11,620 research outputs found
Cultivating Classroom Spaces as Homes for Learning
Our action research ethnography explores sixth grade students’ perceptions of their classroom space as conducive or distracting to their learning experiences. Issues of physical environment, students’ self-governance, and disciplinary management are explored. We conclude by offering recommendations for other educators to consider
Impact of Head Injury on Cognitive Functioning and Social Cognition in UK-based Female Rugby Players
Introduction:
Increasing attention is focused on the potential long-term impact of sports-related mild traumatic brain injuries (SRmTBI). Evidence suggests poorer cognitive and psychosocial outcomes in SRmTBI, including increased risk of developing certain neurodegenerative conditions. Research to date has focused on males neglecting female athletes, despite evidence suggesting sex-specific differences in frequency and recovery of SRmTBI.
Aims:
To explore the association between SRmTBI and cognitive functioning with a specific focus on social cognition in female rugby players.
Method:
A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed allowing for thirteen female rugby players with a history of SRmTBI to complete a neuropsychological battery of general cognitive functioning and social cognition.
Results:
Weaknesses relative to normative data, were found for domains of social cognition including theory of mind and cognitive empathy, despite typical scores on domains of general cognitive functioning relative to normative data. Group level analysis confirmed poorer performance for theory of mind and cognitive empathy measures in contrast to overall performance on domains of general cognitive functioning.
Discussion:
Findings from this preliminary study indicate that measures of social cognition should be incorporated into routine assessment and management of SRmTBI. Further research is needed to investigate the association between social cognition and SRmTBI
The Digital Flynn Effect: Complexity of Posts on Social Media Increases over Time
Parents and teachers often express concern about the extensive use of social
media by youngsters. Some of them see emoticons, undecipherable initialisms and
loose grammar typical for social media as evidence of language degradation. In
this paper, we use a simple measure of text complexity to investigate how the
complexity of public posts on a popular social networking site changes over
time. We analyze a unique dataset that contains texts posted by 942, 336 users
from a large European city across nine years. We show that the chosen
complexity measure is correlated with the academic performance of users: users
from high-performing schools produce more complex texts than users from
low-performing schools. We also find that complexity of posts increases with
age. Finally, we demonstrate that overall language complexity of posts on the
social networking site is constantly increasing. We call this phenomenon the
digital Flynn effect. Our results may suggest that the worries about language
degradation are not warranted
Trace element abundance determinations by Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF) on returned comet nucleus mineral grains
Trace element analyses were performed on bulk cosmic dust particles by Proton Induced X Ray Emission (PIXE) and Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF). When present at or near chondritic abundances the trace elements K, Ti, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Se, and Br are presently detectable by SXRF in particles of 20 micron diameter. Improvements to the SXRF analysis facility at the National Synchrotron Light Source presently underway should increase the range of detectable elements and permit the analysis of smaller samples. In addition the Advanced Photon Source will be commissioned at Argonne National Laboratory in 1995. This 7 to 8 GeV positron storage ring, specifically designed for high-energy undulator and wiggler insertion devices, will be an ideal source for an x ray microprobe with one micron spatial resolution and better than 100 ppb elemental sensitivity for most elements. Thus trace element analysis of individual micron-sized grains should be possible by the time of the comet nucleus sample return mission
On "jamitons," self-sustained nonlinear traffic waves
"Phantom jams," traffic blockages that arise without apparent cause, have
long frustrated transportation scientists. Herein, we draw a novel homology
between phantom jams and a related class of self-sustained transonic waves,
namely detonations. Through this analogy, we describe the jam structure;
favorable agreement with reported measurements from congested highways is
observed. Complementary numerical simulations offer insights into the jams'
development. Our results identify conditions likely to result in a dangerous
concentration of vehicles and thereby lend guidance in traffic control and
roadway design.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
A dynamical and kinematical model of the Galactic stellar halo and possible implications for galaxy formation scenarios
We re-analyse the kinematics of the system of blue horizontal branch field
(BHBF) stars in the Galactic halo (in particular the outer halo), fitting the
kinematics with the model of radial and tangential velocity dispersions in the
halo as a function of galactocentric distance r proposed by Sommer-Larsen,
Flynn & Christensen (1994), using a much larger sample (almost 700) of BHBF
stars. The basic result is that the character of the stellar halo velocity
ellipsoid changes markedly from radial anisotropy at the sun to tangential
anisotropy in the outer parts of the Galactic halo (r greater than approx 20
kpc). Specifically, the radial component of the stellar halo's velocity
ellipsoid decreases fairly rapidly beyond the solar circle, from approx 140 +/-
10 km/s at the sun, to an asymptotic value of 89 +/- 19 km/s at large r. The
rapid decrease in the radial velocity dispersion is matched by an increase in
the tangential velocity dispersion, with increasing r.
Our results may indicate that the Galaxy formed hierarchically (partly or
fully) through merging of smaller subsystems - the 'bottom-up' galaxy formation
scenario, which for quite a while has been favoured by most theorists and
recently also has been given some observational credibility by HST observations
of a potential group of small galaxies, at high redshift, possibly in the
process of merging to a larger galaxy (Pascarelle et al 1996).Comment: Latex, 16 pages. 2 postscript figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical
Journal. also available at http://astro.utu.fi/~cflynn/outerhalo.htm
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