A systematic review on small-sided games in football players: Acute and chronic adaptations

Small-sided games (SSG) are played on a small pitch, often using modified rules and involving a smaller number of players. This article aimed to critically analyse the literature to determine how small-sided games affect the performance of football players in the short- and long term. Electronic databases were searched for literature dating from January 2000 to July 2018. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the modified Downs and Black Quality Index (cross-sectional studies) and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale (intervention studies). Fifty-three studies, 44 cross-sectional and 9 intervention studies, met the inclusionary criteria for review. Most of the cross-sectional studies focused on describing the differences between SSG protocols, whereas 4 studies focused on making a comparison between “interval” and “continuous” SSG training regimes. On the other hand, intervention studies focused on making a comparison between SSG-based protocols and high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT)-based running protocols, in addition to determine the effect of a SSG-based training programme alone. SSG-based football plans (2 to 4 SSG sessions per week) show athletic performance improvements in football players by improving sprint, repeated sprint ability (RSA) and change of direction (COD) along with muscular and physiological adaptation.     

Improving preservice teachers’ scientific argumentative writing through epistemic practices: a learning progression approach

Improving preservice teachers’ argumentative competence is a social and educational imperative. This study focuses on the contribution of a sequence of learning tasks, designed as epistemic practices and following a learning progression approach, to enhancing student teachers’ scientific argumentative writing. The participants were 47 preservice primary teachers who enrolled in a Developmental Psychology course, and one lecturer. Preservice teachers progressively acquired the vast majority of aspects involved in scientific argumentative writing. The most important difficulties experienced by the preservice teachers revolved around intertextuality and the creation of theses. Key conclusions on this teacher education experience are presented in the final section of the paper.     

Longitudinal Trajectories of Family Functioning Among Recent Immigrant Adolescents and Parents: Links With Adolescent and Parent Cultural Stress,Emotional Well-Being,and Behavioral Health

This study examined longitudinal effects of adolescent and parent cultural stress on adolescent and parent emotional well-being and health behaviors via trajectories of adolescent and parent family functioning. Recent immigrant Latino adolescents (M_age = 14.51) and parents (M_age = 41.09; N = 302) completed measures of these constructs. Latent growth modeling indicated that adolescent and parent family functioning remained stable over time. Early levels of family functioning predicted adolescent and parent outcomes. Baseline adolescent cultural stress predicted lower positive adolescent and parent family functioning. Latent class growth analyses produced a two-class solution for family functioning. Adolescents and parents in the low family functioning class reported low family functioning over time. Adolescents and parents in the high family functioning class experienced increases in family functioning.     

Beyond decoding deficit: inhibitory effect of positional syllable frequency in dyslexic Spanish children

This study explores whether activation and inhibition word processes contribute to the characteristic speed deficits found in transparent orthographies (Wimmer, Appl Psycholinguist 14:1–33, 1993). A second and fourth grade sample of normal school readers and dyslexic school readers participated in a lexical decision task. Words were manipulated according to two factors: word frequency (high vs. low) and syllable frequency (high vs. low). It has been repeatedly found that words with high-frequency syllables require extra time for deactivating the lexical syllabic neighbors: the so-called inhibitory effect of positional frequency syllable (Carreiras et al., J Mem Lang 32:766–780, 1993). We hypothesized that dyslexic readers would show a stronger inhibitory effect than normal readers because they are slower decoders and they may also be slower at the activation and inhibition of word representations that are competing (i.e., syllabic candidates). Results indicated an interaction between word and syllable frequency (i.e., a strong inhibitory effect was found in the low-frequency word condition). According to our hypothesis, the inhibitory effect size was almost three times bigger in dyslexics than in the normal readers. This difference shows an alteration, not a developmental lag. Interestingly, the inhibitory effect size did not interact with school grade. Thus, reading experience did not impact the lexical processes involved on the inhibitory effect. Our outcomes showed how activation and/or inhibition of lexical processes can contribute to the lack of speed beyond decoding deficit.     

Book clubs: an ethnographic study of an innovative reading practice in Spain

The most innovative reading practices currently rely on the paradigm of dialogic reading. Book clubs, literary gatherings and study circles are emerging in different social spaces to promote reading and literary discussion amongst adults, and libraries, bookshops, cultural centres, etc. are increasingly developing strategies in this direction. Despite the vast development of reading clubs throughout Spain, empirical research on this phenomenon is still at the embryonic stage. This paper queries the ability of this practice to encourage the pleasure of reading, as well as civic and literary education. The results, obtained from an ethnographic study of nine book club meetings and six key informant interviews, show that the discussions contribute to: (1) developing a taste for reading, literature and reading habits; (2) fostering debate about values and learning about personal experiences related to the stories covered in the various readings; and (3) learning academic skills that go beyond the scope of an informal literary analysis. The main conclusion of our study is that book club meetings generate a very favourable context for literary analysis, as they foster reading innovation and the cultivation of literature, as well as promoting values education and adult learning from a dialogic perspective.     

Competency vs. good intentions: Diversity ideologies and teacher potential

Since the 1970s, some form of diversity ideology has been used in teacher education programs. Since these efforts have yielded few or no results, this response points out how various diversity ideologies guide research agendas, influence future scholarship, and propagate assumptions on the schooling issues facing our children. It describes the evolvement of a body of scholarship that appears to emphasize hope and advocacy, and tolerates excuses of poverty and racism, rather than focus on the psychological stress and academic failure our children experience daily. While we may have the ability to inspire, we have not demonstrated capacity to educate a professorate who can prepare teachers to succeed in diverse settings, nor have we developed teacher preparation programs that understand how to select the programmatic content, experiences, and strategies needed to help teachers develop from novice to expert levels and to apply cultural and language dimensions to curriculum and practice.     

Can Interactive Web-based CAD Tools Improve the Learning of Engineering Drawing? A Case Study

Many current Web-based learning environments facilitate the theoretical teaching of a subject but this may not be sufficient for those disciplines that require a significant use of graphic mechanisms to resolve problems. This research study looks at the use of an environment that can help students learn engineering drawing with Web-based CAD tools, including a self-correction component. A comparative study of 121 students was carried out. The students were divided into two experimental groups using Web-based interactive CAD tools and into two control groups using traditional learning tools. A statistical analysis of all the samples was carried out in order to study student behavior during the research and the effectiveness of these self-study tools in the learning process. The results showed that a greater number of students in the experimental groups passed the test and improved their test scores. Therefore, the use Web-based graphic interactive tools to learn engineering drawing can be considered a significant improvement in the teaching of this kind of academic discipline.     

Technological Training Requirements in Catalonia

The topic of Training Requirements in Industry is relatively new. This article identifies the needs of training and the possible problems that can otherwise occur, with the primary objective being to provide guidelines for the planning of postgraduate courses.     

Evaluation of the University Teaching/Learning Process for the Improvement of Quality in Higher Education

This paper presents a proposal for the evaluation of the university teaching/ learning process, using indicators which are appropriate for activities developed in this process and aimed at its improvement and optimization. This analysis is carried out using the Instructional Model of the Educational Situation (MISE) developed by Rivas (1993, 1997). The data obtained from the application of questionnaires (MISE-teacher and MISE-student) in a specific instructional university process enables a contrast to be made between teacher and students' perception of the process being followed, as well as to capture the various students' perceptions and motivations throughout the course. The teacher can also obtain information on the strong and weak points of the process being developed and therefore propose improvements for future teaching/learning processes. In this way, the MISE becomes a useful tool for the formative evaluation of university teachers.