Course Design,Quality Matters Training,and Student Outcomes

ABSTRACT

North Carolina Central University (NCCU) recognized the need to address the increasing rates of Ds, Fs, and Withdrawal by students matriculating in online courses. Led by two science faculty, a faculty learning community in partnership with the NCCU Division of Extended Studies was created to assess online science course offerings and instruction. Faculty within this learning community completed the Quality Matters (QM) “Applying the Quality Matters Rubric” course. This online training course, coupled with services provided by the NCCU Division of Extended Studies, offered the faculty learning community a variety of pedagogical strategies to meet their instructional needs. All faculty participating in this learning community completed the online training course and all faculty indicated that they implemented changes in their subsequent online course offerings. This article describes the impact of that training and the application of quality course design standards in the Quality Matters Rubric on the design and student outcomes for an Introductory Biology course over four terms. As faculty learning communities are broadly utilized, it is anticipated that this article may present an effective strategy to increase the quality and quantity of online science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses at similar institutions.     

Empowering Learning: Using Student Exemplars in Teaching

Using student work as exemplars is a powerful component of a balanced pedagogy.     

Automatic path planning for an unmanned drone with constrained flight dynamics

In the article we solve path planning task for an agent being multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (multicopter). We propose an approach of estimating path geometry constraints based on UAV flight dynamics model and control constraints. Than we introduce a new path finding method which takes into consideration those geometry constraints and study this method both theoretically and empirically.     

Comparing the magnitude and direction of asymmetry during the squat,countermovement and drop jump tests in elite youth female soccer players

ABSTRACT

The aims of the present study were to provide an in-depth comparison of inter-limb asymmetry and determine how consistently asymmetry favours the same limb during different vertical jump tests. Eighteen elite female under-17 soccer players conducted unilateral squat jumps (SJ), countermovement jumps (CMJ) and drop jumps (DJ) on a portable force platform, with jump height, peak force, concentric impulse and peak power as common metrics across tests. For the magnitude of asymmetry, concentric impulse was significantly greater during the SJ test compared to CMJ (p = 0.019) and DJ (p = 0.003). No other significant differences in magnitude were present. For the direction of asymmetry, Kappa coefficients revealed fair to substantial levels of agreement between the SJ and CMJ (Kappa = 0.35 to 0.61) tests, but only slight to fair levels of agreement between the SJ and DJ (Kappa = ?0.26 to 0.18) and CMJ and DJ (Kappa = ?0.13 to 0.26) tests. These results highlight that the mean asymmetry value may be a poor indicator of true variability of between-limb differences in healthy athletes. The direction of asymmetry may provide a useful monitoring tool for practitioners in healthy athletes, when no obvious between-limb deficit exists.     

The effect of smartphones and playing video games on decision-making in soccer players: A crossover and randomised study

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of the use of social networks in smartphones or playing video games on the passing decision-making performance in professional soccer athletes. Participants were 25 male professional soccer athletes (mean ± SD: age 23.4 ± 2.8 years). The participants performed three randomised conditions divided into three groups: control (CON), smartphone (SMA), and video game (VID). Before and after each experimental condition, the Stroop Task assessed the level of induced mental fatigue. Then, the athletes performed a simulated soccer match. A CANON® camera recorded the matches for further analysis on passing decision-making performance. A group effect was identified (p < .01) with impairment on passing decision-making performance for the SMA (p = .01, ES = 0.5) and VID (p = .01, ES = 0.5) conditions. We concluded that the use of social networks on smartphones and/or playing video games right before official soccer matches might impair the passing decision-making performance in professional soccer athletes.