Piano Instruction: Reframing the Master-Apprentice Model Through the Integration of Dialogic Processes

Private piano instruction is a niche field within the broader spectrum of pedagogy with idiosyncrasies that separate it from the traditional classroom. The learning in a private lesson encompasses cognitive, affective, and motor skills, often all at the same time, in a relatively intimate setting. Historically, this teaching and learning environment has followed the master-apprentice model of instruction. However, with newer research in learning sciences supporting social constructivist frameworks for student learning, a blended pedagogical approach is suggested. Dialogic pedagogy and cognitive apprenticeship are used in tandem with traditional precision training methodologies to foster student learning outcomes of metacognition, agency, and self-efficacy in addition to mastery and artistry on the instrument. This study seeks to understand the historical contexts embedded in keyboard pedagogy and analyze the relationship between these contexts and the pedagogical artifacts that were produced. To this end, a textual analysis of historical primary sources will be conducted and analyzed through the lenses of a predetermined set of pedagogical frameworks. Secondarily, several studies will be conducted with students of varying ages, experience levels, and proficiencies from my own piano studio. The same set of pedagogical frameworks will be employed in the case studies to weave together historical artifacts with current pedagogical and research practices

The impact of social sciences on health behaviour interventions has diminished – more interdisciplinary, culture-focused research is needed

Capturing the impact of social sciences on other disciplines is notoriously difficult. Daniel Holman, Rebecca Lynch, and Aaron Reeves have looked at the example of health behaviour interventions (HBIs), a field recently criticised for failing to draw on alternative, social sciences approaches that emphasise the structured and contextual aspects of behaviour and health. A bibliometric analysis of the HBIs field over the last decade reveals that despite an increase in the number of papers published, the proportion of those that explicitly address issues related to social context has actually diminished. Rather than continuing to focus on individualistic explanations of behaviour, a more thoroughly interdisciplinary approach is required; one that adopts a more nuanced conception of how the social and cultural context shapes behaviour

Does the Fractionalization of Daily Physical Activity (Sporadic vs. Bouts) Impact Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children and Youth?

Children and youth accumulate their daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in bouts (i.e., ≥ 5 consecutive minutes) and in a sporadic manner (i.e., <5 consecutive minutes). The study objective was to determine, within children and youth, whether MVPA accumulated in bouts is more strongly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors than an equivalent volume of MVPA accumulated sporadically.Participants consisted of 2754 children and youth aged 6-19 years from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative cross-sectional study. Bouts and sporadic MVPA were measured objectively over 7 days using Actigraph accelerometers. Thresholds of 5 and 10 consecutive minutes were used to differentiate between bouts and sporadic MVPA. A high cardiometabolic risk factor score (CRS) was created based on measures of waist circumference, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, C-reactive protein, and systolic blood pressure. Associations were examined using logistic regression and controlled for covariates (sex, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, dietary fat and sodium, smoking, and accelerometry wear time).The odds of a high CRS decreased in a dose-response for both the sporadic and bout MVPA measures. Relative to quartile 1, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for a high CRS in quartile 4 was 0.25 (0.10-0.60) for sporadic MVPA, 0.17 (0.09-0.34) for ≥ 5 minute bouts of MVPA, and 0.19 (0.11-0.34) for ≥ 10 minute bouts of MVPA. The sporadic and bout MVPA measures had a similar ability to distinguish between participants with high and normal CRS. Relative to 0 minutes of MVPA, an equivalent number of minutes of sporadic MVPA and bouts of MVPA had an almost identical odds ratio for a high CRS. The findings were consistent for 5 and 10 minute bout thresholds.The relations between sporadic MVPA and bouts of MVPA with cardiometabolic risk factors were remarkably similar in children and youth

Radioactive decay simulations for testing of the timing detectors in the Nab experiment

Located at the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge National Lab, the Nab experiment aims to yield a measurement of the electron-neutrino correlation parameter, a, and the Fierz interference term, b, in neutron beta decay. These parameters are located in the energy and the angular distribution of the particles produced through neutron beta decay. Using silicon detectors, a direct measurement of the phase space distribution of the resultant electron energy and proton momentum can be obtained. The silicon detectors of the Nab experiment will be tested using well-known radioactive isotopes. Simulations of systematic testing use the associated energy levels, decay probabilities, and decay options of radioactive sources such as Ce-139, Ba-133, and Sn-113 to determine the expected results of experimental testing. Presented here is an analysis of the Monte Carlo simulations of the radioactive decay of Ce-139, Ba-133, and Sn-113, and their ability to be useful to the Nab experiment as a whole

The AMC Linear Disability Score project in a population requiring residential care: psychometric properties

BACKGROUND: Currently there is a lot of interest in the flexible framework offered by item banks for measuring patient relevant outcomes, including functional status. However, there are few item banks, which have been developed to quantify functional status, as expressed by the ability to perform activities of daily life. METHOD: This paper examines the psychometric properties of the AMC Linear Disability Score (ALDS) project item bank using an item response theory model and full information factor analysis. Data were collected from 555 respondents on a total of 160 items. RESULTS: Following the analysis, 79 items remained in the item bank. The remaining 81 items were excluded because of: difficulties in presentation (1 item); low levels of variation in response pattern (28 items); significant differences in measurement characteristics for males and females or for respondents under or over 85 years old (26 items); or lack of model fit to the data at item level (26 items). CONCLUSIONS: It is conceivable that the item bank will have different measurement characteristics for other patient or demographic populations. However, these results indicate that the ALDS item bank has sound psychometric properties for respondents in residential care settings and could form a stable base for measuring functional status in a range of situations, including the implementation of computerised adaptive testing of functional status

Media exposure to mass violence events can fuel a cycle of distress.

The established link between trauma-related media exposure and distress may be cyclical: Distress can increase subsequent trauma-related media consumption that promotes increased distress to later events. We tested this hypothesis in a 3-year longitudinal study following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre using a national U.S. sample (N = 4165). Data were collected shortly after the bombings, 6 and 24 months post-bombings, and beginning 5 days after the Pulse nightclub massacre (approximately 1 year later; 36 months post-bombings). Bombing-related media exposure predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) 6 months later; PTS predicted worry about future negative events 2 years after the bombings, which predicted increased media consumption and acute stress following the Pulse nightclub massacre 1 year later. Trauma-related media exposure perpetuates a cycle of high distress and media use

Practical methods for dealing with 'not applicable' item responses in the AMC Linear Disability Score project

Background:\ud Whenever questionnaires are used to collect data on constructs, such as functional status or health related quality of life, it is unlikely that all respondents will respond to all items. This paper examines ways of dealing with responses in a 'not applicable' category to items included in the AMC Linear Disability Score (ALDS) project item bank. \ud \ud Methods:\ud The data examined in this paper come from the responses of 392 respondents to 32 items and form part of the calibration sample for the ALDS item bank. The data are analysed using the one-parameter logistic item response theory model. The four practical strategies for dealing with this type of response are: cold deck imputation; hot deck imputation; treating the missing responses as if these items had never been offered to those individual patients; and using a model which takes account of the 'tendency to respond to items'. \ud \ud Results:\ud The item and respondent population parameter estimates were very similar for the strategies involving hot deck imputation; treating the missing responses as if these items had never been offered to those individual patients; and using a model which takes account of the 'tendency to respond to items'. The estimates obtained using the cold deck imputation method were substantially different. \ud \ud Conclusions:\ud The cold deck imputation method was not considered suitable for use in the ALDS item bank. The other three methods described can be usefully implemented in the ALDS item bank, depending on the purpose of the data analysis to be carried out. These three methods may be useful for other data sets examining similar constructs, when item response theory based methods are used

A retrospective comparison of intrathecal morphine and epidural hydromorphone for analgesia following posterior spinal fusion in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135580/1/pan13037.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135580/2/pan13037_am.pd

The Academic Medical Center Linear Disability Score (ALDS) item bank: item response theory analysis in a mixed patient population

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is a lot of interest in the flexible framework offered by item banks for measuring patient relevant outcomes. However, there are few item banks, which have been developed to quantify functional status, as expressed by the ability to perform activities of daily life. This paper examines the measurement properties of the Academic Medical Center linear disability score item bank in a mixed population. METHODS: This paper uses item response theory to analyse data on 115 of 170 items from a total of 1002 respondents. These were: 551 (55%) residents of supported housing, residential care or nursing homes; 235 (23%) patients with chronic pain; 127 (13%) inpatients on a neurology ward following a stroke; and 89 (9%) patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. RESULTS: Of the 170 items, 115 were judged to be clinically relevant. Of these 115 items, 77 were retained in the item bank following the item response theory analysis. Of the 38 items that were excluded from the item bank, 24 had either been presented to fewer than 200 respondents or had fewer than 10% or more than 90% of responses in the category 'can carry out'. A further 11 items had different measurement properties for younger and older or for male and female respondents. Finally, 3 items were excluded because the item response theory model did not fit the data. CONCLUSION: The Academic Medical Center linear disability score item bank has promising measurement characteristics for the mixed patient population described in this paper. Further studies will be needed to examine the measurement properties of the item bank in other populations

Outdoor Learning and Place-based Curriculum Framework

This Framework was developed as a response to the request from teachers in Cumbria and Lancashire to provide an evidence base for an outdoor learning and place-based curriculum such as the Morecambe Bay Curriculum (Eden Project North). It should support teachers and educators in developing teaching and learning for children and young people in schools and other educational settings and to gain confidence and belief in the efficacy and vision of such a curriculum