Introduction to the Treatment of Non-Linear Effects Using a Gravitational Pendulum

We show that the treatment of pendulum movement, other than the linear approximation,may be an instructive experimentally based introduction to the physics of non-lineareffects. Firstly the natural frequency of a gravitational pendulum is measured as functionof its amplitude. Secondly forced oscillations of a gravitational pendulum are investigatedexperimentally without limiting amplitudes. By this arrangement new phenomena, thebistability and the jump-effect, can be observed. In the case of bistability the drivengravitational pendulum can oscillate in two different stable modes. Either it oscillateswith a small amplitude and approximately in phase with the exciting torque or it oscillateswith a larger amplitude and approximately anti-phase. The jump effect is the spontaneoustransition from one mode of oscillation to the other. Both effects can be demonstrated andexplained.     

Identifying waking time in 24-h accelerometry data in adults using an automated algorithm

As accelerometers are commonly used for 24-h measurements of daily activity, methods for separating waking from sleeping time are necessary for correct estimations of total daily activity levels accumulated during the waking period. Therefore, an algorithm to determine wake and bed times in 24-h accelerometry data was developed and the agreement of this algorithm with self-report was examined. One hundred seventy-seven participants (aged 40–75 years) of The Maastricht Study who completed a diary and who wore the activPAL3? 24 h/day, on average 6 consecutive days were included. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated and the Bland–Altman method was used to examine associations between the self-reported and algorithm-calculated waking hours. Mean self-reported waking hours was 15.8 h/day, which was significantly correlated with the algorithm-calculated waking hours (15.8 h/day, ICC = 0.79, P = < 0.001). The Bland–Altman plot indicated good agreement in waking hours as the mean difference was 0.02 h (95% limits of agreement (LoA) = ?1.1 to 1.2 h). The median of the absolute difference was 15.6 min (Q1–Q3 = 7.6–33.2 min), and 71% of absolute differences was less than 30 min. The newly developed automated algorithm to determine wake and bed times was highly associated with self-reported times, and can therefore be used to identify waking time in 24-h accelerometry data in large-scale epidemiological studies.     

Autographs and the global art market: the case of hedonic prices for French autographs (1960–2005)

The market for autographs has become more open to international buyers since 1990. Our data set features a large sample of store and auction sales for selected authors every 5 years from 1960 to 2005. The estimation of a hedonic price function shows that page count, type of author, date and type of the document conditionally to author explain more than three quarters of the price differences. The apparent price of autographs increased by 7.7 % per year during the period, while the hedonic price index increased by 7.9 % on average. With a supply function responsive to market valuation, as well French autograph prices seemingly showing trend similar to art market index, the French autograph market has become more integrated in the global art market.     

Not by CSE alone… Furthering reflections on international cooperation in sex education

Recently in Sex Education authors have raised concern with regards to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in resource-poor countries as part of Western European development aid policy. It has been argued that the agency-focused and rights-based nature of ‘northern’ sexuality education puts too much responsibility on young people’s shoulders and disregards their insecurity and shame, as well as local culture more generally. By promoting a rights-based approach to CSE in countries in the South, European development organisations would risk being insensitive to local collective concerns, networks, sensitivities and affects, not least those based in religion. In addition to concerns related to CSE content, concern has been expressed about the unequal relationships between stakeholders from the global north versus the global south in the shaping of youth sexuality education. The issues raised are important and call for further elaboration and discussion, which is what we intend to initiate here. The viewpoints we present relate, among others, to the balance between structure and agency focused perspectives in CSE; the multiplicity of needs with regard to sexual agency; the precariousness of international partnerships; ongoing national and international controversies over sexual rights; and the absolute necessity for multicomponent approaches and careful community building as part of CSE implementation and scale-up.     

Agency and Social Construction: Practice of the Self in Art and Design

Learning in the arts has the potential to be a co‐constructive means of inquiry for students, which enables experience of the self in relation to practice. This research explores a practice‐based investigation of agency as self‐definition, amid normative social constructions of the subject. The focus for data analysis is a project taught to BTEC Level 2 Art and Design students in a deprived area of North London (2010–12). A dialogue is presented between the implications for Sartre's theory of free‐will and a Foucauldian critique of social construction. Applications for this comparative theory are discussed here as a form of resistance to the compression of learning identities in art and design, and across the curriculum. This is an approach which encourages emancipated self‐representation, acknowledging cultural diversity, for a discursive environment viable at all levels of study. In exploring the data, a positioning of free‐will with social responsibility is identified as an inclusive forum for creative understanding, and the tolerance of difference.     

Teaching on video as an instructional strategy to reduce confirmation bias—a pre-registered study

Instructional Science - The aim of this experiment was to examine the effect of different instructional strategies on student teachers’ confirmation bias. Confirmation bias refers to the...     

Understanding teachers' evaluation criteria: A condition for success in science classes

This study is part of a broader research project. The main aim was to find out pedagogic practices which can improve students' science achievement, namely, in complex cognitive competencies. The study is based on Bernstein's theory. Previous studies have suggested that the explicitness of the criteria of evaluation is related to students' scientific understanding and achievement. One of the many ways in which the evaluation criteria can be made explicit to students is through assessment tests, and their correction and marking. In this study, we analyze the extent to which students understand teachers' evaluation criteria, more specifically, teachers' marking criteria and procedures (i.e., the extent to which they have recognition and realization rules to the assessing context). We also analyze the relation of that understanding with social class, social context of the school, teacher's conceptual demand, teachers' explicitness of criteria, and science achievement. A clear relation between students' acquisition of recognition and realization rules and social class is shown: the higher the social class, the higher that acquisition. A privileged school's social context and the teacher's explicitness of assessing criteria also contribute to students' understanding of teachers' evaluation criteria. This understanding influences science achievement, especially in complex competencies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effects of distinct practice conditions on the learning of the o soto gari throwing technique of judo

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different types of practice on learning the o soto gari, focusing on the kuzushi (unbalancing the opponent). A total of 64 children (mean age 9.19 ± 1.41 years) were assigned to one of four groups: (1) static traditional practice, i.e., uchikomi – repetition of the moving pattern that characterises the technique up to the point of throwing; (2) in motion traditional practice – uchikomi with the tori (player executing the technique) moving/walking; (3) whole practice with pre-kuzushi – full technique with a preparatory component for kuzushi; (4) progressive parts practice with pre-kuzushi – progressively introducing kuzushi, tsukuri (set-up to execute the technique) and kake (final part of the technique; projection) with pre-kuzushi. Pre-test, acquisition, post-test and retention test were carried out. Movements were video recorded and analysed regarding three aspects: global technique of the tori, occurrence of a movement pattern performed by the tori to unbalance the uke (player receiving the “attack”), and occurrence of actual unbalance (kuzushi). Results showed no significant differences between-groups. However, different within-groups improvements suggest that using a uchikomi with pre-kuzushi can help learners deal with the motor actions of pulling and pushing in order to unbalance the opponent.     

Individual differences in incompetence avoidance

This study compared the fear of failure and perfectionism constructs by analyzing their latent structure as well as their motivational antecedents and consequences. College students (N = 372) enrolled in physical activity classes completed a battery of questionnaires assessing fear of failure, perfectionism, approach and avoidance motivational temperaments, and 2 x 2 achievement goals. Structural equation modeling revealed that responses were best summarized by two correlated factors representing perfectionistic strivings and concerns. Avoidance temperament was positively associated with both forms of incompetence avoidance; however, approach temperament was positively related only to perfectionist strivings. Perfectionistic concerns were positively related to the adoption of mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals and negatively related to the adoption of mastery-approach goals. Perfectionistic strivings were positively associated with both approach goals. These results indicate that strivings to avoid incompetence can be distinguished with respect to their latent structure, temperamental antecedents, and motivational consequences.