The Effects of Types of Training on Support of Training Among Corporate Managers

With organizations becoming leaner during times of cost consciousness, it is becoming critical that training departments demonstrate their contributions to their bottom lines by becoming more productivity based than they have been historically. For training professionals to obtain the needed financial and organizational support of their training efforts, top management should corroborate the training function. To gain this support, training professionals have evaluation procedures available to them. My purpose for conducting this study was to determine which type of training evaluation method (reaction, learning, behavior, or results) elicited the most management support of the training function among corporate managers. I designed and distributed a case study survey instrument (TEMS) to assess the extent of this support. MBA students with management experience and non-training managers participated in the study. For both samples, the data indicated that the results evaluation format received the most support, with progressively less support for behavior, learning, and reaction evaluations, respectively. I believe that this study provides training practitioners with a mandate for demonstrating training results to top management. It further gives an accountability system for gaining management support of the training function.     

Appropriate experiences for the gifted science student

Gifted/talented education is slowly expanding as more funds for programs are provided by states and more universities off er graduate programs.     

The influence of moment of inertia on baseball/softball bat swing speed

The speed at which a player can swing a bat is central to the games of baseball and softball, determining, to a large extent, the hit speed of the ball. Experimental and analytical studies of bat swing speed were conducted with particular emphasis on the influence of bat moment of inertia on swing speed. Two distinct sets of experiments measured the swing speed of colege baseball and fast-pitch softball players using weighted rods and modified bats. The swing targets included flexible targets, balls on a tee and machine pitched balls. Internal mass alterations provided a range of inertial properties. The average measured speeds, from 22 to 31 m s⁻¹, are consistent with previous studies. Bat speed approximately correlates with the moment of inertia of the bat about a vertical axis of rotation through the batter's body, the speed generally decreasing as this moment of inertia increases. The analytical model assumes pure rotation of the batter/bat system about a vertical axis through the batter's body. Aerodynamic drag of the batter's arms and the bat is included in the model. The independent variable is bat moment of inertia about the rotation axis. There is reasonable agreement between the model and the measured speeds. Detailed differences between the two suggest the importance of additional degrees of freedom in determining swing speed.