The Development of Skill and Knowledge During a Sport Education Season of Track and Field Athletics

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of 2 forms of physical education instruction on students' skill and technical performance, as well as content knowledge in 3 track and field events. Method: Students from 6 classes in 3 Portuguese schools completed 900-min units conducted under the auspices of sport education or a more traditional teacher-directed format. Classes were randomly assigned to these conditions within each school. Results: Although both groups improved significantly from pretest to posttest, the sport education classes outperformed the traditional classes in both technique and skill execution. Only the sport education group made significant improvements in content knowledge. When the students in the traditional group were tested at the point in time where they would usually complete a unit of physical education (450 min), there were no significant improvements in any of the study's variables. Conclusion: The explanation given for the superior performance outcomes of the sport education classes lies in the nature of formal competition and team affiliation, which are cornerstones of this pedagogical model. That is, students take their learning experiences more seriously than in traditional and often inauthentic classes. In terms of content knowledge, the fact that sport education has a level of content-embedded accountability that holds students accountable for their officiating duties is postulated as a significant contributor to their increased understanding of rules and protocols of athletic events.     

Effect of target change during the simple attack in fencing

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the effect that changing targets during a simple long lunge attack in fencing exerts on the temporal parameters of the reaction response, the execution speed, and the precision and the coordination of the movement pattern. Thirty fencers with more than 10 years of experience participated in this study. Two force platforms were used to record the horizontal components of the reaction forces and thereby to determine the beginning of the movement. A three-dimensional (3D) system recorded the spatial positions of the 9 markers situated on the fencer plus the epee, while a moving target was projected on a screen, enabling the control of the target change. The results indicated that when a target change is provoked the reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and the time used in the acceleration phase of the centre of mass (CM) increases significantly with respect to the attack executed with a straight thrust. The speed and horizontal distance reached by the CM at the end of the acceleration phase (V_X(CM) and S_X(CM), respectively) significantly decreased, while the errors increased. However, the temporal sequence of the movement pattern did not appreciably change.     

Effects of mat characteristics on plantar pressure patterns and perceived mat properties during landing in gymnastics

Shock absorption and stability during landings is provided by both, gymnast ability and mat properties. The aims of this study were to determine the influence of different mat constructions on their energy absorption and stability capabilities, and to analyse how these properties affect gymnast's plantar pressures as well as subjective mat perception during landing. Six mats were tested using a standard mechanical drop test. In addition, plantar pressures and subjective perception during landing were obtained from 15 expert gymnasts. The different mats influenced plantar pressures and gymnasts' subjective perception during landing of gymnasts. Significant correlations between plantar pressures at the medial metatarsal and lateral metatarsal zones of the gymnasts' feet with the different shock absorption characteristics of the mats were found. However, subjective perception tests were not able to discriminate mat functionality between the six mats as no significant correlations between the mechanical mat properties with the subjective perception of these properties were found. This study demonstrated that plantar pressures are a useful tool for discriminating different landing mats. Using similar approaches, ideally including kinematics as well, could help us in our understanding about the influences of different mats upon gymnast-mat interaction.     

Multi-objective optimization design of bridge piers with hybrid heuristic algorithms

This paper describes one approach to the design of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers, using a three-hybrid multi-objective simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with a neighborhood move based on the mutation operator from the genetic algorithms (GAs), namely MOSAMO1, MOSAMO2 and MOSAMO3. The procedure is applied to three objective functions: the economic cost, the reinforcing steel congestion and the embedded CO₂ emissions. Additional results for a random walk and a descent local search multi-objective algorithm are presented. The evaluation of solutions follows the Spanish Code for structural concrete. The methodology was applied to a typical bridge pier of 23.97 m in height. This example involved 110 design variables. Results indicate that algorithm MOSAMO2 outperforms other algorithms regarding the definition of Pareto fronts. Further, the proposed procedure will help structural engineers to enhance their bridge pier designs.     

A survey of approaches for ranking on the web of data

Ranking information resources is a task that usually happens within more complex workflows and that typically occurs in any form of information retrieval, being commonly implemented by Web search engines. By filtering and rating data, ranking strategies guide the navigation of users when exploring large volumes of information items. There exist a considerable number of ranking algorithms that follow different approaches focusing on different aspects of the complex nature of the problem, and reflecting the variety of strategies that are possible to apply. With the growth of the web of linked data, a new problem space for ranking algorithms has emerged, as the nature of the information items to be ranked is very different from the case of Web pages. As a consequence, existing ranking algorithms have been adapted to the case of Linked Data and some specific strategies have started to be proposed and implemented. Researchers and organizations deploying Linked Data solutions thus require an understanding of the applicability, characteristics and state of evaluation of ranking strategies and algorithms as applied to Linked Data. We present a classification that formalizes and contextualizes under a common terminology the problem of ranking Linked Data. In addition, an analysis and contrast of the similarities, differences and applicability of the different approaches is provided. We aim this work to be useful when comparing different approaches to ranking Linked Data and when implementing new algorithms.     

Telenovela reception in rural Brazil: gendered readings and sexual mores

In The Cattle King, a Brazilian telenovela, melodramatic elements of class ascension, love and betrayal, adultery, and pre‐marital sex played a central role in the lives of the main characters. This ethnographic study of viewers in Macambira, a small rural community in the backlands of northeast Brazil, discusses how these rural viewers appropriated telenovelas in their daily lives and how the meanings assigned to the texts were interpreted according to their own values and beliefs about gender roles, relationships, and sexuality. I argue that the geographical isolation and the local patriarchal culture mediated the process of reception, interpretation, and appropriation of telenovelas. The isolation in which Macambira is located in relation to the urban representations in the telenovela narratives intensified the perceived gap between the local patriarchal culture and the urban reality constructed in the television text.     

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.     

Data-Division–Specific Robustness and Power of Randomization Tests for ABAB Designs

This study deals with the statistical properties of a randomization test applied to an ABAB design in cases where the desirable random assignment of the points of change in phase is not possible. To obtain information about each possible data division, the authors carried out a conditional Monte Carlo simulation with 100,000 samples for each systematically chosen triplet. The authors studied robustness and power under several experimental conditions—different autocorrelation levels and different effect sizes as well as different phase lengths determined by the points of change. Type I error rates were distorted by the presence of autocorrelation for the majority of data divisions. The authors obtained satisfactory Type II error rates only for large treatment effects. The relation between the lengths of the four phases appeared to be an important factor for the robustness and power of the randomization test.     

La mejora de la comprensión lectora: un análisis interactivo

Resumen

El presente trabajo analiza, desde un enfoque interactivo, algunas características del texto y del lector. Desde esta perspectiva se revisan algunos de los modelos de intervención encaminados a facilitar en el sujeto el producto final de la comprensión lectora. Como es sabido, esta intervención puede introducirse tanto desde el mismo material escrito, a través de técnicas y recursos sobre planes de escritura que aplica el escritor, como desde las características del lector, como es el conocimiento previo y el uso de estrategias lectoras más eficaces en los sujetos. Desde esta última perspectiva incidimos especialmente en aquellos entrenamientos de estrategias encaminadas a potenciar un conocimiento y aplicación de la estructura organizativa de los textos.     

Relación de la variable edad con las deficiencias de escolarización en la EGB

Resumen

El presente estudio analiza los deterioros de escolarización que sufren los niños más jóvenes de un mismo curso en comparación con los mayores, dentro del año natural. Se llevó a cabo en un Colegio Público de Hospitalet, con los niños que habían repetido, o habían asistido a las Aulas de Educación Especial, mediante un análisis comparativo de frecuencias variables en las distintas muestras.

Los resultados confirman la idea existente de que la diferencia de edad en los primeros niveles es origen de situaciones escolares deficitarias, irreversibles en gran parte de tos casos.

Se plantea, a modo de conclusión, a los responsables educativos, la necesidad de sustituir el agrupamiento por año natural, vigente en la actualidad por otras formas Je agrupamiento, que puedan dar una respuesta más apropiada a la demanda evolutiva de los niños más jóvenes de cada año natural.