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Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore the developmental stages of a community of practice (CoP) and its impact on teachers' professional learning. Methods: Eight physical education (PE) teachers and one professor participated in this project, which specifically examined a CoP focused on PE (PE-CoP). Interviews and observations, as well as a focus group, were used to collect the data, which were analyzed through a constructivist revision of grounded theory. Results: The PE-CoP, which shared the same teaching model, progressed rapidly in its early stage by providing the teachers with collaborative activities to develop innovative pedagogies. Learning from the existing members was then added as a main type of professional learning for the teachers. The PE-CoP, however, gradually lost its collaborative approach, which led to ineffective professional learning. Conclusions: Finding an optimal balance between retaining focus on the primary goal of creating a CoP and offering fresh activities for more experienced members was determined to be a key factor in making the community healthy and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last two decades, communities of practice (CoPs) have been regarded as an effective approach for teachers' professional learning within physical education (PE) literature. There has been increasing academic interest in the instructional model approach as a way to overcome the limitations of traditional PE pedagogies. However, despite PE teachers' positive attitudes towards instructional models, they have been found to have some difficulties employing them. Fortunately, some studies have identified positive impacts of sharing the same instructional model in the CoP on teachers' professional learning. Yet, while the improvement in teachers' teaching practice, which could be regarded as the outcome of participating in a PE-CoP that shares the same instructional model, was identified in previous studies, a question of 'which detailed aspects in terms of sharing the instructional model can contribute the outcome' has not been answered. Furthermore, it is necessary to explore that how sharing the same instructional model is connected with other areas of the CoP at a theoretical level. This study examines a CoP created in 2003, in which a professor developed an instructional model and secondary school PE teachers implemented the model in their respective schools in South Korea. We chose this CoP as a case study because it lasted over 10 years, and members shared the same instructional model. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore aspects of sharing the same instructional model in the CoP and its impact on the relationships between members. Methods: Eight secondary school PE teachers and a professor participated in this study. Data were collected through 58 individual interviews with the teachers and the professor, a focus group with teachers, and 41 observations (37 PE lessons and 4 CoP meetings). A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data. Findings: A shared instructional model created in the CoP effectively helped members to form a strong bond, which ensured the sustainability of the CoP. However, a limitation was that the professor, who originally developed the instructional model, was too heavily involved in decision-making, which weakened the teachers' autonomous professional learning. Hierarchical relationships between the professor and teachers in the CoP were partly rooted in cultural aspects in South Korea. Although the PE teachers understood the importance and influence of the professor, they hoped that he would return to taking on a facilitator role. Conclusions: This study indicates that creating and cultivating a PE-CoP with a shared instructional model can help in making strong bonds among members and sustainability of the CoP. Two different roles of the professor and its impact on relationships between members and teachers' autonomous professional learning was also discovered. However, further research is needed to explore the dynamics of teachers' empowerment and the role of cultural aspects, which might influence the relationships among the CoP's members.

Objectives: Modular architecture of traits in complex organisms can be important for morphological evolution at micro‐ and sometimes macroevolutionary scales as it may influence the tempo and direction of changes to groups of traits that are essential for particular functions, including food acquisition and processing. We tested several distinct hypotheses about craniofacial modularity in the hominine skull in relation to feeding biomechanics. Materials and Methods: First, we formulated hypothesized functional modules for craniofacial traits reflecting specific demands of feeding biomechanics (e.g., masseter leverage/gape or tooth crown mechanics) in Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, and Gorilla gorilla. Then, the pattern and strength of modular signal was quantified by the covariance ratio coefficient and compared across groups using covariance ratio effect size. Hierarchical clustering analysis was then conducted to examine whether a priori‐defined functional modules correspond to empirically recovered clusters. Results: There was statistical support for most a priori‐defined functional modules in the cranium and half of the functional modules in the mandible. Modularity signal was similar in the cranium and mandible, and across the three taxa. Despite a similar strength of modularity, the empirically recovered clusters do not map perfectly onto our priori functional modules, indicating that further work is needed to refine our hypothesized functional modules. Conclusion: The results suggest that modular structure of traits in association with feeding biomechanics were mostly shared with humans and the two African apes. Thus, conserved patterns of functional modularity may have facilitated evolutionary changes to the skull during human evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participation in communities of practice (CoPs) by physical education (PE) teachers as an effective learning strategy has gained widespread acceptance over the past three decades. However, there has not been much attention on how members develop relationships in a CoP or how it affects their professional learning. Purpose: This study aims to explore aspects of relationship formation between CoP members and their impacts on members’ professional learning. Methods: Eight PE teachers and a professor as a facilitator participated in this project. Individual interviews, observations and an open-ended questionnaire were conducted to gather data, which were further analysed using a constructivist revision of grounded theory. Findings: The CoP became close-knit in the early phase through their prior positive relationships and frequent social events. The close-knit climate effectively created a supportive and happy environment, which in turn facilitated teachers’ professional learning. However, it also had two different side effects, including making newcomers feel the same as founding members and making all members reluctant to criticise one another. Conclusion: This project indicates that a close-knit CoP can have both positive and negative impacts on teachers’ professional learning. A paradox that a strong bond between core groups inevitably acts as a barrier to the entry of other CoP members was also discovered. The constant search for a balance between closeness and the freedom to criticise was identified as crucial for teachers’ effective professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The salience of physical education and school sport (PESS) in England changed dramatically in the 2000s in terms of central government investment and political interests. The government put in place the physical education, school sport and club links strategy and the physical education and sport strategy for young people for a wide-ranging array of social objectives. Although policy research relating to PESS has centred on the sport policy-making process and the role of government or agents, including teachers, has been growing from the 2000s, this paper argues for the need to explore the social construction and constitution of school knowledge underpinned and influenced by particular dominant vested interests and their associated discourses to understand certain pedagogical implications for young people. Method: Applying the educational policy sociology approach adapted from Basil Bernstein's work on the social construction of pedagogic discourse, the focus of this paper was to identify the main discourses which constructed and constituted policy for PESS from 2003 to 2010 in England. Qualitative content analysis on six policy documents and 467 media articles was conducted. Findings: This paper identifies five discourses constructing and constituting policy for PESS during the period under study: sport, health, citizenship, lifelong participation and Olympic legacy. These are sources of policy for PESS that were constructed in Bernstein's re-contextualising field. This paper also seeks to show the complexity of policies and strategies for PESS in that they are anchored in a web of significations in terms of complex connections between elements of discourses. It can be argued that as a structure-in-dominance, policies for PESS reinforced competitive sport-based conceptions of physical education and, arguably, created a limited universe of possibilities, of what was thinkable, for and as PESS. Conclusions: This paper argues that the inclusions and exclusions of discourses from policy for PESS are all politically charged, and will have an impact on the quality of young people's education and their life chances in the future. Furthermore, this paper proposes that we need to explore in further depth the processes of how to maximise the possibilities of realising quality PESS in order for young people to learn citizenship, foster health improvement and facilitate lifelong participation in physical activities.

Background: Physical education teacher behaviour has been a subject of study in physical education including physical education teacher education for 30 years. However, the research on teacher behaviour has tended to focus on direct teaching behaviour (DTB) to demonstrate the benefits of effective teaching, centred on a technical understanding of the process of teacher behaviour. A holistic approach for teaching behaviour is needed in order to give students educational experiences. Aims: Drawing on the studies of implicit ways of teaching, the aim of this paper is to provide a new approach of researching teacher behaviour in order to understand the social and moral assumptions and to promote students' motivation to engage in physical activities that are embedded in the act of teaching in physical education through the identification of indirect teaching behaviour (ITB). Method: An ethnographically informed case study based on participant observation (eight months) was employed. The researcher observed students in two 8th-grade (13 years old) co-ed physical education classes in South Korea. Participant observation was supported by participant observer field notes, audio/video recordings of classes, questionnaires, and interviews. Findings: Through inductive analysis of the data, the multiple ITBs were identified including tone of voice and intonation, humour, facial expressions and gestures, dress code and setting an example, touch, encouragement, and care. ITB had a powerful influence on students' social and moral development in terms of reflecting on themselves by the teacher's positive modelling, cooperating with other friends and learning the intrinsic value of physical activities and sports. ITB was also found to impact the student's perceptions of physical education and their physical education teachers, which seems to encourage them to learn more about the lesson. Conclusions: An understanding of ITB will help broaden the perspectives on teaching methods used and studies conducted in physical education beyond the dominant approach of DTBs. Teachers need to reflect upon their behaviour in the physical education class, even if their teaching behaviours are regarded as trivial. Furthermore, the understanding of ITB can also play a pivotal role in encouraging pupils to enjoy the intrinsic value of physical education centred on moral values, and fostering a passion for physical activity that extends into participation for life. In this sense, this insight suggests that researchers re-examine the power of ITB in relation to teachers' professional competence. Teacher educators need to intentionally cultivate the character of teacher candidates in their professional preparation phase in addition to ITB-related studies in physical education.

The boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) system developed by the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences is a compact neutron source that can be installed at medical institutes. The target energy was accelerated to a maximum of 2.4 MeV–20 mA by introducing a gas stripping device that converts negative hydrogen ions into positive ions. By using the tandem-type accelerator in this way, a high-voltage DC power supply was designed with 1.2 MV–45 mA as the maximum capability. The design was improved to reduce the number of stages of a Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier. Hence, the ripple risk of the DC flat top resulting from unwanted stray capacitance was lowered. The overall height and volume of the Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier were reduced to less than half those of the existing design method, making miniaturization possible. After such advanced design and manufacturing, performance tests were performed at 750 kV–45 mA under 23 stages of the Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier, which is the highest level that can perform at its maximum under in-air conditions. It demonstrated stable performance under in-air conditions without breakdown for 2 h, even at 620 kV–35 mA. To reach the final target of 1.2 MV–45 mA, the groundwork is laid for achieving experimental performance while satisfying the optimal requirements in SF6 gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]