High-speed observations of football-boot-surface interactions of players in their natural environment

A protocol has been developed to obtain two-dimensional kinematic shoe data of football players in their training environment through high-speed video analysis. Such kinematic data can provide an understanding of how to better replicate the boundary conditions of football movements when simulated using mechanical traction and penetration test devices. As part of a pilot study, 11 youth academy players from a Premiership football club performed football-specific movements which were filmed at 1000 frames s^-1. The protocol required minimal set-up time and the area of the pitch to be filmed could be positioned in any part of the playing area, causing low disruption to the players. This aimed to ensure that the movements performed were representative of those carried out during competitive play. Results in this study are concerned with the kinematics of the shoe during contact with the ground for movements identified to be important in terms of injury risk and loss of performance (slipping). Shoe velocities and orientations were measured for subjects wearing shoes of different stud types (traditional round studs versus contemporary bladed studs) on two surfaces (artificial turf, in-filled with rubber and sand, versus a natural surface). All the parameters measured from the relatively small population of subjects had high variances and therefore few significant effects of studs and surface could be found. The data does however provide insight into the appropriate boundary conditions to be used in mechanical test devices. For example, in the forefoot push-off movement it can be seen that test devices should measure the traction forces when the shoe first starts to move, as this is when the player would lose performance, as opposed to the maximum traction which can occur after significant displacement of the shoe through the surface. Analysis of the orientation and velocity path of the studs just before contact with the ground shows that the studs could be aligned to enhance their penetration into the surface and optimise the traction properties of the studs. In order to determine the orientation and velocity of the shoes at crucial phases in movements force-plate data obtained in the laboratory should be utilised in future studies.     

Supporting learning from illustrated texts: conceptualizing and evaluating a learning strategy

Texts and pictures are often combined in order to improve learning. Many students, however, have difficulty to appropriately process text-picture combinations. We have thus conceptualized a learning strategy which supports learning from illustrated texts. By inducing the processes of information selection, organization, integration, and transformation, the learning strategy should lead to a more elaborated learning. After conducting a pilot study, a main study with 133 sixth-grade students from two different middle schools was carried out in order to analyse the learning effectiveness of the strategy. One group of students learned without the strategy whereas the second group learned with the strategy. All students had to complete a pre-test as well as a post-test which followed the learning period. The learning outcomes of the two groups were then compared: both studies demonstrated that the students who employed the strategy attained significantly better learning results. The effect sizes are medium to large.     

Opportunities for a democratic pedagogy: a comparative study of South African and Swedish teachers' attitudes to inclusive education

This paper is based upon the collaboration between two research groups from Stockholm University and the University of South Africa. The main objective is to compare attitudes between South African (SA) and Swedish teachers regarding inclusive education (IE). IE in this paper is examined as a distinct part of the Swedish welfare system. The method used can be characterised as a combined, quantitative and qualitative research design with a purposive sampling. A similar adapted questionnaire was distributed in the two countries. The Swedish teachers in our data are more pro‐inclusion and more hesitating to accommodate learners with barriers in special schools. However, both the Swedish and the SA teachers in the study are hesitating towards the feasibility to implement IE practically. A team approach is concluded to be an adequate pedagogy for supporting IE both in South Africa and Sweden.     

What contributes to the split-attention effect? The role of text segmentation,picture labelling,and spatial proximity

In the split-attention effect spatial proximity is frequently considered to be pivotal. The transition from a spatially separated to a spatially integrated format not only involves changes in spatial proximity, but commonly necessitates text segmentation and picture labelling as well. In an experimental study, we investigated the influence of spatial proximity, text segmentation, and picture labelling on learning performance. A total of 165 students, divided into five groups, participated in the study. Four of the groups learned from spatially separated texts and pictures in a 2 × 2 design with the factors text segmentation (continuous vs. segmented text) and picture labelling (unlabelled vs. labelled picture). The fifth group learned from a spatially integrated text and picture. Retention and comprehension of the learning material were assessed. Students' working memory capacity and spatial ability were also assessed. The results replicated the split-attention effect with respect to retention only. This effect is attributed mainly to text segmentation and only partially to picture labelling. Spatial integration, however, did not enhance learning.     

Psychometric analysis of a measure of socio-emotional development in adolescents

This is a psychometric analysis of an instrument to assess the socio-emotional development of school students, How I Feel (HIF), developed as a situational judgment test, with scoring based on expert judgments. The HIF test was administered in grades 4–9, 1999–2005. Internal consistency, retest reliability, and year-to-year stability were satisfactory, and the HIF instrument appears sensitive to intervention effects. Sex differences and associations with substance use and other instruments support construct validity. A significant negative trend was found across grades, attenuated in a group receiving socio-emotional training. The HIF test has limited discriminatory power among individuals with high socio-emotional maturity.     

Literature Awareness Among Health Staff in Developing Countries

Abstract

Health professionals, although in principle a highly information-conscious group, are frequently observed to be poor users of literature and library services. The main reason for this lack of literature awareness is the tradition of oral transmission of knowledge found in a number of Third World countries. Since the practice of modern medicine is not conceivable without constant support from the professional literature, either for reference or continuing education purposes, it is suggested that national or regional programmes be launched to promote literature awareness, notably among medical and nursing students. This requires the active participation of faculty staff as well as policy and financial commitments of the governments concerned. Failure to heighten the literature awareness of coming generations of physicians and nurses, and in general to improve the situation in the sector of health information support could have serious consequences on the quality of medical care in large parts of the developing world.     

Introducing quantum mechanics in the upper secondary school: A study in Norway

The study reported in this paper is a survey (n=236) that examines how upper secondary students (18-19 years old) in Norway come to terms with the wave-particle duality as presented as part of a short introduction to quantum physics. The main conclusion is that this concept is poorly understood. Some students demonstrate clear and explicitly formulated misconceptions rooted in a classical physics world-view. Scholars in physics have stated that the concept of duality is unnecessary, but still included in school and university physics. It is argued that school physics should give a more explicit focus to the challenge that quantum physics presents to the classical worldview, thus introducing the importance of an affective dimension in the learning and teaching of quantum physics. This study replicates evidence from other studies that wave-particle duality does not introduce such a challenge.     

National Assessment of Writing Proficiency Among Norwegian Students in Compulsory Schools

The paper reports and discusses a government‐initiated nationwide assessment of writing proficiency among Norwegian compulsory school students. A sample‐study of 7th and 10th grade students are discussed and reported with regard to challenges in measuring writing skills in a valid and reliable manner. For the 7th graders the results showed a greater proportion of narrative texts, and in contrast to more scientific oriented texts, was assessed as “lower than expected”; however, for the 10th graders the tendency was opposite with respect to central linguistic components. Low correlations between the raters were ascertained at both levels, indicating different views among teachers as to what can be expected of students' writing proficiency. The results are discussed in relation to the usefulness of the theoretical model as a basis for assessment of writing proficiency, as well as other obstacles to constructing valid and reliable writing tests.