Implications of Student Teachers’ Implementation of a Curricular Innovation

This study examined 49 student teachers’ actions and perspectives when implementing a curricular innovation (the tactical games approach). Data were collected via videotaped lessons, interviews, and follow-up questionnaires. Questions for interviews and questionnaires were pilot tested and data were analyzed using the constant comparison method. Videotape analysis was facilitated by Noldus’s Observer (4.0) software and was tested for interobserver reliability. Results revealed that pupils were actively engaged for more than half (52%) of class time. The majority of student teachers’ questions were of low order (76%). The greatest challenges student teachers faced were pupils being new to the approach, or lacking skills. The greatest facilitators to implementing the tactical approach were physical education teacher education courses. Student teachers suggested that more opportunities to teach using the tactical approach in schools during methods classes would better prepare them for practicum. A follow-up questionnaire, one year later, determined that 87% of participants were still using the “innovation” in their teaching.

Laryngoscopic Intubation

Background Many healthcare professionals are trained in direct laryngoscopic tracheal intubation (LEI), which is a potentially lifesaving procedure. This study attempts to determine the number of successful LEI exposures required during training to assure competent performance, with special emphasis on defining competence itself. Methods Analyses were based on a longitudinal study of novices under training conditions in the operating room. The progress of 438 LEIs performed by the 20 nonanesthesia trainees was monitored by observation and videotape analysis. Eighteen additional LEIs were performed by experienced anesthesiologists to define the standard. A generalized linear, mixed-modelling approach was used to identify key aspects of effective training and performance. The number of tracheal intubations that the trainees were required to perform before acquiring expertise in LEI was estimated. Results Subjects performed between 18 and 35 laryngoscopic intubations. However, statistical modeling indicates that a 90% probability of a "good intubation" required 47 attempts. Proper insertion and lifting of the laryngoscope were crucial to "good" or "competent" performance of LEI. Traditional features, such as proper head and neck positions, were found to be less important under the study conditions. Conclusions This study determined that traditional LEI teaching for nonanesthesia personnel using manikin alone is inadequate. A reevaluation of current standards in LEI teaching for nonanesthesia is required.

A study of helical and planar waves on sea urchin sperm flagella, with a theory of how they are generated

When the spermatozoon of Echinus esculentus swims in sea water containing methyl cellulose (viscosity 1.5-4 Pa s), its flagellum may generate either a helical or a planar waveform, each type being stable. The helical wave, which is dextral, is complicated by the concurrent passage of miniature waves along it. These miniature waves have a pulsatile origin in the neck region of the spermatozoon. Our videotape analysis indicates that there are two pulses of mechanical activity for each true cycle of the helical wave. (The true helical frequency was obtained from the apparent wave frequency and the roll frequency of the sperm head, the latter being detectable in some sperm when lit stroboscopically.) The planar wave has a meander shape. During the propagation of planar waves, the sliding displacements are adjustable in either direction; moribund flagella can undergo unrestricted sliding. The planar waves are, in fact, exactly planar only at interfaces. Otherwise, there tend to be torsions in the interbend segments between planar bends. Mechanical stimulation of the flagellum can cause a sudden transition from the helical to the planar waveform. To account for the two modes of beating, we advance the hypothesis that circumferential linkages yield beyond a threshold strain. Whether this yield point is exceeded, we suggest, depends upon the balance between the active shear force and the external viscosity (among other factors). We propose that a subthreshold force originates in one array and then triggers the other dynein arrays circumferentially, but unidirectionally, around the base of the flagellum; whereas a suprathreshold force provokes bi-directional circumferential triggering. These may be the two patterns of activation that result in helical and planar waveforms, respectively. The transition from helical to planar bending may result from an increment in the force produced by the dynein motors. The pulsatile origin of the helical wave resembles behaviour described previously for spermatozoa of Ciona intestinalis and of the quail Coturnix coturnix.

Factors Influencing College Students’ Self-Perceptions of Competence in Beginning Physical Education Classes

This study examined how college-age students in beginning activity classes construct their self-perceptions of physical competence. Each class was videotaped, one class per week. During the last week of class, a perceived competence instrument was administered to the students (N = 50) and the teachers. Results indicated 50% of the students’ perceptions of their competence were congruent with the teachers’; 50% were incongruent (32% higher, 18% lower). The Revised Causal Dimension Scale, also administered at the end of the semester, indicated the predominant attribution was effort. Interviews revealed group characteristics regarding attribution for success, interpretation of feedback, and use of social comparison. Videotape analysis using the Dyadic Adaptation of CAFIAS indicated some differential treatment occurred; students whose perceptions of competence were lower than their instructor’s received more corrective feedback. It was concluded that the students interpreted themselves in the instructional context which accounted for their self-perceptions of competence; the teacher expectation effect played a role as well.

Relationships between Ambient Sounds and the Accuracy of Pharmacists' Prescription-Filling Performance

Associations between ambient sounds and accuracy of pharmacists' prescription-filling performance in a pharmacy was studied. Pharmacists were videotaped as they filled prescriptions each workday for 23 days. Each filled prescription was inspected by the investigator. Deviations from the physician's written order were considered errors. Videotape analysis was used to detect unpredictable, predictable, uncontrollable, and controllable sounds. A within-subjects case control study design was employed to determine whether the frequency of ambient sounds was significantly different when prescriptions with errors, compared with those without errors, were filled. Loudness, in terms of equivalent sound levels (Leq) for each half hour, was analyzed for a relationship to dispensing error rate. A mean dispensing error rate of 3.23% was found. Unpredictable sounds, controllable sounds, and noise had a significant effect on pharmacists which resulted in a decreased dispensing error rate. These results suggest that the quality of pharmacists' performance is not adversely affected by ambient sound. As equivalent sound levels increased, the error rate increased to a point, then decreased.

Literacy and Cerebral Palsy: Factors Influencing Literacy Learning in a Self-Contained Setting

This study was conducted as an ethnography of one self-contained classroom at a school for children with cerebral palsy. The five students were severely multiply disabled, exhibiting differing degrees and combinations of physical, visual, speech, hearing, and perceptual impairments. All were diagnosed as having severe reading disabilities. The purpose of the study was to describe and explain those factors that impacted on literacy learning within this setting. Data collection involved nonparticipant observation, interviews with teachers and administrators, videotape analysis and examination of student records. Factors identified as facilitating literacy learning were (a) the room as a text-rich environment, (b) the latitude often given students to govern their own literate behavior, (c) the regularly conducted storyreading sessions, and (d) the constructive use of computers. Factors identified as hindering literacy learning were (a) restriction of instructional time, (b) overreliance on individual instruction, and (c) lack of student literate interaction.