Coeducational and single-sex physical education: students’ situational interest in learning tasks centred on technical skills

Background: A student’s choice to engage in a learning task is highly related to the student’s environmental stimuli and his or her perception of interest. From this perspective, the construct of situational interest (SI) has been used to interpret students’ motivation in task engagement. SI is assumed to be transitory, environmentally activated, and context specific. It has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct with five dimensions: instant enjoyment, exploration intention, attention demand, novelty, and challenge. Few prior studies have compared SI between girls and boys in physical education (PE) contexts, and these studies have offered contrasting findings. They were conducted in coeducational (coed) or single-sex contexts and used learning tasks centred on a variety of outcomes: technical or tactical skills, creativity and cultural understanding.

Purpose: In the context of the debate on single-sex and coed classes in PE, this study aimed to estimate the effects of single-sex and coed PE classes on students’ situational interest (SI) within learning tasks centred on technical skills. The researchers decided to study learning tasks centred on the development of students’ technical skills, since these tasks are often used by teachers in PE.

Participants: The sample consisted of 177 Swiss secondary school students, aged 11–17 years (M?=?14.07, SD?=?1.41, 96 boys, 81 girls).

Data collection: The students completed the French 15-item SI Scale after practising a technical learning task in single-sex and coed PE contexts. The researchers chose five physical activities (i.e. athletics, basketball, dance, gymnastics, and volleyball), which are commonly taught in the state of Vaud (Switzerland) and provide a balance between masculine and feminine activities.

Data analysis: A two-way repeated-measures MANOVA was performed to examine the main and interaction effects of student sex and class sex composition on the five SI dimensions.

Findings: The results showed a main effect of class sex composition on student SI but no main effect of student sex and no interaction effect of student sex and class sex composition. More precisely, the scores for three SI dimensions (i.e. instant enjoyment, exploration intention, and attention demand) were higher in the coed context than in the single-sex context.

Conclusions: This study encourages teachers to propose coed PE classes to enhance students’ motivation and engagement when practising learning tasks centred on technical skills. This study offers supplementary evidence of the teacher’s role in promoting student SI. Beyond accounting for students’ dispositional factors (e.g. sex), PE teachers can significantly impact students’ SI in technical learning tasks through instructional choices.     

Cultural Differences in Garnering Social Capital on Facebook: French People Prefer Close Ties and Americans Prefer Distant Ties

The link between social capital (SC) and Facebook has been widely studied in the U.S., and less is known about how students from different cultures use the site to garner SC. We measured network composition, communication on Facebook, and SC via questionnaires in France and the U.S. We found that American students have a greater proportion of distant to close ties in their networks and higher levels of bridging SC than French, the latter preferring bonding SC. A stronger relationship between SC and communication via Facebook was observed in the U.S. These findings are explained by cultural differences in relatedness.     

Estimating fat-free mass in elite-level male rowers: a four-compartment model validation of laboratory and field methods

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of fat-free mass (FFM) estimates from two-compartment (2C) models including air displacement plethysmography (ADP), ultrasound (US), near-infrared interactance (NIR), and the Jackson and Pollock skinfold equation (SKF) against a criterion four-compartment (4C) model in elite male rowers. METHODS: Twenty-three elite-level male rowers (mean± SD; age 24.6 ± 2.2 years; stature: 191.4 ± 7.2 cm; mass: 87.2 ± 11.2 kg) participated in this investigation. All body composition assessments were performed on the same day in random order, except for hydrostatic weighing (HW), which was measured last. FFM was evaluated using a 4C model, which included total body water from bioimpedance spectroscopy, body volume from HW, and total body bone mineral via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The major findings of the study were that the 2C models evaluated overestimated FFM and should be considered with caution for the assessment of FFM in elite male rowers. Future studies should use multiple-compartment models, with measurement of TBW and bone mineral content, for the estimation of FFM.     

Association of different types of playing surfaces with bone mass in growing girls

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare bone mass in young female athletes playing ball games on different types of playing surfaces. About 120 girls, 9–13 years of age (10.6 ± 1.5 years old Tanner I–III) were recruited and divided into prepubertal and pubertal groups. The sample represented 3 groups of athletes: soccer (N = 40), basketball (N = 40), and handball (N = 40); and 6 different playing surfaces (soccer – ground, soccer – artificial turf, basketball – synthetic, basketball – parquet, handball – synthetic, and handball – smooth concrete). Total and regional body composition (bone mass, fat mass, and lean mass) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The mechanical properties of the surfaces (force reduction, vertical deformation, and energy return) were measured with the Advanced Artificial Athlete (Triple A) method. The degree of sexual development was determined using Tanner test. The pubertal group showed that soccer players on the ground, basketball players on synthetic, and handball players on smooth concrete had higher values of bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) (P < 0.05) than the soccer players on the artificial turf, basketball players on parquet, and handball players on synthetic. In conclusion, a hard playing surface, with less vertical deformation and force reduction, and greater energy return, is associated with higher levels of BMD and BMC in growing girls, regardless of the sport they practice.     

Physical Inactivity,Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes: An Evolutionary Perspective

Physical inactivity (and unhealthy nutrition) has distorted body composition and, in turn, reordered the proportions of myocyte and adipocyte insulin receptors. Insulin acting on adipocyte receptors produces less glucose uptake than does comparable interaction with myocyte receptors. Accordingly, in individuals with disproportionate muscle/fat composition, any given glucose load requires greater-than-normal pancreatic insulin secretion for adequate disposal. This hyperinsulinemia then becomes the leading cause of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) as insulin-sensitive tissues become desensitized. Because T2DM is rooted in potentially reversible lifestyle factors, rather than focusing on the intricacies of glucoregulation at the molecular level and on testing new drugs to control blood sugar, this article calls for a new prevention and treatment paradigm, in which exercise and weight control are essential and for which an inexpensive and acceptably accurate measure of body muscle and fat proportions is needed.     

呕心沥血三十年殚精竭虑圆一梦——我的传记文学创作与理论研究

文章论述了作者三十年来呕心沥血从事传记文学采访写作及理论批评和研究的艰辛历程和酸甜苦辣,也总结了传记文学创作和研究的心得体会和经验教训。     

篮球、手球、足球运动员体成分及肌肉力量的比较分析

目的:对篮球、手球、足球运动员的身体成分和肌肉力量进行比较分析,探讨三大球运动员身体素质的特点与差异,为运动训练以及运动员科学选材提供理论参考.方法:研究对象均为篮球、足球、手球二级以上专业运动员,均为男性,身高、体重、年龄和运动年限无明显差异,对研究对象进行体成分和肌肉力量测试及比较分析.结果:篮球组与手球组腹下脂肪比率、基础代谢、肥胖程度、BMI以及细胞液都有非常显著性差异(P＜0.01);篮球组与足球组之间下肢和腹下脂肪与体重比存有差异性(P＜0.05),胸下脂肪与体重比存有非常显著性差异(P＜0.01);手球运动员与足球运动员之间肥胖程度、BMI、细胞液和基础代谢均有非常显著性差异(P＜0.01);在上下肢力量方面篮球运动员与手球和足球运动员存有非常显著性差异(P＜0.01).结论:手球运动员在身高、体重、脂肪比率、BMI、细胞量、蛋白质、无机盐、细胞液方面都明显高于篮球和足球运动员;篮球运动员在力量方面比较占据优势;足球运动员身材相对较小,在体脂比率、BMI以及上下肢力量方面低于篮球和手球运动员.     

投掷运动员体成分的调查分析

通过对受试者体成分皮褶厚度的测定,并对其派生指标的比较发现：投掷选手皮脂较厚,其中重器械投掷选手达到肥胖标准。分析认为,这是由于其肌肉体积逐渐增大的同时,总伴随着皮下脂肪逐渐堆积的结果。肥胖不仅影响运动的效果,对身体健康也不利。建议投掷选手在促使肌肉体积增大的同时应积极采取消除脂肪的措施。     

高师体育专业实施“指导教师制”培养模式研究

运用问卷调查、文献资料法,主要针对高师体育专业毕业论文写作及综合能力培养中存在的问题,剖析导致原因,提出构建“指导教师制”(Faculty Adviser System)培养模式将是解决该问题的重要途径,结果对我国高师体育专业学生培养质量的提高、适应社会能力的增强将具有重要意义。     

大众艺术健身操对女子体成份影响的实验研究

利用"Bios pace"身体成份分析仪,对大众健身操女子体成份特征及其分布特征进行研究.结果发现体脂及体脂比率、总体液及比率、躯干体液及比率、细胞内液、细胞内液/细胞外液比值和上臂肌肉周长及上臂周长均无显著性,较高于普通人;细胞外液和上臂周差无显著性差异,较低于普通人;腹部脂肪比率及肥胖度、蛋白质含量及比率、肢体体液及比率、无机质含量具有显著性差异,高于普通人水平;去脂体重及体重比率具有非常显著性差异.