Can we Evaluate the Impact of a Critical Detail? The Role of a Type of Diagram in Understanding Optical Imaging

This paper describes an attempt at evaluating a potentially critical “detail” of teaching practice; that is, using a particular diagram to illustrate the imaging role of a converging lens. This “basic” diagram has been designed to contribute to help students overcome the well‐known “travelling image” syndrome. We conducted a comparative study with 125 students in all, at three academic levels: end of secondary school, degree students, and teacher training. The groups compared had previously been taught elementary optical imaging in a classical, uncontrolled manner, and were presented with two classical questions, commonly used to demonstrate students’ difficulties. In each group, one‐half of the students had a classic introductory diagram and the other half had the “basic” one. A positive reaction of students to the evaluated diagram was observed at a relatively high academic level (trainee physics teachers and degree students), in contrast with an apparent lack of effect at the end of secondary school. The paper ends with a discussion of the evaluation of a detail of practice in isolation, with respect to the distance between students’ actual and targeted levels of comprehension.     

Short report: Recovery of jump performance after a simulated cricket batting innings

The time-course of physical recovery was determined after a 2-h 20-min, simulated cricket batting innings. Several vertical jump measures were assessed before (baseline), immediately after, 24 h after and 48 h after simulated batting. Six, male, academy cricketers (20 ± 2 years) completed a previously developed simulated batting innings (BATEX) at an outdoor net facility. At each assessment point, participants completed countermovement-jumps, squat-jumps and 5-repeated reactive-jumps on a contact mat. Compared with baseline, countermovement flight time was similar immediately after, but decreased 24 h after batting (-3.0 ± 1.8%, p < 0.05, effect size [ES] ± 90% confidence interval [CI]: -1.38 ± 0.52). At 48 h post, countermovement-jump flight time was similar to baseline. A similar pattern occurred in the squat-jump and the decrease in squat-jump flight time 24 h after simulated batting approached significance (p = 0.053, ES ± CI -0.80 ± 0.51). The 5-repeated reactive-jump measures (flight time, contact time and reactive-strength-index) did not decrease after simulated batting (p > 0.05), but there were moderate effect sizes calculated (0.64-0.96). These findings support the continued use of countermovement flight time to assess recovery in cricket, since full recovery of jump performance occurred 48 h after a simulated, prolonged and high intensity-batting century.     

Effects of caffeine on time trial performance in sedentary men

Abstract It is not known if ergogenic effects of caffeine ingestion in athletic groups occur in the sedentary. To investigate this, we used a counterbalanced, double-blind, crossover design to examine the effects of caffeine ingestion (6 mg?·?kg(-1) body-mass) on exercise performance, substrate utilisation and perceived exertion during 30 minutes of self-paced stationary cycling in sedentary men. Participants performed two trials, one week apart, after ingestion of either caffeine or placebo one hour before exercise. Participants were instructed to cycle as quickly as they could during each trial. External work (J?·?kg(-1)) after caffeine ingestion was greater than after placebo (P?=?0.001, effect size [ES]?=?0.3). Further, heart rate, oxygen uptake and energy expenditure during exercise were greater after caffeine ingestion (P?=?0.031, ES?=?0.4; P?=?0.009, ES?=?0.3 and P?=?0.018, ES?=?0.3; respectively), whereas ratings of perceived exertion and respiratory exchange ratio values did not differ between trials (P?=?0.877, ES?=?0.1; P?=?0.760, ES?=?0.1; respectively). The ability to do more exercise after caffeine ingestion, without an accompanying increase in effort sensation, could motivate sedentary men to participate in exercise more often and so reduce adverse effects of inactivity on health.     

The Moment of No Return: The University of Paris and the Death of Aristotelianism

Aristotelianism remained the dominant influence on the course of natural philosophy taught at the University of Paris until the 1690s, when it was swiftly replaced by Cartesianism. The change was not one wanted by church or state and can only be understood by developments within the wider University. On the one hand, the opening of a new college, the Collège de Mazarin, provided an environment in which the mechanical philosophy could flourish. On the other, divisions within the French Catholic Church between Augustinians and Molinists led to Cartesianism finding support within an important section of the faculty of theology, which was the traditional guardian of philosophical orthodoxy. The conversion of the University of Paris to Cartesianism had important consequences. It encouraged similar changes to the natural philosophical curriculum throughout France and affected the structure and raison d’être of the Académie des Sciences.     

Associations of Preschool Type and Teacher–Child Relational Quality With Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence

Research Findings: This study examined associations of preschool type (i.e., urban and suburban Head Start and university-affiliated center) and teacher–child variables with positive and negative child outcomes among 145 preschoolers (74 boys). Differences emerged across preschools, with urban Head Start children scoring lowest on the emotional competence measures and university-affiliated preschoolers experiencing less peer victimization than urban and suburban Head Start preschoolers. Differences across preschool types were also found for the teacher–child variables, such that teacher–child closeness was lower and teacher–child conflict and dependence were highest in the urban Head Start preschool. Regression analyses revealed significant and meaningful interactions between preschool type and teacher–child relational quality in the prediction of children's social-emotional outcomes. Teacher–child conflict was negatively associated with emotion regulation and teacher–child dependence was associated with the highest levels of emotion regulation, but only for university-affiliated preschoolers. Suburban Head Start preschoolers experienced less prosocial attention than urban Head Start preschoolers, but only when teacher–child closeness was high. Teacher–child closeness was also a negative predictor of urban Head Start preschoolers’ prosocial attention. Practice or Policy: Results point to the importance of understanding the role of teacher–child relational quality in the social-emotional development of children exposed to different preschool and environmental contexts.