Locomotor activity and exploration: The use of traditional manipulators to dissociate these two behaviors in the rat

An apparatus designed by Berlyne was used to dissociate locomotor activity and inspective exploratory responses with the aid of traditional manipulators. In this apparatus, novel and complex stimulation increased exploration but did not affect locomotor activity (LA), d-amphetamine (1.5 mg/kg) increased LA but decreased exploration. These findings provide a double dissociation of the behavioral components. In addition, low intrasubject correlations for the two behaviors were demonstrated. Results are discussed with reference to the need for simultaneous separate measures to obtain valid indices of exploratory behavior and LA.     

Lifelong learning trajectories: some voices of those ‘in transit’

This paper illustrates the social determinants of lifelong learning histories as uncovered in a largescale survey and interview analysis carried out as part of the ESRC Learning Society Programme, and previously reported in this journal. The statistical ‘determinants’ of adult participation in learning as described there, such as family background or gender, are examined here in terms of individual stories as well as theoretical models derived from earlier phases of this project. The two forms of data and their analyses appear to accord, suggesting perhaps that concepts of structure (determinants) and agency (choice) are not mutually incompatible in explaining patterns of adult learning. Choices are anyway made within subjective opportunity structures (which include notions of what is ‘appropriate’ for each person).     

Mergent Intellect: Centralizing business research on a single platform

Abstract

Management is one of the most fundamental business concepts. The author of this chapter provides overviews of the most important Web sites related to management information, including sites from academic institutions and professional organizations.     

Variability in Muscle Damage After Eccentric Exercise and the Repeated Bout Effect

The first purpose of this study was to determine a possible explanation for the variability in the response to eccentric exercise by having participants repeat the same exercise 1 year apart. The second purpose was to examine whether initial injury in response to eccentric exercise was associated with the extent of the repeated bout effect (RBE). Male students performed 30 eccentric contractions (ECC) of the elbow flexors using a dumbbell set at 80% of the pre-exercise maximal isometric force (MIF). Participants were then classified into low (LR; n = 6), medium (MR; n = 6), high (HR; n = 5), and higher (HrR; n = 7) based on the increase in blood creatine kinase (CK) activity. A year later, participants repeated this exercise (ECC30). Four days after ECC30, participants performed 70 eccentric contractions (ECC70). Range of motion, MIF, upper arm circumference, soreness, and blood CK activity were measured before and up to 9 days after each bout. The change in the criterion measures following ECC and ECC30 were similar for each group. There were no further changes in all parameters after ECC70 for MR, HR, and HrR, although there was a small increase in CK after ECC70 for LR. LR showed a smaller RBE after ECC70 compared with the other groups. It is concluded that participants who exercised 1 year apart showed remarkably similar responses between the bouts. The extent of the RBE following the second bout for the LR group is less for participants who demonstrate the least evidence of muscle damage after a first exercise bout.     

Self‐report Case‐studies: an experiment in own classroom data collection by teachers

The capacity of Bayesian methods in estimating complex statistical models is undeniable. Bayesian data analysis is seen as having a range of advantages, such as an intuitive probabilistic interpretation of the parameters of interest, the efficient incorporation of prior information to empirical data analysis, model averaging and model selection. As a simplified demonstration, we illustrate (1) how Bayesians test and compare two non‐nested growth curve models using Bayesian estimation with non‐informative prior; (2) how Bayesians model and handle missing outcomes in the context of missing values; and (3) how Bayesians incorporate data‐based evidence from a previous data set, construct informative priors and treat them as extra information while conducting an up‐to‐date analogy analysis.     

Creative teaching and learning in Europe: promoting a new paradigm

The tides of globalization and the unsteady surges and distortions in the evolution of the European Union are causing identities and cultures to be in a state of flux. Education is used by politicians as a major lever for political and social change through micro-management, but it is a crude tool. There can, however, be opportunities within educational experience for individual learners to gain strong, reflexive, multiple identities and multiple citizenship through the engagement of their creative energies. It has been argued that the twenty-first century needs a new kind of creativity characterized by unselfishness, caring and compassion—still involving monetary wealth, but resulting in a healthy planet and healthy people. Creativity and its economically derived relation, innovation, have become ‘buzz words’ of our times. They are often misconstrued, misunderstood and plainly misused within educational conversations. The small-scale pan-European research study upon which this article is founded discovered that more emphasis needs to be placed on creative leadership, empowering teachers and learners, reducing pupils' fear of school, balancing teaching approaches, and ensuring that the curriculum and assessment are responsive to the needs of individual learners. These factors are key to building strong educational provision that harnesses the creative potential of learners, teachers and other stakeholders, values what it is to be human and creates a foundation upon which to build strong, morally based, consistent, participative democracies.     

Assessment and the improvement of education∗

This article explores the school coordinator role in initial teacher training (ITT) in England. Recognising that mentoring is fully embedded and highly researched in ITT, it argues the role of the coordinator, while integral to partnerships, is far less researched. This paper investigates tensions in the role, between managing programme-wide quality assurance, teaching professional studies and developing school-based mentors. These questions were explored through multi-site case-studies with four HEIs and their partner schools in four linked phases of data collection. Data analysis established a range of different conceptualisations of the role, with only limited evidence of a development role with their mentors. The authors argue for policies which establish a more coherent conceptualisation of the role, and an agreed nomenclature. A key recommendation is to free coordinators from bureaucratic demands on their time to enable them to exemplify a new ‘professional multilingualism’.     

Is the National Professional Qualification for Headship Making a Difference?

This article investigates the data from a national survey of headteachers of maintained schools in England conducted during 1999 by means of a self-completion postal questionnaire to see whether there was any evidence to support the hypothesis that respondents who had taken part in the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) felt better prepared than their predecessors for the post of headteacher. The survey sought to establish the perceptions of English headteachers with regard to their state of readiness on taking up the role. Where respondents reported themselves as well prepared or extremely well prepared for aspects of their role they were asked to attribute their perceived state of readiness to training, experience, or a combination of the two. In addition respondents were asked to complete open-ended questions which asked them to identify activities and support which would help the induction of newly appointed headteachers. The findings reported in this paper do not draw on these qualitative responses.     

‘You see a baby die and you’re not fine:’ a case study of stress and coping strategies in volunteer emergency medical technicians

This study investigates the experiences of volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) with respect to stress and coping strategies they employ. Research has shown negative implications of work stress in high-reliability organizations, like paid Emergency Medical Services (EMS). While most first responders in the United States are volunteers, little research has examined how their work stress experiences may differ from their paid counterparts. Twenty-five EMTs working in volunteer fire departments participated in one-on-one interviews. Using an inductive approach, four stressors were identified: types of calls, extensive sense of duty, competency concerns, and knowing the patient. Theory of Conversationally Induced Reappraisals explains the effectiveness of the Formal, Informal, and Escape Coping Strategies identified by participants that mitigated stress. This study concludes with recommendations for volunteer EMS organizations: (a) financial assistance for Employee Assistance Programs, (b) social events that encourage communication and interaction; (c) recommended/sanctioned time off, and (d) a clear recruitment/retention plan.