What once was old is new again

Through seminars and continuing educational opportunities, recently certified Lamaze childbirth educators beginning their teaching careers have learned of the changes in birth practices over the past 50 years. However, they may not have heard the personal stories about the locations and conditions in which Lamaze educators first taught. In this column, five childbirth educators share their memories of the birthing climate, teaching strategies, class populations, and other aspects of Lamaze childbirth education 50 years ago and how the old ways compare with today's classes. Their stories not only provide an important, historical perspective to build on the past and improve future educational opportunities for expectant women and their families but also illustrate Lamaze's ongoing efforts to promote natural, safe, and healthy birth practices.     

Strategies for Transitioning Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders to Kindergarten

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), worldwide. Since children with ASD have limited social interaction and communication skills, they tend to lag behind their peers without disabilities in many areas. In particular, they are unable to easily transition smoothly from one stage of their life to another. Transitions from preschool settings to kindergarten and beyond should be a critical issue of concern for educators and parents of young children with ASD. The results of a survey completed by 65 preschool teachers from Ghana and 210 of their counterparts in the United States of America, about characteristics of effective transition programs for children with ASD, are presented. Implications for preschool teacher preparation and transition planning are discussed.     

The impact of collective efficacy beliefs on effort and persistence in a group task

Collective efficacy is an important determinant of the motivation of individuals within groups, with increases in collective efficacy producing more effort in a task and greater persistence when faced with failure. To test hypotheses concerning the impact of collective efficacy on effort and persistence, participants (n = 22) were assigned to triads (consisting of the participant and two confederates) and performed three time trials on cycle ergometers. After trial 1, the participants were assigned to either a high or low collective efficacy condition, receiving appropriate bogus performance feedback. All groups received failure feedback after trial 2. Effort was assessed by performance time and maximum heart rate (HRmax) achieved during performance. A 2 (collective efficacy condition) x 3 (trials) analysis of variance with repeated measures on trials revealed significant interaction effects for both performance time and HRmax. Fisher's least significant difference post-hoc tests indicated that, following efficacy manipulation, groups low in collective efficacy significantly reduced both their performance time and HRmax, whereas groups high in collective efficacy maintained performance and HRmax. However, predictions concerning the impact of failure on persistence were not supported. Our results provide partial support for the role of collective efficacy in team sports.     

Evaluation of a university course to promote physical activity: project GRAD

Project GRAD (Graduate Ready for Activity Daily) evaluates a university course to promote physical activity. In a randomized study, 338 university seniors participated in either an intervention or control course for academic credit, and posttest data were collected on 321. The control course was knowledge-oriented. The intervention course taught behavior change skills in weekly lectures and peer-led labs. Physical activity was assessed with 7-Day Physical Activity Recall interviews. The intervention had no significant effects on men. Among women, the intervention increased total physical activity during leisure, strengthening exercises, and flexibility exercise. This university course had the intended effects of promoting healthful patterns of physical activity among women, but no effects were observed on men, who were more active than women at baseline.     

Information--movement coupling: implications for the organization of research and practice during acquisition of self-paced extrinsic timing skills

Information--movement coupling is a fundamental concept, integral to theorizing on the coordination of goal-directed activity in ecological psychology. In this paper, we examine the implications of this concept for the design of experimental research and the organization of practice during the acquisition of movement coordination in sport tasks. The task vehicle for our analysis is interceptive actions, in particular self-paced extrinsic timing tasks exemplified by serving in sports such as volleyball. Recent research highlighting the relevance of information--movement coupling for the process of practice in sport is discussed. We conclude that information--movement coupling represents an important principle for the structural organization of research and practice in self-paced extrinsic timing tasks and that further work is required to verify its significance across a range of sport movements.     

Through the years: a longitudinal study of physical education teachers from a research-based preparation program

This study investigated factors that enhanced and constrained the career development of six teachers, who had graduated from the same university teacher education program, in their induction years (Woods & Earls, 1995) and again later in their career cycles. Three participants were physical education teachers (PETs), and three were former physical education teachers (FPETs). Fessler's (1985) Teacher Career Stage Model provided the theoretical framework. Data sources were: interviews with teachers and their teacher educators and direct observations of lessons. Results indicated that the PETs continued to have skill development as their primary teaching objective. The teachers maintained many of their teaching skills, and shifted between the career cycles of "competency building" and "enthusiastic and growing." All three FPETs left their physical education positions during the career frustration stage and at the time of publication were in the career exit stage.     

Statistical analyses in the physiology of exercise and kinanthropometry

Research into the physiology of exercise and kinanthropometry is intended to improve our understanding of how the body responds and adapts to exercise. If such studies are to be meaningful, they have to be well designed and analysed. Advances in personal computing have made available statistical analyses that were previously the preserve of elaborate mainframe systems and have increased opportunities for investigation. However, the ease with which analyses can be performed can mask underlying philosophical and epistemological shortcomings. The aim of this review is to examine the use of four techniques that are especially relevant to physiological studies: (1) bivariate correlation and linear and non-linear regression, (2) multiple regression, (3) repeated-measures analysis of variance and (4) multi-level modelling. The importance of adhering to underlying statistical assumptions is emphasized and ways to accommodate violations of these assumptions are identified.