Correlates of health in adolescent elite athletes and adolescents: A cross-sectional study of 1016 adolescents

The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare subjective correlates of health, such as nutrition, self-esteem, sleep and stress, between adolescent elite athletes (n?=?625) and a reference group of adolescents (n?=?391) not involved in elite sports. A secondary aim was to study predictors for self-perceived stress. A questionnaire was e-mailed to all participants containing valid questions about competence-based self-esteem, nutrition, self-perceived stress and sleep. Our results show that adolescent elite athletes reported significantly (p?p?相似文献   

Working with schools in identifying and overcoming emotional barriers to learning

This paper reports a case study on working closely with a secondary school, to enhance understanding of disruptive behaviour, through the use of bespoke Continuing Professional Development (CPD) materials. This project evolved from the researchers’ previous research on the extent to which teachers believe disruptive pupils can control their behaviour. A notable finding was the sizeable minority of teachers in both primary and secondary schools who appear to be unaware of the psychological underpinnings of disruptive behaviour. That is, that such behaviour frequently communicates unresolved emotional needs, rather than wilful defiance. The current project aims to develop, implement and evaluate CPD resources developed by the researchers, for a one-day staff training day at a secondary school in north England. Prior to training, school staff completed a questionnaire to “audit” their perceptions of disruptive behaviour in school. Following evaluation, the CPD materials will be made available to other schools. It is anticipated that the materials will enable greater mutual understanding and respect for the ways in which disruptive behaviour is perceived by practitioners and school staff. Moreover, they will provide an urgently needed means of facilitating a shared knowledge base and a shared language for addressing emotional barriers to learning.     

The use of skill tests to predict status in junior Australian football

This study examined whether skill tests were predictive of status in junior Australian football. Players were recruited from the 2013 under 18 (U18) West Australian Football League competition and classified into two groups: elite (state U18 squad representative; n = 25; 17.9 ± 0.5 years) and subelite (nonstate U18 squad representative; n = 25; 17.3 ± 0.6 years). Both groups completed the Australian football kicking (AFK) and Australian football handballing (AFHB) tests, assessing kicking accuracy/ball speed and handballing accuracy on dominant and nondominant sides. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) modelled the main effect of “status”, whilst logistic regression models were built for the predictive analysis using the same test parameters. Between-group differences were noted across all parameters, with the combination of kicking accuracy and ball speed on the dominant and nondominant sides being the best predictor of status for the AFK test (wi = 0.25, AUC = 89.4%) and the combination of accuracy on the dominant and nondominant sides being the best predictor of status for the AFHB test (wi = 0.80, AUC = 88.4%). The AFK and AFHB tests are predictive of status, suggesting that their use is warranted as a means of talent identification in junior Australian football.     

Discourse Analysis as a Tool for Promoting the ‘Critical Literate’ VET Teacher

The paper deals with the concept of ‘Critical Literacy’ in the context of VET teacher education. It focuses on the question of whether and how critical literacy can be developed drawing on elements of discourse research. This is illustrated by means of a higher educational setting, dealing with business administration textbook usage and research. The impact of our learning and teaching setting is illustrated via an empirical longitudinal study (three-phase pre-post design) of students doing a master’s degree in business education at an Austrian university. Data were initially collected directly before and after the university seminar using a semi-standardised questionnaire (n = 54). In order to obtain an insight into the sustainable impact of our discourse analysis course on students’ thought and actions, in the third phase of data collection, eight participants, who in the meantime had four months experience in VET schools as student teachers (120 h) were invited to a qualitative interview. The paper encompasses a theoretical discussion on the concept of critical literacy, applies it to the target group VET teacher students and shows empirical evidence on pros and cons of discourse analytical course design aiming at the critical literate teacher.     

Competencies in Geriatric Nursing: Empirical Evidence from a Computer-Based Large-Scale Assessment Calibration Study

Valid and reliable standardized assessment of nursing competencies is needed to monitor the quality of vocational education and training (VET) in nursing and evaluate learning outcomes for care work trainees with increasingly heterogeneous learning backgrounds. To date, however, the modeling of professional competencies has not yet evolved into procedures that would meet large-scale assessment (LSA) standards in VET. To empirically test a proposed structural model for client-directed nursing competence and to estimate psychometric properties of a newly developed video- and computer-based test (CBT) to inform subsequent LSA in nursing VET, 402 final-year nursing students from 24 German schools responded to a 77 item CBT. Multi-dimensional IRT modeling was employed to test the subdomain structure and estimate students’ competencies in geriatric nursing. The standardized CBT measures nursing students’ client-directed care competence with acceptable precision (WLE?=?0.76) and does so across the whole range of observed proficiency levels. Structural validity was supported by substantive contributions of test items from all proposed process-oriented subdomains, practice field scenarios, as well as items with and without reference to emotional demands. However, it was not possible to empirically separate the diagnostic, practical or communicative subdomains, probably reflecting parallel, recursive and hierarchical care processes in complex care situations. On average, students in our sample attained 45 % of the maximum test score so it is a demanding assessment of nursing competence. An extensively piloted, valid and reliable CBT is suggested to assess nursing students’ client-directed care competencies at the end of the third year of the VET program.     

“It Planted the Seeds:” A Retrospective Study of Jewish Family Education's Impact on Families

Current Theories of Moral Education

If one were to attempt to compare the relationship between modern Hebrew spoken in Israel today to the so-called classical language of the Bible and modern English to its equivalent historical counterpart, the closest (and still not the most accurate) analogy would have to be: Modern Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew is like Modern English: Shakespearian English. In reality, however, the language of Shakespeare is much further removed from contemporary English speakers than the language of the Bible is from speakers of modern Hebrew.