Heuristic Learning as a Method for Improving Students’ Teamwork Skills in Physical Education

Transversal skills are the knowledge, skills, and personal qualities that are currently needed to meet the demands of the working world and everyday life. Schools have the task of equipping students with these skills, working not only on disciplinary goals but also on operational–behavioral goals. In 2018, the European Union adopted new recommendations on eight key competencies for lifelong learning and asked schools to implement new methods to develop these recommendations. To be successful, it is necessary to stimulate students’ development of these competences, which are also called soft skills, from the earliest years of the school experience. Physical education (PE) is called upon to make its contribution. In Italy, the two teaching methods used during PE classes are prescriptive teaching and heuristic learning. It is not clear which of the two methods is the most effective in improving soft skills, especially the skills involved in teamwork. The objective of this article was to compare the effects of these two teaching methods on students’ teamwork skills during PE classes in primary schools. After verifying the normality of the data, a Student’s t-test for dependent samples was performed to assess pre-test and post-test differences in each of two groups, while a Student’s t-test for independent samples was performed to compare the two groups after 3 months. Heuristic learning proved to be the most effective method for improving teamwork skills. The results may make an important contribution to future teacher training on the most effective teaching methods for developing students’ soft skill

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AND PHYSICAL EFFORT REQUIRED IN THE DIFFERENT PLAYING POSITIONS IN SPORTS TEAM

The aim of this study is to examine the effort physical required at footballers during the match, respect to their playing position. The study method is experimental with the division of the sample in 3 groups of 10 players, divided by role (Attackers n=10, Midfielders n=10 and Defenders n=10). Data were collected during (20) friendly matches on (30) elite senior male Italian football players using global positioning system. Analysis of statistical data has been conducted with Analysis of variance to check the differences between the three groups of footballers. The significant differences has been fixed in p<0.05. For all match-related parameters, physical performance was higher for defenders and midfielders compared to attackers. The physical effort demands during a football game differ by game position as well as the distance covered in the different play positions has been confirmed

Glass-ceramic oxidation protective coatings for manganese- and magnesium-based thermoelectric silicides

Higher manganese silicide (HMS) and magnesium silicide are considered promising thermoelectric materials to generate electricity from waste-heat recovery. However, a critical issue is their stability over time and their oxidation resistance at temperatures above 500°C. Glass-based materials, due to their low electrical and thermal conductivity, are good candidates as protective coatings. In this work, MnSi1.74 and Mg2Si0.487Sn0.5Sb0.013 substrates, densified by spark plasma sintering, were coated with silica-based glass-ceramic materials in order to provide oxidation protection. The thermal cycling stability (from room temperature to 600°C in air) of as-sintered and glass-ceramic coated HMS was studied, with respect to changes in their chemical composition and electrical properties. The formation of a Si-deficient layer on the uncoated HMS, due to the reaction between HMS and oxygen at 600°C, led to a higher electrical resistivity as well as a reduced power factor. The coated samples did not show variations in electrical properties compared to the as-sintered one, thus demonstrating that the use of a glass-ceramic coating is an efficient oxidation protective system during cyclic working conditions. Moreover, a new silica-based glass-ceramic coating for magnesium silicide was designed in order to improve the long-term reliability of the thermoelectric module and its efficiency

Glass-ceramic oxidation protection of higher manganese silicide thermoelectrics

A higher manganese silicide (HMS) thermoelectric, with composition MnSi1.74, densified by spark plasma sintering, was successfully coated with a glass-ceramic, in order to be used at temperatures higher than 500°C. Compositional changes in both the HMS substrate and the glass-ceramic coating are reviewed and discussed with respect to the electrical properties of the uncoated and coated HMS before and after thermal cycles from RT to 600°C in air. The formation of a Si-deficient layer (MnSi) on the uncoated HMS surface is due to the reaction between the HMS and oxygen at 600°C, thus contributing to a lower power factor in comparison with the as-sintered HMS. Coated HMS samples (after thermal cycles RT-600°C) show a lower electrical resistivity and a significantly higher power factor in comparison with the uncoated ones. The glass-ceramic coating is self-reparable at 600°C, as demonstrated by the complete sealing of an induced scratch on its surface

Recognition of archaeological targets by means of marine geophysical prospections

In this work we present the results of different geophysical methodologies (soundings, high resolution seismics, resistivity and magnetic measurements) employed to detect targets in the first 3-5 meters below the seafloor, in a sand submerged beach. It is worth stressing the high reduction of the ambiguities inherent in each method when a multi-methodological strategy is used

Integrated geophysical investigation applied to the definition of buried and outcropping targets of archaeological relevance in very shallow water

The results of a marine survey aimed at detecting archaeological targets in coastal areas by means the integration of different geophysical methods (multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution seismics, geoelectric and magnetism) are presented. The case study is a shipwreck recognised off the shore of Agropoli town (Salerno, southern Italy) over a sandy sea-bottom at about 5 m of water depth. Each geophysical method has its peculiarity and detection capability depending on a wide range of factors such as: geological setting, consistency and grain size of sea-bottom sediments, burial and nature (e.g. metallic/non metallic) of the targets, water depth, etc. It is worth stressing that there is a high reduction of the ambiguities inherent in each method when a multiple approach strategy is adopted. We believe that this type of investigation may contribute to establish a quality standard for such a category of surveys that can be adopted by local administrators and coastal managers wherever archaeological exploration is required