School type differences in attainment of developmental goals in students with visual impairment and sighted peers

The present study analyzed whether the perceived attainment of developmental goals differs by school type and between adolescents with visual impairments and sighted peers. We created a matched-pair design with 98 German students from the middle school track and 98 from the highest school track; half of the members of each group were visually impaired. Students from the middle school track reported a higher attainment of identity development, career choice, and gender role awareness than students from the highest school track. Furthermore, students with visual impairment were less progressed with peer-group integration and forming intimate relationships than sighted students, but they reported higher levels of attainment of skills that are important for their future profession. However, we did not find an overall interaction effect between school type and vision status on the perceived attainment of developmental goals. The observed school type differences can be explained by the fact that students from the middle school track face the transition from school to work earlier. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Exercise performance and cardiovascular health variables in 70-year-old male soccer players compared to endurance-trained,strength-trained and untrained age-matched men

Abstract

The aim was to investigate performance variables and indicators of cardiovascular health profile in elderly soccer players (SP, n = 11) compared to endurance-trained (ET, n = 8), strength-trained (ST, n = 7) and untrained (UT, n = 7) age-matched men. The 33 men aged 65–85 years underwent a testing protocol including measurements of cycle performance, maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max) and body composition, and muscle fibre types and capillarisation were determined from m. vastus lateralis biopsy. In SP, time to exhaustion was longer (16.3 ± 2.0 min; P < 0.01) than in UT (+48%) and ST (+41%), but similar to ET (+1%). Fat percentage was lower (P < 0.05) in SP (–6.5% points) than UT but not ET and ST. Heart rate reserve was higher (P < 0.05) in SP (104 ± 16 bpm) than UT (+21 bpm) and ST (+24 bpm), but similar to ET (+2 bpm), whereas VO₂max was not significantly different in SP (30.2 ± 4.9 ml O₂ · min^?1 · kg^?1) compared to UT (+14%) and ST (+9%), but lower (P < 0.05) than ET (?22%). The number of capillaries per fibre was higher (P < 0.05) in SP than UT (53%) and ST (42%) but similar to ET. SP had less type IIx fibres than UT (?12% points). In conclusion, the exercise performance and cardiovascular health profile are markedly better for lifelong trained SP than for age-matched UT controls. Incremental exercise capacity and muscle aerobic capacity of SP are also superior to lifelong ST athletes and comparable to endurance athletes.     

The benefit of being naïve and knowing it: the unfavourable impact of perceived context familiarity on learning in complex problem solving tasks

Previous research has found that embedding a problem into a familiar context does not necessarily confer an advantage over a novel context in the acquisition of new knowledge about a complex, dynamic system. In fact, it has been shown that a semantically familiar context can be detrimental to knowledge acquisition. This has been described as the “semantic effect” (Beckmann, Learning and complex problem solving, Bonn, Holos, 1994). The aim of this study was to test two competing explanations that might account for the semantic effect: goal adoption versus assumptions. Participants were asked to learn about the causal structure of a linear system presented on a computer containing three outputs by changing three inputs through goal free exploration. Across four conditions the level of familiarity was experimentally varied through the use of different variable labels. There was no evidence that goal adoption can account for poor knowledge acquisition under familiar conditions. Rather, it appears that a semantically familiar problem context invites a high number of a priori assumptions regarding the interdependency of system variables. These assumptions tend not to be systematically tested during the knowledge acquisition phase. The lack of systematicity in testing a priori assumptions is the main barrier to the acquisition of new knowledge. The semantic effect is in fact an effect of untested presumptions. Implications for research in problem solving, knowledge acquisition and the design of computer-based learning environments are discussed.     

The importance of communication in teaching: A systems-theory approach to the scaffolding metaphor

Scaffolding as a metaphor for support of learning processes places focus on the relationship between the psychic and social aspects of those processes. This paper examines the conceptualization of this relationship in activity theory and in operational constructivism. The importance of a distinction between psychic processes, language and communication is especially emphasized and discussed in relation to understandings of empathy, inter-subjectivity, and distributed cognition.     

Solving Developmental Tasks in Adolescents with a Chronic Physical Illness or Physical/Sensory Disability: A Meta-analysis

Chronic illnesses and disabilities may impair the attainment of age-typical developmental tasks, such as forming relationships with peers and gaining autonomy. Based on a systematic search in electronic databases and cross-referencing, 447 quantitative empirical studies were included which compared the attainment of developmental tasks of adolescents with and without chronic physical illness or physical/sensory disability. Adolescents with chronic illness or disability had more problems than healthy/nondisabled peers with regard to autonomy, body acceptance, developing friendships and romantic relationships, gaining access to a peer-group, career preparation, preparing for family life and developing socially responsible behaviour. However, between-group differences were small. No between-group differences were found regarding gender role acquisition and identity development. Success in solving developmental tasks varied, in part, by disease group, visibility of the disease/disability, age, gender and representativeness of the sample. Interventions aimed at promoting the attainment of developmental tasks are recommended.     

Book review

Land‐Grant Universities and Extension into the 21st Century: Renegotiating or Abandoning a Social Contract By: George R. McDowell. Iowa State University Press, Ames, 2001. 264 pp, $ 59.95     

中、德两国大学本科体育教育专业课程设置分析——苏州大学与德国海德堡大学对比

采用文献资料法、访谈法、对比分析法等研究方法,对苏州大学与德国海德堡大学本科体育教育专业的课程设置进行对比研究.结果显示:海德堡大学体教专业学生需要学习两个专业,为拓宽就业渠道奠定了基础;在教学总时数上,苏州大学远远超过德国海德堡大学;在学科方面,海德堡大学体教专业的授课形式多以讨论课为主;在术科方面,海德堡大学专修课学时所占比例较小,但选修课数量远多于苏州大学;在考核方面,海德堡大学大学学生考试压力较小,但突出了个人的创造性、主导性及综合能力.