The role of executive functions in the relation between socioeconomic level and the development of reading and maths skills / El rol de las funciones ejecutivas en la relación entre el nivel socioeconómico y el desarrollo de habilidades lectoras y matemáticas

Executive functions (EF) are a set of processes that allow individuals to plan, monitor and organize tasks and thus play a key role in the development of reading and maths skills. Environmental factors such as socioeconomic level (SEL) influence reading and maths skills as well as EFs. The aim of this study is to explore the extent to which executive functions play a mediating role between SEL and reading and maths performance. To this end, we assessed 286 Chilean primary education students: 86 with a high SEL and 200 with a low level. The results show that the high-SEL group obtained consistently higher scores than their peers with low SEL levels in both reading and maths tasks as well as in EF measurements. This suggests that SEL could influence the development of these variables. The results also showed that EFs partially mediate the relation between SEL and reading and maths skills in primary school students through the specific function of inhibition. The results are discussed in light of the effect of SEL on the development of EFs and school learning.     

A Longitudinal Study of Physics Students' Conceptions on Energy in Pre-Service Training for High School Teachers

Journal of Science Education and Technology - How physics students teachers' understanding of energy develops during their pre-service high school teacher university program? How do their...     

Antecedents and consequents of student satisfaction in higher technical-vocational education: evidence from Brazil

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - This article proposes a model of antecedents and consequences of student satisfaction in Higher Technical-Vocational Education (HTVE)...     

Beyond Rock and Roll: The Economic Impact of the Grateful Dead on a Local Economy

For-profit popular music concerts, a seldom studied event, may create sizeable economic impacts in a local economy. Using information from a survey of more than 1,000 concert goers to a Grateful Dead performance in Las Vegas and RIMS II multipliers, we estimate income and employment impacts. We conclude that the potential large spill-overs effects of such an event should not be ignored. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Impact sports and bone fractures among adolescents

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of different sports on stress fractures among adolescents during a 9-month follow-up period. The sample was composed of 184 adolescents divided into three groups (impact sports [n = 102]; swimming [n = 35]; non-sports [n = 47]). The occurrence of stress fracture was reported by participants and coaches. As potential confounders we considered age, sex, resistance training, body composition variables and age at peak of height velocity. There were 13 adolescents who reported fractures during the 9-month period. Bone mineral density values were higher in adolescents engaged in impact sports (P-value = 0.002). Independently of confounders, the risk of stress fracture was lower in adolescents engaged in impact sports than in non-active adolescents (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.23 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.05 to 0.98]), while swimming practice was not associated to lower risk of fracture (HR = 0.49 [95% CI = 0.09 to 2.55]). In conclusion, the findings from this study indicate the importance of sports participation among adolescents in the reduction of stress fracture risk, especially with impact sports. More importantly, these results could be relevant for recognising adolescents in danger of not reaching their potential for peak bone mass and later an increased risk of fractures.     

Validity of a portable force platform for assessing biomechanical parameters in three different tasks

The aim of this study was to determine the precision and accuracy of the vertical and anterior–posterior force components of the portable PASCO PS-2142 force plate. Impulse, peak force, and time to peak force were assessed and compared to a gold standard force plate in three different tasks: vertical jump, forward jump, and sprint start. Two healthy male participants performed ten trials for each task, resulting in 60 trials. Data analyses revealed good precision and accuracy for the vertical component of the portable force plate, with relative bias and root mean square (RMS) error values nearly the same in all tasks for the impulse, time to peak force, and peak force parameters. Precision and accuracy of the anterior–posterior component were lower for the impulse and time to peak force, with relative bias and RMS error values nearly the same between tasks. Despite the lower precision and accuracy of the anterior–posterior component of the portable force plate, these errors were systematic, reflecting a good repeatability of the measure. In addition, all variables presented good agreement between the portable and gold standard platforms. Our results provide a good perspective for using the aforementioned portable force plate in sports and clinical biomechanics.     

Children creating ways to represent changing situations: On the development of homogeneous spaces

This paper focuses on children creating representations on paper for situations that change over time. We articulate the distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous spaces and reflect on children's tendency to create hybrids between them. Through classroom and interview examples we discuss two families of tasks that seem to facilitate children's development of homogeneous spaces: 1) Making selected features directly visible, instead of requiring intermediate steps and calculations; for example, to be able to directly compare different sets of data combined in a single graph, and 2) Exploring well-defined figural components that can be used in graphing, such as line segments or sequencing from left to right, that are introduced as a resource.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Law of Inertia: How Understanding its History can Improve Physics Teaching

The law of inertia is a problem in teaching due to the impossibility of showing the proposition experimentally. As we cannot do an experiment to verify the law, we cannot know if it is correct. On the other hand, we know that the science based upon it is successful. A study in the history of mechanics has shown that there are different foundations for the law but also that the law plays the same role in the science since Newton. To avoid a statement of which we cannot be sure, the present paper proposes to understand the law through its function in the theory. In this case, we do not have to say how a free body moves, but rather that the rectilinear and uniform motion is the motion of reference in Newtonian mechanics.     

Differences in Motivation Towards Science Subjects Among Kibbutz and Urban High School Students

This paper study analyzes differences in motivation towards science subjects among kibbutz and urban high school students in Israel. Students' motivational traits in science were explored by a questionnaire whose items corresponded to four motivational patterns: achievement, curiosity, conscientiousness and sociability. The major findings of this study are that a) Kibbutz students were mostly sociability oriented in the learning of science, b) city students were mostly sociability and achievement oriented in the learning of science, c) city students were better achievers than kibbutz students in junior high school, while in senior high school the difference between them was nonsignificant, d) there was a significant increase in kibbutz students' achievement motivation in learning science when passing from junior to senior high school.