Diagnosing Portuguese Students' Misconceptions about the Mineral Concept

Educational researchers and teachers are well aware that misconceptions—erroneous ideas that differ from the scientifically accepted ones—are very common amongst students. Daily experiences, creative and perceptive thinking and science textbooks give rise to students' misconceptions which lead them to draw erroneous conclusions that become strongly attached to their views and somehow affect subsequent learning. The main scope of this study was to understand what students consider a mineral to be and why. Therefore, the goals were (1) to identify eleventh-grade students' misconceptions about the mineral concept; (2) to understand which variables (gender, parents' education level and attitude towards science) influenced students' conceptions; and (3) to create teaching tools for the prevention of misconceptions. In order to achieve these goals, a diagnostic instrument (DI), constituted of a two-tier diagnostic test and a Science Attitude Questionnaire, was developed to be used with a sample of 89 twelfth-grade students from five schools located in central Portugal. As far as we know, this is the first DI developed for the analysis of misconceptions about the mineral concept. Data analysis allows us to conclude that students had serious difficulties in understanding the mineral concept, having easily formed misconceptions. The variables gender and parents' education level influence certain students' conceptions. This study provides a valuable basis for reflection on teaching and learning strategies, especially on this particular theme.     

Contextualised skill acquisition research: a new framework to study the development of sport expertise

Background: Under the view of dynamical system theory, expertise in sports emerges from the interaction of multiple constraints. At an individual level, important interactions amongst constraints could include the relationships that evolve between one's family, playmates/coaches, and specific training activities. Or more broadly, other environmental constraints can be the strong socio-cultural-historical contexts that influence expertise development in sports around the world, such as rugby (e.g. New Zealand) and football (e.g. Brazil). An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the influence of environmental constraints on the development of sport expertise. Whilst making important contributions to knowledge, such studies have been limited in scope and fail to consider in depth how informal and even aversive learning environment constraints affect skills development.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to outline a new contextualised approach to studying socio-cultural constraints on individuals, proposing an interpretive, multi-method approach to holistically investigate the interacting constraints on an athlete's development pathway.

Aims: We explain a rationale for adopting an interpretive research paradigm (in contrast to traditional positivist approaches) for exploring socio-cultural constraints. The epistemological and methodological assumptions of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model of Human Development are proposed as an underpinning framework for data collection and organisation of material. We advocate for ethnographic strategies of inquiry, followed by a discussion of potential methods for generating and analysing data: contextual analysis, participant-observation, and open-ended interviews. Finally, we discuss evaluation criteria for this contextualised approach viewed from a coherence theory of truth.

Purpose: This position statement seeks to: (1) promote methodological possibilities to investigate the effect of socio cultural constraints on expertise acquisition in sport and (2) offer significant new theoretical and epistemological insights from the constraints-led approach to expertise and to integrate some of the interdisciplinary differences that exist in the body of sciences.

Final thoughts: Our tentative contribution to the development of the proposed contextualised skill acquisition research framework is to build bridges across the methodological boundaries between sociology and motor learning in the first instance, rather than offering a unifying approach for the whole field. We hope that this position statement will provide a foundation for future related empirical papers and to stimulate other researchers to consider the framework for their own investigations of motor learning in the field.     

Does moderate-intensity continuous training result in greater total energy expenditure compared to high-intensity interval training?

Recently in the Journal of Sports Sciences, Schaun et al. published a study on the comparison of energy expenditure between high-intensity interval training and moderate continuous training performed in water. With this Letter to the Editor, we would like to comment on the methodological aspects that should be considered to analyze the results presented, as well as the conclusions.

Abbreviations: CONT, moderate-intensity continuous training; EPOC, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption; HIIT, high-intensity interval training; VO2max, maximal oxygen consumption.     

Some practical approaches to a course on paraconsistent logic for engineers

This paper describes a non-classical logic course primarily indicated for graduate students in electrical engineering and energy engineering. The content of this course is based on the vision that it is not enough for a student to indefinitely accumulate knowledge; it is necessary to explore all the occasions to update, deepen, and enrich that knowledge, adapting it to a complex world. Therefore, this course is not tied to theoretical formalities and tries at each moment to provide a practical view of the non-classical logic. In the real world, the inconsistencies are important and cannot be ignored because contradictory information brings relevant facts, sometimes modifying the entire result of the analysis. As consequence, the non-classical logics, such as annotated paraconsistent logic – APL, are efficiently framed in the approach of complex situations of the real world. In APL, the concepts of unknown, partial, ambiguous, and inconsistent knowledge are referred not to trivialise any system in analysis. This course presents theoretical and applicable aspects of APL, which are successfully used in decision-making structures. The course is divided into modules: Basic, 2vAPL, 3vAPL, 4vAPL, and Final Project.     

Packaging and unpackaging knowledge in mass higher education—a knowledge management perspective

The progressive deployment of market-oriented regulatory frameworks in mass Higher Education Institutions (MHEI hereafter) triggered, in a wide variety of forms and degrees, the application of Knowledge Management principles in MHEI. This means the application of the knowledge ‘codification strategy’, where the focus is on the economies of the re-use of centrally developed knowledge through codifying, storing and distributing knowledge. This process however, presents significant challenges. Both knowledge and non-knowledge related aspects might constrain the application of knowledge codification strategies in MHEI. The aim of this paper is to better understand the application of knowledge codification strategies in MHEI, from a knowledge management perspective. This is done by examining the use of course outlines as the critical means to ‘transfer’ codified knowledge. The research site was a MHEI that explicitly followed a ‘codification strategy’, where the profits come from the economies of scale and low cost operation. Research findings point out mixed outcomes. The set of cost-saving managerial-oriented initiatives together with the deployment of knowledge codification strategies simultaneously supported the knowledge transfer of codified-oriented courses associated to low levels of tacit knowledge and constrained knowledge transfer of codified-oriented courses associated with slightly higher levels of tacit knowledge. This finding can be credited to a set of both knowledge and non-knowledge related issues. The implications for the management of knowledge in MHEI were explored.     

葡萄牙基础教育数学课程标准述评

近年来,诸多国家关注数学课程改革,数学课程标准一再修订.在这样的国际背景下,葡萄牙教育部于2007年颁布了新的<基础教育数学课程标准>.本文主要介绍葡萄牙20世纪80年代以来的教育体制和标准制定的背景,并在阐述新标准结构和具体内容的基础上,分析了葡萄牙当前基础教育数学课程标准的特点,以资借鉴.     

Laboratory predictors of uphill cycling performance in trained cyclists

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to assess the relationship between an uphill time-trial (TT) performance and both aerobic and anaerobic parameters obtained from laboratory tests. Fifteen cyclists performed a Wingate anaerobic test, a graded exercise test (GXT) and a field-based 20-min TT with 2.7% mean gradient. After a 5-week non-supervised training period, 10 of them performed a second TT for analysis of pacing reproducibility. Stepwise multiple regressions demonstrated that 91% of TT mean power output variation (W kg^?1) could be explained by peak oxygen uptake (ml kg^?1.min^?1) and the respiratory compensation point (W kg^?1), with standardised beta coefficients of 0.64 and 0.39, respectively. The agreement between mean power output and power at respiratory compensation point showed a bias ± random error of 16.2 ± 51.8 W or 5.7 ± 19.7%. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of the time interval (123.1 ± 8.7; 97.8 ± 1.2 and 94.0 ± 7.2% of mean power output, for epochs 0–2, 2–18 and 18–20 min, respectively; P < 0.001), characterising a positive pacing profile. This study indicates that an uphill, 20-min TT-type performance is correlated to aerobic physiological GXT variables and that cyclists adopt reproducible pacing strategies when they are tested 5 weeks apart (coefficients of variation of 6.3; 1 and 4%, for 0–2, 2–18 and 18–20 min, respectively).     

Interoperability and Information Integration in an Early Online Academic Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations: The Case of BTD

Cooperative organization has been proposed as a means to improve the usefulness of virtual libraries. Information interchange among library and other academic applications is often hindered by the lack of application interoperability. This hindrance may be overcome through the development of standards that allow for digital libraries to exchange and share information with other applications. The Graduate Program in Production Engineering (PPGEP) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) launched its Theses and Dissertations Bank (BTD) in 1995. BTD is possibly the first online academic digital library of theses. From a digital document repository, BTD evolved into a system that combines bibliometry and informetry features. BTD is used by students and faculty in their research activities, but also by decision makers from industry and academia. They use it, respectively, to search for specialists and to measure interest and knowledge interchange among PPGEP research areas. This article presents the history, features, and development prospects for the BTD project. The integration of BTD with other academic applications, especially those of the Brazilian national science and technology platform, is emphasized.     

Effects of caffeine chewing gum on race performance and physiology in male and female cyclists

This investigation reports the effects of chewing caffeinated gum on race performance with trained cyclists. Twenty competitive cyclists completed two 30-km time trials that included a maximal effort 0.2-km sprint each 10-km. Caffeine (~3–4 mg · kg^?1) or placebo was administered double-blind via chewing gum at the 10-km point following completion of the first sprint. Measures of power output, oxygen uptake, heart rate, lactate and perceived exertion were taken at set intervals during the time trial. Results indicated no substantial differences in any measured variables between caffeine and placebo conditions during the first 20-km of the time trial. Caffeine gum did however lead to substantial enhancements (mean ± 90% confidence limits (CLs)) in mean power during the final 10-km (3.8% ± 2.3%), and sprint power at 30-km (4.0% ± 3.6%). The increases in performance over the final 10-km were associated with small increases in heart rate and blood lactate (effect size of 0.24 and 0.28, respectively). There were large inter-individual variations in the response to caffeine, and apparent gender related differences in sprint performance. Chewing caffeine gum improves mean and sprint performance power in the final 10-km of a 30-km time trial in male and female cyclists most likely through an increase in nervous system activation.