Effect of sex,class standing,and academic performance on perceived importance of teacher behaviors

An implicit assumption made in most teaching evaluation instruments is that teaching behaviors are equally important to students. Using specific teacher behaviors which have appeared in a number of teaching assessment devices, the importance of teacher behaviors questionnaire (ITB) was constructed to measure students' perceptions of the importance of selected teacher behaviors. Data collected from 105 college students were utilized in the present study for the following purposes: (a) to determine if there are differences among students' ratings of teaching behaviors in terms of importance and (b) to determine if the ratings of importance given to selected teacher behaviors vary according to students' sex, class standing, or academic performance. Results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in perceived importance of selected teacher behaviors. Furthermore, it was found that ratings of some of these behaviors tended to vary across sex groups. Implications for utilizing importance information as a weighting component in teaching evaluations are discussed.     

Causes,prevention, and interventions regarding classroom disruptions in digital teaching: A systematic review

Education and Information Technologies - Digitization and the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic are accelerating the use of digital tools in teaching. Therefore, this systematic literature review offers an...     

The regulation of release parameters in underarm precision throwing

The aim of this study was to determine if adults spontaneously exploit the laws of physics to achieve better accuracy when throwing at various distances. Eight adults performed 25 underarm throws at five horizontal circular targets located 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 m away with a constant 5% relative accuracy requirement. Angle and speed of the ball at release were found to increase with throwing distance, while the coordinates of the release point did not change significantly. These results support the idea that people minimize the variability in impact distance by adapting both the angle and the speed at ball release following a mechanical optimum predicted by the laws of physics. Moreover, variability in distance was found to be less than expected because of independent variations in the angle and speed at ball release. Hence, the control of precision throwing seems to imply compensatory variability, as frequently reported in the control of skilled actions.     

Cross-language activation of phonology in young bilingual readers

We investigated whether children who were learning to read simultaneously in English and French activate phonological representations from only the language in which they are reading or from both of their languages. Children in French Immersion programs in Grade 3 were asked to name aloud cognates, interlingual homographs, interlingual homophones, and matched control words. Half of the participants performed the task in English, their first oral language, and half performed the task in French. Control monolingual children in each language were also tested. In the French reading task, fewer errors were observed for cognates and interlingual homophones than for matched control words, whereas more errors were produced for interlingual homographs than matched controls. Only the inhibitory interlingual homograph effect was observed in the English reading task. These data provide evidence that phonological activation in bilinguals is not language selective. The locus of each of these effects in the bilingual word recognition system is discussed.     

Biological activity and toxicity of the Chinese herb <Emphasis Type="Italic">Magnolia officinalis</Emphasis> Rehder &amp; E. Wilson (Houpo) and its constituents

Traditional Chinese herbal drugs have been used for thousands of years in Chinese pharmacopoeia. The bark of Magnolia officinalis Rehder & E. Wilson, known under the pinyin name “Houpo”, has been traditionally used in Chinese and Japanese medicines for the treatment of anxiety, asthma, depression, gastrointestinal disorders, headache, and more. Moreover, Magnolia bark extract is a major constituent of currently marketed dietary supplements and cosmetic products. Much pharmacological activity has been reported for this herb and its major compounds, notably antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and antispasmodic effects. However, the mechanisms underlying this have not been elucidated and only a very few clinical trials have been published. In vitro and in vivo toxicity studies have also been published and indicate some intriguing features. The present review aims to summarize the literature on M. officinalis bark composition, utilisation, pharmacology, and safety.     

Mechanical determinants of acceleration and maximal sprinting speed in highly trained young soccer players

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine, in highly trained young soccer players, the mechanical horizontal determinants of acceleration (Acc) and maximal sprinting speed (MSS). Eighty-six players (14.1 ± 2.4 year) performed a 40-m sprint to assess Acc and MSS. Speed was measured with a 100-Hz radar, and theoretical maximal velocity (V₀), horizontal force (F₀) and horizontal power (P_max) were calculated. Within each age group, players were classified as high Acc/fast MSS (>2% faster than group mean), medium (between ?2% and +2%), and low/slow (>2% slower). Acc and MSS were very largely correlated (?0.79; 90% confidence limit [?0.85; ?0.71]). The determinants (multiple regression r² = 0.84 [0.78; 0.89]) of Acc were V₀ (partial r: 0.80 [0.72; 0.86]) and F₀ (0.57 [0.44; 0.68]); those of MSS (r² = 0.96 [0.94; 0.97]) were V₀ (0.96 [0.94; 0.97]) and P_max (0.73 [0.63; ?0.80]). High/Med have likely greater F₀ (Cohen’s d: +0.8 [0.0; 1.5]), V₀ (+0.6 [?0.1; 1.3]) and P_max (+0.9 [0.2; 1.7]) than Low/Med. High/Fast have an almost certainly faster V₀ (+2.1 [1.5; 2.7]) and a likely greater P_max (+0.6 [?0.1; 1.3]) than High/Med, with no clear differences in F₀ (?0.0 [?0.7; 0.6]). Speed may be a generic quality, but the mechanical horizontal determinants of Acc and MSS differ. While maximal speed training may improve both Acc and MSS, improving horizontal force production capability may be efficient to enhance sprinting performance over short distances.     

The Future of Book Publishing: Seven Technology Trends and Three Industry Goals

The Publishing Industry, as many other ones, is facing all the risks and opportunities linked to a digital transformation. This text provides new dimensions for analyzing seven technological trends and their potential impacts on the book publishing industry. The key consideration is that book publishing is totally dependent on Open Web Platform future. In such an agile environment, the publishing industry should focus on three key objectives in order to keep or even extend its influence on the internet world.     

Discriminating between attitudes expressed by normal and disabled readers

The Survey of Reading Attitudes was administered to 84 normal and 116 disabled readers from the intermediate grades, and a discriminate function analysis was performed on their scores for the eight dimensions of reading attitudes measured by the Survey. The findings indicate that Expressed Reading Difficulty, Reading as Enjoyment, and Reading Group are the three variables that discriminate between these two groups. In comparison with normal readers, disabled readers are more likely to feel negatively about their reading group, less likely to see themselves as pursuing reading for its intrinsic value, and more likely to perceive of themselves as having difficulty with reading. However, the extent to which these findings can be generalized beyond the present sample of white Appalachian students must be established through future research.     

Correlations between WISC-R subtests and verbal,performance, and full scale IQ scores for minority group children

The relationship between WISC-R subtest scores and Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs was investigated for a sample comprised of rural Appalachian children. The sample was comprised of both white and black children who might be described as culturally different by virtue of low family income and residence in the mountainous areas of Virginia and North Carolina. Data analysis consisted of computing product-moment correlations (rs) between each of the ten subtests and the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs. Correlations between individual subtests and the FS IQ ranged from.49 through.63, but none of the differences between these rs were large enough to attain significance. Correlations between the verbal subtests and Verbal IQ ranged from.64 for Comprehension up to.78 for Vocabulary. For the performance subtest, the rs ranged from.54 between Coding and the Performance IQ up to.72 for Object Assembly.