Physical demands of elite basketball during an official U18 international tournament

ABSTRACT

The aims of this study were (a) to compare players’ physical demands between different playing positions in elite U18 basketball games and (b) to identify different clusters of performance. Data were collected from 94 male subjects (age: 17.4 ± 0.7 years), competing in a Euroleague Basketball Tournament. Guards covered a greater relative distance than centres and forwards (small to moderate effect). Forwards and guards had more peak accelerations, high accelerations and high decelerations than centres (moderate to large effects). A cluster analysis allowed to classify all cases into three different groups (Lower, Medium and Higher activity demands), containing 37.4%, 52.8% and 9.8% of the cases, respectively. The high accelerations, high decelerations, peak accelerations and total distance covered were the variables that most contributed to classify the players into the new groups. The percentage of cases distributed in the clusters according to playing position, game type (worst vs worst, mixed opposition, best vs best) and team were different. Centres have lower physical demands specially related with the number of accelerations and decelerations at high intensity and the peak acceleration when compared with guards. Each team has a different activity profile, that does not seem to influence the tournament outcome.     

A Critical Analysis of Current Indexes for Digital Divide Measurement

Several composite indexes grouping several variables into a single figure have been proposed for measuring the digital divide. In this article, the authors analyze shortcomings of extant indexes. Using multivariate analysis tools, they show that in the definition of composite indexes it is possible to individuate a limited set of more influencing and significant variables. This finding suggests the possibility of replacing some redundant variables with other dimensions that include other aspects of the digital divide that are not considered in extant measures.     

The Concept of Tens and Hundreds in Students with Down Syndrome

ABSTRACT

We present an evaluation of the understanding that adolescents and adults with Down syndrome (DS) have of the decimal number system. The results of two studies are presented. The first was a case study with interviews of three adolescents and three adults with Down syndrome. Our results indicate that their conceptual understanding of the meaning of the tens and hundreds places is not as well developed as their ability to read, write and work with numbers of up to three digits. We also analyse the progress made by a 17- year-old student with Down syndrome after following a learning programme intended to improve her understanding of the tens place. To this end, we designed number tasks using four constructs: counting, grouping, partitioning and ordering. The student’s achievements in the counting construct were greater than in the others, exhibiting an understanding and use of the tens as a unit of counting to solve many of the number tasks proposed. Also evident was a progression in her understanding of the positional value. We observed differences in her success rate and variability in her responses depending on the method used in the tasks to represent the numbers.     

European Mass Media

John Sandford's The Mass Media of the German-Speaking Countries (London: Oswald Wolff; and Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1976---price not given, paper)

Publizistik. Vierteljahreshefte fur Kommunikationsforschung (= subtitle, meaning Quarterly for Communication Research)

Rundfunk und Fernsehen (Broadcasting and Television)

Femselsen und Bildung (Television and Education)

Communicatio Socialis

Broadcast Receiving Fees in France, by Eugene Pons (EBU Monograph No. 7, 194 pp., 1969, 20 Swiss francs or about $5.00, paper)

German Radio and Television: Organization and Economic Basis, by Hans Brack (EBU Monograph No. 6, 68 pp., 1968, 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

Broadcasting in the Space Age, by Olaf Rydbeck and Edward W. Ploman (EBU Monograph No. 5, 53 pp., 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

Advertising on Radio and Television (EBU Monograph No. 4, 37 pp., 1966, 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00)

Financial Aspects of Broadcasting, by Bruno Vasari (EBU Monograph No. 3, 45 pp., 1965, 4 Sw. Fr. or a bit less than $1.00, paper)

Television for Children and Young People, by J.D. Halloran and P.R.C. Elliott (134 pp., 1970, 10 Sw. Fr. or about $2.50, paper)

Annual Seminar for Producers and Directors of Adult Education by Television (12th Seminar, 1974, 79 pp., 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00)

Annual Seminar for Producers and Directors of School Television (11th Seminar, 1973, 79 pp., 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00, paper)

Workshops for Producers and Directors of Television Programs for Children (4th Workshop, 1974, 48 pp., 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

International Forum of Light Music in Radio (1971, 1973, and 1975 editions available, 5 Sw. Fr. each or about $1.00 each, paper)

The Evolution of the EBU through its Statutes from 1950 to 1976 (EBU Monograph No. 11, 1977, 25 Sw. Fr. or something over $5.00, paper)

International Conference of States on the Protection of Phonograms (Paris: Unesco; and New York: Unipub, 1975---$34.75, paper)     

How history becomes a cross-border matter: death foretold of a French–German–Swiss textbook

The middle of the 1990s saw the creation of a French–German–Swiss history textbook supported by the European Commission. Disseminated to school instructors in the Upper Rhine, it received generally positive reviews, but ended up on the dusty shelves of school libraries. This result was due to several factors, which are analysed in this article. This acknowledgement of failure leads to the argument that European cross-border cooperation is constrained by a key paradox, referred to as ‘low gravity’, i.e. the attraction of small projects toward the local and regional levels, while major projects are pushed up to the national level.     

Design of technology-based information-referenced grouping systems for use in large urban schools

There are many subtle but extremely important differences between grouping students and tracking students for purposes of designing appropriate instructional interventions. Unfortunately, in many inner-city urban settings, the policy of grouping students eventually becomes a policy ofde facto tracking of students. While grouping students seems to be an educationally justifiable policy in many school situations, tracking students raises serious concerns with regard to its educational value, social desirability, and complicity with the legal notions of due process and equal protection. This study examines the use of a specific form ofshort-term grouping of students that is based on an information-referenced criterion for selection. Using a large sample of ninth- and eleventh-grade students, an information-referenced grouping procedure was designed for the areas of language arts and mathematics. The study finds that grouping selections, using an information-referenced criterion, are strongly associated with teachers perceptions of these students' actual educational and information needs. In addition, the information-referenced grouping design provides important specific educational feedback to both students and teachers to help low-attaining students move to mainstream classes. Finally, many of the due process concerns raised by educational researchers with regard to abuses and shortcomings of presently used ability or standardized test-driven grouping efforts are addressed.     

Performance equivalency between computer‐based and traditional pen‐and‐paper assessment: A case study in clinical anatomy

The time, material, and staff‐consuming nature of anatomy's traditional pen‐and‐paper assessment system, the increase in the number of students enrolling in medical schools and the ever‐escalating workload of academic staff have made the use of computer‐based assessment (CBA) an attractive proposition. To understand the impact of such shift in the assessment method, an experimental study evaluating its effect on students’ performance was designed. Additionally, students’ opinions toward CBA were gathered. Second‐year medical students attending a Clinical Anatomy course were randomized by clusters in two groups. The pen‐and‐paper group attended two sessions, each consisting of a traditional sectional anatomy steeplechase followed by a theoretical examination, while the computer group was involved in two similar sessions conducted in a computerized environment. At the end of each of the computer sessions, students in this group filled an anonymous questionnaire. In the first session, pen‐and‐paper group students scored significantly better than computer‐group students in both the steeplechase (mean ± standard deviation: 66.00 ± 14.15% vs. 43.50 ± 19.10%; P < 0.001) and the theoretical examination (52.50 ± 12.70% vs. 39.00 ± 21.10%; P < 0.001). In the second session, no statistically significant differences were found for both the steeplechase (59.50 ± 17.30% vs. 54.50 ± 17.00%; P = 0.085) and the theoretical examination (57.50 ± 13.70% vs. 54.00 ± 14.30%; P = 0.161). Besides, an intersession improvement in students’ perceptions toward CBA was registered. These results suggest that, after a familiarization period, CBA might be a performance equivalent and student accepted alternative to clinical anatomy pen‐and‐paper theoretical and practical examinations. Anat Sci Educ 11: 124–136. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Equality of educational opportunity at racially isolated schools: Balancing the need for teacher certification with teacher shortage

Providing for equality of educational opportunity at racially isolated schools continues to be an important area of concern for educational policy makers. Quality teachers to staff instruction programs at these schools is essential to promoting equal opportunity for minority groups. Unfortunately, these schools continue to suffer chronic teacher shortages. Recently, California implemented a teacher certification examination (CBEST) designed specifically to improve the quality of teachers entering the profession. An unintended consequence of the certification movement was the exacerbation of the teacher shortage problem at racially isolated schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of teachers who passed and failed the CBEST. The study finds that failure rates are highest among minority teachers that are presently employed. The study also finds that the mathematics knowledge subscale scores best discriminate those passing from those failing the CBEST. An analytical approach for determining optimal cutoff scores on the CBEST which balances the need for certification with the problem of teacher shortage is proposed.     

The economics of music festivals

This paper attempts to explain the rapid growth in the number of classical music and opera festivals. Two secularly increasing demand factors — a rise in real disposable incomes and an increased amount of time and money devoted to holidays — are well met by the supply of music festivals which almost perfectly combine culture and holidays. On the supply side, festivals may profit from low marginal cost of production factors and are considered as an effort to avoid restrictions from government regulations and trade unions.