This paper describes experiments with a game device that was used for early detection of delays in motor skill development in primary school children. Children play a game by bi-manual manipulation of the device which continuously collects ac- celerometer data and game state data. Features of the data are used to discriminate between normal children and children with delays. This study focused on the feature selection. Three features were compared: mean squared jerk (time domain); power spectral entropy (fourier domain) and cosine similarity measure (quality of game play). The discriminatory power of the features was tested in an experiment where 28 children played games of different levels of difficulty. The results show that jerk and cosine similarity have reasonable discriminatory power to detect fine-grained motor skill development delays especially when taking the game level into account. Duration of a game level needs to be at least 30 seconds in order to achieve good classification results.
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BackgroundThe closing of schools and sports clubs during the COVID-19 lockdown raised questions about the possible impact on children’s motor skill development. Therefore, we compared motor skill development over a one-year period among four different cohorts of primary school children of which two experienced no lockdowns during the study period (control cohorts) and two cohorts experienced one or two lockdowns during the study period (lockdown cohorts).MethodsA total of 992 children from 9 primary schools in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) participated in this study (age 5 – 7; 47.5% boys, 52.5% girls). Their motor skill competence was assessed twice, first in grade 3 (T1) and thereafter in grade 4 (T2). Children in control group 1 and lockdown group 1 were assessed a third time after two years (T3). Motor skill competence was assessed using the 4-Skills Test, which includes 4 components of motor skill: jumping force (locomotion), jumping coordination (coordination), bouncing ball (object control) and standing still (stability). Mixed factorial ANOVA’s were used to analyse our data.ResultsNo significant differences in motor skill development over the study period between the lockdown groups and control groups (p > 0.05) were found, but a difference was found between the two lockdown groups: lockdown group 2 developed significantly better than lockdown group 1 (p = 0.008). While socioeconomic status was an effect modifier, sex and motor ability did not modify the effects of the lockdowns.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 lockdowns in the Netherlands did not negatively affect motor skill development of young children in our study. Due to the complexity of the factors related to the pandemic lockdowns and the dynamic systems involved in motor skill development of children, caution must be taken with drawing general conclusions. Therefore, children’s motor skill development should be closely monitored in the upcoming years and attention should be paid to individual differences.
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AANLEIDING In het RAAK-MKB project ‘Gelijkspanning breng(t) je verder’ heeft De Haagse Hogeschool, specifiek de opleiding Elektrotechniek, ervaren dat de opkomst van het onderwerp ‘Gelijkspanning’ (ook wel DC) in het beroepenveld sterk samenhangt met ontwikkelingen in het vakgebied van ‘Vermogenselektronica’ of ‘Power Eletronics’. Het beroepenveld vraagt steeds vaker om steeds meer kennis op dit vakgebied, in het kader van bijvoorbeeld de energietransitie, Smart Grids, Internet-of-Things etc. Om deze kennis op een goed gestructureerde wijze over te dragen aan studenten, moeten er een aantal belemmeringen worden weggewerkt. Een van deze belemmeringen is de beperkte beschikbaarheid van kennis; het vakgebied is relatief nieuw en nog sterk in ontwikkeling. Binnen De Haagse Hogeschool is door de opleiding Elektrotechniek (met kennis van de nog weg te werken belemmeringen) de bewuste keuze gemaakt om zich binnen Nederland te willen profileren met het onderwerp ‘Gelijkspanning’. Vanuit het eerdere RAAK-MKB project ‘Gelijkspanning breng(t) je verder’ werden hiertoe een eerste vak en practicum ontwikkeld: Vermogenselektronica 1. Hierin worden beginselen van DC-DC omvormers behandeld. DC-DC omvormers zorgen voor het transformeren van DC-spanningen, om energie bij hoge spanningen en dus lage verliezen te kunnen transporteren. Vanaf het huidige collegejaar (2015-2016) is ook een tweede vak op dit gebied toegevoegd aan het curriculum: Vermogenselektronica 2: hierin worden DC-AC omvormers op hoofdlijnen behandeld. Deze omvormers zorgen ervoor dat veel gebruikte types motoren aangedreven kunnen worden met gelijkspanning. Deze hoofdlijnen staan in de ogen van het beroepenveld nog (te) ver af van toepassingen waarmee zij werken. Daarbij moet gedacht worden aan bijvoorbeeld elektrische mobiliteit (specifieke types motoren), verlichting (DC-DC), distributietechnieken (DC-DC op hogere vermogens) of slimme netten (integratie van energietechniek, communicatietechnologie en regeltechniek / embedded systems). DOELSTELLING Het doel van het project is het opstellen van een implementatiewijze ter verdere invulling van de onderwerpen ‘Gelijkspanning’ en ‘Vermogenselektronica’ in het curriculum van de opleiding Elektrotechniek voor de teamleider van Elektrotechniek van De Haagse Hogeschool om de gewenste profilering te kunnen realiseren. ACTIVITEITEN Vanuit de curriculum commissie van de opleiding Elektrotechniek wordt opdracht gegeven aan een apart team om het implementatievoorstel voor te bereiden. Hierin werken twee docent/onderzoekers samen met de teamleider en enkele extern specialisten. In vijf opeenvolgende stappen wordt op een top-down manier gewerkt aan 1. Formuleren competenties voor DC 2. Hoofdstromen curriculum inrichten 3. Uitwerken vakinhoudelijke gebieden Elektrotechniek (‘leeg vel papier’) 4. Koppelen opzet aan bezetting en kennis in het team en bij partners 5. Voorbereiden besluitvorming RESULTAAT Op deze wijze wordt een heldere visie ontwikkeld op het benodigde onderwijs om het onderwerp gelijkspanning gestructureerd aan te kunnen bieden. Daarbij gaat het om vakinhoudelijke kennis in vakken, met bijbehorende practica en projecten. Om deze kennis goed aan te bieden wordt nadrukkelijk ook de samenwerking met andere kennisinstellingen (zoals Zuyd Hogeschool en de TU-Delft) gezocht.
expressiveness, performance, musicians, skills, educationUsing the genre of Improvisational theatre as a basis, my research aims to design and develop instructional strategies that would help students enhance their expressive skills and achieve the flexibility to adapt their motor behavior to the musical piece. Embodying diverse characters and physicalities, as well as affective states or fictional realities through improv theatre exercises should enable them to expand their expressive range and, therefore, better convey their interpretation to their audience. Through this process, this study also seeks to gain an understanding of the effect this type of training may have on musicians' performance experience, as well as its implications in other areas of their development.
The clubfoot deformity is one of the most common congenital orthopaedic “conditions”. Worldwide approximately 100,000 children are born with unilateral or bilateral clubfoot every year. In the Netherlands the incidence is approximately 175 every year. This three dimensional deformity of the foot involves, equinus, varus, adductus, and cavus . Left untreated the clubfoot leads to deformity, functional disability and pain. Physical impairments of children with clubfoot might lead to limitations in activities and therefore impede a child’s participation. In clinical practice, the orthopaedic surgeon and physiotherapists are regularly consulted by (parents of) clubfoot patients for functional problems such as impaired walking and other daily activities. This does not only affect long-term and physical health of a child, it will also affect the development of social relationships and skills as well. Since walking is a main activity in children to be able to participate in daily life, our previous study (financially supported by SIA Raak Publiek) focussed on gait differences between children with clubfoot and controls. However, differences in gait characteristics do not necessarily lead to functional limitations and restricted participation. Therefore, providing insight in participation and a child’s performance in other activities than walking is necessary. Insight in a child’s participation will also indicate the functional outcome of the treatment, which on its turn could provide essential information concerning a possible relapse.. Early identification of a relapse is important since it could prevent the need for major surgical interventions. The occurrence of a relapse clubfoot will probably also lead to functional differences in the foot as well as problems during activity and participation. Therefore, the main focus of this study is the functional outcomes of physical activities and the characterisation of participation of children with clubfeet in daily activities of childhood.
