Age-related differences in acceleration, maximum running speed, and repeated-sprint performance in young soccer players

We investigated age-related differences in the relationships among acceleration, maximum running speed, and repeated-sprint performance in 61 highly trained young male soccer players (Under 14, n = 14; Under 16, n = 22; Under 18, n = 25). We also examined the possible influence of anthropometry (stature, body mass, fat-free mass) and biological maturation (age at peak height velocity) on performance in those three sprint-running qualities. Players were tested for 10-m sprint (acceleration), flying 20-m sprint (maximum running speed), and 10 × 30-m sprint (repeated-sprint performance) times. Correlations between acceleration, maximum running speed, and repeated-sprint performance were positive and large to almost perfect (r = 0.55-0.96), irrespective of age group. There were age-based differences both in absolute performance in the three sprint-running qualities (Under 18 > Under 16 > Under 14; P < 0.001) and when body mass and fat-free mass were statistically controlled (P < 0.05). In contrast, all between-group differences disappeared after adjustment for age at peak height velocity (P > 0.05). The large correlations among acceleration, maximum running speed, and repeated-sprint performance in all age groups, as well as the disappearance of between-group differences when adjusted for estimated biological maturity, suggest that these physical qualities in young highly trained soccer players might be considered as a general quality, which is likely to be related to qualitative adaptations that accompany maturation.     

Higher Education and Unemployment: a cointegration and causality analysis of the case of Turkey

This article analyses the short and the long-term relations between higher education and unemployment in Turkey for the period 1960–2007. It chooses the recently developed ARDL cointegration and Granger causality of Dolado and Lütkepohl (1996) methods. While the proxy of unemployment is total unemployment rate, higher education graduates were chosen to represent higher education. The cointegration and error correction analysis show that higher education is one of the factors which increases the unemployment rate both in the short and the long-run in Turkey. In addition, findings of causality analysis reveal that there is a bi-directional causality between higher education and unemployment and support evidence in favour of Plümper and Schneider (2007)'s theory. Overall, the study concludes that, if governments wish to benefit optimally from the higher education graduates in Turkey, they should not invest more in higher education than the economy needs.     

Physical Education Curriculum Reform in Finland

The Finnish education system has received worldwide attention due to the top academic performance of Finnish school students. Physical education, as an integral part of the Finnish education curriculum, potentially contributes to the overall success. The purpose of this article is to summarize Finnish physical education reform during the past decades and to review and critique recent literature that has examined the effectiveness of Finnish physical education programs. This review concludes that physical education has a solid foundation in Finnish schools and that it enjoys strong support in Finnish society. Although physical education contact time has diminished across four decades, the current basic education reform has begun to allocate more time and funding for elementary and middle school physical education. The literature review, however, revealed limited evidence on the effectiveness of physical education programs. In the future, robust studies are needed to provide evidence of the effectiveness of physical education. It is likely that with rigorous research evidence, the current efforts to allocate more time for physical education should be more easily justified and supported.     

The role of learned societies in national scholarly publishing

This study examines the role of learned societies as publishers in Finland based on bibliographic information from two Finnish databases. We studied the share of learned societies' peer‐reviewed publication channels (serials with ISSNs and book publishers with distinct ISBN roots) and outputs (journal articles, conference articles, book articles, and monographs) in Finland. We also studied the share of learned societies' open access (OA) publications. In 2018, there were 402 peer‐reviewed publication channels in Finland. In 2011–2017, the number of peer‐reviewed publications from scholars working in Finnish universities and published in Finland was 17,724. Learned societies publish around 70% of these channels and publications, mostly in the fields of humanities and social sciences. Learned societies in Finland focus on journal publishing, whereas university presses and commercial publishers focus on book publishing. In 2016–2017, 38.4% of the learned societies' outputs were OA. This study concludes that Finnish learned societies play an integral part in national scholarly publishing. They play an especially important role in journal publishing, as commercial publishers produce only 2.6% of Finnish journals and book series, and only 1.4% of the journal articles from scholars working in Finnish universities.     

First- and second-order additionality and learning outcomes in collaborative R&D programs

In this paper, we distinguish between firm-level learning effects that result from ‘first-order’ and ‘second-order’ additionalities in innovation policy interventions. ‘First-order’ additionalities represent direct firm-level R&D subsidies, whereas ‘second-order’ additionalities result from knowledge spill-overs, horizontal knowledge exchanges between firms, and from other meso- or community-level effects. Analyzing data from collaborative R&D programs in Finland, we show that enhancing identification with a community of practice among R&D program participants (proxy for second-order additionality) enhances firm-level learning outcomes beyond those resulting from direct R&D subsidy (proxy for first-order additionality). Learning effects facilitated by second-order additionality are not confined to technological learning alone, encompassing also business and market learning. We also show that aspects of program implementation enhance identification with a community of practice, which then mediate the relationship between program implementation and firm-level learning outcomes.     

Turkish Preservice Science Teachers’ Informal Reasoning Regarding Socioscientific Issues and the Factors Influencing Their Informal Reasoning

The purpose of the study is to explore Turkish preservice science teachers’ informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues and the factors influencing their informal reasoning. The researchers engaged 39 preservice science teachers in informal reasoning interview and moral decision-making interview protocols. Of the seven socioscientific issues, three issues were related to gene therapy, another three were related to human cloning, and one was related to global warming. The data were analyzed using an interpretive qualitative research approach. The characteristic of informal reasoning was determined as multidimensional, and the patterns of informal reasoning emerged as rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive reasoning. The factors influencing informal reasoning were: personal experiences, social considerations, moral-ethical considerations, and technological concerns.     

Computational Thinking Integration into Science Classrooms: Example of Digestive System

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Studies maintain that computational thinking (CT) is associated with science content and scientific processes as well as with many disciplines. It is...     

Correction to: Computational Thinking Integration into Science Classrooms: Example of Digestive System

Journal of Science Education and Technology -     

The impact of game-based learning (GBL) on students’ motivation,engagement and academic performance on an Arabic language grammar course in higher education

Education and Information Technologies - The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of game-based learning (GBL) on students’ motivation, engagement and academic performance on an...