Teacher Scaffolding in Small-Group Work: An Intervention Study

Adapting support contingently to student needs by first diagnosing their current understanding, that is, scaffolding, is considered a key aspect of excellent teaching. The use of classroom scaffolding is rare, however. We therefore investigated the benefits to teachers of a professional development program that was based upon a model of contingent teaching (MCT) with the following 4 steps: diagnostic strategies, checking of diagnoses, giving contingent support, and checking of student learning. In our experimental study, 17 of 30 teachers participated in this program. All of the teachers (prevocational education; teaching social studies) taught the same 5-lesson project on the European Union. The frequency and quality of their use of the 4 steps from the MCT were then compared. The teachers who worked with the MCT increased their teaching quality more than the teachers who did not participate, especially with regard to the steps of contingent teaching. They also showed more complete cycles of contingent teaching at postmeasurement than the other teachers. Less successful teachers showed a tendency to provide less support because they mistakenly thought that prompting was not part of scaffolding. Future scaffolding research and professional development efforts aimed at promoting scaffolding can benefit from the MCT, provided that teachers’ understanding of scaffolding is closely monitored.     

Relationship between sociometric types and academic achievement in a sample of compulsory secondary education students / Relación entre tipos sociométricos y rendimiento académico en una muestra de estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between sociometric types, behavioural categories and academic achievement in a sample of 1,349 compulsory secondary education students (51.7% boys), ranging in age from 12 to 16 years. The students’ sociometric identification was performed by using the Programa Socio and academic performance was measured by school marks provided by teachers in the subjects of Spanish language, mathematics and average academic performance. The results show that sociometric types were significant predictors of academic achievement, as students who were rated positively by their peers (popular, leaders, collaborators and good students) were more likely to have high academic achievement (in mathematics, Spanish language and average academic achievement) than students rated negatively by peers (rejected-aggressive, rejected-shy, neglected and bullies).     

Effectiveness and motivation towards the use of video tutorials when learning how to use music software / Efectividad y motivación hacia el uso de videotutoriales para el aprendizaje de un software musical

Abstract

The objective of this study is to highlight the potential of video tutorials for learning how to use music editing software as well as students’ perceptions of their use. The project has been developed within a flipped-classroom approach, in which students studied with two types of resources: video tutorials and printed tutorials created ad hoc. Using a quantitative study with a quasi-experimental design, students participating in the project (n = 48) were divided into an experimental group (video tutorials) and a control group (printed tutorials) in order to evaluate the resource used according to: (1) academic results achieved; (2) students’ independence; (3) time spent completing tasks; (4) motivation generated by the resource. The resource used did not result in an improvement of academic performance in those students who used video tutorials. However, there has been an improvement in time invested in the production of scores, students’ autonomy in relation to the teacher and motivation towards the resource used.     

How international students select offshore programs: the influence of image, attitude, subject norm, and perceived behavioral control

Previous research studies identified country image as an important variable in international students’ selection of onshore programs, and it is often perceived that there is little difference between onshore and offshore program selection. Looking at a sample of high school students in China and their selections of offshore programs (from a sample program in Australia, the UK, and the US), this study reveals an insignificant influence of country image. Instead, both higher education country image and the local partner institution image significantly influence the students’ selections. The findings also indicate that the effects of attitude toward behavior, subject norm, and perceived behavioral control appear to be more significant than those of the images in most of the analyses. Implications for international educators and marketers of offshore programs are discussed.     

The ingestion of a caffeinated energy drink improves jump performance and activity patterns in elite badminton players

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a caffeine-containing energy drink to enhance physical and match performance in elite badminton players. Sixteen male and elite badminton players (25.4 ± 7.3 year; 71.8 ± 7.9 kg) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled and randomised experiment. On two different sessions, badminton players ingested 3 mg of caffeine per kg of body mass in the form of an energy drink or the same drink without caffeine (placebo). After 60 min, participants performed the following tests: handgrip maximal force production, smash jump without and with shuttlecock, squat jump, countermovement jump and the agility T-test. Later, a 45-min simulated badminton match was played. Players’ number of impacts and heart rate was measured during the match. The ingestion of the caffeinated energy drink increased squat jump height (34.5 ± 4.7 vs. 36.4 ± 4.3 cm; P < 0.05), squat jump peak power (P < 0.05), countermovement jump height (37.7 ± 4.5 vs. 39.5 ± 5.1 cm; P < 0.05) and countermovement jump peak power (P < 0.05). In addition, an increased number of total impacts was found during the badminton match (7395 ± 1594 vs. 7707 ± 2033 impacts; P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results show that the use of caffeine-containing energy drink may be an effective nutritional aid to increase jump performance and activity patterns during game in elite badminton players.     

Institutional and country collaboration in an online service of scientific profiles: Google Scholar Citations

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and describe the topological properties of the institutional and national collaboration network from the profiles extracted from Google Scholar Citations (GSC). 19,912 unique profiles with “co-authors” were obtained from a web crawl performed in March 2012. Several statistical and network analysis techniques were used to map and analyse these collaboration relationships at the country and institution level. Results show that The United States dominates the world scientific map and that every research institution is grouped by national, geographical and cultural criteria. A clustering phenomenon based on the self-similarity and fractal properties of scale-free networks is also observed. We conclude that GSC is a suitable tool for collaboration studies only at macro level between countries and institutions.     

Analysis of the distance covered by Brazilian professional futsal players during official matches

The purpose of this study was to measure and characterise the distances covered by Brazilian professional futsal players. The trajectories of 93 players during five matches were obtained using an automatic tracking method. The distances covered were analysed for different game conditions: over the entire game and during the times when the ball was out of play and in play separately. When the entire game was considered, the results showed that there was a reduction in the total distance covered per minute from the first [median ± IQR (interquartile range): 97.9 ± 16.2 m/min] to the second half (median = 90.3 m/min; IQR = 12.0), and when only the in-play time was considered (first half: 136.6 ± 17.2 m/min; second half: 129.2 ± 16.7 m/min). The percentage of distance covered in the standing and walking velocity range was higher in the second half than in the first when considering the entire game (30.8% and 28.0%, respectively) and during the in-play time (19.3% and 16.2%, respectively). In conclusion, this study verified that futsal players reduced the physical performance during the second half.     

Externally Funded Research in Counselor Education: An Overview of the Process

“Publish or perish” is a phrase familiar to untenured and tenured faculty alike. In recent years, prominence has been placed on academicians to secure external funding for their research and training projects. The counselor education field has not been immune to this call for externally funded projects. This article includes strategies for seeking and receiving external funding for counseling‐related research in an effort to help counselor educators flourish in a paradigm that increasingly calls for greater external funding. Emphasis is placed on gaining knowledge and experience with federal funding agencies.     

Strategic management of intellectual capital in firms: attempting to bridge the gap between theory and practice

Knowledge Management Research & Practice -