Feedback in Action : An 'in-school' music education programme for primary teachers

Carol Timson, 'Feedback in Action: An "in-school" music education programme for primary teachers', LINK, Vol. 3 (1), July 2017, available online at http://www.herts.ac.uk/link. Carol Timson- is Programme Leader MSc in Practice Based Research, Professional Lead Foundation Subjects, Senior Lecturer in Music Education, School of Education, University of Hertfordshire.My research explores the development of generalist primary teachers’ attitudes, musical understanding and practices during a one year ‘in-school’ music education professional development programme in an urban school. The programme is provided by a UK music education charity in the situated context of a whole school learning community of early career practitioners. It is characterised by: the programme handbook comprising a singing-based curriculum and related pedagogical methods; and in-service training. This article focuses on the termly ‘in-class’ visits of the programme advisory mentor and the value of dialogic, ‘in-the-moment’ enactment of action, feedback and response, which has been characterised as ‘feedback in action’. ‘Feedback in action’ co-constructs a repertoire of musical and pedagogic interventions allowing novice teachers to push performance and pedagogical boundaries by facilitating risk-taking and enquiry. This study used a case-study approach to data collection. Interim data analysis suggests that this kind of professional development experience provides a valuable form of teacher learning in music education. Teachers who receive conferred legitimacy for emergent practice from the advisory mentor can overcome lack of confidence with regard to singing and develop effective musical practice. These findings have particular implications for teacher educators and for music education in schools and higher education institutions

Feedback in Action : An innovative approach to developing primary teachers’ attitudes, musical understanding and practices

Carol Timpson, 'Feedback in action: An innovative approach to developing primary teachers’ attitudes, musical understanding and practices', LINK 2016, vol. 2, issue 2, http://www.herts.ac.uk/link/volume-2,-issue-2/feedback-in-action. Copyright 2016 University of Hertfordshire.My research addresses issues of professional development in music education with reference to a one year ‘in-school’ programme of training provided by a nationally renowned music education charity in an urban primary school. Previous work (Timson, 2014) identified three significant dimensions of the programme: the situated context of a learning community of early career practitioners; the programme handbook consisting of a singing-based curriculum & related pedagogical methods; and in-service training. This thought-piece explores the concept of ‘Feedback in Action’, focusing on ‘in-class’ training and considering ways in which the development of teachers’ attitudes, musical understanding and practices are supported through inter-active mentoring

Getting Heavy: An Exploration into the Effects of D2O and High Hydrostatic Pressure on R67 Dihydrofolate Reductase

Chromosomal dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzymatically reduces dihydrofolate (DHF) to tetrahydrofolate (THF) using NADPH as a cofactor. R67 DHFR is an R-plasmid encoded enzyme that confers resistance to trimethoprim (TMP), an antibacterial drug. It shares no structural homology with TMP targeted, chromosomal DHFRs. Previous osmolyte studies in our lab have indicated that DHF binding to R67 DHFR is accompanied by water uptake and NADPH binding is accompanied by water release. These data suggest that water plays a role in balancing the binding affinity. This may happen as R67 DHFR has a generalized binding surface and may need differential water effects to accommodate both ligands. To further examine this hypothesis, we collect binding and steady state kinetic data using hydrostatic pressure. Increasing hydrostatic pressure hydrates molecules and can essentially test the effect of increasing water concentration upon binding. Hydrostatic pressure can also affect the volume of the active site as well. An activation volume, defined as the change in molar volume associated with the ternary E-NADPH-DHF complex going to the transition state, can be determined from a plot of the natural log of kcat vs pressure. The slope of this line is equal to - Δ[delta]V/RpT. A small slope giving an activation volume of - 1.03 ± 0.9 cm3/mol is observed until 200 Mpa. A second slope describing the effect of pressure from 200 Mpa to 500 Mpa on the activation volume was equal to 8.06 ± 0.8 cm3/mol. Positive activation volumes indicate that the rate-limiting step described accompanies a protein volume increase. As water reorganization may be playing a role in binding of both substrate and cofactor, studies using isothermal titration calorimetry in both H2O and D2O were utilized to determine the enthalpy of solvent reorganization. The observed enthalpy of the interaction between protein and substrate can be broken up into Δ[delta]Hi (enthalpy of the interaction) and Δ[delta]Hs (enthalpy of solvent reorganization). Since the enthalpy of a hydrogen bond in D2O is approximately 10% greater than in H2O, the ∆[delta]Hs can be estimated

Lactate Removal from the Blood of Trained Distance Runners Following Strenuous Intermittent Exercise

The purpose of the study was to investigate the rate of lactate removal from the blood of trained distance runners, during recovery from maximal intermittent exercise. Five well trained male subjects (mean VO2 max of 69.79 ml/kg/min) were selected for the study. Four of the subjects were members of the 1975 Intercollegiate Cross Country team and one was a member of the 1975 Intercollegiate Soccer team at Eastern Illinois University. Each subject received an orientation to the treadmill and a maximum oxygen consumption test prior to the actual test procedure. The test procedure consisted of three separate warm-down periods following maximal intermittent exercise. The three warm-down periods were 30 minutes in duration and consisted of sitting, walking at four miles per hour, and jogging at eight miles per hour. Blood samples were drawn from an arm vein of the subject five, 15, and 30 minutes following exercise and were analyzed for lactate. A Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks was used to test whether there were any significant differences between the blood lactate concentrations of the different warm-down procedures. It was concluded that the 30 minute, eight mile per hour jog was a better warm-down procedure than the 30 minute, four mile per hour walk for removal of lactate from the blood of trained distance runners. Sitting for 30 minutes was the least effective method