Early Care and Education Matters: A Conceptual Model for Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Integrating the Key Constructs of Knowledge,Reflection, and Practice

There has been a great deal of discourse in the field of early care and education concerning the experiences, skills, competencies, and education level needed by early childhood teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning take place in the early years. The purpose of this article is to describe an early childhood teacher preparation program developed by a Child and Family Development Department at a large, urban, state-funded university in the hopes that we can further the discourse on how the field can ensure quality teaching and learning in both ECE and university classrooms. We propose a conceptual model that is built around three key constructs: knowledge, reflection, and practice and describe our approach to preparing early childhood educators. Using qualitative data from student reflections and course syllabi and quantitative data on the experiences and perceptions of graduating seniors, we hope to present promising practices in early childhood teacher education and provide support for our contention that the quality of early childhood teacher education matters.     

The Cognitive-Affective-Social Theory of Learning in digital Environments (CASTLE)

Educational Psychology Review - For a long time, research on individuals learning in digital environments was primarily based on cognitive-oriented theories. This paper aims at providing evidence...     

The effects of frequency of encouragement on performance during maximal exercise testing

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of frequency of verbal encouragement during maximal exercise testing. Twenty-eight participants (12 males, 16 females) aged 20.9 - 1.5 years (mean - s ) performed a maximal exercise test ( V O 2max ) on a treadmill without any verbal encouragement. The participants were matched according to their pre-test V O 2max and placed into either a control group or one of three experimental groups. They performed a second exercise test (post-test) 1 week later. During the second test, the control group received no verbal encouragement; the 20 s (20E), 60 s (60E) and 180 s (180E) encouragement groups received verbal encouragement every 20, 60 and 180 s, respectively, beginning with stage 3 of the exercise test. Relative V O 2max , exercise time, blood lactate concentration, respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were not significantly different from the first test to the second test for the control group without verbal encouragement and the 180E group that received infrequent encouragement. Post-test values were significantly higher than pre-test values for the 20E and 60E groups. The post-test values of the 20E group were significantly higher than their pre-test values for relative V O 2max ( P ? 0.001), exercise time ( P ? 0.0001), blood lactate concentr . ation ( P ? 0.05), RER ( P ? 0.01) and RPE ( P ? 0.0001); this was also the case for the 60E group for relative V O 2max ( P ? 0.01), blood lactate concentration ( P ? 0.05), RER ( P ? 0.05) and RPE ( P ? 0.05). The results suggest that frequent verbal encouragement (every 20 s and 60 s in the present study) leads to significantly greater maximum effort in a treadmill test than when no encouragement is given or when the encouragement is infrequent (i.e. every 180 s).     

The importance of duration and magnitude of force application to sprint performance during the initial acceleration,transition and maximal velocity phases

ABSTRACT

Successful sprinting depends on covering a specific distance in the shortest time possible. Although external forces are key to sprinting, less consideration is given to the duration of force application, which influences the impulse generated. This study explored relationships between sprint performance measures and external kinetic and kinematic performance indicators. Data were collected from the initial acceleration, transition and maximal velocity phases of a sprint. Relationships were analysed between sprint performance measures and kinetic and kinematic variables. A commonality regression analysis was used to explore how independent variables contributed to multiple-regression models for the sprint phases. Propulsive forces play a key role in sprint performance during the initial acceleration (r = 0.95 ± 0.03) and transition phases (r = 0.74 ± 0.19), while braking duration plays an important role during the transition phase (r = ?0.72 ± 0.20). Contact time, vertical force and peak propulsive forces represented key determinants (r = ?0.64 ± 0.31, r = 0.57 ± 0.35 and r = 0.66 ± 0.30, respectively) of maximal velocity phase performance, with peak propulsive force providing the largest unique contribution to the regression model for step velocity. These results clarified the role of force and time variables on sprinting performance.     

Validation of networks derived from snowball sampling of municipal science education actors

Social network analysis (SNA) has been used in many educational studies in the past decade, but what these studies have in common is that the populations in question in most cases are defined and known to the researchers studying the networks. Snowball sampling is an SNA methodology most often used to study hidden populations, for example, groups of homosexual people, drug users or people with sexually transmitted diseases. By use of a snowball sampling approach, this study mapped municipal social networks of educational actors, who were otherwise hidden to the researchers. Subsequently, the resulting networks were validated through interviews with central respondents and by using prior investigations of the municipalities. Our results confirmed that the majority of the designated respondents recognized the resulting sociograms and their own position in these. It was also found that not all predictions based on existing knowledge of the municipalities aligned with SNA data. However, these discrepancies could be explained by development in the municipalities in the time following previous investigations. This study shows that snowball sampling is an applicable method to use for mapping hidden populations in educational settings, but also that qualitative studies are needed in order to interpret the networks in real-life contexts.     

少年维特的烦恼

《少年维特的烦恼》是第一部让歌德在德国几乎一夜成名的小说。本书1774年秋天在莱比锡书籍展览会上面世,并在那里成了杨销书。由此而来的成功给歌德的一生带来了名誉和财富。歌德(1749—1832)是德国近代杰出的诗人、作家和思想家。世人公认他是继但丁和莎士比亚之后西     

The Highly Gifted: definitions and methodological implications

This paper is concerned with the methodological implications of various definitions of the term ‘highly gifted’. Three definitions of ‘highly gifted’ are presented. It is shown that the definition of the term ‘highly gifted’ has considerable methodological implications. These implications concern both choice of method for data analysis and results of analysis. Conditions for proper application of standard statistical methods including the t‐test for mean difference, the F‐test for regression slope differences, MANOVA, and discriminant analysis are reviewed. It is also shown that, under circumstances that are far from unrealistic, there are no methods with known properties available for data analysis.