Shifting to digital with 21st century skills

Educational technology research and development - In this section, we have seven responses from several scholars for Nacu et al. (Educ Technol Res Dev 66:1029–1049....     

An Introduction to the 110 Pocket Camera System

Television is able to present information to the visual as well as to the aural senses. Further, it can show not only still pictures but moving sequences. The majority of educational broadcasts on television do not show movements as an integral part of the instructional process. It is usually present but unnecessary. On the other hand, there are times when the medium of television is used to the full when a combination of synchronised sound vision and movement is used to create an overall mental concept called a ‘dramatic effect’.     

Simultaneous measurement of back and front foot ground reaction forces during the same delivery stride of the fast-medium bowler

Six male cricket bowlers (mean +/- s(mean): age 23.5 +/- 1.3 years; height 1.83 +/- 0.04 m; body weight 826 +/- 20 N) performed their typical bowling action at a set of stumps positioned at standard pitch length (20.1 m). A specially designed force platform rig allowed the correct positioning of two force platforms to be achieved beneath an outdoor polyflex runway (0.017 m depth) for each player's delivery stride pattern. For the back foot, the peak vertical ground reaction force was 1.95 +/- 0.08 kN (2.37 +/- 0.14 BW) and the braking force was 0.77 +/- 0.12 kN (0.94 +/- 0.16 BW). For the front foot, the peak vertical force was 4.80 +/- 0.92 kN (5.75 +/- 0.98 BW) and the braking force was 2.93 +/- 0.56 kN (3.54 +/- 0.67 BW). The mean peak vertical loading rate for front foot contact was 205 +/- 52.8 kN x s(-1) (249 +/- 64 BW x s(-1)) with mean values ranging from 81 to 446 kN x s(-1) (98 to 540 BW x s(-1)). The range for back foot contact was much smaller, 25-70 kN x s(-1) (30-85 BW x s(-1)), with a mean of 41.7 +/- 7.10 kN x s(-1) (50.6 +/- 8.6 BW x s(-1)). Mean peak impact occurred 24 ms after touchdown for the back foot and 16 ms after touchdown for the front foot. At impact, mean peak loading rates were greater for the front foot at 246 kN x s(-1) (298 BW x s(-1)), with a range of 80-483 kN x s(-1) (98-534 BW x s(-1)), than for the back foot at 65 kN x s(-1) (79 BW x s(-1)), with a range of 40-84 kN x s(-1) (49-110 BW x s(-1)).     

Build It and will They Come?: The Effect of Investing in Cultural Consumption Amenities in Higher Education on Student-Level Outcomes

Research in Higher Education - Despite a climate of fiscal scarcity, higher education institutions are making big investments in campus consumption amenities while reducing instructional...     

On the importance of a cognitive processing perspective: an introduction

Children with learning problems require early intervention. If it is evidence based and implemented with integrity and intensity, it will accelerate the academic progress of many students. This is the hope and expectation of the many supporters of responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI). A minority of children, however, will not respond sufficiently to such intervention because of learning disorders like specific learning disabilities (SLD). Some RTI models do not include research-backed methods to identify these children, nor do RTI practitioners often produce the data necessary to develop individualized instruction for them. The authors suggest practitioners go beyond typical RTI assessment data documenting responsiveness/ unresponsiveness to conduct comprehensive evaluations of these most difficult-to-teach students and to include in their evaluations carefully chosen cognitive measures. This special issue presents the work of teams of researchers, which suggests that cognitive and neuropsychological assessments can provide information to further understand SLD, which in turn can guide development of promising interventions.     

Domestic abuse prevention education: listening to the views of young people

This paper reports on findings derived as part of a two-year project funded by the European Union's Daphne III scheme, involving collaboration between seven partner organisations across six European countries. The project involved an evaluation, using questionnaires and focus groups, of domestic abuse prevention education programmes delivered in schools in the UK, France and Spain. This paper presents the findings from the UK focus group discussions, conducted with young people aged 10–11 years, and 13–14 years to explore their opinions about the intervention delivered in their school. The focus groups revealed the following challenges for service providers in this area: young people can misunderstand issues related to domestic abuse, especially the role of power and control within relationships; there is a tension between educators giving young people free expression to share their opinions and challenging sexism and other prejudices; and boys can become disengaged with gender-based interventions. These issues point towards three key considerations when implementing a domestic abuse prevention education intervention: programme content (the what); the teaching methods used (the how); and whether teachers or external organisations should deliver the programme (the who).     

ADULT UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PARTICIPATION

The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between 10 independent variables and undergraduate academic participation within a weekend college environment. The four demographic variables were age, educational attainment, job type and work setting. The six variables contained in Cross' Chain of Response Model (self‐evaluation of ability, attitudes towards education, goals and expectancy, life transitions, opportunities and barriers, and information) were also investigated. Three levels of participation were identified low, medium, and high. An ex post facto design was employed in the present study. Data were gathered through the administration of a survey instrument to 220 adult students enrolled in a weekend‐degree program. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess instrument sub‐test internal consistency. Internal consistency coefficients ranged between .63 to .88. A statistically significant relationship was found under discriminant function analysis with alpha = .05 between participation and all variables except job type and work setting. Under chi‐square analysis, there was found no relationship between job type or work setting and paticipation. There were no differences found under univariate anaylsis of variance with alpha = .05 between the remaining eight variables and level of participation except self‐evaluation of ability where high participators exhibited greater self‐confidence in their ability than low participators.     

Predicting Grit and Resilience: Exploring College Students’ Academic Rational Beliefs

Data were collected from 289 undergraduate college students at a minority‐serving institution to explore the impact of academic rational beliefs on grit and resilience. Findings from hierarchical regression analyses suggested that academic rational beliefs related to evaluation and work habits accounted for a significant amount of variance in grit. Work habits explained a significant portion of the variance in resilience. On the basis of these results, recommendations for future research and implications for college counselors are offered.