Dutch Cooperation Schools as Democratic Communities: A Constructive Perspective from Dewey’s View on Democracy in Education

In this article, the authors reflect on the results of their previous research at cooperation schools in the Netherlands, where students and teachers from nonaffiliated and Christian backgrounds come together. Dewey’s perspective on educating democratic values is combined with empirical results of this research, answering the question what Dewey’s concept contributes to the reflection on the relation between values and religious education at these schools. This article shows that this reflection and the implementation of value-based religious education offers opportunities for schools that face the challenge of practicing encounter between students from different backgrounds.     

ZigID: Improving visibility in industrial environments by combining WSN and RFID

The objective of this work is to provide decision-making processes with an updated/real picture of the mobile resources in industrial environments through a constant feedback of information. The combination of identification technologies and wireless sensor networks (WSN) is proposed as a key development to guarantee an accurate and timely supply of online information regarding the localization and tracking of the mobile wireless devices. This approach uses a cooperative and distributed localization system, called ZigID, which is a WSN based on a Zigbee network with radio frequency identification (RFID) active tags as end nodes. The WSN can recover not only the ID information stored at the tags attached to mobile resources, but also any other useful data captured by specific sensors for acceleration, temperature, humidity and fuel status. This paper also shows the development of ZigID, including devices and information flows, as well as its implementation in ground handling operations at the Ciudad Real Central Airport, Spain.     

Item position effects in listening but not in reading in the European Survey of Language Competences

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - In contrast with the assumptions made in standard measurement models used in large-scale assessments, students’ performance may change...     

Evaluation of Neuroanatomy Web Resources for Undergraduate Education: Educators’ and Students’ Perspectives

Despite the development of novel teaching strategies and the abundance of adjunct teaching web resources, students and early career physicians have continuously reported difficulties in learning and clinically applying neuroanatomy. Differences in instructional design of these resources, the lack of assessment of their capacity to meet intended educational goals, and a poor understanding of the user’s perspective may have hindered their success in increasing understanding and retention of neuroanatomical knowledge. To decipher the limitations of existing web resources, an online search for neuroanatomy web resources was performed and distilled through a strict filtration rubric. A selection of resources were analyzed by a panel of educators and rated using Likert scales, focusing on the identification of features influencing their usefulness in learning the anatomy of the spinal pathways. The top three ranked web resources were subsequently evaluated by a panel of medical and neuroscience students to assess how specific features aided in their learning of the subject. This detailed analysis has identified features of neuroanatomy web resources that are valued by both educators and users with regard to instructional design. One resource was rated highest by end users and educators on a series of Likert scale questions in terms of clarity of explanation, step-wise teaching design, summarization of information, control of instructional-pace, integration with neurophysiology, neuroradiology and clinical correlates, deployment of a wide array of pedagogical tools, and factors for visualizing neuroanatomical inter-relationships. These results have provided a novel user perspective on the influence of specific elements of neuroanatomy web resources to improve instructional design and enhance learner performance.     

The effect of consistent and varied follow-through practice schedules on learning a table tennis backhand

In table tennis the follow-through action after a shot is an important part of skill execution. In this experiment, we aimed to extend literature around the contextual interference effect by investigating whether the way the follow-through is organised in practice affects learning of the backhand shot in table tennis. Thirty unskilled participants were allocated to blocked-variable practice, random-variable practice or a control-constant group and aimed backhand shots towards a target following ball projection from a machine. Each group completed these shots in a pre-test, a training phase with follow-through manipulations, a post-test, and a retention test. The random-variable group improved their shot accuracy from pre-test to post-test and from pre-test to retention test (both P < 0.01, d = 1.03), whereas neither the blocked-variable nor the control-constant group displayed any change in shot accuracy. Practising the follow-through in a random-variable fashion enhanced learning of the preceding shot compared with blocked-variable practice or no follow-through instructions. The benefits of learning motor skills under conditions of high contextual interference also apply to how follow-through actions are organised. The findings are valuable to coaches and suggest that instructions related to the follow-through action should be considered as well as the primary skill itself.     

Isolated Obesity Is Not Enough to Impair Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Metabolically Healthy Men

Purpose: To evaluate whether excess body mass influences the heart rate variability (HRV) indexes at rest, and to correlate adiposity indicators and the aerobic fitness with cardiac autonomic variables in metabolically healthy young adults. Method: In all, 41 untrained males (M_age = 21.80, SD = 2.14 years), 14 normal weight (M_BMI = 22.28, SD = 1.86 kg?m^?2), 11 overweight (M_BMI = 26.95, SD = 1.43 kg?m^?2), and 16 obese (M_BMI = 33.58, SD = 3.06 kg?m^?2) metabolically healthy (normal values of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol), underwent evaluations of the HRV at rest and of the peak oxygen consumption (VO₂ peak) during maximal exercise on a cycle ergometer. Results: Blood pressure, heart rate, HRV indexes, casual blood glucose, oxidative stress, and antioxidant activity did not differ among the groups. The VO₂ peak (mL?kg^?1?min^?1) was lower in the obese group compared with the normal weight and overweight groups. The body mass (r = ?.40 to ?.45) and abdominal circumference (r = ?.39 to ?.52) were slightly to moderately correlated with SD1, SD2, RMSSD, SDNN, pNN50, LF, and HF indexes and total power. The VO₂ peak (mL?kg^?1?min^?1) was slightly to moderately correlated (r = .48 to .51) with SD2, SDNN, and LF indexes in the individuals with excess body mass. Conclusion: Cardiac autonomic modulation at rest was preserved in metabolically healthy obese young men. However, the indicators of adiposity, as well as the aerobic fitness were correlated with cardiac autonomic modulation in the individuals with excess body mass.     

‘That is like a 24 hours-day tournament!’: using social media to further an authentic sport experience within sport education

Several studies demonstrate that Sport Education supports the development of an authentic experience of sport. Social media has the potential to further the development of an authentic sport experience since it is a key aspect of contemporary sport culture and can be a space for individuals to interact during the Sport Education. Yet the evidence-base on the use of social media within Sport Education is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore how social media supports the development of an authentic sport experience within Sport Education. The context of this study was within a female recreational community sport futsal club. Players engaged with Sport Education as a focus for their sessions for 13 weeks. The Sport Education season embedded the six key features. During the Sport Education season, players interacted with each other through Facebook. Data were generated from; (1) researcher/player field journal, (2) Facebook posts and (3) post-season player interviews. Data analysis involved inductive, constant comparison and member-checking methods. Results showed that players’ uses of Facebook supported the development of an authentic sport experience. Players’ uses of Facebook strengthened the development of three key Sport Education features; affiliation, festivity and season. Based on the limited amount of research on the impact of social media within Sport Education and community sport, future studies should continue to examine the effectiveness of social media as an interactional tool to enhance the development of an authentic sport experience.     

The impact of exercise training on the lipid peroxidation metabolomic profile and respiratory infection risk in older adults

Aging is associated with oxidative stress that may increase susceptibility to respiratory infections (RIs). We aimed to assess the impact of exercise training on the risk of RIs in older adults and on a targeted metabolomic profile of stress oxidative lipid peroxidation-related metabolites. Methods: In an 8-month clinical trial, 38 participants over 60 years of age were allocated to an exercise group (EG), in which participants underwent 90-min training sessions three times/week(n?=?20), or a control group (CG), in which participants maintained daily physical activities(n?=?18). Daily respiratory symptoms and RIs number and severity were collected. Serum by-products were assessed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with time of flight analyzer. Serum metabolomic profiling comprised 76 metabolites (alcohols, aldehydes, alkanes, and ketones). Principal components analysis and ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis were used to evaluate the metabolomic profile change. Results: The odds ratio of RIs for the EG was 2.0 CI 95% [0.2;25]. The incidence of RIs was 47% [23;70] in the EG vs. 44%[12;77] in the CG. The metabolomic profiling showed that alkanes and aldehydes classes differed between the EG and the CG before and after intervention. A calibration model showed a relation between the metabolites from four main classes (ketones, alcohols, alkanes and aldehydes) and the prediction of the number of RIs. Conclusion: Moderate exercise training, in older adults, compared with no exercise in controls, did not show a difference in the risk of RIs. A pattern of lipid peroxidation was associated with the number of RIs.     

Amid Progress and Wilderness: Early Reception of Georges Hébert’s Naturist Ideas in Brazil During the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing how Hébert’s naturist ideas were received and assimilated in Brazil based on the perusal of sources such as Azevedo (1915, 1920, 1931), Miranda (1945) as well as some broadsheets and periodicals, for example Correio da Manhã, O Paiz, Gazeta de Noticias, and Fon-Fon! (1913–1928). Furthermore, it investigates by what means Hébert’s conception of nature integrated the mindset of Brazilian sanitarians in the first half of the twentieth century. Evidence suggests that there must have been some intertwinement of points of view that brought together Hebert’s Natural Method and the French Naturist Perspective at the time of the arrival of the latter in Brazil. Hébert’s thoughts on the concept of Nature reached Brazil early in the 1910s, and were incorporated in the shaping of a new approach to therapeutic treatments focused on preserving the patient’s welfare. As a result, this study has enabled us to properly understand the reception of Hébert’s works in Brazil, and come to terms with the historical connection between French gymnastic practices based on the Natural Method and their subsequent acclimatized Brazilian variants.