Physical education is an area in which most professionals focus only on the body and its needs. Most PE teachers do not believe that having an understanding of philosophy is important in order to be a good teacher. One might ask why the physical educators think this. Looking at the history of philosophy we might find the answer within philosophy itself. Physical education is an unquestionable part of the school curriculum, but it does not have the same value as other subjects. The importance of PE is underestimated as school administrators stress the importance of academic subjects. The reason why physical education is so strongly separated from academic disciplines is because of its roots in ancient Greek times, when the soul was separated from the body. Medieval scholars stressed the importance of soul and cursed body as the nest of sins. From then on we have had dualism, a term which is widely adopted by western society. Dualism is so deep in us that we do not realize its impact any more. Other strong educational influence came from great thinkers such as: Comenius (1592-1670), Rousseau (1712-1778) and Dewey (1859-1952). Particularly Dewey's influence on American education, society, psychology, philosophy and way of life is significant. An importance of the experience is valued by Pragmatism. Pragmatists believe that the curriculum should be focused on the child and not on facts, they remind us about the role of education in society, and about the realization of the deep roots of division of our bodily and mental functions. The opportunities offered by the pragmatist's approach to education can help us to improve U.S. education, particularly physical education, and thus to use this to improve the state of American society.
Purpose. Our study aimed at assessing the effects of introducing a modified physical educational program that uses “eduball” educational balls during exercise, play-time and games on the physical fitness of first-grade primary school students. In addition, the study also took under consideration whether any noted changes depended on where the students lived, i.e., in an urban or rural environment. Methods. A total of 127 first-grade students were selected to participate in the pedagogical experiment, with 48 students from a primary school in an urban environment and 79 students from two primary schools located in rural villages. The physical fitness levels of the children were assessed by using selected batteries from the International Physical Fitness Test before and after implementing the “eduball” physical education program. Results. The results found that physical fitness levels were not affected by the use of the “eduball” educational ball, regardless of the environment. However, the physical fitness results of both the boys and girls in the rural experimental group may confirm that the activities that used the educational balls, which emphasize running, can have an impact on the motor development of children’s speed and agility skills. Conclusions. The boys from the urban experimental and urban control groups in both tests achieved better results than their peers from rural areas. However, this may be more strongly related to the overall higher physical fitness levels of the boys from an urban environment (as was found in the first test), rather than their place of residence or their schools’ sports facilities, which were found to be comparable. In the groups of girls, a somewhat different trend was observed, with girls from the urban environment performing better than girls from rural areas among the analyzed fitness variables in the first test, but with the differences leveling out by the second test.
Twenty-four dance couples performing at the 2011 IDSF (International DanceSport Federation) International Slovenia Open were divided into two groups: the first twelve placed couples (top ranked) and the last twelve placed couples (lower ranked). Video recordings were processed automatically using computer vision tracking algorithms under operator supervision to calculate movement parameters. Time and speed of movement were analysed during single natural (right) and reverse (left) turns performed during the Viennese waltz. Both top and lower ranked dancers tended to perform similar proportionate frequencies of reverse (≈ 35%) and natural (≈ 65%) turns. Analysis of reverse turns showed that the top ranked dancers performed less turns on a curved trajectory (16%) than the lower ranked dancers (33%). The top ranked couples performed all turns at similar speeds (F = 1.31, df = 3, p = 0.27; mean = 2.09m/s) all of which were significantly quicker than the lower ranked couples (mean = 1.94m/s), the greatest differences found for reverse turns (12.43% faster for curved trajectories, 8.42% for straight trajectories). This suggests that the ability to maintain a high speed in the more difficult turns, particularly the reverse turns on a curved trajectory, results in the overall dance appearing more fluent as the speed of movement does not fluctuate as much. This aspect of performance needs to be improved by lower ranked dancers if they wish to improve rating of their performance. Future research should determine which factors relate to the speed of turns.
Kinesins are molecular motors that transport various cargoes along microtubule tracks using energy derived from ATP hydrolysis. Although the motor domains of kinesins are structurally similar, the family contains members that move on microtubules in opposite directions. Recent biochemical and biophysical studies of several kinesins make it possible to identify structural elements responsible for the different directionality, suggesting that reversal of the motor movement can be achieved through small, local changes in the protein structure.
Zwierzęta towarzyszą nieprzerwanie ludziom od tysięcy lat. Rola zwierząt w życiu człowieka na przestrzeni czasu uległa zasadniczej zmianie. Człowiek posiadał władzę nad udomowionym zwierzęciem oraz decydował o ich losie. Zwierzęta zostały także wykorzystywane jako środek transportu oraz jako pomoc przy uprawie roli. Istnieje grupa zwierząt, którą określa się mianem zwierząt „towarzyszących”. Grupa ta zajmuje w życiu człowieka uprzywilejowane miejsce. Obecnie coraz prężniej rozwija się dziedzina, w której zwierzęta wykorzystywane są podczas terapii człowieka. Hipoterapia jako postępowanie terapeutyczne charakteryzuje się oddziaływaniem wszechstronnym na pacjenta. Posiada zdolność wywierania wpływu na wszystkie wzajemnie przenikające się sfery życia człowieka. Lecznicze oddziaływania jazdy konnej poznano już w IV wieku p.n.e. Hipokrates pisał o tym, że jazda konna ma pozytywny wpływ na leczenie wybranych schorzeń. Na przestrzeni lat terapeuci dostrzegli ogromne walory wynikające nie tylko z natury konia, ale i specyfiki jego ruchu. Śmiało można powiedzieć, że koń w trakcie trwania terapii staje się precyzyjnym stymulatorem ruchu. Dzięki zbliżonemu sposobowi poruszania się człowieka i konia, w trakcie trwania jazdy zarówno miednica, tułów i obręcz barkowa jeżdżącego wprawiane są w ruch zgodnie do fizjologicznego wzorca chodu ludzkiego. Tak więc osoba z dysfunkcją ruchową ma możliwość nauki prawidłowego wzorca chodu bez chodzenia.
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Animals have accompanied man for thousands of years and their role in human life has seriously evolved. Man had power over domesticated animals and decided about their fate, they were used as a means of transport and helped humans with the farming. There is a group of animals, known as companion animals, which are ranked high in human life. Nowadays, animals are more frequently utilized in different animal-assisted therapies. Hippotherapy as a therapeutic intervention exerts serious influence on those participating in its sessions, and it affects all interpenetrating spheres of human life. Therapeutic effects of horse-riding were already known in 400 B.C. Hippocrates claimed that horse-riding exerted positive effect on treating certain health conditions. Equine therapists, over the years, have noticed significant benefits to their clients resulting not only from the nature of a horse but also from its unique ambulation. One can say that a horse during a therapeutic session becomes a precise stimulator of movement. Thanks to a similar way of ambulation in man and in a horse, during a horse riding session the rider’s pelvis, trunk and the shoulder girdle are made to move according to the physiological pattern of human ambulation, so a person with motor disorders has a chance to learn proper human gait pattern without walking.
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