Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres

Abstract: This book is unique. It gathers texts which give the best presentation of the principles and key concepts of the Theory of Didactical Situations that Guy Brousseau developed in the period from 1970 to 1990. These texts have been edited and organised so that they provide a comprehensive presentation of the Theory. Concepts such as didactical contract, didactical variable and epistemological obstacle are presented in detail. At the heart of the book, one will find two works which demonstrate in detail the articulation between theoretical work and experimental research which is the source of the richness of the Theory. Although referenced by many research texts, up to now the original texts of Guy Brousseau were unknown, or known only with difficulty, in the non- French-speaking world. This book is a response to these difficulties. In order to facilitate the reading of certain points, or elucidate them for the reader, footnotes have been added to the original text, as well as preludes and interludes to place in context the chosen texts and clarify the construction of the book. Theory of Didactical Situations in Mathematics is of interest for researchers in mathematics education, PhD students in mathematics education and mathematics educators. (http://books.google.fr/books?id=P9T1a_HGBmgC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Abstract: Objectives: Training allows sportsmen to acquire new balance control abilities, possibly differing according to the discipline practised. We compared, by means of static and dynamic posturographic tests, the postural skills of high-level judoists, professional dancers and controls, in order to determine whether these sports improved postural control. Results: With eyes open, judoists and dancers performed better than controls, indicating a positive effect of training on sensorimotor adaptabilities. Yet, with eyes closed, only judoists retained a significantly better stance. Conclusions: These data indicate that the practice of a high-skill activity involving proprioceptive afferences especially improves both performance and balance control.

Abstract: Ensemble des conditions exterieures dans lesquelles vit et se developpe un individu humain, le milieu joue un role important dans la determination des connaissances que le sujet, son antagoniste, doit developper pour controler une situation d'action Les theories modernes lui assignent un role fondamen¬tal dans les apprentissages De ce point de vue, une part importante de l'en¬seignement parait consister en la reorganisation d'un milieu favorable aux adaptations a-didactiques Encore faut-il savoir quelles conditions didactiques de devolution il convient de realiser pour que l'eleve puisse entrer dans un tel contrat Dans une situation de validation d'un savoir, le milieu devient, de plus, le lieu de fonctionnement et la reference, implicite ou explicite, des connaissances correspondantes II devient donc par la un objet culturel et epistemologique d'enseignement La premiere partie a pour objet de rappeler quelques elements de la theo¬rie des situations qui permettent d'introduire les notions de milieu et de contrat La deuxieme montre comment des dispositifs d'ingenierie permettent de resoudre un probleme de devolution d'un milieu a-didactique Il s'agit de faire resoudre des equations aux eleves de deuxieme annee de primaire en vue d'introduire le calcul de la soustraction Cet exemple montre le fonctionnement du milieu et la necessite de le construire comme objet de savoir pour les eleves

Abstract: A large body of data supports the view that movement plays a crucial role in letter representation and suggests that handwriting contributes to the visual recognition of letters. If so, changing the motor conditions while children are learning to write by using a method based on typing instead of handwriting should affect their subsequent letter recognition performances. In order to test this hypothesis, we trained two groups of 38 children (aged 3-5 years) to copy letters of the alphabet either by hand or by typing them. After three weeks of learning, we ran two recognition tests, one week apart, to compare the letter recognition performances of the two groups. The results showed that in the older children, the handwriting training gave rise to a better letter recognition than the typing training.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of the systemic approach to the analysis of play in team sports. We first focus on the theory of dynamical systems and consider the interactions between the main variables of the different components of systems and subsystems in soccer. In team sports, these variables represent fluctuating conditions, which momentarily constrain the organization of action for the players. Thus changes in the momentary configuration of the game have to be examined in the light of previous configurations, the outline of the defensive strategy and the tactical choices involved. To study this problem, we analyse the antecedents of goals in soccer. A procedure is proposed which analyses transitions between configurations of play, thus allowing time to be taken into consideration when studying the evolution of a match. To illustrate the use and benefit of the analytic procedure, two goals are described in terms of dynamic configurations of play and opportunity of choices mad...