Students’ Understanding of the Special Theory of Relativity and Design for a Guided Visit to a Science Museum

The present paper describes the design of teaching materials that are used as learning tools in school visits to a science museum. An exhibition on ‘A century of the Special Theory of Relativity’, in the Kutxaespacio Science Museum, in San Sebastian, Spain, was used to design a visit for first‐year engineering students at the university and assess the learning that was achieved. The first part of the paper presents the teaching sequence that was designed to build a bridge between formal teaching and the exhibition visit. The second part analyses the potential of the exhibition and the aforementioned teaching sequence to influence the students’ knowledge of three aspects of the Special Theory of Relativity. The results obtained show that the design of the visit, with both pre‐visit and follow‐up activities, was effective as a means of increasing students’ understanding and stimulating their ability to argue scientifically.     

A Structural Equation Model of Parental Involvement,Motivational and Aptitudinal Characteristics,and Academic Achievement

The authors used the structural equation model (SEM) approach to test a model hypothesizing the influence of parental involvement on students' academic aptitudes, self-concept, and causal attributions, as well as the influence of the 3 variables on academic achievement. The theoretical model was contrasted in a group of 12- to 18-year-old adolescents (N = 261) attending various educational centers. The results indicate that (a) parental involvement had a positive and significant influence on the participant's measured characteristics; (b) causal attribution was not causally related to self-concept or academic achievement when the task involved finding causes for success, but, self-concept and causal attributions were found to be significantly and reciprocally related when the task involved finding causes accounting for failure; (c) self-concept was statistically and predominantly causally related to academic achievement, but not vice versa; and (d) aptitude and self-concept accounted for academic achievement, although the effect of self-concept was predominant. These results suggest that in adolescence, cognitive-affective variables become crucial in accounting for academic behavior.     

A new space for a new science: the transformation of the JAE Campus after the Spanish Civil War

This article explores the way in which different concepts of education are expressed through architecture. It analyses the case of the transformation of the campus of the Colina de los Chopos in Madrid after the Spanish Civil War. The victor’s vision for education was captured physically in a new space that expressed the opposite values to those of the precedent democratic period. Francoism aspired to erase every physical trace of the Spanish liberal and democratic culture. Thus, a new campus was designed to stress physically new scientific, cultural and educational values. Aesthetically the former austerity and rationalism were substituted by monumentality and historicism; symbolically, the submission of any kind of knowledge to religion was highlighted through the transformation of the former Auditorium into a church and the erection of several religious monuments.     

The combined use of IRT and LDV for the investigation of historical thin vaults

Correct interventions on cultural heritage should have as their starting point an accurate diagnosis of its health, in order to design a compatible care. NDTs seem to offer a promising way in this sense. This paper deals with the combined use of IRT and LDV for the investigation of historical thin vaults made by timber arches, reeds, and plaster and it demonstrates that they can effectively support a deeper knowledge of these vaults as it concerns the presence of detached areas among the different mortar layers of the plaster and of detached areas among the mat of reeds and the nailed connection with the wooden bearing elements. This is a very important goal because these ND methodologies can be employed only on the lower surface of these vaults and sufficiently far from it, and they do not have any mechanical interaction with the historical, eventually frescoed or stuccoed, plaster, thus saving money and time.     

Activity profile and physical demands of football referees and assistant referees in international games

Abstract

Time-motion analyses and physiological measurements were performed to investigate the physiological demands of football referees (n = 15) and assistant referees (n = 15) in international games and to examine whether high-intensity running (HIR) correlates to the referees' ability to keep up with play. Total distance covered (10.27 ± 0.90 vs. 6.76 ± 0.83 km) and HIR (1.92 ± 0.58 vs. 0.97 ± 0.22 km) was higher (P < 0.05) for referees than assistant referees, while sprinting distance was not different. Referees covered 0.89 ± 0.37 km by backwards running and assistant referees covered 1.54 ± 0.66 km by sideways running. Mean heart rate was higher (P < 0.05) for referees than assistant referees (150 ± 3 vs. 123 ± 3 b.p.m.), whereas blood lactate was not different. Backwards/sideways running decreased (P < 0.05) from the first to the last 15-min period for referees (49%) and assistant referees (42%), whereas HIR was unaltered. HIR was inversely correlated with the five highest distances from infringements in both halves (r = ?0.60 and ?0.58, P < 0.05). In conclusion, international match officials carry out an important amount of HIR throughout games, while low-intensity and unorthodox running activities are reduced during games. Referees performing the most high-intensity work are better to keep up with play. The match activities differ significantly between referees and assistant referees, which should be considered in training and testing procedures.     

Effects of competition level on the centre forward role of men's water polo

Abstract

This study aimed to compare specific technical and tactical indicators of the team and centre forward role of Euro League, and Italian Serie A1, Serie A2, and Serie B men's water polo club competitions. A notational analysis was performed on 21 water polo matches to evaluate the occurrence of technical and tactical team and centre forward indicators, highlighting differences among championships according to chi-square analyses. Differences emerged for Counterattack (P < 0.001) and Power-Play (P < 0.001) possessions, Even (P < 0.001; Euro League: 3 ± 1, Serie A1: 3 ± 2, Serie A2: 3 ± 2, Serie B: 6 ± 4) and Power-Play (P = 0.001) goals, and exclusions and penalties (P = 0.008) of the team during Even possessions. Relatively to the role analyses, effects emerged for perimeter players playing events (P = 0.049), as well as for centre forwards' goals (P = 0.007) and exclusions and penalties (P < 0.001; Euro League: 8 ± 1, Serie A1: 6 ± 2, Serie A2: 6 ± 2, Serie B: 3 ± 2) occurring at the end of Even possessions. Therefore, in Euro League, and Italian Serie A1 and Serie A2, teams perform a high occurrence of Power-Play possessions following up an exclusion, especially achieved by the centre forward during Even possessions, while, in Italian Serie B, goals were mostly scored during Even possessions, with a relevant contribution from the centre forward role.     

Perceived coach-created and peer-created motivational climates and their associations with team cohesion and athlete satisfaction: evidence from a longitudinal study

Abstract

In this longitudinal study, we examined the extent to which perceived coach- and peer-created motivational climates are associated with athlete-group cohesion and satisfaction with participation among Spanish soccer players competing in the Third National Division. Multilevel modelling analyses showed that perceived coach-created task climate was positively related to perceived cohesion and players’ satisfaction with their participation within their team. Also, perceived peer-created task climate related positively to perceived cohesion. The results indicate the importance of considering peer-related aspects of the motivational climate in addition to considering the coach-related aspects of the motivational climate when examining motivational group dynamics in sport.     

Correlation between architectural variables and torque in the erector spinae muscle during maximal isometric contraction

Abstract

This study analysed whether a significant relationship exists between the torque and muscle thickness and pennation angle of the erector spinae muscle during a maximal isometric lumbar extension with the lumbar spine in neutral position. This was a cross-sectional study in which 46 healthy adults performed three repetitions for 5 s of maximal isometric lumbar extension with rests of 90 s. During the lumbar extensions, bilateral ultrasound images of the erector spinae muscle (to measure pennation angle and muscle thickness) and torque were acquired. Reliability test analysis calculating the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the measure, correlation between pennation angle, muscle thickness and torque extensions were examined. Through a linear regression the contribution of each independent variable (muscle thickness and pennation angle) to the variation of the dependent variable (torque) was calculated. The results of the reliability test were: 0.976–0.979 (pennation angle), 0.980–0.980 (muscle thickness) and 0.994 (torque). The results show that pennation angle and muscle thickness were significantly related to each other with a range between 0.295 and 0.762. In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that the two variables considered in this study explained 68% of the variance in the torque. Pennation angle and muscle thickness have a moderate impact on the variance exerted on the torque during a maximal isometric lumbar extension with the lumbar spine in neutral position.