Relationships between self-concept and directly observed behaviors in kindergarten children

Twenty kindergarten children who were nominated by teachers as not being socially and academically competent (low-rated) and 36 kindergarten children who were nominated by teachers as competent (high-rated) participated in this study. Self-concept and academic achievement data were gathered on each subject. In addition, all children were observed in class, with particular attention to compliance/non-compliance with adult requests, on-task/off-task behavior, and positive/negative social behaviors with peers. The results indicate that: (a) The factor structure of the self-concept instrument (Primary Self-concept Inventory) was replicated in both groups of children. (b) There were no significant differences in self-concept scores among high- vs. low-rated children. (c) There were profound differences in academic and social behaviors that were found to covary with positive self-evaluations within the two study groups. In general, high-rated children who felt best about themselves were higher achievers and more compliant than were their study group cohorts. Low-rated children who felt best about themselves were, on the contrary, more off-task, more negative in their peer contacts, and inferior academically to their study group cohorts.     

Twenty-metre shuttle run test performance of English children aged 11-15 years in 2007: comparisons with international standards

Recent international normative data for the 20-m shuttle-run test demonstrated a below-average performance index for UK children. The aims of the present study were to create an international comparison of 20-m shuttle-run test performance in a sample of English children and to identify age- and sex-specific differences in test performance. Mass, stature, body mass index, and 20-m shuttle-run test performance were measured in 2041 children aged 11-15 years (963 boys, 1078 girls). Performance was expressed as maximum running velocity and a performance index was created by generating z-scores. The shuttle-run test performance index was higher than the existing published value (-0.046, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.070 to -0.022) for all children (0.061, 95% CI = 0.006 to 0.115), for boys (0.075, 95% CI = -0.022 to 0.171), and for girls (0.048, 95% CI = -0.010 to 0.106). Boys' relative performance increased significantly (F = 4.43, P = 0.002) throughout the measured age range, whereas girls' relative performance tended to decrease (F = 1.98, P = 0.096). The results were favourable when compared with existing values. Differences in performance index may be due to the different geographical areas from which present and past samples were drawn. Reasons for differences in the performance indices between boys and girls warrant further investigation.     

Risk factors for overuse injuries in short- and long-distance running: A systematic review

Purpose:The aim of this study was to review information about risk factors for lower extremity running injuries in both short-distance(mean running distance-20 km/week and-10 km/session)and long-distance runners(mean running distance>20 km/week and>10 km/session).Methods:Electronic databases were searched for articles published up to February 2019.Prospective cohort studies using multivariable analysis for the assessment of individual risk factors or risk models for the occurrence of lower extremity running injuries were included.Two reviewers independently selected studies for eligibility and assessed risk of bias with the Quality in Prognostic Studies Tool.The GRADE approach was used to assess the quality of the evidence.Results:A total of 29 studies were included:17 studies focused on short-distance runners,11 studies focused on long-distance runners,and 1 study focused on both types of runners.A previous running-related injury was the strongest risk factor for an injury for long-distance runners,with moderate-quality evidence.Previous injuries not attributed to running was the strongest risk factor for an injury for short-distance runners,with high-quality evidence.Higher body mass index,higher age,sex(male),having no previous running experience,and lower running volume were strong risk factors,with moderate quality evidence,for short-distance runners.Low-quality evidence was found for all risk models as predictors of runningrelated injuries among short-and long-distance runners.Conclusion:Several risk factors for lower extremity injuries have been identified among short-and long-distance runners,but the quality of evidence for these risk factors for running-related injuries is limited.Running injuries seem to have a multifactorial origin both in short-and long-distance runners.     

Relationship of children's conceptual tempo to problem solving and creativity

The present study examines the role of conceptual tempo in creativity and problem solving. It was hypothesized that reflective children would do well on tasks involving an evaluation component, while impulsive children would do well on typical creativity tasks. Measures of creativity, assessing fluency, flexibility, and originality, as well as measures of problem solving, stressing an evaluation component, were administered to 101 white suburban fifth-grade children. Using MFF scores, four groups were identified: reflectives, impulsives, fast-accurates, and slow-inaccurates. Results indicated no significant differences among the conceptual tempo groups on any of the creativity or problem-solving tasks. It is suggested that conceptual tempo may be less effective in predicting differences in some aspects of cognitive functioning at this age. Examination of this hypothesis with younger children is recommended.     

Drama activities as ideational resources for primary‐grade children in urban science classrooms

In this study we explored how dramatic enactments of scientific phenomena and concepts mediate children's learning of scientific meanings along material, social, and representational dimensions. These drama activities were part of two integrated science‐literacy units, Matter and Forest, which we developed and implemented in six urban primary‐school (grades 1st–3rd) classrooms. We examine and discuss the possibilities and challenges that arise as children and teachers engaged in scientific knowing through such experiences. We use Halliday's (1978. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press) three metafunctions of communicative activity—ideational, interpersonal, and textual—to map out the place of the multimodal drama genre in elementary urban school science classrooms of young children. As the children talked, moved, gestured, and positioned themselves in space, they constructed and shared meanings with their peers and their teachers as they enacted their roles. Through their bodies they negotiated ambiguity and re‐articulated understandings, thus marking this embodied meaning making as a powerful way to engage with science. Furthermore, children's whole bodies became central, explicit tools used to accomplish the goal of representing this imaginary scientific world, as their teachers helped them differentiate it from the real world of the model they were enacting. Their bodies operated on multiple mediated levels: as material objects that moved through space, as social objects that negotiated classroom relationships and rules, and as metaphorical entities that stood for water molecules in different states of matter or for plants, animals, or non‐living entities in a forest food web. Children simultaneously negotiated meanings across all of these levels, and in doing so, acted out improvisational drama as they thought and talked science. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 302–325, 2010