Motorische Leistungsfähigkeit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland

Motor performance is an important health resource. Review articles revealed a decline of motor performance of approximately 10?% between 1975 and 2006. In the past most of the data available for such comparisons came from ad hoc studies with non-standardized methods. Within the framework of the ”Motorik-Modul“ (MoMo) study as part of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS), it is possible for the first time to directly compare two cohorts in the ages of 4–17 years in a nationally representative database for Germany. The aim of this article is to report changes in motor performance of children and adolescents in the time period 2003–2006 (cohort baseline n = 4528) compared to 2009–2012 (cohort wave 1, n = 2820). Overall, it is clearly shown that the motor performance of children and adolescents in Germany did not decrease within the observational period of 6 years. The comparison of mean values of the baseline cohort compared to those of wave 1 showed that 28 out of 52 mean values of the two cohorts with a high probability did not differ based on 95?% confidence intervals (CI). In 24 out of the 52 mean values positive changes could be noted based on the individual 95?% CI values. There were more positive changes in primary school aged children than in other age groups. Within these positive changes, most effect sizes were small to medium. The results indicate that recent activities aiming at elevating motor performance levels may have started to make an impact and should be expanded, also in secondary schools. The comparative cohort study presented in this article is currently being checked by the ongoing MoMo wave 2 survey of 2014–2017.     

Normative data for eight dimensions of reading attitudes: Canadian public school students

The Survey of Reading Attitudes was administered to 613 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students enrolled in the schools that serve the metropolitan area of a small city in Ontario, Canada. Means, standard deviations, coefficient of alpha reliability estimates, and standard errors of measurement were computed for the eight dimensions of reading attitude included in the Survey. The reliability estimates for the respective dimensions are as follows: Expressed Reading Difficulty, α = .88, Reading as Direct Reinforcement, α = .83, Reading as Enjoyment, α = .89, Alternative Learning Modes, α = .72, Reading Group, α = .81, Reading Anxiety, α = .82, Silent vs. Oral Reading, α = .83, and Comics, α = .79.     

真理、偶然性与现代性

如果将真理的绝对主义与相对主义之吊诡称作"真理的二律背反",那么近数十年来,许多哲学问题都是为了解决这个二律背反.希拉里·普特南、卡尔-奥托·阿佩尔、尤尔根·哈贝马斯似乎试图表明真理的绝对主义不必导致形而上学,而理查德·罗蒂则试图表明对真理的绝对主义的批判不必导致相对主义.通过对上述两方围绕真理问题论争之理论基础的分析,可以看到真理、偶然性与现代性之间的内在关联.     

Historical Objections Against the Number Line

Historical studies on the development of mathematical concepts will help mathematics teachers to relate their students’ difficulties in understanding to conceptual problems in the history of mathematics. We argue that one popular tool for teaching about numbers, the number line, may not be fit for early teaching of operations involving negative numbers. Our arguments are drawn from the many discussions on negative numbers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from philosophers and mathematicians such as Arnauld, Leibniz, Wallis, Euler and d’Alembert. Not only does division by negative numbers pose problems for the number line, but even the very idea of quantities smaller than nothing has been challenged. Drawing lessons from the history of mathematics, we argue for the introduction of negative numbers in education within the context of symbolic operations.     

Effect of different swim caps on the assessment of body volume and percentage body fat by air displacement plethysmography

Isothermal air trapped in scalp hair generates an underestimation of body volume when it is measured by air displacement plethysmography. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of wearing different types of swim caps on the measurement of body volume and percentage body fat by air displacement plethysmography. It was hypothesized that wearing a silicone swim cap would more thoroughly compress scalp hair compared with a lycra swim cap, yielding higher estimates of body volume and percent body fat. Thirty female participants aged 25.7 ± 6.4 years were measured in random order when wearing no swim cap, a lycra swim cap or a silicone swim cap. For the no-cap versus lycra cap condition, the mean bias for body volume was -0.579 ± 0.380 litre (limits of agreement: -1.340 to 0.181 litre) and for percent fat -4.9 ± 3.1% fat (limits of agreement: -11.2 to 1.3% fat) (P < 0.05). For the silicone versus lycra condition, the mean bias for body volume was 0.137 ± 0.099 litre (limits of agreement: -0.062 to 0.335 litre) and for percent fat 1.2 ± 0.9% fat (limits of agreement: -0.5 to 2.9% fat) (P < 0.05). In conclusion, attention should be paid to optimal compression of isothermal air trapped in scalp hair when using air displacement plethysmography. The present results suggest that this compression may be more thorough when wearing a silicone swim cap.     

Learning moves home

Residence halls at large institutions are increasingly becoming sites for powerful undergraduate learning experiences. A study of living‐learning programs at four research universities—the prelude to a nationwide project—tells an important story.