Parental Behavior,Cognitive Appraisal,and Motivation in Young Athletes

Purpose: This study tested two hypotheses relating young athletes’ sports motivations to parental behaviors and cognitive appraisal: (1) young athletes’ motivation in sports is related to their parents’ behavior; and (2) this relationship is mediated by cognitive appraisal, even after controlling for competitive level and sports records. Method: This cross-sectional study included 673 young athletes and it measured the athletes’ perceptions of parental behaviors, cognitive appraisal, and sports motivation. Results: Structural equation modeling confirmed Hypothesis 1–the mother’s behaviors accounted for 15 to 16% of the variance in sports motivation, and the father’s behaviors accounted for 12 to 21% of the variance. The correlation patterns differed according to whether the athletes were evaluating the mother’s or father’s behaviors. Hypothesis 2 also was confirmed, for cognitive appraisal partially mediated the relationship between the perception of parental behaviors and sports motivation (34% of the variance was accounted for by the perception of the mother’s behavior; 30% by the father’s). The mediating model did not vary with competitive level or sports records. Conclusion: Parental behaviors and cognitive appraisal need to be taken into account to understand young athletes’ sports motivations.     

Discovery of carbon-based strongest and hardest amorphous material

Carbon is one of the most fascinating elements due to its structurally diverse allotropic forms stemming from its bonding varieties (sp, sp² and sp³). Exploring new forms of carbon has been the eternal theme of scientific research. Herein, we report on amorphous (AM) carbon materials with a high fraction of sp³ bonding recovered from compression of fullerene C₆₀ under high pressure and high temperature, previously unexplored. Analysis of photoluminescence and absorption spectra demonstrates that they are semiconducting with a bandgap range of 1.5–2.2 eV, comparable to that of widely used AM silicon. Comprehensive mechanical tests demonstrate that synthesized AM-III carbon is the hardest and strongest AM material known to date, and can scratch diamond crystal and approach its strength. The produced AM carbon materials combine outstanding mechanical and electronic properties, and may potentially be used in photovoltaic applications that require ultrahigh strength and wear resistance.     

Body composition and nutritional profile of male adolescent tennis players

In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the body composition and dietary intake of 44 adolescent tennis players. After being divided into two groups (age 10-13 years and age 14-18), the players had their weight, height, and sexual maturation assessed. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to assess body composition. Food intake was obtained from a non-consecutive 4-day food record. The data were analysed using the Virtual Nutri v.1.0 software and compared with the present recommendations for adolescent athletes or dietary reference intakes. Body mass index and body fat for tennis practice were adequate for 89% and 71% of the tennis players respectively, regardless of age group. A calorie deficit greater than 10% of energy expenditure was observed in 32% of the sample. Fifty percent of the athletes consumed carbohydrates in accordance with recommended values. Protein and lipid intakes were above recommended values, while fibre, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and folic acid intakes were below recommendation for 98%, 80%, 100%, 100%, and 98% of the tennis players respectively. The observed nutritional deficiencies represent an additional barrier for adolescents engaged in competitive sports to achieve an optimum nutrition to maintain growth, health, and performance.     

Graphemes as Motor Units in the Acquisition of Writing Skills

This study examined whether the graphemic structure of words modulates the timing of handwriting production during the acquisition of writing skills. This is particularly important during the acquisition period because phonological recoding skills are determinant in the elaboration of orthographic representations. First graders wrote seven-letter bi-syllabic words on a digitiser. We measured movement duration and fluency and evaluated reading performance. In Experiment 1, the words varied in number of graphemes and grapheme structure. In Experiment 2, the words varied in graphemic structure but the number of graphemes was held constant. The results revealed that the children wrote the first syllable of the words grapheme-by-grapheme, irrespective of the number of letters that composed them. They prepared the movement to produce the first grapheme before starting to write. The following graphemes were processed on-line. They then prepared the movement to write the second syllable. The progressive decrease of duration and dysfluency values towards the end of the word indicates that the children prepared the entire syllable in advance. Movement time and dysfluency measures presented very similar patterns in the two experiments. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between reading performance and handwriting measures. The grapheme and syllable structure of the words therefore modulates the timing of motor production during handwriting acquisition. Once the children have learned the phonological recoding rules, they apply them systematically, irrespectively of the size of the graphemes they have to write.     

A card game for designing activities for technology-enhanced learning in higher education

Education and Information Technologies - The importance of providing mechanisms and tools that effectively support the transition from implicit to explicit representations of Learning Design has...     

ACHIEVEMENT IN ONLINE AND CAMPUS-BASED CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE) COURSES

ABSTRACT

Community colleges are actively involved in distance-learning programs in Career and Technical Education (CTE). Over 76% of community colleges offer some form of distance learning in CTE. Over the years, only a few isolated studies have compared the effectiveness of distance CTE courses to traditional face-to-face courses. Typically, the findings of previous studies indicate no significant differences between the two methods. This study was designed to address the lack of systematic studies of this question. It also examines how student motivation and learning strategies differ for campus-based and online students. Finally, it investigates how online and campus-based courses differ in terms of course interaction, content organization, student support, and transactional distance (i.e., feelings of closeness to the instructor and the program).     

Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS): A Study of Academic Learning

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of faculty inservice evaluation models that are geared towards the demands of quality improvement of degree programs. Based on the best practices of student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS) created at the Canary Islands was designed to serve the dual purpose of faculty development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results of analyses showed that OFDAS maximized the potential of online faculty development to encourage staff to reflect on Curriculum and Teaching Capacities (CTC). Implications were discussed in terms of emphasizing the process of online CTC learning and incorporating perspectives to capture a comprehensive view of faculty teaching attitudes and their association with student classroom learning perceptions.