Determining optimal cadence for an individual road cyclist from field data

The cadence that maximises power output developed at the crank by an individual cyclist is conventionally determined using a laboratory test. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (i) to show that such a cadence, which we call the optimal cadence, can be determined using power output, heart-rate, and cadence measured in the field and (ii) to describe methodology to do so. For an individual cyclist's sessions, power output is related to cadence and the elicited heart-rate using a non-linear regression model. Optimal cadences are found for two riders (83 and 70 revolutions per minute, respectively); these cadences are similar to the riders’ preferred cadences (82–92?rpm and 65–75?rpm). Power output reduces by approximately 6% for cadences 20?rpm above or below optimum. Our methodology can be used by a rider to determine an optimal cadence without laboratory testing intervention: the rider will need to collect power output, heart-rate, and cadence measurements from training and racing sessions over an extended period (>6 months); ride at a range of cadences within those sessions; and calculate his/her optimal cadence using the methodology described or a software tool that implements it.     

Making values education everyone's business

Adults are typically required to make values‐based decisions multiple times each day.Why, then, should a discussion of values not be explicit across the college curriculum and intentionally integrated into the cocurriculum? The authors describe a place where the work of values education is widely shared.     

Interference and auditory short-term memory in the bottlenosed dolphin

Interference in auditory short-term memory in the bottlenosed dolphin,Tursiops truncatus (Montagu), was studied using a delayed matching-to-sample task. At each trial, one of two sample sounds, chosen randomly, was projected underwater for 4 sec and then, after a variable delay interval, both sounds were presented. A response to the sound matching the initial sample was reinforced. Correct matching was significantly reduced following short intervals between trials in combination with long delays after the sample (proactive interference), or when a near continuous irrelevant sound was inserted into the delay interval (retroactive interference). There was rapid habituation to interference if the irrelevant sound was short in duration relative to the delay interval. For both proactive and retroactive interference, the errors were predominantly responses to the sample sound appropriate to the prior trial rather than to the current trial, indicating that memory for the relative recency of events (temporal memory) was degraded by interference. When interference was deleted or minimized, temporal memory remained nearly perfect over 30-sec delay intervals, the longest tested. The importance of distinguishing between temporal memory and nontemporal, or event, memory in different forms of the delayed matching task was emphasized.     

Increasing the uptake of peer feedback in primary school writing: findings from an action research enquiry

This article reports on how an action research strategy was used to increase children's uptake of feedback during peer assessment in primary school writing. Several different strategies were used in the study that had been successful in increasing students’ uptake of peer feedback in contexts such as higher education. In order to evaluate how successful these actions were, several different data collection methods were drawn upon to triangulate findings including children's work, observations, informal interviews and mind mapping. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data generated. Findings are consistent with those from research in other settings which suggest that pupils make better use of feedback if: it is task-involving and useful; there is sufficient time given for them to act on it and discuss it with their peers; and they are asked to reflect on how it has been used to improve the quality of the assessed work.     

Art and Design Education in the Ecology of Care

In the light of challenges arising from contemporary issues such as inclusivity, sustainability and justice, the connections between art, design and caring appears to be pertinent. What role can artists and designers play in the ecology of care? How can we lead art and design students to connect and lend their creative skills to care needs? Drawing on the ethics of care and a relational view on health this article highlights the various teaching approaches and initiatives introduced at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, to support and guide students to realise various art and design for health and wellbeing projects that provide opportunities for students to part take in ecology of care using their creative skills. Although creative explorations at the intersection of art, design and caring is still at an early stage, outcomes from this ongoing effort have been encouraging in response to the shifting social needs to create a more inclusive and flourishing society in Singapore.     

Improving quality of the child care environment through a consultancy programme for centre directors

This study examined the effects of a newly developed on-site consultancy programme to improve global quality of the child care environment in non-parental child care centres for 0- to 4-year-old children as measured with the ITERS-R/ECERS-R. Using a randomised controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up test, we compared 35 experimental group with 33 control group. The consultancy programme comprised three consultations in total. Analysis on the items that were specifically targeted during the consultancy showed a significant improvement on these targeted items between pretest and posttest and between posttest and follow-up. The effect of the consultancy programme on the total scores (including the non-targeted items) was not significant.     

The need-threat analysis: A scoring system for the children's apperception test

The study of childhood stress provides a useful perspective for assessing children's emotional status. Thematic projective techniques, like the Children's Apperception Test (CAT), may be useful in exploring children's perception of stress. For this purpose, a need-threat analysis is recommended to identify those underlying needs and threats that are likely to make a particular event or situation important, and hence potentially stressful, to an individual child. This paper introduces a scoring system for the CAT based on the analysis of thematic data in terms of five need-threat binaries, which serve as scoring categories. Preliminary data on reliability are presented.