Physical fitness in children with developmental coordination disorder

The protective effects of physical activity and fitness on cardiovascular health have clearly been shown among normally developed children. However data are currently lacking pertaining to children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The purpose of this study was to examine differences in fitness measures, body composition, and physical activity among children with and without DCD. A cross-sectional design was implemented examining 261 children (118 girls, 143 boys) ages 4-12 years (mean age 7.8 +/- 1.9 years). Children were categorized as having DCD if they scored less than or equal to the 5th percentile (n=71) or between the 6th and the 15th percentile (n=5) on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC; Henderson & Sugden, 1992). The typically developing children had scores between the 16th and the 50th percentile (n=16) or above the 50th percentile (n=3) on the MABC. The age-related body mass index was used to characterize body composition. Physical fitness was assessed with a 6-min run, 20-m sprint, jump-and-reach test, medicine ball throw, curl-ups, and sit-and-reach test. Physical activity was estimated with a questionnaire. The percentage of overweight and obese children ages 10-12 years were significantly higher in the DCD groups (severe: 50%, moderate: 23.1%) than in the typically developing groups (medium: 5.6%, high: 0%; p < .05). Significant interactions (MABC x Age Group) were found for the fitness tests (p values < .05), except flexibility; whereby specifically, compared to the children in the typically developing groups children in the DCD groups ages 4-6 years achieved significantly worse results for the 20-m sprint, and children of the DCD groups ages 10-12 years achieved significantly worse results for the 6-min run, jump-and-reach test, and medicine ball throw. The study demonstrates poorer performance in fitness tests with high demands on coordination in children with DCD compared to their typically developing peers. Furthermore, the differences in fitness increased with age between children in the DCD groups versus the typically developing groups.     

Cognitive Stimulation at Home and in Child Care and Children’s Preacademic Skills in Two-Parent Families

This paper used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N = 1,258) to examine the influence of hilevels of cognitive stimulation from mothers, fathers, and childcare providers at 24 months and children’s pre-academic skills at 48 and 60 months in two parent families. Results from path analysis showed direct positive effects of fathers’ early cognitive stimulation on early reading and math skills at 48 and 60 months. There were also two moderated effects: The effects of high levels of maternal stimulation at 24 months on early math and reading skills at 48 months were largest for children also receiving high levels of cognitive stimulation from their childcare providers. Implications for including fathers in studies of the home cognitive stimulation and strengthening the parent-childcare connection are discussed.     

When the going gets tough: Direct,buffering and indirect effects of social support on turnover intention

We examined the role of social support in turnover intention among new teachers. First, we tested and found evidence for a direct negative relationship between social support and turnover intention. Second, we tested the social support buffer hypothesis, and found that teachers with higher social support had lower turnover intention in the face of higher workload, compared to teachers with lower support. Third, we examined a mediational hypothesis, and found that social support acts indirectly, through job satisfaction in relation to turnover intention. These findings suggest that social support can be a valuable resource for new teachers.     

Spatial abilities during the circalunar cycle in both sexes

Spatial abilities vary during the menstrual cycle. The effects of a similar rhythm in men are unknown. Mental rotation and spatial visualization of young healthy volunteers (29 females and 31 males) were tested during the menstrual and periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle in women, and during the low-testosterone and high-testosterone phases of the circatrigintan rhythm in men in random order. Men outperformed women in both tests. In women, higher scores were achieved during the periovulatory phase, in men during the low-testosterone phase. The correlation between actual salivary testosterone levels and spatial abilities were positive in women and negative in men. According to our knowledge, this is the first study showing effects of a male infradian rhythm on cognitive abilities.     

Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence: Insights From Accomplished University Team-Sport Coaches

Purpose: Winning several national championships is an extraordinary feat that very few university coaches have accomplished. The objective of this study was to investigate how some of Canada’s most accomplished university team-sport coaches created and sustained a culture of excellence in their programs. Method: Six university coaches who had won more than 30 national titles participated in this study. Each coach participated in a semistructured interview, and the qualitative data were inductively analyzed using a thematic analysis. Results: The coaches noted that hard work and daily attention to detail, effective emotional management of themselves and their athletes, and continuous self-assessment (self-reflection and seeking mentors) were crucial elements that led to sustained excellence in their programs. Conclusions: This study offers one of the first empirical accounts of how highly successful university coaches developed and maintained a culture of excellence and success in their high-performance sport setting.     

Effects of a 1-day environmental education intervention on environmental attitudes and connectedness with nature

Besides cognitive learning effects, short-term environmental education (EE) is often regarded as ineffective in intervening with participants' environmental attitudes and behaviour. However, in Germany, school classes often participate in such 1-day EE programmes because they better match the school curriculum in contrast to longer (residential) programmes. We therefore monitored a 1-day outreach EE programme on global climate change to reveal whether environmental attitudes and/or connectedness with nature of tenth graders are affected. Students from German high schools (college preparatory secondary school level, ‘Gymnasium’) (N?=?114) from age 14 to 19 participated in the programme (treatment group). It consisted of two student-centred learning units on the topic of climate change. Additionally, we chose a control group of students who did not participate in the programme. To measure students' environmental attitudes and connectedness with nature, we administered the Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) and the Inclusion of Nature in Self scale in a pre-, post- and retention test design. The pre-test was administered 1 week before, the post-test directly after and the retention test 4 to 6 weeks after programme participation. Analyses revealed a positive long-term effect only for utilitarian values (one of the two major environmental factors of 2-MEV) which decreased significantly. Therefore, depending on the programme's content, short-term EE programmes indeed may have an influence on participants' environmental attitudes.     

Geometry in engineering education

In this paper, a few examples are given of the importance of mathematical geometric education for engineers. The newly established information civilization, utilizing new information media, requires an abbreviated form of delivering enormous amounts of information at incredible speed. We use and relay models and involve them in our communication in almost all branches of science, culture, education, or social life. Models are strictly based on some graphical information. They are independent and almost perfectly understood at all levels of human literacy. Different scientific branches invented different models with respect to different needs and applied techniques, while the basic original idea of creating an'image' remained. Engineering education today is a complex knowledge base composed of several separate parts of different scientific and professional technical branches of the complex human knowledge, where geometry plays its definite important role. It is the basic platform to get involved with the creation of models in the form of images. Geometry can offer an unprecedented basis for logical reasoning supported by practical applications. Good three-dimensional visualization, spatial capabilities and geometric understanding are invaluable components of creative work in all kinds of human activities. An information society using communication techniques concentrates nowadays on creating models of an object in the form of computer images. Creative processes of modelling objects in scenes are related basically to the synthetic geometric reasoning and depend on the skills and geometric knowledge of the users. We must take this fact into consideration when speaking about teaching geometry to engineers.

Geometry is not just a simple science, nor the way to knowledge. It is an intellectual arrangement. From the arrangement, all European culture originated.     

Factors Affecting Students' Acceptance of Tablet PCs: A Study in Italian High Schools

To maximize the advantages of the tablet personal computer (TPC) at school, this technology needs to be accepted by students as new tool for learning. With reference to the Technology Acceptance Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the aims of this study were (a) to analyze factors influencing high school students' acceptance of TPCs and (b) to detect any difference in this influence considering the frequency of TPC use, students' gender, and school grade. Two hundred and ninety-six students from six high schools in the Milan area participated in the study. Data were collected using an online survey. The results showed that empowerment in learning, perceived usefulness, and support conditions affect learning use, and empowerment in learning and affect influence communicative use of TPCs. The implications of these results are discussed. (Keywords: tablets, acceptance, digital technologies, high school, path analysis)