The Values of Community Curling: A Case Study

This qualitative case study research shows that within the realm of curling, the professionalization of the sport, at the national level, has limited to no effect on the core values of respect, belonging, and giving back that the grassroots level of curling identify as important. Through an interview process with twelve community level curlers, from four separate clubs within the Niagara region, data were collected and analyzed using traditional coding techniques. Utilizing institutional theory, the research shows a growing gap between the national level of curling and the grassroots level. Data also shows that value alterations, at the community level, are based on the changing Canadian environment in regards to legislation (smoking and drinking laws) and social behaviours (the busier Canadian lifestyle) rather than changes at the national level. These findings have a profound effect on how sports are administered in the Canadian sport system

Level and precision of behavioural thermoregulation in the bearded dragon, Pogona vitticeps : effects of hypoxia and environmental thermal quality /

Most metabolic functions are optimized within a narrow range of body temperatures, which is why thermoregulation is of great importance for the survival and overall fitness of an animal. It has been proposed that lizards will thermoregulate less precisely in low thermal quality environments, where the costs associated with thermoregulation are high; in the case of lizards, whose thermoregulation is mainly behavioural, the primary costs ofthermoregulation are those derived from locomotion. Decreasing thermoregulatory precision in costly situations is a strategy that enhances fitness by allowing lizards to be more flexible to changing environmental conditions. It allows animals to maximize the benefits of maintaining a relatively high body temperature while minimizing energy expenditure. In situations where oxygen concentration is low, the costs of thermoregulation are relatively high (i.e. in relation to the amount of oxygen available for metabolic functions). As a result, it is likely that exposures to hypoxic conditions induce a decrease in the precision of thermoregulation. This study evaluated the effects of hypoxia and low environmental thermal quality, two energetically costly conditions, on the precision and level of thermoregulation in the bearded dragon, Pogona vitticeps, in an electronic temperature-choice shuttle box. Four levels of hypoxia (1O, 7, 5 and 4% 02) were tested. Environmental thermal quality was manipulated by varying the rate of temperature change (oTa) in an electronic temperature-choice shuttle box. Higher oT a's translate into more thermally challenging environments, since under these conditions the animals are forced to move a greater number of times (and hence invest more energy in locomotion) to maintain similar temperatures than at lower oTa's. In addition, lizards were tested in an "extreme temperatures" treatment during which air temperatures of the hot and cold compartments of the shuttle box were maintained at a constant 50 and 15°C respectively. This was considered the most thermally challenging environment. The selected ambient (T a) and internal body temperatures (Tb) of bearded dragons, as well as the thermoregulatory precision (measured by the central 68% ofthe Ta and T b distribution) were evaluated. The thermoregulatory response was similar to both conditions. A significant increase in the size of the Tb range, reflecting a decrease in thermoregulatory precision, and a drop in preferred body temperature of ~2 °C, were observed at both 4% oxygen and at the environment of lowest thermal quality. The present study suggests that in energetically costly situations, such as the ones tested in this study, the bearded dragon reduces energy expenditure by decreasing preferred body temperature and minimizing locomotion, at the expense of precise behavioural thermoregulation. The close similarity of the behavioural thermoregulatory response to two very different stimuli suggests a possible common mechanism and neuronal pathway to the thermoregulatory response.

Teachers' perceptions of effects of terminal examinations on teaching and learning at the secondary school level in Zimbabwe

This study was particularly aimed at the examinations and the effect they have on schooling at the secondary school level in Zimbabwe. The views and opinions of teachers on the use of terminal examinations for certification and the influence they are seen to have on teachers' approach to the curriculum were examined. The literature has shown that there is widespread criticism of the justice and effects of terminal examinations. It is argued that they lead to an over-emphasis of that which is measured, knowledge and intellectual ability, at the expense of that kind of education progress which is almost impossible to measure in an end-of-the-course assessment. Three hundred and six secondary school teachers responded to a survey which asked for teachers' perceptions of examinations and the curriculum. The findings of this study indicated that teaching is structured towards examinations. Although teachers are trying to teach and develop reasoning skills and other activities, the pressure of examinations and the importance of doing well in them force teachers to restrict themselves to examination requirements.

The effects of day care at the kindergarten level : day care centre versus in-home care

Two groups of nonmaternal day care providers, one made up of in-horne caregivers, and the other of providers of day care in centres, were asked to focus on their goals for the children in their care. A group of kindergarten teachers was asked to consider any differences they noticed in children in· the two types of day care mentioned above. It was found that in-horne caregivers, through flexibility, meet the developmental goals of the children in their care. Providers of tlay care in centres used a more structured and social program in order to meet the overall developmental goals for the children in their care. It was found that the kindergarten teachers noticed differences in the children in their classes in terms of their attitude and social behaviour. The type and quality of care were seen as possible influences on this outlook of young children in kindergarten. The one common element that each group highlighted with respect to the effects of day care at the kindergarten level was the important role of the family in the child's development not only in day care, but also in kindergarten class. There is still a strong need to determine the effects of various types of day care at all levels, and specifically at the kindergarten level. The more the kindergarten teacher is able to understand about the child's day care experience, and his or her own life,the better off these children in day care will be. This study confirmed both the importance of quality in child care, and the important role of the family in the child care decision.