Cold-water immersion alters muscle recruitment and balance of basketball players during vertical jump landing

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of cold-water immersion on the electromyographic (EMG) response of the lower limb and balance during unipodal jump landing. The evaluation comprised 40 individuals (20 basketball players and 20 non-athletes). The EMG response in the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, fibular longus, rectus femoris, hamstring and gluteus medius; amplitude and mean speed of the centre of pressure, flight time and ground reaction force (GRF) were analysed. All volunteers remained for 20 min with their ankle immersed in cold-water, and were re-evaluated immediately post and after 10, 20 and 30 min of reheating. The Shapiro–Wilk test, Friedman test and Dunn’s post test (P < 0.05) were used. The EMG response values decreased for the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, fibular longus and rectus femoris of both athletes and non-athletes (P < 0.05). The comparison between the groups showed that the EMG response was lower for the athletes. Lower jump flight time and GRF, greater amplitude and mean speed of centre of pressure were predominant in the athletes. Cold-water immersion decreased the EMG activity of the lower limb, flight time and GRF and increased the amplitude and mean speed of centre of pressure.     

Enfants autochtones et apprentissage: la corporalité comme langage en Amérique du Sud tropicale

In this article on the cultural context of children's learning processes among the indigenous peoples of tropical South America, the author aims to show how in these cultures the human body offers a language and a mechanism central to the process of production, elaboraton and transmission of knowledge, skills and emotions. She works from the assumption that the construction of a child's identity is a process which takes place in the body, creating a synthesis of social, cosmological, psychological, emotional and cognitive meanings. In constructing an ethnography of the Akwe~-Xavante and Akwe~-Xerente peoples of central Brazil, the author refers to recent anthropological debates on the cosmology and outlook of the indigenous peoples of this region, as well as to the literature of the new discipline known as "anthropology of the child".     

Conceptions of the Nature of Science and Technology: a Study with Children and Youths in a Non-Formal Science and Technology Education Setting

This study investigated some of the aspects that characterise the understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) and Nature of Technology (NOT) of 20 children and youths from different countries who perform scientific and technological activities in a non-formal teaching and learning setting. Data were collected using a questionnaire and semistructured interviews. A categorical instrument was developed to analyse the participants’ conceptions of the following subjects: (1) the role of the scientist, (2) NOS and (3) NOT. The results suggest that the participants had naïve conceptions of NOS that are marked by empirical and technical-instrumental views. They characterised NOT primarily as an instrumental apparatus, an application of knowledge and something important that is part of their lives. They exhibited a stereotypical understanding of the role of the scientist (development of methods, demonstration of facts, relationship with technological devices, etc.).     

Narratives of learning communities in environmental education

Abstract

This article introduces the core concepts that emerged from five environmental education action research studies conducted by a group called Learning Communities in Environmental Education, Science and Mathematics (CEAMECIM) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) in the south of Brazil. The studies focus on teacher education processes in learning communities involving teachers, researchers and environmental educators, and the critical writing and reading texts of classroom recordings to problematise participants’ teaching practices. CEAMECIM used action research cycles to examine narratives of educational action, narratives from teachers concerning their development as environmental educators, and narratives of their development of a sense of belonging, with a particular focus on critiquing social models that are based on hierarchies and individuality. From this analysis, we propose a new perspective on being and learning how to become a learning community, crystallised by the belief that ‘we are more when we are together’.     

Content and language integrated learning in OpenSimulator project. Results of a pilot implementation in Greece

The study presents the results of a pilot implementation of the Content and Language Integrated Learning in OpenSimulator Project-CLILiOP. Content and Language Integrated Learning together with constructivism provided the theoretical basis of the project. A multi-user virtual environment was developed using Opensimulator, which entailed a tour of the students’ avatars on a virtual island where they viewed and exchanged information in the English language regarding geographical terms and concepts. The project’s duration was ten weeks. A total of 105 students participated, divided into three groups: one used the application, the second was taught the same cognitive material using a conventional teaching method, but still under the scope of CLIL, while the third was conventionally taught. Results indicate that the learning outcomes of CLILiOP were better compared to the other two teaching methods, but also underline the need to further investigate the uses of 3D multi-user virtual environments in second language learning.     

Supervision of master theses based on Scrum: A case study

Education and Information Technologies - The success rate of a master program on Information Systems and Computer Engineering (MEIC) in a Portuguese university is very unsatisfactory, showing that...     

Addressing gender violence among children in the early years of schooling: insights from teachers in a South African primary school

This paper explores how teachers in a poor township primary school in South Africa construct meaning regarding gender violence among children, and how they talk about addressing that violence. The paper argues that major influences on the endemic violence include complex societal structures that are inscribed with cultures of violent masculinities, extreme socio-economic conditions and gender inequality. It shows how primary school teachers recognise violent masculinities and gender power imbalances but simultaneously uphold the notion of children’s innocence as a rationale for refuting the primary school as a site of violence. The paper explores contradictions embedded in some of the solutions which the teachers suggest as a way of addressing violence. For example, while they highlight the importance of teaching peace, respect and equality, they also advocate the use of corporal punishment as an effective means of dealing with violent conduct among school children.     

Interactions in virtual learning environments: new roles for digital technology

For the last 10 years, online pre-service teacher distance education has increased significantly in Brazil. As a result, research on this educational modality has also increased, in particular, research investigating the different roles students and teachers play in these courses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of digital technologies in two specific contexts: how teachers, tutors, and students play a role in producing interactive digital didactic material and how digital technologies themselves can play a role in teaching distance learning courses. But for these roles to emerge, we point to the need for participants of online courses to interact collaboratively. To identify these roles, grounded theory, a branch of qualitative research, was used as the two roles were articulated. Data were produced from virtual observations in virtual learning environments and virtual interviews. The results stress that both highlighted roles are related. They transform teacher and student roles and participation in the virtual classroom, and an “agency of media” emerges in online mathematics education.     

Academic and Managerial Skills of Academic Deans: A self-assessment perspective

Brazilian higher education institutions face a complex and challenging environment as the national market in education is becoming more competitive. International investment, a decrease in the population of potential students, and the proliferation of innumerable small institutions add to this complexity. Organizations are becoming flatter and the key managers within them are deans. Although deans are required to act as managerial experts, they are usually selected from the teaching body of the institution. In this paper, a group of deans from a large private institution gave their self-assessment of their academic and managerial skills. The results revealed that they tend to have a high perception of their managerial skills, even though they have no previous managerial experience or formal training. This underlines that senior academic administrators cannot simply assume that deans, by the nature of their work environment, are proficient in managerial skills; neither that they can easily identify inadequacies nor have them self-corrected. To accomplish the necessary institutional changes to face the complexities of the current globalized education market, a new assessment culture has to be implemented in the academic environment.