EFFECTS OF A MULTIFOCUSED PREVENTION PROGRAM ON PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a multifocused (child‐, teacher‐ and parent‐focused) prevention program for Romanian preschoolers, targeting social–emotional competence development, as well as reduction of behavior problems. Fourteen classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditions. Subsequent hierarchical linear analyses indicated that intervention‐group children performed better on experimental tasks measuring emotion knowledge and social problem‐solving strategies, and received higher assessments by their teachers and parents on measures of social–emotional competencies and externalizing problems. These results indicate that a prevention program combining intervention strategies for both high‐ and low‐risk children is effective across a wide range of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Moreover, a short four‐session parent group training employed to attract parent participation elicited an acceptable overall attendance rate (54%), indicating the sustainability of parent intervention in the context of community‐based interventions.     

Pupils’ humour directed at teachers: its types and functions

Based on an analysis of 137 texts written by pupils, this paper examines pupils’ humour directed at teachers, its types and social functions. The collected data are divided into three categories that describe different modes of teachers as targets of pupils’ humour. The first mode describes teachers as unintentionally comical, the second as duped by their pupils and the third as intentional users of humour. The analysis focuses on different functions that pupils’ humour directed at teachers fulfils in the social life of the classroom. The paper concludes by showing how key functions of social humour (such as creation of solidarity, negotiation of power and realisation of personal needs) are connected to the three modes of pupils’ humour directed at teachers.     

Gymnastics

Abstract

The aim of our research was to study the relationships between performance variables in a support backward swing (SBS), which was used as a progressive step in the learning procedure for a 1#fr1/4> straddle‐piked front somersault and the swing prior to a 1#fr1/4> straddle‐piked front somersault from support to bent arm support on the parallel bars (5/4S). Mitja Petkov?ek, parallel bars gold medallist at the 2000 EC in Bremen, performed these elements. Kinematic analysis involved CMAS software (Praha, 1993), and the Suskana body segment model that has 17 points and 15 segments. Kinetic variables were estimated using 2D IMGIM software, which has 8 points and 6 segments (Colja and ?uk, 1994). The results indicated that some kinematic aspects of the two types of swings were similar but there were important differences in kinetic aspects of the motion. During the swing for the 5/4S, force and torque were higher than in the SBS.     

The use of ICT devices by older people with a special focus on their type and respondents’ age: A Czech case study

The recent demographic trends show a rapid increase of aging population, especially in developed countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for the opportunities of maintaining the quality of life of this aging population. One of the solutions seems to be the use of information and communication technology (ICT) devices, which can promote autonomy of older people by facilitating the execution of many routine activities such as shopping or communication. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of ICT devices among older people in the Czech Republic with respect to their type and respondents’ age. The methods include a questionnaire survey, as well as statistical processing of data collection. The results indicate that present seniors are becoming more digitally literate, especially in the use of mobile phones. However, the use of the technological devices then dramatically drops at the age of 75 years. In addition, the results indicate that future research should focus on the use of mobile phones, respectively smartphones, and its effectiveness on the improvement of quality of life of older generation groups.     

Burnout among university faculty: the central role of work–family conflict

This study examined both direct and indirect associations of faculty burnout with psychosocial work environments, using the job resources-demands framework. A sample of 2,229 faculty members (57.1% male) throughout public universities in the Czech Republic completed a questionnaire comprising measures of burnout and psychosocial work environment characteristics from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II. We formulated a structural model that hypothesised a positive effect of job demands (quantitative demands, work-family conflict (WFC), job insecurity) and a negative effect of job resources (influence, social community, role clarity) on burnout. Results showed that the strongest predictor of burnout was WFC, which had a direct positive effect on burnout and mediated the positive effect of quantitative demands on burnout. Further, a small direct negative effect of age and an indirect positive effect of involvement in research grants and administrative paperwork on burnout were observed. The findings indicate that university management can most effectively address burnout in academic staff not only by implementing policies that reduce WFC, workload and administrative paperwork, but also by providing more job resources to younger faculty and faculty involved in grant-based projects.     

Attitudes of Anatomy Students toward Commemorations for Body Donors: A Multicultural Perspective

Many medical schools practice commemorative ceremonies to honor body donors. Attitudes of medical education stakeholders toward these ceremonies have not yet been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to explore anatomy students' attitudes toward commemorations at a multicultural institution which has not introduced these ceremonies yet. A survey was carried out on different groups of anatomy students that were exposed and not yet exposed to human remains. The survey was used to record basic demographic data from the respondents, ask if they would support the establishment of an anatomy commemoration and in which format. A total of 756 anatomy students participated in the survey (response rate 69.8%). The majority (76.3%) were in favor of introducing a commemoration for donors. The associations of students' gender, attitude toward body donation, and level of exposure to human remains with attitudes toward commemoration for donors were identified (P < 0.05), whereas ethnicity and religion seemed to have no influence on attitudes (P > 0.05). Most students believed that anatomy staff and students should organize the commemoration. There was a preference for the commemoration to be secular with revealed identities of donors, and not recorded for social media. The support for the establishment of commemorations transcended cultural and religious differences and confirmed students' respectful attitude toward donors. Anatomy commemorations seem to have potential not only to engage students with one another, and donor families, but also to pave the way for students to become life-long ethical and empathetic learners and practitioners.     

Solfeggio learning and the influence of a mobile application based on visual,auditory and tactile modalities

Traditional methods of learning solfeggio (music theory) generally do not take advantage of computer-based support, meaning that, when learning individually, students cannot receive instantaneous feedback on their activities. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an interactive mobile application, mySolfeggio, for learning solfeggio. Using a mobile device, students can take advantage of visual, auditory and tactile modalities to recognise musical notes. Students can also practice and learn notation, rhythm and melody, for which the mobile application provides corrective feedback. To evaluate students’ perceptions of the mobile application and its effect on knowledge, we conducted an experiment with 42 students, from 9 to 13 years old. After learning a particular song during a regular lesson, one group of students practiced it individually with only the musical notation, while the other group used both the musical notation and the mobile application. The results of the experiment illustrated only a small effect on students’ performance in singing and tapping when using the mobile application. However, they demonstrated higher scores in terms of musical intervals and rhythmic accuracy when compared to students in the control group. The students did not find the use of the application difficult, thus allowing it to be used as a tool for improvement of their homework practice.     

Dewey's Participatory Educational Democracy

In this essay, Emil Višňovský and Štefan Zolcer outline John Dewey's contribution to democratic theory as presented in his 1916 classic Democracy and Education. The authors begin with a review of the general context of Dewey's conception of democracy, and then focus on particular democratic ideas and concepts as presented in Democracy and Education. This analysis emphasizes not so much the technical elaboration of these ideas and concepts as their philosophical framework and the meanings of democracy for education and education for democracy elaborated by Dewey. Apart from other aspects of Deweyan educational democracy, Višňovský and Zolcer focus on participation as one of its key characteristics, ultimately claiming that the notion of educational democracy Dewey developed in this work is participatory.