Physical activity profiles and selected muscular fitness variables in English schoolchildren: A north–south divide?

The aim of the study was to compare and contrast habitual physical activity (PA) profiles and muscular fitness in schoolchildren from northern and southern regions of England. Data were collected from two secondary schools in the north east (NE) of England. The study procedures followed methods employed by the East of England Healthy Hearts Study in 10–16-year-old boys and girls based in the south east (SE) region of England and data were compared. Habitual physical activity (PAQ-A), vertical jump test, and hand-grip (HG) strength were assessed. We converted raw scores from all assessments to age- and sex-normalised z-scores. We recruited 597 children (58% boys) in the NE and compared findings to 597 age- and sex-matched boys and girls from the SE. Boys in the SE had significantly stronger HG scores, jumped higher, were more powerful (mean peak power: 2131?W vs. 1782?W; P?P?P?相似文献   

The effect of periodized resistance training on accelerative sprint performance

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of periodized resistance training on accelerative sprint performance. Sixteen physically active men participated in a randomized controlled study. An experimental group (n = 10) completed an 8-week periodized resistance training intervention, while a control group (n = 6) did not train. Pre- and post-training measures of 20-m straight-line sprint time, including a 10-m split, maximum strength, and explosive strength, were recorded. Flight time, stance time, stride length, and stride frequency were quantified from digitized video recordings of the first three strides of the 20-m sprint. Resistance training resulted in significant increases in maximum strength (parallel back squat: 19%) and explosive strength (6-10%). However, both groups increased 0-10 m sprint times (experimental group = 6%; control group = 3%) while 10-20m times were reduced (experimental group = 7%; control group = 4%), highlighting the mechanical differences between the distinct sprint phases. The change during the 0-10m interval was accompanied by a reduction in stride frequency during the first three strides. Strength coaches should be aware that the potential benefits of increased muscular strength during short sprints are likely to be affected by mechanical specificity and that improvements in sprinting performance may not occur immediately after a period of resistance training.     

Estimating fat-free mass in elite-level male rowers: a four-compartment model validation of laboratory and field methods

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of fat-free mass (FFM) estimates from two-compartment (2C) models including air displacement plethysmography (ADP), ultrasound (US), near-infrared interactance (NIR), and the Jackson and Pollock skinfold equation (SKF) against a criterion four-compartment (4C) model in elite male rowers. METHODS: Twenty-three elite-level male rowers (mean± SD; age 24.6 ± 2.2 years; stature: 191.4 ± 7.2 cm; mass: 87.2 ± 11.2 kg) participated in this investigation. All body composition assessments were performed on the same day in random order, except for hydrostatic weighing (HW), which was measured last. FFM was evaluated using a 4C model, which included total body water from bioimpedance spectroscopy, body volume from HW, and total body bone mineral via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The major findings of the study were that the 2C models evaluated overestimated FFM and should be considered with caution for the assessment of FFM in elite male rowers. Future studies should use multiple-compartment models, with measurement of TBW and bone mineral content, for the estimation of FFM.     

Musical discovery,colonialism, and the possibilities of intercultural communication through music

ABSTRACT

Discourses of discovery have been important in a wide range of musical contexts, from early modern ideas about musical composition through to current forms of popular music production and consumption. Across these various contexts there are often inherent connections between discovery and colonialism, connections that become most apparent in non-Western socio-cultural and musical settings. In this article, I situate discourses of discovery within the “coloniality of power,” noting how colonial discovery can be more critically described as invention. From here, I turn to the genre of World Music as an example of how musical discovery is underpinned by inherently colonial perspectives, articulations of power, and relationships of dominance and subordination between Western and non-Western cultures. In contrast, I present the concept of interculturalism as a way of thinking about the possibilities of cultural in-between-ness beyond discovery, drawing on the practices of musicians who articulate intercorporeal and intercultural communication through performance.     

Gender and Education for All: Progress and problems in achieving gender equity

The paper explores the effects of rapid increases in gender parity in primary schooling in Bangladesh and Malawi on gender inequities in schools and communities. Based on an analysis of comparative case studies of marginalized communities, we argue that educational initiatives focused on achieving gender parity provide limited evidence that girls’ educational experiences modeled significantly different gender norms than in communities, or that by being educated, girls experienced a transformation of the inequitable gender relations they faced in society. The data illustrate persistent gender discrimination related to educational attainment and learning, and gender-based violence in schools. These patterns of gendered discrimination and violence largely mirrored those that girls and boys experienced in their homes and communities, raising important questions about the transformational capacity of current gender parity and schooling models.     

Tongan students’ attitudes towards their subjects in new zealand relative to their academic achievement

Research indicates that affective attitudes such as liking of a subject and confidence in one’s ability within a subject predict academic performance. Generally, immigrant minority students have positive attitudes and often have low academic performance. This study examines the self-efficacy and liking of subjects of New Zealand students and analyses the relationship of those attitudes towards academic performance in mathematics, writing, and reading by self-reported ethnicity. Data were obtained from the norming samples from the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning project in New Zealand. Of special interest are the relationships between attitude and performance for Pasifika and Tongan students in New Zealand. Tongan and Pasifika students had positive attitudes, but their mean scores were not significantly different to other ethnic groups except in writing for Tongan students. Tongan and Pasifika students did have lower academic performance than majority and Asian immigrant students in all three subjects. The correlation between liking and self-efficacy was fundamentally zero for Tongan and Pasifika students, while it was weakly positive for majority and Asian immigrant students. Together these results question the power of self-efficacy and liking attitudes to predict academic performance for immigrant students from agrarian or traditional societies. Further, the data suggest that ‘school effects’ are most likely explanations for this relationship, rather than lack of attachment, opposition, or deficiency theories.     

The effects of informational complexity and working memory on problem-solving efficiency

This study investigated the influence of informational complexity and working memory capacity on problem-solving efficiency. We examined two predictions of thesituational efficiency hypothesis, which states that the efficiency of problem solving varies as a function of situational constraints. One prediction is that informational complexity affects problem-solving efficiency. A second prediction is that working memory capacity affects problem-solving efficiency. Students completed a working memory task and solved abstract and concrete syllogisms. Participants solved abstract syllogisms more accurately than concrete syllogisms and spent more time solving abstract syllogisms. Thus participants demonstrated greater problem-solving efficiency when solving concrete syllogisms. Results indicate that there is a trade-off between problem-solving accuracy and problem-solving time when information differs with respect to informational complexity, a phenomenon we refer to as theefficiency paradox. Working memory capacity did not affect accuracy or efficiency. The results support the conclusion that problem-solving efficiency is situational and a function of the complexity of information. Educational implications and directions for future research are suggested.     

Factors influencing early adolescents’ mathematics achievement: High-quality teaching rather than relationships

This study used data from the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning project, which involved data on the academic performance of more than 90,000 New Zealand students in six subjects (i.e. reading, writing and mathematics in two languages). Two sub-samples of this dataset were included for detailed re-analysis to test the general applicability of the Australian model of Quality of School Life (Ainley et al. 1986) in the New Zealand context. The first sample comprised 336 year 8 students from elementary schools and the second sample consisted of 272 year 10 students from high schools. Furthermore, two structural equation models were developed and tested, expressing relationships between students’ quality of school life perceptions, students’ attitudes to mathematics, and their effects on mathematics achievement. The quality of school life questionnaires scales [Ainley and Bourke, in Res Pap Educ 7(2):107–128, 1992] were used as indicators of students’ perceptions regarding learning, teachers and peer relationships. The model proposed that perceived quality of school life would affect students’ attitudes of liking and confidence in mathematics, which would in turn affect their academic performance. After controlling for other variables in the model, students’ perception about their self-efficacy to learn mathematics was more directly related to outcomes than to perceptions of teacher quality or peer involvement. Data analyses revealed no apparent relationships of these factors to mathematics achievement. Moreover, results for both samples led to the conclusion that the perceived quality of learning is connected with ‘confidence in’ and ‘liking mathematics’, which in turn predict students’ mathematics achievement.