Late information pick-up is preferred in basketball jump shooting

Abstract

In this study we examined the timing of optical information pick-up in basketball jump shooting using an intermittent viewing technique. We expected shooters to prefer to look at the basket as late as possible under the shooting style used. Seven experts with a high shooting style and five experts with a low shooting style took 50 jump shots while wearing liquid-crystal glasses that opened and closed at pre-set intervals. In principle, under this constraint, the participants could control when they saw the basket by actively modulating the timing of their movements. Analyses of the phasing of the movements relative to the events defined on the glasses revealed that low-style shooters preferred to see the basket just before the ball passed their line of sight, whereas high-style shooters tended to view the basket from underneath the ball after it passed their line of sight. Thus, most shooters preferred to pick up optical information as late as possible given the adopted shooting style. We conclude that, in dynamic far aiming tasks such as basketball jump shooting, late pick-up of optical information is critical for the successful guidance of movements.     

Functional torque ratios and torque curve analysis of shoulder rotations in overhead athletes with and without impingement symptoms

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the peak torque, functional torque ratios, and torque curve profile of the shoulder rotators in overhead athletes with impingement symptoms so as to examine possible alterations in response to sports training and shoulder pain. Twenty-one overhead athletes with impingement symptoms were compared with 25 overhead athletes and 21 non-athletes, none of whom were symptomatic for impingement. The participants performed five maximal isokinetic concentric and eccentric contractions of medial and lateral shoulder rotations at 1.57 rad · s^?1 and 3.14 rad · s^?1. Isokinetic peak torque was used to calculate the eccentric lateral rotation-to-concentric medial rotation and the eccentric medial rotation-to-concentric lateral rotation ratios. An analysis of the torque curve profiles was also carried out. The eccentric lateral rotation-to-concentric medial rotation torque ratio of asymptomatic athletes was lower than that of non-athletes at both test velocities. The concentric medial rotation isokinetic peak torque of the asymptomatic athletes, at 3.14 rad · s^?1, was greater than that of the non-athletes, and the peak appeared to occur earlier in the movement for athletes than non-athletes. These findings suggest that there may be adaptations to shoulder function in response to throwing practice. The eccentric medial rotation-to-concentric lateral rotation torque ratio was altered neither by the practice of university-level overhead sports nor impingement symptoms.     

Effects of replica running shoes upon external forces and muscle activity during running

Abstract

Twelve participants ran (9 km · h^?1) to test two types of running shoes: replica and original shoes. Ground reaction force, plantar pressure and electromyographic activity were recorded. The shoes were tested randomly and on different days. Comparisons between the two experimental conditions were made by analysis of variance (ANOVA) test (P ≤ 0.05). The time to first peak, loading rate of the first peak and impulse of the first 75 ms of stance were significantly different between the shoes (P ≤ 0.05), revealing an increase of impact forces for the replica shoes. The peak plantar pressure values were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) when wearing replica shoes. During running, the contact area was significantly smaller (P ≤ 0.05) for the replica shoe. The electromyographic activity of the analysed muscles did not show changes between the two shoes in running. These findings suggest that the use of replica running shoes can increase the external load applied to the human body, but may not change the muscle activity pattern during locomotion. This new mechanical situation may increase the risk of injuries in these movements.     

Semiotics as a basis for educational software design

Semiotics has recently been used to support formalisms for software design. On the other hand, every program has a certain educational potential as it exposes the user to a world of entities with which to interact. In this paper, we present a group of semiotic principles for software design and use them to show how they explain different educational possibilities. Our approach is illustrated by Theatre in the Computer: a software environment for children to experience the theatre.     

Homeschooling in Brazil: A Matter of Rights or a Political Debate?

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analysis of the right to education in Brazil in light of the growing number of Brazilian families practicing homeschooling. The debate is recent in Brazil. Here we present an analysis of international literature on homeschooling, Brazilian literature on the right to education, and an appraisal of lawsuits against Brazilian families for teaching their children at home. In light of truancy regulations and the evolution of a right to education in Brazil, homeschooling creates legal and political challenges.     

Meeting the Challenges of English Learners by Pairing Science and Language Educators

Research in Science Education - Learners of English as a new language and the teachers who find these young people in their classrooms face many challenges. For secondary science educators, this is...     

Inclusion and Diversity from Hegelylacan Point of View: Do We Desire Our Desire for Change?

This paper discusses the problem of social exclusion, reported to be intrinsically connected to mathematical teaching from the perspective of Hegel's philosophy and Lacan's psychoanalysis. It provides a characterization of mathematics from a language viewpoint discusses the perennial demand for more mathematical achieving from the perspective of hysterics and obsessive symptoms and shows how desire is linked with the choice of values in assessment.     

Using learning analytics in the Amazonas: understanding students’ behaviour in introductory programming

Tools for automatic grading programming assignments, also known as Online Judges, have been widely used to support computer science (CS) courses. Nevertheless, few studies have used these tools to acquire and analyse interaction data to better understand the students’ performance and behaviours, often due to data availability or inadequate granularity. To address this problem, we propose an Online Judge called CodeBench, which allows for fine-grained data collection of student interactions, at the level of, eg, keystrokes, number of submissions, and grades. We deployed CodeBench for 3 years (2016–18) and collected data from 2058 students from 16 introductory computer science (CS1) courses, on which we have carried out fine-grained learning analytics, towards early detection of effective/ineffective behaviours regarding learning CS concepts. Results extract clear behavioural classes of CS1 students, significantly differentiated both semantically and statistically, enabling us to better explain how student behaviours during programming have influenced learning outcomes. Finally, we also identify behaviours that can guide novice students to improve their learning performance, which can be used for interventions. We believe this work is a step forward towards enhancing Online Judges and helping teachers and students improve their CS1 teaching/learning practices.     

Understanding textbook quality in the USA: How governments distort the market

Textbooks deliver education and shape the daily routines of classrooms. Even in countries where schools enjoy ample and various instructional resources, text-books are the single most important support for teachers and students. It is not surprising, then, that textbooks are a major concern of states, schools, teachers, parents, publishers, and the research community. But textbooks often become a scapegoat for educational evils. In the USA, government regulation, special interest groups, and publishers exert pressure on textbook policies and state and local adoption processes. The result: textbooks are published to conform to a market distorted by government regulation. This paper discusses how their quality is constrained by government and special interest groups that interfere with the natural course of regulations and markets.

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Zusammenfassung Textbücher liefern Bildung und schaffen tägliche Routine im Klassenraum. Sogar in Ländern, in denen Schulen vielfältige und zahlreiche Unterrichtsquellen haben, sind Textbücher die wichtigste Unterstützung für Lehrer und Schüler. Es ist daher keine Überraschung, daß Textbücher ein Hauptanliegen von Staaten, Schulen, Lehrern, Eltern, Herausgebern und der Forschergemeinde sind. Aber Textbücher werden oft zum Sündenbock für erzieherische Fehler gemacht. In den USA üben Regierungsvorgaben, spezielle Interessengruppen und Herausgeber Druck auf die Textbuchpolitik und staatliche und lokale Anwendungsprozesse aus. In diesem Artikel wird diskutiert, wie ihre Qualität durch Interessen von Regierungen und Spezialgruppen beeinflußt wird, die mit dem natürlichen Lauf von Regulierungen und Märkten in Konflikt stehen.

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Resumen Los libros de texto proveen educación y delinean las rutinas diarias en las aulas. Incluso en aquellos países en los que las escuelas disponen de una amplia y variada gama de recursos de instrucción, los libros de texto son por cierto el más importante soporte para docentes y alumnos. No es sorprendente entonces que en los libros de texto se centre el máximo interés de Estados, escuelas, docentes, padres, editores e investigadores. No obstante, los libros de texto frecuentemente se convierten en el chivo emisario de los males de la educación. En los EE UU, la legislaciön, los grupos de interés y los editores ejercen presiones sobre las normas de conducta de los libros de texto y sobre los procesos de adopción estatles y locales. Resultado: los libros de texto se editan adaptándolos a un mercado distorsionado por la legislación. El trabajo plantea el problema de cómo su calidad es restringida por grupos de gobierno y de interés, que interfieren en el curso normal de la regulación y de los mercados.

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Résumé Les manuels scolaires délivrent un enseignement et déterminent la routine des salles de classes. Même dans les pays où les écoles disposent de matériels pédagogiques nombreux et variés, les manuels scolaires restent le soutien le plus important pour les enseignants et les apprenants. Par conséquent, il n'est pas surprenant que les manuels scolaires soient une préoccupation majeure des Etats, écoles, enseignants, parents, éditeurs et chercheurs. Mais les manuels scolaires servent souvent de bouc émissaire aux problèmes éducatifs. Aux Etats-Unis, la législation, les groupes de pression et les éditeurs ont une influence sur l'élaboration et le choix des manuels au niveau local et national. Résultat: les manuels doivent se conformer à un marché faussé par la législation. Cet article montre à quel point leur qualité dépend des décisions gouvernementales et des groupes de pression qui ont une influence sur le comportement des marchés et sur la législation.