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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of target distance on temporal and impact force parameters that are important performance factors in taekwondo kicks. Forty-nine taekwondo athletes (age = 24.5 ± 5.9 years; mass = 79.9 ± 10.8 kg) were recruited: 13 male experts, 21 male novices, 8 female experts, and 6 female novices. Impact force, reaction time, and execution time were computed. Three-way repeated measure ANOVAs revealed significant ‘distance’ effect on impact force, reaction time, and execution time (p = 0.001). Comparisons between distance conditions revealed that taekwondo athletes kicked with higher impact force from short distance (17.6 ± 7.5 N/kg) than from long distance (13.1 ± 5.7 N/kg) (p < 0.001), had lower reaction time from short distance (498 ± 90 ms) and normal distance (521 ± 111 ms) than from long distance (602 ± 121 ms) (p < 0.001), and had lower execution time from short distance (261 ± 69 ms/m) than from normal distance (306 ± 105 ms/m) or from long distance (350 ± 106 ms/m) (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, target distance affected the kick performance; as distance increases, impact force decreased and reaction time increased. Therefore, when reaction to a simple visual stimulus is needed, kicking from a long distance is not recommended, as longer time is required to respond.     

Pre-service Teachers’ False Beliefs in Superstitions and Pseudosciences in Relation to Science and Technology

Science & Education - In order to increase scientific competence within the general population, it is important that teachers and educators have a realistic image of science and scientists,...     

Brain,Brow, and Booty: Latina Iconicity in U.S. Popular Culture

We were shooting on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum one night. It was lit romantically, and Jennifer was wearing an evening gown, looking incredibly stunning. Suddenly there must have been a thousand people screaming her name. It was like witnessing this icon. (Ralph Fiennes in the New York Times, 2002, p. 16, emphasis added)

This stamp, honoring a Mexican artist who has transcended “la frontera” and has become and icon to Hispanics, feminists, and art lovers, will be a further reminder of the continuous cultural contributions of Latinos to the United States. (Cecilia Alvear, President of National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) on the occasion of the introduction of the Frida Kahlo U.S. postage st& 2001; emphasis added)

“Nothing Like the Icon on the Fridge” (column about Salma Hayek’s Frida by Stephanie Zacharek in the New York Times, 2002 Zacharek, S. 2002. The New Season/Movies; Nothing Like the Icon on the Fridge. The New York Times, : 41 Sep.8.Section ZA [Google Scholar]).     

Spanish Secondary-School Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Science-Technology-Society (STS) Issues

This study analyzes the beliefs about science-technology-society, and other Nature of Science (NOS) themes, of a large sample (613) of Spanish pre- and in-service secondary education teachers through their responses to 30 items of the Questionnaire of Opinions on Science, Technology and Society. The data were processed by means of a multiple response model to generate the belief indices used as the bases for subsequent quantitative and qualitative analyses. Other studies have reported a negative profile of teachers’ understanding in this area, but the diagnosis emerging from the present work is more complex. There was a mix of appropriate beliefs coexisting with others that are inappropriate on the topics analyzed. The overall assessment, however, is negative since clearly teachers need to have a better understanding of these questions. There were scant differences between the pre- and in-service teachers, and hence no decisive evidence that the practice of teaching contributes to improving the in-service teachers’ understanding. These results suggest there is an urgent need to bring the initial and continuing education of science teachers up to date to improve their understanding of these topics of science curricula, and thus improve the teaching of science.     

Being highly internationalised strengthens your reputation: an empirical investigation of top higher education institutions

In an educational context characterised by globalisation, reputation constitutes a crucial issue for today’s higher education institutions. Internationalisation of higher education is often seen as a potential response to globalisation and, consequently, higher education has become increasingly internationalised during the past decade. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between internationalisation and reputation in top higher education institutions. Results reveal that internationalisation positively influences a university’s reputation but also moderates the relationship between the institution’s reputation and its institutional performance with regard to research quality, teaching quality and graduate employability.     

Aerobic fitness and academic achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

This study aims to quantify the association between aerobic fitness and academic achievement, and determine how different aerobic fitness tests and individual demographic characteristics may modify this association. It includes 41 cross-sectional and 7 longitudinal studies focusing on children and adolescents, from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database and Web of Science. Pooled effect sizes (ES) were estimated for the association between aerobic fitness and specific domains of academic achievement. Subgroup analyses and meta-regressions were based on aerobic fitness tests and demographic characteristics. The ES for the association between aerobic fitness with language/reading-skills, mathematics-related skills and composite scores, were 0.23 (95% CI: 0.12; 0.34); 0.27 (95% CI: 0.19; 0.36) and 0.28 (95% CI: 0.12; 0.45), respectively. Subgroup analyses by aerobic fitness test modified these associations; additionally, analyses by sex or age showed differences between boys and girls as well as between children and adolescents. Finally, meta-regressions revealed a slight effect of body mass index on these associations. Cardiorespiratory fitness is positively associated with academic achievement. Associations were dependent on demographic and aerobic fitness test characteristics, being stronger in boys than in girls, and in children than in adolescents.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42017069677     

Influence of football match time–motion parameters on recovery time course of muscle damage and jump ability

ABSTRACT

We analysed the time course of recovery of creatine kinase (CK) and countermovement jump (CMJ) parameters after a football match, and correlations between changes in these variables and match time–motion parameters (GPS-accelerometry) in 15 U-19 elite male players. Plasma CK and CMJ height (CMJ_H), average concentric force (CMJ_CON) and average eccentric force (CMJ_ECC) were assessed 2 h before and 30 min, 24 h and 48 h post-match. There were substantially higher CK levels 30 min, 24 h and 48 h (ES: 0.43, 0.62, 0.40, respectively), post-match. CMJ_ECC (ES: ?0.38), CMJ_H (ES: ?0.35) decreased 30 min post, CMJ_CON (ES: ?0.35), CMJ_ECC (ES: ?0.35) and CMJ_H (ES: ?1.35) decreased 24 h post, and CMJ_CON (ES: ?0.41) and CMJ_H (ES: ?0.53) decreased 48 h post. We found correlations between distance covered at velocities ≤21 km · h^?1 and changes in CK at 24 h (r = 0.56) and at 48 h (r = 0.54) and correlations between CK and distance covered >14 km · h^?1 (r = 0.50), accelerations (r = 0.48), and decelerations (r = 0.58) at 48 h. Changes in CMJ_CON 30 min and 24 h post (both r = ?0.68) correlated with impacts >7.1·G. Decelerations >2 m · s^?2 correlated with changes CMJ_CON (r = ?0.49) at 48 h and CMJ_ECC (r = ?0.47) at 30 min. Our results suggest that match GPS-accelerometry parameters may predict muscle damage and changes in components of neuromuscular performance immediately and 24–48 h post-match.     

What counts as science? Expansive learning actions for teaching and learning science with bilingual children

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Science education should help children acquire sophisticated understandings about science, how it is done, and how they can be scientists. Consequently,...     

Moral Education and Literature: On Cora Diamond and Eimear McBride

I argue in this paper for the rich and subtle connections between moral philosophy and literature as they are articulated and explored in the work of the contemporary American philosopher, Cora Diamond. In its significance for broader educational debates—specifically, debates regarding the value of the arts and humanities in a context of global economic collapse—Diamond's work is strikingly original. I argue that it offers much more to educators than the related work of her Anglo‐American contemporaries, among them Martha Nussbaum and Richard Rorty. In development of my position, I read Diamond's 2008 essay, The Difficulty of Reality and the Difficulty of Philosophy, withA Girl is a Half‐formed Thing, the debut novel of Irish writer Eimear McBride.