The Role of Metamotivational Monitoring in Motivation Regulation

This article builds on existing models of motivation regulation in order to examine how students identify and address motivational deficits (e.g., not enough motivation or not the right type of motivation). Integrating perspectives from the achievement motivation, metacognition, and emotion regulation literatures, we propose that metamotivational processes play an essential role in students' monitoring of their motivational states. By emphasizing the ways in which students monitor not only the quantity but also the quality of their motivation, our model extends existing perspectives. We identify different components of motivation that are likely to be the target of monitoring (e.g., self-efficacy, intrinsic value), specify the metamotivational feelings (e.g., hopelessness, boredom) that signal problems with each component, and discuss how strategies are selected to address these problems. Our framework generates new questions about how students monitor (and control) their task-specific motivation.     

Artifactual dimensions of visual rhetoric: what a content analysis of 114 peer-reviewed articles reveals about data collection reporting

This content analysis examined how the authors of 114 peer-reviewed journal articles explained their empirical approaches to visual rhetoric scholarship. The authors content analysis sought to answer the question: how do scholars engage with the material dimensions of visual culture, specifically in terms of artifact selection and reporting data collection procedures? The answers to this question, the authors argue, are needed urgently as visual rhetoric research continues to expand because inconsistent reporting will hinder replicability and the reader’s access to the author’s argument. The authors use the findings of their content analysis to surface the implicit norms of empirical visual rhetoric research and to develop recommendations for reporting visual data collection procedures.     

Reliability of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire in Research Settings: Last 7-Day Self-Administered Long Form

This study examined the validity and reliability of decisional balance scales for exercise (i.e., pros and cons) in a large longitudinal population-based randomized sample of Canadian adults ages 18 to 65 years (N = 703). Assessments were taken over 3 time points with 6-month intervals between testing. Content, factorial, concurrent, and construct validity along with internal consistency and test-retest reliability were established for the decisional balance scales. The developed measures have utility for researchers and practitioners who test and apply the exercise decisional balance constructs of the Transtheoretical Model.     

Submaximal and Peak Cardiorespiratory Response After Moderate-High Intensity Exercise Training in Subacute Stroke

Purpose

Reduced cardiovascular fitness post-stroke may negatively impact recovery. There is little information regarding exercise testing performance and cardiorespiratory response to an aerobic exercise intervention in subacute stroke. The purpose of this study was to examine cardiorespiratory response in subacute stroke after an 8-week aerobic exercise intervention using a total body recumbent stepper (TBRS).

Methods

Nine individuals with mean age 61.2 (SD 4.7) years and mean 66.7 (SD 41.5) days post-stroke completed the exercise intervention. Participants had a mean Fugl-Meyer score of 100.3 (SD 29.3). Outcome measures were obtained at baseline and postintervention. A peak exercise test using a TBRS assessed oxygen consumption, heart rate, and minute ventilation. Participants completed an 8-week exercise intervention on a recumbent stepper 3 times per week at a prescribed heart rate intensity.

Results

Submaximal VO₂ was significantly lower from baseline to postintervention with a main effect of Study Visit (F_1,8 = 8.5, p = 0.02). Heart rate was not significantly different pre- to postintervention. Minute ventilation exhibited no main effect of Study Visit or Test Minute.

Conclusion

Moderate-high intensity aerobic exercise in subacute stroke appears to be beneficial for improving cardiovascular outcomes during submaximal performance of an exercise test.Key Words: oxygen uptake, cerebrovascular accident, cardiovascular fitness, submaximal exercise     

The Impact of an Inquiry-Based Geoscience Field Course on Pre-service Teachers

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a field-based, inquiry-focused course on pre-service teachers?? geoscience content knowledge, attitude toward science, confidence in teaching science, and inquiry understanding and skills. The field-based course was designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, compare, and investigate geological structures in their natural environment and to gain an understanding of inquiry via hands-on learning activities designed to immerse students in authentic scientific investigation. ANCOVA and MANCOVA analyses examining differences in outcome measures between students in the field experience (n?=?25) and education students enrolled in the traditional, classroom-based course (n?=?37) showed that students in the field course generally had significantly higher scores. Results provide evidence of the value of the field and inquiry-based approach in helping pre-service teachers develop the needed skills and knowledge to create effective inquiry-based science lessons.     

Auditory temporal structure processing in dyslexia: processing of prosodic phrase boundaries is not impaired in children with dyslexia

Reading disability in children with dyslexia has been proposed to reflect impairment in auditory timing perception. We investigated one aspect of timing perception—temporal grouping—as present in prosodic phrase boundaries of natural speech, in age-matched groups of children, ages 6–8 years, with and without dyslexia. Prosodic phrase boundaries are characterized by temporal grouping of functionally related speech elements and can facilitate syntactic processing of speech. For example, temporary syntactic ambiguities, such as early-closure structures, are processed faster when prosodic phrase boundaries are present. We examined children’s prosodic facilitation by measuring their efficiency of sentence processing for temporary syntactic ambiguities spoken with (facilitating) versus without (neutral) prosodic phrase boundaries. Both groups of children benefited similarly from prosodic facilitation, displaying faster reaction times in facilitating compared to neutral prosody. These findings indicate that the use of prosodic phrase boundaries for speech processing is not impaired in children with dyslexia.     

Modern foreign languages: decision-making,motivation and 14–19 schools

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an exploratory study comparing motivation and student choice in modern foreign language lessons in secondary schools (11–16 or 11–18) and schools for 14–19 year olds in England. The study uses data gathered from 634 Year 10 students (aged 14–15) and uses Self-Determination Theory to compare motivation amongst students in the two types of schools. It finds that student motivation differed significantly in each, with students in 14–19 schools displaying more autonomous motivation. Students in schools in this category were less likely to have been given a choice as to whether or not to take the subject than their peers, suggesting that they may feel autonomous in ways not governed by subject choice. Possible reasons for the differences in motivation in the two kinds of school are discussed and directions for future study proposed.     

A methodological framework for practice-based research in networked learning

This paper presents a methodological frameworkfor practice-based research in the field ofnetworked learning, based on the author'sapproach to carrying out a case studyevaluation of a networked professionaldevelopment initiative for information servicesstaff in higher education. The theoreticalcase for the framework is made with referenceto principles associated with constructivistprogramme evaluation as well as withinterpretivist and critical traditions inaction research. The purposes and politics ofthis approach, and the question of validationcriteria for claims about its effectiveness forbuilding theory, as well as for evaluating andimproving practice, are discussed. Issues todo with using computer-mediated communicationas a medium for participatory research are alsoraised. An overview is given of the way thisresearch approach was implemented in practice(including the use of a combination of on-lineand face-to-face data collection methods) andsome methodological issues that arose in thecourse of carrying it out are highlighted. Thepaper concludes by suggesting that as amethodology for evaluating, theorising andimproving practice, `networked action research'also offers an approach to pedagogical design,most obviously in the context of networkedprofessional development for educators andlearner support staff.     

Attitudes and Knowledge of Future Teachers to Identify Struggling Readers

Indiana recently passed legislation requiring teacher preparation programs to educate future teachers on how to identify and refer struggling readers, including students with learning needs related to dyslexia. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a university course that covers content in response to legislation was effective in improving preservice teachers’ knowledge about the topic of dyslexia. Participants included 62 undergraduate students enrolled in general education teacher preparation programs. One group of 23 participants had taken a required course with content regarding reading challenges and targeted instruction; the remaining 39 participants had not yet taken the required course. Preservice teachers who took the course had more accurate knowledge about dyslexia than those who had not taken the course. There were no differences between groups for confidence in ability to help students struggling with dyslexia. Additional implications regarding legislation and teacher preparation will be included in the discussion.     

Integrating Research into Television Production: Square One TV and the case of “Pauline”

Within the field of formative research, there is debate as to whether researchers should collaborate with producers or serve as independent evaluators. The Children's Television Workshop (CTW) produces educational programs through a collaborative process of development that has come to be known as the “CTW Model”. Under the CTW Model, producers, content specialists, and researchers work together throughout the life of a project, from its initial conceptualization through its final production. This paper illustrates the value of the CTW Model via an in‐depth case study of the development and production of a single repeated format within Square One TV, an educational television series about mathematics. In particular, we focus on the multifaceted role played by formative research at all stages of production.