Outcomes for Women and Infants Following Assisted Conception: Implications for Perinatal Education,Care, and Support

Assisted conception is becoming an increasingly more common treatment option for women and couples who experience fertility problems. Links have been made in the literature between assisted conception and a greater incidence of pregnancy or birth complications, low birth weight or premature babies, and babies with congenital abnormalities. In addition, evidence suggests that the experience of assisted conception may influence the development of early mothering relationships and impact parenting adjustment. Although this commentary article does not strategically review all available literature, it provides an overview of the health issues that women and families undergoing assisted conception have experienced or may experience. Through raising awareness and promoting discussion of these issues, practitioners will be better equipped to provide informed education and support.     

Fan culture and motivation in the context of successful women’s professional team sports: a mixed-methods case study of Portland Thorns fandom

Abstract

By the metric of average home attendance, the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League are the most popular women’s professional sports team in the world. This paper investigates that distinct sports context through a mixed-methods case study of Thorns fandom, asking what fans themselves perceive to be salient elements of a successful fan culture for women’s professional soccer and what motivates their fandom. Drawing on survey data that are contextualized by ethnographic observations and interviews, we offer an interpretive analysis of ways Thorns fandom hybridizes elements of traditional and alternative sports fandom. Our findings highlight the emphasis Thorns fans put on quality soccer in a professional atmosphere where fans themselves create the supporters culture, along with the symbolic importance to fans of identifying with values such as gender empowerment, diversity and inclusion. We discuss ways these themes might offer and inform alternative models of sports fandom.     

The roles of perceived teacher support, motivational climate, and psychological need satisfaction in students' physical education motivation

Research illustrates the positive roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and mastery climate and the negative role of performance climate in student motivation in physical education. Less research has examined perceptions of relationships within this setting (i.e., perceived teacher support and relatedness) and their role in student motivation. The purpose of this study was to test the mediating roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the relationship between social contextual factors and motivation in physical education students (N = 508). Results from structural equation modeling showed that perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness partially mediated the relationship between perceived teacher support and self-determined motivation and that mastery climate related directly to self-determined motivation. The results highlight the importance of perceived teacher support, mastery climate, and relatedness to motivation in physical education.     

A whitewashed curriculum? The construction of race in contemporary PE curriculum policy

Analyses of curricula in a range of countries show how they tend to reinforce, rather than challenge, popular theories of racism. To date, we know little about the contribution of physical education (PE) curriculum policy to the overall policy landscape. This paper examines the construction of race and racism in two national contexts (Norway and England) as a means of putting race and anti-racism on the PE policy research agenda. It adopts a critical whiteness perspective to analyse how whiteness, as a system of privilege, contributes to the racialisation of valued knowledge in PE and asks, who potentially benefits and/or is marginalised within the learning spaces available in the texts? The discourse analysis reveals that two discursive techniques of whiteness combine to privilege white, Eurocentric knowledge content. Unmarked white PE practices and students are constructed as universal, normative and contingent. As a result, non-white PE practices and students are positioned on the margins in contemporary policy texts. By revealing the racialisation processes evident in the texts, we aim to trouble the profession's taken-for-granted truths about race in PE as integral to working towards the development of an antiracist subject.     

Decrements in knee extensor and flexor strength are associated with performance fatigue during simulated basketball game-play in adolescent,male players

This study quantified lower-limb strength decrements and assessed the relationships between strength decrements and performance fatigue during simulated basketball. Ten adolescent, male basketball players completed a circuit-based, basketball simulation. Sprint and jump performance were assessed during each circuit, with knee flexion and extension peak concentric torques measured at baseline, half-time, and full-time. Decrement scores were calculated for all measures. Mean knee flexor strength decrement was significantly (P < 0.05) related to sprint fatigue in the first half (R = 0.65), with dominant knee flexor strength (R = 0.67) and dominant flexor:extensor strength ratio (R = 0.77) decrement significantly (P < 0.05) associated with sprint decrement across the entire game. Mean knee extensor strength (R = 0.71), dominant knee flexor strength (R = 0.80), non-dominant knee flexor strength (R = 0.75), mean knee flexor strength (R = 0.81), non-dominant flexor:extensor strength ratio (R = 0.71), and mean flexor:extensor strength ratio (R = 0.70) decrement measures significantly (P < 0.05) influenced jump fatigue during the entire game. Lower-limb strength decrements may exert an important influence on performance fatigue during basketball activity in adolescent, male players. Consequently, training plans should aim to mitigate lower-limb fatigue to optimise sprint and jump performance during game-play.     

Gratitude for teachers as a psychological resource for early adolescents: A mixed-methods study

In this mixed-methods study, we examine students’ gratitude for their teachers and the implications of that gratitude for their psychological adaptation. We report findings that gratitude for teachers (GT) is, in fact, a resource for students facing difficult circumstances outside school. More specifically, our hierarchical multiple regression models demonstrate that this form of gratitude decreases the negative association between adverse life events and students’ life satisfaction. GT also decreases the positive association between negative life events and students’ perceived stress. Then, we use coded material from student interviews to illustrate how they understand the ways that their GT helps them manage challenges in their personal lives. We conclude that students’ GT buffers the negative impact of adverse life events, because it helps students attend to the positive interactions and mentorship they have with their teachers and maintain focus on their future-oriented goals.     

Taking Library 2.0 to the Next Level: Using a Course Wiki for Teaching Information Literacy to Honors Students

ABSTRACT

How do educators capitalize on students’ comfort with ubiquitous communications in order to develop information literacy skills required in the 21st century? A curriculum materials librarian and a professor in the School of Education present an approach that uses library instruction, online research scaffolds, and peer evaluation within a class wiki to enhance student research practices and academic achievement. The explosion of information sources and access to networked technologies has provided the opportunity to “ratchet up” the expectations for student research in higher education. The Association of College & Research Libraries's information literacy standards for higher education provide a framework for setting these expectations. The authors describe features of an introductory education course that seeks to enhance honors freshman students’ knowledge of library research resources, efficient research skills, and scholarly writing, as described in these standards.     

Public Library Use of Geographic Information Systems in the United States

Abstract

Public libraries are a source of information and resources for the local community, they also play a role in the use of technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) in that regard. GIS uses maps as output mediums for displaying demographic or similar information, as well as for spatial comparison or spatially based analysis. This is useful for gaining knowledge as well as for decision making. This article reports research into the awareness and use of GIS-type systems in public library settings in hopes of better understanding the benefits, drawbacks, and limitations to use of systems such as these. Primary findings suggest that there continues to exist limited understanding of the capabilities of GIS technology in public libraries and therefore very little demand for it exists in public librarians and patrons alike.     

The ILS as Outreach: Cataloging Campus Partner Collections

Although libraries tend to see the integrated library system (ILS) as a very “library” system, it is actually a powerful inventory and patron management system that can be used much more broadly. At American University, the library has many campus partner collections that it has added to the library catalog. Some collections contain books and media, like traditional library holdings, and some are made up of audiovisual and computer equipment. This article describes the process of cataloging these collections, the challenges of conceiving the ILS as a campus-wide system, and the benefits that these partnerships have brought to the library.