Home-based family involvement and academic achievement: a case study in primary education

Does home-based family involvement influence academic performance? To answer this question, a case study research was carried out with 96 children from all six levels of primary education at a public school, and their families. Data regarding home-based family involvement were collected using a questionnaire. Academic achievement was measured from school marks. The results reveal that, apart from two of the factors considered, home–family involvement as a whole is not significantly related to academic achievement. These two factors are access to informal education resources and parents’ employment. Family involvement related to the access of children to informal education resources is significantly related to a better academic achievement. Those students with both parents working perform best, and those with none working, worst. Although gender does not appear to significantly influence academic achievement and family involvement, the results show that girls attain better school performance and receive more family attention than boys.     

教育·体育·人文:西班牙“拉马西亚模式”的启示

通过文献分析、采访和比较研究的方法分析巴塞罗那足球俱乐部青训体系"拉马西亚"的成功之处在于:首先,是"以人为本"的基本原则;其次,立足于本地、本国,最大程度上利用本土和自身资源;最后,在训练和生活中,尊重科学,将运动科学、教育科学和健康科学的理论与青少年体育训练的实践紧密结合在一起,并注重灵活运用。"拉马西亚模式"给其他国家的启示主要包括3个方面,即青训系统建设、青训人员的专业素质和科学的训练方法。     

A regional approach to study technology transfer through foreign direct investment: The electronics industry in two Mexican regions

This paper develops a conceptual framework and presents empirical evidence to examine technology transfer from foreign direct investment (FDI) to host regions, from a systemic perspective that integrates micro- (the firm) and meso (the region)-level analyses. This approach helps identify four different levels at which technology transfer may occur. Comprehensive fieldwork in Mexico was undertaken to collect evidence of an FDI-led, large industry (electronics) in two regions. The empirical evidence collected in this research shows that technology transfer derived from FDI may impact diverse actors of the host region (local firms, universities, research centres, industry associations), but also that its occurrence is neither automatic nor homogenous across regions.     

A new variant of the Pathfinder algorithm to generate large visual science maps in cubic time

In the last few years, there is an increasing interest to generate visual representations of very large scientific domains. A methodology based on the combined use of ISI–JCR category cocitation and social networks analysis through the use of the Pathfinder algorithm has demonstrated its ability to achieve high quality, schematic visualizations for these kinds of domains. Now, the next step would be to generate these scientograms in an on-line fashion. To do so, there is a need to significantly decrease the run time of the latter pruning technique when working with category cocitation matrices of a large dimension like the ones handled in these large domains (Pathfinder has a time complexity order of O(n⁴), with n being the number of categories in the cocitation matrix, i.e., the number of nodes in the network).     

Antecedents and consequents of student satisfaction in higher technical-vocational education: evidence from Brazil

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - This article proposes a model of antecedents and consequences of student satisfaction in Higher Technical-Vocational Education (HTVE)...     

Kinematical analysis of the V2 ski skating technique: A longitudinal study

To characterise timing of movements and evaluate performance effects of technique alterations in V2 ski skating, 13 elite male cross-country skiers (age, 23 ± 2 years; stature, 182 ± 6 cm; body mass, 76 ± 8 kg; V2 V?O_2max, 79.3 ± 4.4 mL · kg^?1 · min^?1) were tested four times during the preparation and competition phase on a roller ski treadmill. Each test consisted of submaximal intensities of exercise for determination of oxygen cost followed by one 1000-m performance test. Hip movement (from accelerometer data) and joint angles (2D video) were determined for high-intensity exercise (6° and 3.5 m · s^?1; ~ 97–100% of V?O_2peak). Each ski thrust consisted of three phases: gliding phase (18–50% of cycle time), poling phase (50–70% of cycle time), and kick phase (70–78% of cycle time). Flexion/extension of the hip initiated all phases, followed by the respective joints in legs and arms. Mixed-model analysis, adjusting for systematic time-point effects, identified that both reduced vertical hip acceleration and increased cycle time gave a small likely reduction in oxygen cost and 1000-m time. In conclusion, well-developed hip movement is a key characteristic of the V2 technique for elite-standard skiers’ long-term performance development.     

Reliability of unipodal and bipodal counter movement jump landings in a recreational male population

Movement patterns during landing have been suggested to be related to injury risk. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-session reliability of kinematic variables and ground reaction forces during landing in a population of male recreational athletes after a counter movement jump. Both unipodal and bipodal landings were evaluated. Furthermore, the possibility to improve landing reliability with a verbal instruction was also studied. Twenty-four male volunteers with no history of lower extremity trauma were randomly assigned to two groups (with and without verbal landing instruction). An optoelectronic 3D system and force plates were used to measure the lower limb joint angles and the ground reaction forces during landing. Intraclass correlation values show moderate to excellent inter-session reliability for the bipodal task (ICC average: 0.80, range: 0.46–0.97) and poor to excellent reliability for the unipodal task (ICC average: >0.75, range: 0.20–0.95). However, large standard errors of measurement values at the ankle joint at impact (27.6?±?11.5°) and for the vertical ground reaction forces (394?±?1091 N) show that some variables may not be usable in practice. The verbal instruction had a negative effect on the reliability of unipodal landing but improved the reliability of bipodal landing. These findings show that the reliability of a landing task is influenced by its motor complexity as well as the instruction given to the subject.