发展特殊教育多媒体教学资源的实践经验

面对信息科技教育的挑战,特殊教育教师已广泛应用计算机教导残疾儿童.然而,适合残疾儿童使用或学习的计算机多媒体资源,极为匮乏.本文旨在阐释发展特殊教育多媒体资源的策略,包括成立教学资源小组、建立软件库、构建网页、制作学习软件及调适性配件.结论指出计划成果丰富,有助推动特殊教育教学.     

Fitness,physical activity and academic achievement in overweight/obese children

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to examine the associations of fitness and physical activity with academic achievement in children with overweight/obesity. A total of 106 (10.0 ± 1.1y, 61 boys) children participated. The fitness components were assessed by field and laboratory-based tests. Physical activity was measured via accelerometry. The academic achievement was assessed by a standardised test and school-grades. Field-based cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with language skills (ß-standardised- ranging from 0.281 to 0.365, p < 0.01). The field-based muscular strength was associated with grade point average, natural and social sciences, and foreign language (ß = 0.280–0.326, all p ≤ 0.01). Speed-agility was associated with some language-related skills (ß = 0.325–0.393, all p ≤ 0.01). The laboratory-based muscular strength also showed an association with mathematics skills (ß = 0.251–0.306, all p ≤ 0.01). Physical activity did not show significant association with academic achievement (p > 0.01). Overall, the significant associations observed for muscular strength and speed/agility were attenuated and disappeared in many cases after additional adjustments for body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness, indicating that these associations are inter-dependent. Our study contributes by indicating that other fitness components apart from cardiorespiratory fitness, such as muscular strength and speed-agility, are positively associated with academic achievement. However, these associations appear to be dependent on body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness.     

A survey of talent identification and development processes in the youth academies of professional soccer clubs from around the world

ABSTRACT

Talent identification (TID) and development (TDE) are large fields in professional soccer and in science. However, TID and TDE processes in youth academies have not been assessed in detail. As such, our aim was to survey professional clubs from around the world about their youth academy TID and TDE processes, with 29 clubs responding to the survey. TID and TDE processes changed as a function of player age. TID processes involved finding the best players locally and regionally, but for older players the search widened to nationally and internationally for the needs of the first team. Clubs used a multidisciplinary approach to TID, but more so with older players. Median number of academy players was 80, 100, and 66 players at 8–11 years, 12–16 years, and 17–21 years, respectively. Annual player turnover in the most recent season (selections/de-selections) was 29% across all age groups, with competition from other clubs cited as a limitation to TID. TDE processes involved weekly matches and 3–5 training sessions per week led by experienced, well-qualified coaches, with most clubs providing players with academic education, residency and transportation services. Our findings extend previous research assessing professional soccer youth academy TID and TDE processes by quantifying worldwide practices.     

How Are We the Same or Different: Information Needs and Barriers of Domestic and International Students

The study sought to (1) investigate whether international students differ from domestic students in their information needs and barriers encountered, and (2) test the relative importance of students' domestic/international status against their gender and level of study. A survey was used to collect data from international and domestic undergraduate and graduate students in a US public university. The study collected 1259 responses. Regression analysis was used for analyzing the data. International and domestic students were found to be similar in their top-ranked needs (e.g., career information) and barriers (e.g., irrelevant and non-credible information). Compared to their gender and level of study, students' domestic/international status resulted in fewer significant differences in their needs and barriers. However, for the areas where domestic/international status was significant, its effect size was often prominent. Differences between domestic and international students are more notable in the barriers than in the information needs. Based on the findings, six propositions were developed. The implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Dealing with the Demands: Strategies Healthcare Communication Professionals Use to Cope with Workplace Stress

This study examines how healthcare communication professionals (HCPs) cope with workplace stress while working in an inherently stressful industry. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 HCPs (14 females, 3 males) from seven nonprofit and for-profit hospitals in the midwestern and eastern regions of the United States. Communication positions held by participants included marketing, media/community relations, public information, public relations, corporate communication, and social media. Interviews revealed HCPs use four strategies to cope with workplace stress: prioritizing, seeking colleague support, keeping perspective, and being active. HCPs primarily relied on employee-centered coping strategies, even though all sources of stress were organizationally-based (i.e., workload, lack of resources, client confidentiality). The majority of HCPs emphasized the benefits of using problem-centered (i.e., prioritizing) and emotion-centered (i.e., seeking colleague support) coping strategies. Although mentioned less often, HCPs utilized more avoidance-centered coping strategies (i.e., keeping perspective, being active). More importantly, they highlighted the benefits of using avoidance-centered strategies to help them mentally and physically disengage from workplace stress. Hospital administration should reassess if, and how, they help HCPs effectively cope with workplace stress (i.e., outlets, programs, professional development opportunities) in order to improve the well-being of HCPs and increase the likelihood of organizational success.     

The Use of Representations and Argumentative and Explanatory Situations

This paper discusses the use of non-verbal representations in a modelling-based science teaching context, in which argumentative and explanatory situations occur. More specifically, we analyse how the students and teacher use representations in their discourse in modelling activities, and we discuss the relationships between the functions of these representations and the demands of the explanatory and argumentative situations that exist in that classroom. The data were collected by video recording all the classes in which a teaching sequence about intermolecular interactions was used—a topic which the students had not previously studied. In the activities, the students had to create, express, test, and discuss models in order to understand the difference between intermolecular and interatomic interactions, as well as their influences on the properties of substances. Initially, we selected excerpts of the recorded classes in which a non-verbal representation was used. Then, we used criteria to identify the argumentative and explanatory situations (previously defined), and we created categories for the functions of the representations that were used in order to analyse all the identified situations. The analysis supports conclusions indicating the relevance of the use of non-verbal representations in the construction, use, and defence of explanations. As the defence of explanations was the main context in which argumentative situations occurred in this study, our conclusions also indicate the contribution that representations make towards changing the status of the students' explanations.     

Environmental Learning of Social Cues: Evidence From Enhanced Gaze Cueing in Deaf Children

The susceptibility to gaze cueing in deaf children aged 7–14 years old (N = 16) was tested using a nonlinguistic task. Participants performed a peripheral shape-discrimination task, whereas uninformative central gaze cues validly or invalidly cued the location of the target. To assess the role of sign language experience and bilingualism in deaf participants, three groups of age-matched hearing children were recruited: bimodal bilinguals (vocal and sign-language, N = 19), unimodal bilinguals (two vocal languages, N = 17), and monolinguals (N = 14). Although all groups showed a gaze-cueing effect and were faster to respond to validly than invalidly cued targets, this effect was twice as large in deaf participants. This result shows that atypical sensory experience can tune the saliency of a fundamental social cue.     

El desarrollo de la explicación de procesos biológicos: cómo entienden los niños la causa de una enfermedad y su curación

Resumen

Partiendo de un interés por los aspectos cognitivos de la representación infantil de la enfermedad, se examinan los tipos de explicación causal acerca del origen, evolución y curación de la enfermedad, en 100 niños entre 4 y 13 años. Se observan diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el tipo de explicación causal encontrado en los distintos grupos de edad, desde una concepción de la relación causa-efecto estática, mágica y dominada por los índices perceptivos, hasta una concepción de la misma como un proceso dinámico en el que intervienen factores externos e internos al organismo. Sólo un 50% de los sujetos mayores (11–13 años) son capaces de dar una explicación fisiológica o psicofisiológica que refleje un razonamiento formal. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas de este tipo de estudios, tanto en el campo de la clínica como en el de la educación para la salud.