Twelve- and Fourteen-Year-Old School Children Differentially Benefit from Sensorimotor- and Multisensory-Enriched Vocabulary Training

Educational Psychology Review - Both children and adults have been shown to benefit from the integration of multisensory and sensorimotor enrichment into pedagogy. For example, integrating pictures...     

Elite Interaction

While a good deal of research has examined the uses of Twitter in journalism, comparably few research projects employ comparative research designs in order to provide new insights. The present study details Twitter use by public service broadcasters (PSBs) during recent national elections in Norway and Sweden. Utilizing quantitative analysis of social media content in tandem with qualitative interviews with key PSB journalists, the main results indicate that while the PSB organizations—the Norwegian NRK and the Swedish SVT—are both frequently contacted by “regular” citizens on Twitter, they seem to prefer to retweet and interact with journalists, politicians or other “elite” users. Compared with the interviews performed, the study uncovers an interesting tension as journalists often talk about the need to engage with “regular” users—a practice that is arguably in line with PSB regulations, but that is seldom adhered to in the contexts studied here.     

Visuelle Bewegungskontrolle geführter Kraftübungen bei jungen Erwachsenen und Senioren

In the context of strength training in rehabilitation, visual movement control can be helpful to ensure correct movements. However, there are only a few studies that deal with the effectiveness of feedback during resistance exercises. To investigate the effect of feedback during guided exercise, 18 young adults (28.8?±?5.5 years) and 12 senior citizens (67.9?±?4.1 years) were tested. Subjects performed shoulder press exercises (3 sets, 15 repetitions) with and without visual movement control in a randomized order. On day 1, the subjects trained without load, and on day 2 they trained at 50% of their single repetition maximum. Joint articulation at the elbow was recorded using elbow extension and flexion. Autocorrelation was used to determine the reproducibility of movements. Subjects achieved better reproducibility of the movement with feedback than without (χ²?=?19.73; p?<?0.001). There was no effect of the load on motion accuracy (p?>?0.05), but the age group showed a significant effect (χ²?=?6.00; p?=?0.014). The younger group shows a higher degree of movement accuracy. In summary, visual movement control is useful in guided exercises to control movement execution. In clinical setting, this may be a way to control the motion performance of guided strength exercises and to ensure purposeful muscle work. Further studies should clarify the effect of visual feedback on the movement quality in unguided strength exercises.     

Entwicklungsförderung im außerschulischen Kinder- und Jugendsport

Extracurricular sport is coupled with many socialization and education potentials for developmental promotion of children and adolescents. The promotion concept “Psychosocial resources in sports” (Sygusch 2007) provides the starting point for the development of capabilities to react and perform in sports as well as for general personality development through sport. This incentive concept is oriented towards training and competitive routine as well as on concrete demands from types of sport. Among others it justifies the methodical measures for promotion of selected resources (e. g. self-concept, cooperative ability). Within the framework of the accompanying study PRimus (psychosocial resources in youth sports) an evaluation of the execution of the programme was realized. Among others it was investigated whether the incentive concept can be implemented in organized child and youth sports. The results indicate that the incentive concept “pedagogically arranged extracurricular youth sports” is implemented by voluntary youth trainers in most instances and is estimated by trainers to be feasible.     

Maximal oxygen uptake versus maximal power output in children

Maximal oxygen uptake VO(2max)) is considered the optimal method to assess aerobic fitness. The measurement of VO(2max), however, requires special equipment and training. Maximal exercise testing with determination of maximal power output offers a more simple approach. This study explores the relationship between [Vdot]O(2max) and maximal power output in 247 children (139 boys and 108 girls) aged 7.9-11.1 years. Maximal oxygen uptake was measured by indirect calorimetry during a maximal ergometer exercise test with an initial workload of 30 W and 15 W x min(-1) increments. Maximal power output was also measured. A sample (n = 124) was used to calculate reference equations, which were then validated using another sample (n = 123). The linear reference equation for both sexes combined was: VO(2max) (ml x min(-1)) = 96 + 10.6 x maximal power + 3.5 . body mass. Using this reference equation, estimated VO(2max) per unit of body mass (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) calculated from maximal power correlated closely with the direct measurement of VO(2max) (r = 0.91, P <0.001). Bland-Altman analysis gave a mean limits of agreement of 0.2+/-2.9 (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) (1 s). Our results suggest that maximal power output serves as a good surrogate measurement for VO(2max) in population studies of children aged 8-11 years.     

Animations-Framework in Java Systematische Animationsentwicklung mit Mehrschichtenarchitektur

Multimedia-Anwendungen und Animationen sind durch Dynamik gekennzeichnet. Die Dynamik muss sich in der Architektur der Anwendung niederschlagen. Eine M?glichkeit hierbei besteht darin, die Dynamik in einer speziellen Softwareschicht innerhalb einer Mehrschichtenarchitektur zu realisieren. Dieses Papier stellt ein Animations-Framework in Java vor, das diese Architektur JavaBeans-konform als muster-orientiertes Framework realisiert und somit die systematische Entwicklung von animierten Multimedia-Anwendungen in Java unterstützt.