Influence of a proprioceptive training on functional ankle stability in young speed skaters – a prospective randomised study

The influence of a 12-week-proprioceptive training on functional ankle stability was investigated in young speed skaters. Twenty-eight speed skaters were randomly divided into an intervention (n = 14) and into a control group (n = 14). A 15-min circle training was performed 5 times per week over a 12-week period. Measurements were taken prior to the training, after 6 and 12 weeks of training. Kinaesthesia was evaluated with the Isomed2000 in all movements of the ankle joint. Dynamic balance was tested with the Biodex Stability System at the stable level 8 and at the unstable level 2, measuring the overall stability index, the anterior/posterior and the medial/lateral scores. Static single-leg stance was evaluated using the Kistler force platform. Kinaesthesia of the intervention group improved significantly for plantarflexion of the right foot (P = 0.001) after 12 weeks. Dynamic balance showed significant differences in the intervention group after 12 weeks in comparison with the first measurement for each foot in the overall stability index, the anterior/posterior and the medial/lateral scores (P ≤ 0.017, respectively) at the unstable level 2. Functional ankle stability improved in terms of dynamic balance after 12 weeks of proprioceptive training. Therefore, inclusion of proprioceptive exercises in the daily training programme is recommended for young speed skaters.     

Taking away and determining the difference—a longitudinal perspective on two models of subtraction and the inverse relation to addition

Subtraction can be understood by two basic models—taking away (ta) and determining the difference (dd)—and by its inverse relation to addition. Epistemological analyses and empirical examples show that the two models are not relevant only in single-digit arithmetic. As curricula should be developed in a longitudinal perspective on mathematics learning processes, the article highlights some exemplary steps in which the inverse relation is discussed in light of the two models, namely mental subtraction, the standard algorithms for subtraction, negative numbers and manipulations for solving algebraic equations. For each step, the article presents educational considerations for fostering a flexible use of the two models as well as of the inverse relation between subtraction and addition. In each section, a mathe-didactical analysis is conducted, empirical results from literature as well as from our own case studies are presented and consequences for teaching are sketched.     

Social-Emotional Learning Profiles of Preschoolers' Early School Success: A Person-Centered Approach

Examined how aspects of social-emotional learning (SEL)-specifically, emotion knowledge, emotional and social behaviors, social problem-solving, and self-regulation-clustered to typify groups of children who differ in terms of their motivation to learn, participation in the classroom, and other indices of early school adjustment and academic success. 275 four-year-old children from private day schools and Head Start were directly assessed and observed in these areas, and preschool and kindergarten teachers provided information on social and academic aspects of their school success. Three groups of children were identified: SEL Risk, SEL Competent-Social/Expressive, and SEL Competent-Restrained. Group members differed on demographic dimensions of gender and center type, and groups differed in meaningful ways on school success indices, pointing to needed prevention/intervention programming. In particular, the SEL Risk group could benefit from emotion-focused programming, and the long-term developmental trajectory of the SEL Competent-Restrained group requires study.     

Students’ Conceptions About ‘Radiation’: Results from an Explorative Interview Study of 9th Grade Students

One basis of good teaching is to know about your students?? preconceptions. Studies about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom have been and continue to be a major field in science education research. This study aims to explore associations and ideas that students have regarding ??radiation??, a term widely used in various fields and necessary to understand fundamental ideas in science. In an explorative study, the perceptions of 50 high school students were examined using semi-structured interviews. The students were 14?C16?years old and were chosen from 7 different high schools in an urban area in Austria. Following an interview guideline, students were asked about their general associations with the term ??radiation?? as well as about their general understanding of different types of radiation. A qualitative analysis of these interviews following the method of Flick (2009) revealed that the students?? associations were, to a great extent, very different from the scientific use of the term. Several conceptions that could inhibit students?? learning processes could be identified. Consequences for the teaching of the topic ??radiation?? in science lessons, which are based on these preconceptions, are presented in the conclusion.     

The Crucible of Classroom Practice: Alchemy and Early Professional Learning in Secondary English Teaching

This paper explores the metaphor of the classroom as a ‘crucible’ for early professional learning where beginning teachers forge professional identities in complex, unpredictable, paradoxical, affectively and physically potent contexts of practice. It works into the dissonances and contradictions of the micro-narratives embedded in the accounts that three high-achieving early career English teacher graduates give of their early professional learning in schools. It traces the conflicts they experience in the gap between ‘economies of performance’ and ‘ecologies of practice’ within which they improvise new professional identities as teachers. Their effective ‘transmutations’ into teachers are contingent on a bewildering range of factors, many of them out of their control. As the medieval transmutation of lead into gold was analogous to personal transformation, purification and perfection, so new teachers aspire to ideals of practice that may be impossible to achieve. The paper moves beyond simplistic conceptualisations of theory–practice binaries in new teachers’ work and evaluates the impact of new pressures from globalised discourses of standardisation and professionalism that erase singularity, particularity and relationality. Rather, it posits professional learning as complex identity work that is variously constrained and enabled by local institutional factors and broader policy contexts that affect the capacity and desire of beginning teachers to introduce and sustain innovative pedagogies in their English classes.     

The influence of knowledge-based resources and business scholars’ internationalization strategies on research performance

This study investigates how business research scholars’ internationalization strategies influence their research performance and how this relationship is moderated by the availability of different knowledge-based resources. The authors analyze citations to journal articles authored by business research scholars with German affiliations and examine how the number of citations is determined by international collaborations and a researcher's knowledge resources in terms of language skills, research experience, and foreign market knowledge. The results demonstrate that the augmentation of complementary knowledge resources (i.e., when researchers lack language skills and foreign market knowledge) positively influences the performance of a collaboration-based internationalization strategy (i.e., collaborations with international researchers). The collaboration-based strategy also improves performance for less experienced researchers, but this advantage diminishes with increasing research experience. The findings provide further insights into drivers of scholars’ research performance and have practical implications for science policy.