertain authorship. Consequently, larger thinking on the interpretation, conservation assessment, and advocacy for the conservation of urban murals are required. Key to defining and implementing such strategies is contextualising the public visual spaces that these murals occupy and, as part of this, the local and wider communities’ perception of these murals as culturally significant objects as well as fostering awareness and understanding of appropriate measures aimed at their conservation. This paper examines the role of citizen science, or crowd-sourcing, of local community members in establishing a conservation dialogue and generating conservation- relevant data on urban murals. It looks specifically at a project involving a collection of in situ historic painted mercantile signs — also known as ghost signs — in the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne, Australia. The project fostered the establishment of an informed and open dialogue between conservation specialists and participants from the local community on the significance of local ghost signs whilst transferring knowledge on conservation processes and assessment methods. Working directly with community members, a programme was designed in which conservation and community knowledge of these urban art forms, could be collected and exchanged across digital platforms. This enabled researchers to examine how citizen science can be utilised as a research tool as well as a means to advocate for the conservation of collections of urban murals. It created the opportunity to consider the role of non-specialists and shared authorities in the collection and collation of conservation- relevant data and how information generated from what we call citizen conservation projects, can inform the way in which conservators evaluate and prioritize the conservation of urban cultural heritage. The data gathered and interpreted proved to be the most effective means of ‘conserving’ these often ephemeral forms of cultural material.     

Managing Discovery and Linking Services

There is a growing trend toward a consolidation of services for electronic resources management, A–Z journal listings, full text link resolving, and discovery services under a single service provider. In many cases, the adoption of a discovery service from a provider that is not the same as the libraries’ existing link resolver service means managing multiple knowledgebases. In this session, three librarians gave an overview of their experiences and strategies for maintaining separate link resolving and discovery services in lieu of adopting a full suite of services from a single service provider. Each speaker presented a case study on the advantages and challenges of managing their chosen discovery service: EBSCO Discovery Service, Ex Libris’ Primo and ProQuest’s Summon, in conjunction with the CUFTS/GODOT open source knowledgebase and link resolver service.     

In pursuit of becoming a senior coach: the learning culture for Australian Football League coaches

Background and Purpose: Given the turbulent and highly contested environment in which professional coaches work, a prime concern to coach developers is how coaches learn their craft. Understanding the learning and development of senior coaches (SCs) and assistant coaches (ACs) in the Australian Football League (AFL – the peak organisation for Australian Rules Football) is important to better develop the next generation of performance coaches. Hence the focus of this research was to examine the learning of SC and AC in the AFL. Fundamental to this research was an understanding that the AFL and each club within the league be regarded as learning organisations and workplaces with their own learning cultures where learning takes place. The purpose of this paper was to examine the learning culture for AFL coaches.

Method: Five SCs, 6 ACs, and 5 administrators (4 of whom were former coaches) at 11 of the 16 AFL clubs were recruited for the research project. First, demographic data were collected for each participant (e.g. age, playing and coaching experience, development and coach development activities). Second, all participants were involved in one semi-structured interview of between 45 and 90 minutes duration. An interpretative (hierarchical content) analysis of the interview data was conducted to identify key emergent themes.

Results: Learning was central to AFL coaches becoming a SC. Nevertheless, coaches reported a sense of isolation and a lack of support in developing their craft within their particular learning culture. These coaches developed a unique dynamic social network (DSN) that involved episodic contact with a number of respected confidantes often from diverse fields (used here in the Bourdieuian sense) in developing their coaching craft. Although there were some opportunities in their workplace, much of their learning was unmediated by others, underscoring the importance of their agentic engagement in limited workplace affordances.

Conclusion: The variety of people accessed for the purposes of learning (often beyond the immediate workplace) and the long time taken to establish networks of supporters meant that a new way of describing the social networks of AFL coaches was needed; DSN. However, despite the acknowledged utility of learning from others, all coaches reported some sense of isolation in their learning. The sense of isolation brought about by professional volatility in high-performance Australian Football offers an alternative view on Hodkinson, Biesta and James' attempt in overcoming dualisms in learning.     

Efficacy of massage on muscle soreness,perceived recovery,physiological restoration and physical performance in male bodybuilders

It is believed that sport massage after intensive exercise might improve power and perceptual recovery in athletes. However, few studies have been done in this area. This study aimed to examine the effect of massage on the performance of bodybuilders. Thirty experienced male bodybuilders were randomly assigned to either a massage group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). Both groups performed five repetition sets at 75–77% of 1RM of knee extensor and flexor muscle groups. The massage group then received a 30-min massage after the exercise protocol while the control group maintained their normal passive recovery. Criteria under investigation included: plasma creatine kinase (CK) level, agility test, vertical jump test, isometric torque test, and perception of soreness. All variables were measured over 6 time periods: baseline, immediately after the DOMS inducing protocol, right after the massage, and 24, 48, and 72 h after the massage. Both groups showed significant (P < .001) decreases in jumping, agility performance, and isometric torque, but significant (P < .001) increases in CK and muscle soreness levels. The massage group in general demonstrated a better recovery rate. As such, a post-exercise massage session can improve the exercise performance and recovery rate in male bodybuilders after intensive exercise.     

The effect of limb dominance on lower limb functional performance – a systematic review

Lower limb dominance (or lateral preference) could potentially effect functional performance. Clinicians are often asked to make judgements as to when a patient has sufficiently “recovered” from an injury, typically using strength and dynamic performance outcome measures. The primary purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature in relation to limb dominance within active adult populations and discuss some limitations to current methods and relate this to current clinical practice. A search of MEDLINE and CINAHL and EMBASE databases and reference lists of those articles identified was performed. Eleven articles were selected for meta-analysis. There was no statistical effect of limb dominance for any of the functional tests: isokinetic quadriceps and hamstring tests, hamstring:quadriceps ratios, single-leg hop for distance, single-leg vertical jump and vertical ground reaction force following a single-leg vertical jump. Pooled symmetry values varied from 94.6% to 99.6% across the tests, above the clinically accepted benchmark of 90% used in clinical practice. Although the results of this study must be used with discretion, asymmetries in the tasks described in this analysis should be viewed as undesirable and remedied accordingly. Further research is needed to quantify asymmetries, particularly in relation to sport-specific contexts.     

Assessment of three-dimensional joint kinematics of the upper limb during simulated swimming using wearable inertial-magnetic measurement units

The analysis of the joint kinematics during swimming plays a fundamental role both in sports conditioning and in clinical contexts. Contrary to the traditional video analysis, wearable inertial-magnetic measurements units (IMMUs) allow to analyse both the underwater and aerial phases of the swimming stroke over the whole length of the swimming pool. Furthermore, the rapid calibration and short data processing required by IMMUs provide coaches and athletes with an immediate feedback on swimming kinematics during training. This study aimed to develop a protocol to assess the three-dimensional kinematics of the upper limbs during swimming using IMMUs. Kinematics were evaluated during simulated dry-land swimming trials performed in the laboratory by eight swimmers. A stereo-photogrammetric system was used as the gold standard. The results showed high coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC) values, with median (first–third quartile) of 0.97 (0.93–0.95) and 0.99 (0.97–0.99) for simulated front-crawl and breaststroke, respectively. Furthermore, the joint angles were estimated with an accuracy increasing from distal to proximal joints, with wrist indices showing median CMC values always higher than 0.90. The present findings represent an important step towards the practical use of technology based on IMMUs for the kinematic analysis of swimming in applied contexts.