USE OF CRITICAL INCIDENTS FOR PLANNING,IMPLEMENTING, AND EVALUATING A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FOSTER GRANDPARENTS

The authors report the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a training program for foster grandparents employed at a residential diagnostic and treatment center for disturbed children and youth. The training needs were assessed by task and performance analysis procedures, including the use of critical incident technique. A scoring procedure derived values for various responses to a set of problem situations presented to each foster grandparent. The training objectives focused on the role of the foster grandparents in helping their charges to develop socially acceptable behavior. A cognitive problem‐solving strategy was taught by use primarily of role‐modeling and role‐playing methods. The effectiveness of training was evaluated by comparing pretraining scores on a problem situation test with posttraining scores. Foster grandparents who had been highly rated by supervisors on an independent criterion improved with training; the others did not.     

Book reviews

Thigh muscle volume is a useful determinant of functional fitness. However, anthropometric prediction of muscle content is influenced by the variability of adipose tissue accumulation. The aims of this study were to predict thigh muscle and adipose tissue volumes from anthropometry and to assess the validity of the method by examining the various components of the measurements and the assumptions involved. The 19 participants (9 men, 10 women; age 23-49 years) varied in adiposity. They all underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the upper leg and the eight men and two women with the lowest adiposity underwent detailed anthropometry involving girths and skinfolds. Using MRI as the reference method, muscle volume was predicted from anthropometry using a circular concentric model, and the assumptions inherent in the method were tested further using the MRI data alone. Muscle volume was best predicted by anthropometry in the 10 leanest participants using a five-slice truncated cone model that overestimated the mean MRI value by 30% ( R 2 = 0.95; standard error of estimate = 288 cm 3 ; P ? 0.001). A single skinfold plus girth measurement at the mid-thigh almost matched its predictive ability, but with an increased bias. Measurements of leg circumference by means of the two techniques agreed well. The assumption of a circular cross-section was valid. In contrast, the agreement between skinfold thickness measured by caliper and superficial adipose tissue thickness by MRI was poor, contributing to the scatter of fat and lean area comparisons. An anterior skinfold thickness measurement underestimated the area of superficial adipose tissue at that level, particularly at the most proximal and distal sites. Although these limitations increase the uncertainties of muscle volume determination by anthropometry, they do not prevent its valid prediction in leaner individuals. The prediction of superficial adipose tissue was poorer.     

Reliability and validity of field-based fitness tests in youth soccer players

This study aimed to establish between-day reliability and validity of commonly used field-based fitness tests in youth soccer players of varied age and playing standards, and to discriminate between players without (“unidentified”) or with (“identified”) a direct route to professional football through their existing club pathway. Three-hundred-and-seventy-three Scottish youth soccer players (U11–U17) from three different playing standards (amateur, development, performance) completed a battery of commonly used generic field-based fitness tests (grip dynamometry, standing broad jump, countermovement vertical jump, 505 (505COD) and T-Drill (T-Test) change of direction and 10/20 m sprint tests) on two separate occasions within 7–14?days. The majority of field-based fitness tests selected within this study proved to be reliable measures of physical performance (ICC?=?0.83–0.97; p?p?2 (7)?=?101.646, p?相似文献   

Childhood aerobic fitness predicts cognitive performance one year later

Abstract

Aerobically fit children outperform less fit peers on cognitive control challenges that involve inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether, compared with less fit children, more fit 9- and 10-year-old pre-adolescents exhibit superior performance on a modified compatible and incompatible flanker task of cognitive control at the initial time of fitness testing and approximately one year later. We found that more fit children demonstrated increased flanker accuracy at both test sessions, coupled with a superior ability to flexibly allocate strategies during task conditions that required different amounts of cognitive control, relative to less fit children. More fit children also gained a speed benefit at follow-up testing. Structural MRI data were also collected to investigate the relationship between basal ganglia volume and task performance. Bilateral putamen volumes of the dorsal striatum and globus pallidus volumes predicted flanker performance at initial and follow-up testing one year later. The present findings suggest that childhood aerobic fitness and basal ganglia volumes relate to cognitive control at the time of fitness testing and may play a role in cognitive performance in the future. We hope that this research will encourage public health and educational changes that will promote a physically active lifestyle in children.     

Counseling International Students in Canadian Schools

International students face many demands as they navigate the cross-cultural transition of living and learning in host countries such as Canada. The cultural diversity represented in this student population poses unique challenges for multicultural counseling. The ways that international students have been represented in the literature may contribute to barriers for effective counseling services. The discussion begins with a summary of the issues faced by international students when living and learning in a foreign country. Several limitations in the counseling literature about international students are addressed, including, the limitations of culture shock as a model of cross cultural transition, the lack of methodological diversity in research involving international students, a focus on group characteristics, and the continued emphasis on the problems experienced by international students. Suggestions for counselors are given to enhance their multicultural counseling competencies for working with international students.     

Teacher Practices and Middle‐school Science Achievements

We report on the construction and application on an instrument entitled the “Science Achievement Influences Survey” to assess combined effects of student attitudes about science, peer interaction, and home support, and the frequency of student‐centred and teacher‐centred instructional practices on student achievement. Controlling for pre‐test content knowledge, results indicated that student‐centred teaching practices have a positive association with student achievement (p < .01; i.e., group experiments) and a negative association with teacher‐centred teaching practices (p < .01; i.e., copying notes). Additionally, student attitudes about science were positively associated with student‐centred teaching practices (p < .01) and negatively associated with teacher‐centred teaching practices (p < .01). Most significantly, this study documents the predicted gains in science achievement associated with frequency of specific instructional practices used by middle‐school science teachers. Especially noteworthy and significant is the finding that near‐daily implementation of group experiments and reduction of extensive note‐copying during class yield the greatest positive impact on student achievement. Outside of school, peer interaction and home support were not significantly associated (p > .05) with student achievement. The student sample included 611 middle‐school science students with a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.     

Editorial for EAIT issue 3, 2021

Education and Information Technologies -