Accurate assessment of the brake torque on a rope-braked cycle ergometer

Sports Engineering - A Monark cycle ergometer is a device globally used in physiological studies to measure the work and energy levels of exercising humans. In this paper a rope-braked cycle...     

Can textured insoles improve ankle proprioception and performance in dancers?

With the aim of determining both the acute and the chronic effects of textured insoles on the ankle discrimination and performance ability of dancers, 60 ballet dancers from the Australian Ballet School, aged 14–19 years, were divided into three groups (two intervention groups and a control group), age- and level-matched. In the first 5 weeks (weeks 1 to 5), the first intervention group (GRP1) was asked to wear textured insoles in their ballet shoes and the second intervention group (GRP2) was not given textured insoles to wear. In the next 5 weeks (weeks 6 to 10), GRP2 was asked to wear the same type of textured insoles and GRP1 did not wear the textured insoles. The control group (CTRL) did not wear textured insoles during the whole 10 weeks. All participants were tested preintervention, after 5 weeks and after 10 weeks for ankle discrimination score (AUC scores). Dance performance was assessed by 5–7 dance teachers. Pre-to-post change in AUC scores was significantly greater for the groups wearing insoles than for the controls (P = .046) and the size of pre-to-post changes did not differ between the two intervention groups (P = .834). Significant correlation was found between ankle discrimination score and performance scores, using the textured insoles (r = .412; P = .024). In conclusion, the stimulation to the proprioceptive system arising from textured insoles worn for five weeks was sufficient to improve the proprioceptive ability and performance ability of ballet dancers.     

Teacher Efficacy Research 1998–2009: Signs of Progress or Unfulfilled Promise?

This review investigates the state of teacher self- and collective efficacy research conducted from 1998 to 2009. Two hundred and eighteen empirical articles published in 1998–2009 were examined for key characteristics and compared to research published in the previous 12 years (i.e., 1986–1997). Results from the review show increases in overall teacher efficacy research, methodological diversity, domain specificity, internationalization, and focus on collective efficacy. Continuing problem areas were a lack of attention to the sources of teacher efficacy, continued measurement and conceptual problems, a lack of evidence for the links between teacher efficacy and student outcomes, and uncertain relevance of teacher efficacy research to educational practice. An outline of directions for future teacher efficacy research is provided.     

Performance Indicators and Quality Review in Australian Universities

This paper examines the relationship between sets of quantitative performance and diversity indicators and the qualitative banding of Australian universities made by the Committee for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Using factor analysis, three performance factors (Traditional Research University Performance, Teaching Performance and Competitive Research Performance) and four diversity factors (Size, Equity, Student Staff Ratios and Access) were obtained. Strong association was found between quality ranking and composite measures of performance. When factor‐based composite measures were used, quality rankings were significantly correlated with Traditional Research University Performance, Teaching Performance and Size, and negatively with Equity.     

Organization of schooling: Achieving access and quality through inclusion

Conclusion Michael Fullan, Dean of Education at the University of Toronto and an acknowledged expert on educational change, reform and improvement, has noted that reform in special education ‘represents just about all the issues involved in bringing about educational reform.’ complexity and leadership are particularly difficult challenges. Fullan has noted that, ‘the solutions to inclusion are not easily achieved. It is complex both in the nature and degree of change required to identify and implement solutions that work. Given what change requires—persistence, coordination, follow-up, conflict resolution, and the like—leadership at all levels is required...’ (Fullan, 1991b). Organizational support for inclusive education must be in place at the provincial/state level, the regional/school district level, and at the school level. These structures, programmes and policies must deliver the support needed by classroom teachers and their students. We have set out specific ways that this can be done, consistent with an inclusive policy framework. The commitment to equity, as well as access and quality, requires continuing development by building on these approaches. In so doing, we can achieve better results for students with special needs while simultaneously creating more effective schools for all students. A former teacher and school principal, Gordon Porter is now director of student services for the public schools in Woodstock, New Brunswick. A well-known advocate for integrated education, he has been instrumental in developing inclusionary programmes for all students in the schools in the Woodstock area, and throughout the province of New Brunswick. Dr. Porter has conducted training in many parts of Canada as well as the United States. He is currently vice-chair of the Committee on Integrated Education of the International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped.     

School Exclusions in England: Children's voices and adult solutions?

This paper examines the rise in school exclusions in England in the 1990s. It discusses the definitions and different types of exclusion and how policies towards exclusion have been changing. It considers the groups of students that have been, and remain, at the greatest risk of exclusion and the main reasons given by schools for excluding students. Particular attention is focused on the views of excluded children themselves, collated from a wide range of studies, including primary research with excluded students and some of their parents. The 1999 government initiative to cut exclusions by one third by the year 2002 is then considered. The paper argues that much more attention should be given to the opinions and ideas of young people themselves in the search for a solution to young people's disaffection with education and England's high rates of exclusion.