Diagnosis and Monitoring of Basic Motor Competencies among Third-Graders in Luxembourg. An Assessment Tool for Teachers

ABSTRACT

Basic motor competencies (in German: Motorische Basiskompetenzen; MOBAK) are performance dispositions empowering children to participate in the movement culture. For the diagnosis of basic motor competencies, a test instrument consisting of 15 test items for assessing third graders’ basic motor competencies was developed (MOBAK-LUX-3) and validated empirically. Basic motor competencies were operationalized as test items in the form of basic motor qualifications, which are cultural tools formulated as a minimum standard. Data (MOBAK-LUX-3, age, gender, migration background, weight, height, sport club membership, weekly physical activity) were collected in 2015 amongst third-graders in elementary school in Luxembourg (N = 488; 50.4% female; M age = 8.8 years, SD = .51). A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a four-factor structure (locomotion, object control, moving in water, object locomotion; CFI = .94; TLI = .92; RMSEA = .036; WRMR = 0.89). Five classes with different competence profiles were determined through latent class analysis. The MOBAK-LUX-3 test instrument satisfies test theory requirements and can be used to determinate motor competence profiles.     

Élaboration d'un environnement logo favorable au développement d'habiletés en manipulation procédurale

Résumé Un environnement pédagogique propice à l'acquisition et à l'expression des habiletés procédurales en Logo est mis au point et accueille des enfants de 10–12 ans dans un projet d'une durée de 8 mois. Dans des phases successives de familiarisation et d'évaluation des compétences, on propose aux 10 participants une série de mises en situation requérant la manipulation de procédures en programmation Logo. Une analyse des comportements des enfants en termes de leurs habiletés fines et distinctes permet d'observer leur compétence et intérêt à manipuler des procédures. La discussion met en perspective l'importance des habiletés acquises et retrace les conditions environnementales qui en favorisent et supportent l'expression. Les limites dans les compétences observées sont aussi soulignées, ceci dans une perspective d'identification des étapes encore à parcourir dans la poursuite de l'acquisition et de la maîtrise des habiletés procédurales.

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A learning environment that facilitated the acquisition and expression of procedural skills in LOGO was set up for children in the 10 to 12 year range. In successive phases of familiarization and evaluation of competence over an eight month period, ten participants were placed in a series of situations that required them to manipulate programming procedures in LOGO. A fine-grained analysis of each of the children's behavior revealed their competence and interest in manipulating procedures. The importance of the acquired skills and the environmental conditions that favor and support their expression are discussed. Limits in the competencies observed are highlighted in order to identify the further steps to be taken in the acquisition and mastery of procedural skills.

     

Training humanitarian professionals at a distance: testing the feasibility of distance learning with humanitarian professionals

Training is an essential part of the professional development of staff working for international humanitarian organizations. While humanitarian workers are being deployed around the world to provide life‐saving relief assistance in often‐hazardous missions, it is imperative for organizations to ensure that staff members understand the mission and protocol of their organizations and that they develop an appreciation for the impact their work has on beneficiaries. Demand for such training has been expanding exponentially over the last decade with the growing number of humanitarian organizations and personnel. In the United Nations alone, an estimated 37,000 civilian personnel are being employed as part of UN humanitarian operations, an increase of 54% since 1997; 75% of this personnel is composed of national staff of the countries of operation (United Nations, 2008 United Nations. 2008. “Towards a culture of security and accountability”. In Report of the Independent Panel on Safety and Security of UN Personnel and Premises Worldwide Retrieved July 26, 2008, from http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/terrorism/PanelOnSafetyReport.pdf [Google Scholar]). With the increasing reliance of humanitarian organizations on national staff to manage their field operations, the professional development of staff members poses an ever‐growing challenge due to the remoteness and distribution of staff, limiting organizations’ ability to maintain the coherence and cogency of their mission and methods. Although many international humanitarian organizations have adopted some form of distance learning into their staff training, few organizations have evaluated the effectiveness of their distance learning programs. This research briefly evaluates the literature relevant to the use of distance learning for training professional staff in the humanitarian field, assesses how distance learning programs are being used among select humanitarian organizations based in the USA, and reviews the results of a pilot distance learning course offered to mid‐career professionals working on international humanitarian issues in a professional capacity.     

Les premieres acquistions de la notion de nombre par l'enfant

This paper describes the observation and analysis of clinical interviews with children who had just entered Cours Preparatoire (which is the first year of compulsory education in France: six-year old). The main object of these interviews was to gain information about the first acquisition of the idea of number by children before entering compulsory education, particularly on the following points:

· numerical range in which the child knows the comptine numerique (i.e. chanting or reciting of sequences of numbers such as “one two three four five six seven” for example);

· different uses of this comptine when the child has to solve problems (numbering a given collection, or finding the cardinal number of a given set when an element is added or taken away, or determining the numerical relation which exists between two given collections, or transformating this relation...).

In addition, our study shows how some number properties which apparently are obvious (for teachers), in fact pose very important questions about the acquisition of number concepts by children.     

An Educational Case Study in Protocol Verification and Distributed Observation

This paper describes a case study presented to students in computer science during a course on formal techniques for protocol validation. The course teaches some basic notions on specification, simulation, verification, testing and distributed observation. The case study is the classical alternating-bit protocol. The exercise first consists of some simple modeling and simulation of the specification and verification of some basic service properties. It is then followed with the problem of observation of distributed executions of the protocol. This kind of experiment was found to be useful for students, since they gain an understanding of the importance and necessity of formal methods for protocol validation.     

Le Système ESSOR d'Expérimentation Scientifique Simulée et ses Potentialités Pédagogiques

Summaries

English

One of the main aims in the teaching of science is the acquisition of an experimental methodology. The principal obstacles to this methodological training are briefly analysed; they arise mainly from the shortage of time available for experimental work. In this article, computer‐simulated scientific experimentation is proposed as an aid in overcoming these obstacles. This type of teaching, integrated into a classical curriculum, does not exclude laboratory work, which is still indispensable for the learning of techniques. To facilitate the setting up of the proposed method, the ESSOR system simulation on mini‐computer has been developed. Its technical and pedagogic characteristics are described. This system allows the easy simulation of experiments analogous to those of the laboratory. The student using it is free to adopt individual procedures for the study of a proposed phenomenon; the system follows up automatically the individual activity of students and frees the instructor from most of the difficulties in programming work.     

The Value of Certain Factors for Direct and Differential Prediction of Academic Success

Are some students advantaged when changing multiple-choice answers? The authors of this investigation assessed the importance of an examinee's cognitive style in the answer-changing process. Two separate studies were conducted using undergraduates (n = 125 and n = 84). One set of variables consisted of a measure of field dependence/field independence, a measure of impulsivity/reflectivity, and an introductory psychology unit examination made up of multiple-choice items. A second set of variables was formed by gathering two answer-changing scores for each subject using the scannable forms from the unit examination—one reflecting the effect of answer changes and the other representing the number of changes. Canonical correlation analysis was used to describe the relationship between the two sets of variables. Only the first canonical correlation coefficient was statistically significant in each study. The structure coefficients indicated that the cognitive-style variables had little impact on the canonical solution and that a combination of the effect of answer changes, the number of changes, and unit examination scores were the most influential components of the first canonical variates.