Assessment in senior secondary physical education. Questions of judgement

The ways in which various aspects of senior physical education courses should be assessed and whether some can, or indeed should be incorporated in external examinations, are matters of longstanding professional debate across Australia and internationally. Differences in current practice across Australasia reflect an ongoing lack of consensus about how assessment requirements and arrangements and particularly, examinations in senior physical education, can best address concerns to ensure validity, reliability, equity and feasibility. An issue never far from such debates is that of ‘professional judgement’ and more specifically, whether and how professional judgement does and/or should ‘come into play’ in assessment. This paper reports on research that has explored new approaches to examination assessment and marking in senior physical education, using digital technologies. It focuses specifically on the ways in which ‘professional judgement’ can be deemed to be inherent to two contrasting methods of assessment used in the project: ‘analytical standardsbased’ assessment and ‘comparative pairs’ assessment. Details of each method of assessment are presented. Data arising directly from assessors’ comments and from analysis which explored intermarker reliability for each method of assessment and compared results generated by internal teacher assessment, standards-based and comparative pairs assessment, is reported. Discussion explores whether the data arising can be seen as lending weight to arguments for (i) more faith to be placed in professional judgement and (ii) for the comparative pairs methods to be more widely employed in examination assessment in senior physical education

Processing of Wheat to Bread Control of Quality and Safety in Organic Production Chains

This leaflet provides a practical overview for millers, bakers and others involved in production of flour and bread, on what can be done at these steps to improve the quality and safety of organically produced bread, in addition to certification and general food safety requirements. A separate leaflet covers the wheat production and grain storage steps, and other leaflets cover other commodities or aim at consumers and retailers

Geographies of the rural and the Covid-19 pandemic

Peer reviewedPostprin

Why do we digitize? The case for slow digitization

No abstract available

Rural geographical research at the University of Aberdeen : working in rural places and with rural communities

Peer reviewedPostprin

Optimal distribution and utilization of donated human breast milk: a novel approach

Background: The nutritional content of donated expressed breast milk (DEBM) is variable. Using DEBM to provide for the energy requirements of neonates is challenging. Objective: The authors hypothesized that a system of DEBM energy content categorization and distribution would improve energy intake from DEBM. Methods: We compared infants’ actual cumulative energy intake with projected energy intake, had they been fed using our proposed system. Eighty-five milk samples were ranked by energy content. The bottom, middle, and top tertiles were classified as red, amber, and green energy content categories, respectively. Data on 378 feeding days from 20 babies who received this milk were analyzed. Total daily intake of DEBM was calculated in mL/kg/day and similarly ranked. Infants received red energy content milk, with DEBM intake in the bottom daily volume intake tertile; amber energy content milk, with intake in the middle daily volume intake tertile; and green energy content milk when intake reached the top daily volume intake tertile. Results: Actual median cumulative energy intake from DEBM was 1612 (range, 15-11 182) kcal. Using DEBM with the minimum energy content from the 3 DEBM energy content categories, median projected cumulative intake was 1670 (range 13-11 077) kcal, which was not statistically significant (P = .418). Statistical significance was achieved using DEBM with the median and maximum energy content from each energy content category, giving median projected cumulative intakes of 1859 kcal (P = .0006) and 2280 kcal (P = .0001), respectively. Conclusion: Cumulative energy intake from DEBM can be improved by categorizing and distributing milk according to energy content

Development of Transformational Strategies of Smallholders Based on Indigenous Knowledge

This presentation will outline a few of the key lessons learned during the first 12 years of extension programs implemented by the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (now the Iowa State University – Uganda Program, a Ugandan NGO). These lessons and recommendations are described in greater detail in “Tapping Philanthropy for Development”, L.M Butler and D. E McMillan (eds), Kumarian Press 2015. Adhere to the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach.The CSRL initiative was developed to identify ways to improve the livelihoods of small landholder famers in rural communities of a developing country. Uganda was chosen because the vast majority of the population relies on agricultural production, and it was a relatively safe place to engage ISU faculty, students, and donors in the program. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach is the guiding principle for engaging farmers in the program. It places the resource poor at the center of the development equation. It considers individual wealth, food, land, physical and mental health, knowledge, skills, attitudes and social networks as capabilities and capitals at his/her disposal that contribute their livelihood. Actively incorporate indigenous knowledge into extension programs: The involvement of farmers teaching and helping their peers is an indigenous practice; the program is largely based on this strategy. People look to respected leaders for knowledge, advice, and assistance. The program volunteers/community trainers are quite effective at adapting improved practices in ways that local farmers could/would manage them, which greatly enhances the likelihood of adoption and retention. Recovery of banana plantations is a positive example. Farmers knew how to grow bananas (plantain), but abandoned production because it was generally deemed not profitable due to pests and diseases. Building on their indigenous knowledge and using a cooperative training and demonstration approach, new resistant varieties were successfully introduced and adopted. Bananas became a major income producing crop in the District within a few short years. Introduction of kitchen gardens, in contrast, did not rely on indigenous knowledge or practice. Initially, farm households enthusiastically accepted this intervention because it was seen as way to access nutritionally dense ‘medicine’ for those suffering from HIV/AIDS and for malnourished children. The gardens all but disappeared in a few years. A survey revealed the practice was not relevant since land was not a limiting factor for vegetable production. Development of ‘Nutrition Education Centers’ for young mothers and their infants, however, has been highly successful. Training at these ‘Centers’ held in rural households incorporates local knowledge, attitudes, customs, and community support to overcome infant malnutrition and improve maternal health. Most importantly, put people first in participatory program appraisals. It is critical for a development project to have a mechanism for listening to the farmers’ own assessment of their situation. Participatory rural appraisals conducted before, during, and after program interventions are instituted must be conducted with active involvement of small landholder farmers, community leaders, and extension personnel. This provides a mechanism for developing ownership by the community, trust among participants, and well-informed program adjustments. Finally, garner support and actively engage ‘Venture Philanthropists.’ Encourage donors to do more than write checks. Attack social problems the way venture capitalists and entrepreneurs attack business problems -- by developing a ‘failure is not an option’ partnership between investors and investees. The ISU-Uganda Program has benefitted greatly from very active participation by its donors

A protocol for a systematic review of clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews on the early detection of oral cancer

Background: The predicted increase in incidence of oral cavity cancer (OCC) coupled with high mortality and poor prognosis – particularly when diagnosed at a late/advanced stage – highlights the need for prevention and early detection/screening to reverse these trends. Dental healthcare professionals in primary care settings have a pivotal role in this effort. Aim: The aim of this protocol is to detail the process for assessing the evidence for the best practice and methods of early detection/screening for OCC in primary care dental settings by undertaking a systematic review of global clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews. Method: Searches for clinical guidelines and systematic reviews will be conducted in the following databases: Cochrane library, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Ovid), Excerpta Medical dataBASE, PubMed, Turning Research into Practice, SCOPUS and Web of Science Core Collection. Our search will extend to include Google Scholar and international professional organizations/associations websites. In addition, we will handsearch the bibliographies and undertake citation searches of the selected papers. Quality appraisal will be undertaken using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version II instrument for the clinical guidelines and both A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews and Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews tools for the systematic reviews. A narrative synthesis approach will be used to assess the evidence of extracted data, primarily taking account of quality appraisal and recency of publication. Discussion: The synthesis of evidence will determine best practice for OCC early detection/screening by primary care dental healthcare professionals and will evaluate the relationship between clinical guidelines and the evidence base available from systematic reviews in this area

Calculated or caring? : Neanderthal healthcare in social context

Explanations for patterns of healed trauma in Neanderthals have been a matter of debate for several decades. Despite widespread evidence for recovery from injuries or survival despite impairments, apparent evidence for healthcare is given limited attention. Moreover, interpretations of Neanderthal’s approach to injury and suffering sometimes assume a calculated or indifferent attitude to others. Here we review evidence for Neanderthal healthcare, drawing on a bioarchaeology of care approach and relating healthcare to other realms of Neanderthal social life. We argue that Neanderthal medical treatment and healthcare was widespread and part of a social context of strong pro-social bonds which was not distinctively different from healthcare seen in later contexts. We suggest that the time has come to accept Neanderthal healthcare as a compassionate and knowledgeable response to injury and illness, and to turn to other questions, such as cultural variation or the wider significance of healthcare in an evolutionary context