Sebanyak 149 item atau buku ditemukan

Does Balance Training Improve Balance in Physically Active Older Adults?

Falls among older adults are a growing public health problem. Previous research suggests that the regular practice of physical activity in older adults improves balance and reduces falls. The objective of this study was to determine whether balance-specific training, in addition to regular physical activity, could improve balance in older adults, and whether there would be a dose-response to frequency of balance training.

Toulotte, Thevenon, and Fabre (2006) tested a small group of older women to
measure the effect of resistance and balance training and de-training on static
and dynamic balance. Participants engaged in a 12-week intervention involving ...

Impact of Active Listening Training at a California State Hospital: A Quantitative Study

The quasi-experimental quantitative study assessed the impact of active listening training on the level of burnout experienced by staff and on the frequency with which restraints were used on patients in a California state hospital. The findings of the study demonstrated that active listening training did not affect the level of burnout experienced by staff. The findings also demonstrated there was no effect on the frequency with which restraints were used on patients by staff who received active listening training. Though no statistically significant differences were demonstrated between groups, the importance of active listening training in the practice of mental health was solidified. Future recommendations include study replication using a larger sample size and longer study period to enhance the assessment of active listening training.

The total training period for the current study was four hours versus 20 days PSI
training done in the United Kingdom research study (Ewers et al., 2002). Besides
the shorter training period, the study focused on active listening skills compared ...

The Influence of Balinese Gamelan on the Music of Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen gave many interviews throughout his life, in which he revealed the influence of many foreign cultures. However, the only time he mentioned the influence of the Balinese gamelan was in the sleeve note of an RCA recording of the Turangalila-Symphonie played by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Although his connection to Balinese gamelan seems tenuous, Messiaen was nevertheless influenced strongly by this culture. He might have encountered and witnessed live performances of Balinese dance and gamelan in the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition, whose evocation might have influenced him in evocating the sound of Balinese music in his works.

Olivier Messiaen gave many interviews throughout his life, in which he revealed the influence of many foreign cultures.

Mind Mapping, Graphic Organizers and Student Writing

This research project was an investigation into the use of graphic organizers to improve student writing. This project employed the software program Inspiration(TM) as the graphic organizer and Elluminate Live! RTM to provide a virtual classroom. Five students in grades two and three participated in the project. As this was an action research project, stakeholder groups were at the centre of the study. The students were asked to complete two surveys and two writing samples; one at the beginning and another one at the conclusion of the project. The students all achieved an improvement in writing, but it was not clear whether the improvement was attributable to the use of the graphic organizer or to the rich interactions and instruction that occurred in the virtual classroom.

This research project was an investigation into the use of graphic organizers to improve student writing.

Detecting Microcalcification Clusters in Digital Mammograms: Study for Inclusion Into Computer Aided Diagnostic Prompting System

Among signs of breast cancer encountered in digital mammograms radiologists point to microcalcification clusters (MCCs). Their detection is a challenging problem from both medical and image processing point of views. This work presents two concurrent methods for MCC detection, and studies their possible inclusion to a computer aided diagnostic prompting system. One considers Wavelet Domain Hidden Markov Tree (WHMT) for modeling microcalcification edges. The model is used for differentiation between MC and non-MC edges based on the weighted maximum likelihood (WML) values. The classification of objects is carried out using spatial filters. The second method employs SUSAN edge detector in the spatial domain for mammogram segmentation. Classification of objects as calcifications is carried out using another set of spatial filters and Feedforward Neural Network (NN). A same distance filter is employed in both methods to find true clusters. The analysis of two methods is performed on 54 image regions from the mammograms selected randomly from DDSM database, including benign and cancerous cases as well as cases which can be classified as "hard cases" from both radiologists and the computer perspectives. WHMT/WML is able to detect 98.15% true positive (TP) MCCs under 1.85% of false positives (FP), whereas the SUSAN/NN method achieves 94.44% of TP at the cost of 1.85% for FP. The comparison of these two methods suggests WHMT/WML for the computer aided diagnostic prompting. It also certifies the low false positive rates for both methods, meaning less biopsy tests per patient.

This work presents two concurrent methods for MCC detection, and studies their possible inclusion to a computer aided diagnostic prompting system. One considers Wavelet Domain Hidden Markov Tree (WHMT) for modeling microcalcification edges.

Assessing the Development of Learners' Intercultural Sensitivity and Intercultural Communicative Competence: The Intercultural Spanish Course

The results of the study show that 50% of the learners developed their intercultural sensitivity toward an ethnorelative orientation whereas 50% moved toward an ethnocentric orientation. Learners developed their ICC as they (1) gained deeper cultural knowledge of Spanish-speaking countries; (2) developed critical thinking skills and skills to interpret cultural differences in a more ethnorelative perspective; (3) showed intercultural attitudes of understanding other perspectives, interest in engaging in conversation with Spanish speakers and willingness to question their worldviews; (4) raised self-cultural-awareness; and (5) improved their language proficiency.

... I also have a painting I did myself and a letter from my high school (in Maryland
) that has some pins of the activities in ... These translations should not be
confused with the italicized direct-quotes (in English) taken from the learners' ...

Students' Speech and Gesture: A Communicative and Strategic Tool to Convey and Discuss Mathematical Concepts in a Bilingual Classroom

Students were grouped based on my intuition of their knowledge of mathematics and their English skills. Students were removed from the classroom and worked in dyads and were videotaped. I sought to explore two questions. First, how does gesture lead to better communication in problem solving contexts? Second, how does gesture help resolve difficulties by allowing students to construct representations? The results showed that students struggled with orientation, specifically with length and width, but were able to overcome these struggles by using their gesture to highlight or replace talk.

discussion was in English. Tharp and Gallimore (1988) ... mathematical
discussion. Insuring the learning of ELLs requires innovations in intensive,
engaging, and challenging learning activities that can increase student
achievement as well as ...

The Study of Relationships Between Perceptions of English Communicative Proficiency of International Students and College Satisfaction

The research was carried out at ISU in fall 2007. Eighty-five international students voluntarily participated in the study. Each subject was asked to assess his or her levels of English proficiency and rate his or her college satisfaction via an online survey.

The study also found no significant relationship between undergraduate students'
English ability and college satisfaction except in the areas of the faculty respect
for students and an opportunity for personal involvement in campus activities.

Faculty Members' Attitudes and Concerns about Communicative Language Teaching Implementation in General English Courses in Taiwan Universities

Education reform in Taiwan has advocated a learner-centered learning environment, but the instructional practices in the classroom predominately remain the same according to traditionally teacher-centered form. As an offspring of the learner-centered learning, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has received intensive attention in the language learning and teaching field, and it has been embraced in the K-12 education as the instructional guideline in Taiwan. However, in the university or college English language classes, there are no mandatory instructional guidelines. Although faculty members of English education may have been trained in CLT, they may have different perceptions about implementing CLT in their current settings, which raises several important research questions that will inform policy and pedagogy.

When asked about his regular instruction activities in those two classes, Noah
says that he usually follows the ... Noah uses Chinese for instruction because the
students' English language proficiency is poor, even though they actively ...

The Role of Single-sex and Coeducational Instruction on Boys' Attitudes and Self-perceptions of Competence in French Language Communicative Activities

Using qualitative research methods, this study looked at the role of the single-sex versus the coeducational school environment as a key factor in determining boys' perceptions of success in French communicative activities as defined in Standard 1.1 of ACTFL's et al. Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century (1999). A total of twenty-four boys (twelve from a single-sex high school and twelve from a coeducational institution) were observed in class and subsequently interviewed. The goal was to determine if cognitive gender differences surrounding foreign language communicative activities, socio-cultural concerns as respects boys' perceptions of the appropriateness of high achievement in French, and teacher pedagogy all lend themselves to the single-sex environment such that it provides a more fertile setting for boys' high achievement. The findings indicated that the single-sex sample's self-perceptions of competence were healthier in the single-sex environment for a variety of reasons. The single-sex school boys were more willing to work hard against the perception held by both sample sets that girls may possess an innate advantage in the speaking skill, they held a wider definition of what is appropriate male behavior (which included high achievement in French), and they (together with their coed counterparts) found the all-boys environment more accepting of errors and more risk-friendly in general---crucial ingredients for developing the French speaking skill. The single-sex sample more willingly embraced school as a rigorous academic forum, whereas the coed sample was more likely to see school as appropriate for building social skills and for cultivating an understanding of the opposite sex. These findings suggest that the single-sex classroom environment is superior for boys as they strive to achieve in female sex-typed arenas such as French communicative activities.

Evan, a student at the coed Campbell High School, initially set out to explain the
challenge of asking clarifying questions in French, yet ... you have to take the
words, translate into English, then figure out what they would say back in English
and then translate that back to French, ... In paired speaking activities, the Patrick
(single-sex) boys remained almost completely in the target language, whereas
the ...