Video Presentations that have to Teach

To be successful, an instructional video presentation needs to be effective, valued, liked and efficient, and educationalists and designers should strive (explicitly and implicitly) to satisfy these criteria. In the interests of optimum teaching effect, a didactical distinction is recommended between video presentations that have to ‘instruct’, ‘explain’, ‘tell’ and ‘let encounter’. A schema or frame of reference is proposed, the use of which (it is claimed) can help to optimise communication between video producer, teacher and instructional designer     

Current implementation and practice of educational policy for HIV-positive children: A national study

Policy development for HIV-positive children in the public schools has been delayed. Difficulties with problem definition, indecisiveness, and conflict regarding which policy-making body is responsible for policy development and implementation, and complacency about the need for policy, appear to be the reasons that have hampered policy development. This article presents further findings of a national study regarding state-level policy for HIV-positive children and focuses on current implementation and practice of such policy (or lack thereof), as well as the states' perceptions of improvements that are needed in current policy. Forty-nine of fifty-one states and the District of Columbia responded to the study. The responses are analyzed as part of a model that specifies state experience, perceived need, and degree of state centralization of decision making as possible predictors of policy content and implementation.     

Targeting Parenting in Early Childhood: A Public Health Approach to Improve Outcomes for Children Living in Poverty

In this article, the authors posit that programs promoting nurturing parent–child relationships influence outcomes of parents and young children living in poverty through two primary mechanisms: (a) strengthening parents' social support and (b) increasing positive parent–child interactions. The authors discuss evidence for these mechanisms as catalysts for change and provide examples from selected parenting programs that support the influence of nurturing relationships on child and parenting outcomes. The article focuses on prevention programs targeted at children and families living in poverty and closes with a discussion of the potential for widespread implementation and scalability for public health impact.     

Ethnographic Facilitation as a Complementary Methodology for Conducting Applied Communication Scholarship

This essay presents a methodological approach, ethnographic facilitation (EF), through which applied communication scholars (1) employ ethnographic practices to develop a rich, nuanced understanding of communication within and constitutive of groups, organizations, and/or communities; (2) intervene into communicative practices using group facilitation processes to promote change or development for the group, organization, community, and/or its members; and (3) report their findings to scholarly and relevant practitioner communities. The essay explains how EF draws on, yet differs from, and extends related methodological approaches, such as ethnography, critical ethnography, discourse tracing, and participatory action research, and integrates traditional facilitation practices with ethnography. Implications of the methodology are discussed regarding site selection, researcher conduct and relationships, techniques used to describe and facilitate communication, facilitation assessment, and dissemination of research findings. To illustrate the principles that inform this methodology, examples are included from a case study conducted with a church leadership team.     

Using a social justice framework to assess educational quality in Tanzanian schools

This paper uses a social justice framework to assess the educational quality of over 100 primary and secondary schools surveyed in northern Tanzania from 2009 to 2011. Significant shortages of teachers, infrastructure, and teaching resources were observed in all government schools. National test exam scores for secondary school students highlighted the growing inequities between private and public schools as a learning environment. Although Tanzania has made some progress, severely under-resourced schools and dismal exam scores raise questions about the quality of education offered. This paper calls for a radical transformation of the current curriculum, strategies, and accountability systems.     

THE VIABILITY OF FUNDAMENTAL UNITS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION AND FUNDAMENTAL TASKS OF A UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT

The authors focus on the university department as the basic administrative and productive unit in the managerial structures of universities in the German Democratic Republic. For the authors, the departmental structure is more efficient in almost every way than the former system of faculties and chairs because it permits a more rational use of available human, material, technical, and financial resources. Departments which are structured in terms of specific disciplinary and scientific criteria can more easily forge links with other departments with regard to interdisciplinary projects and programmes. They are also in a position to interact more efficiently with outside partners, in industry, for instance. The authors focus their study on the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technological University of Karl‐Marx‐Stadt by reference to which they illustrate the versatility of university departments in general and the advantages of such management concepts as decentralization and individual initiative and responsibility.     

The Role of Extended Time on the SAT® for Students with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Accommodation policymaking and practice should be guided by empirical research and informed clinical judgment. Findings from our study can provide information to test users about the validity of inferences that can be made from scores obtained from accommodated test administrations for students with disabilities. The factor structure of the newly revised Scholastic Aptitude Reasoning Test (SAT®, 2005) was examined across two groups of students (students without disabilities tested under standard time conditions, and students with disabilities tested with extended time) to determine whether the test measures the same construct for both groups. Invariance across the two groups was supported for all parameters of interest, suggesting that the scores on the Critical Reading, Math, and Writing sections of the SAT Reasoning Test can be interpreted in the same way when students have an extended‐time administration as opposed to the standard‐time administration.     

Load,stress, and recovery in adolescent rugby union players during a competitive season

Abstract

Despite increased professionalization of adolescent sport and improved articulation to elite adult participation, the impact of sports such as rugby union among adolescents is under-explored. This study describes psychological stress–recovery responses relative to training loads in 106 male adolescent rugby union players. The results showed that players with the highest training and physical activity volumes during the season demonstrated more favourable recovery–stress states than moderate- and low-volume groups. Stress and under-recovery did not increase with increases in weekly volume when assessed across a season. When assessed more acutely during intensive competition phases, stress and under-recovery increased with increases in participation demands. Despite better psychological stress and recovery profiles of more elite, higher-load players, not all participants demonstrated favourable capacities to deal with stress and recovery processes. Seven participants were in at least two of three categories of highest volume, highest stress, and poorest recovery. Even in the absence of a full understanding of the impact of high-volume, high-stress, poor-recovery participation among adolescent athletes, these markers may be precursors for more deleterious outcomes such as injury, performance decrements, and overtraining. Findings support the efficacy of serially monitoring young athletes.