An extension of the effects of the performance feedback system with secondary school students

The effects of the performance feedback system on the story writing behavior of grade-10 academic and grade-11 honors students was investigated with a reversal design. After establishing baseline composition rates in each classroom, an experimental condition consisting of explicit timing of the students' 5-min. composition period, self-scoring, and public posting of highest scores was introduced, removed, and reintroduced. In both classes, the introduction of the experimental condition led to marked increase in the number of words written by all students. Writing rates declined during the second baseline condition and increased again when the experimental package was reintroduced. In addition, teachers unaware of the purpose of the experiment rated randomly selected pairs of stories from each condition. The teachers found the stories written during the experimental condition to be superior to those written during the baseline condition.     

Using systemic functional linguistics as method in identifying semogenic strategies in intercultural communication: A study of the collocation of “time” and “different” by Swedish managers with international management experiences

Theoretical foundations to intercultural communication (ICC) are integrative and interdisciplinary but few have studied ICC from a systemic linguistics perspective. Viewing communication as a dialogic process, this study takes a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) view of language as a social semiotic where semogenesis (meaning making) is both construed and construed by context of situation which in turn is construed by culture. Using interview data collected from Swedish managers who have extensive international management experiences, this study aims to illustrate how SFL can be used as an adaptive theory and framework of discourse analysis in uncovering semogenic strategies in ICC processes.     

Academic achievement among a sample of youth in foster care: The role of school connectedness

Research shows that youth in foster care experience poor academic performance and disciplinary actions in school more frequently than do non-foster care youth. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to further examine youth in foster care and the relationship between individual/intrapersonal factors (future orientation and school connectedness) and exosystem factors (number of placement and school moves) and academic performance (grades) and disciplinary referrals among 363 youth (9–11 years of age; males = 52.9%). Controlling for key variables, hierarchical linear regression analysis was utilized to understand how well students' school connectedness, future outlook, number of placement changes, and number of school moves predicted academic and disciplinary outcomes. Beyond the variance explained by control variables, school connectedness made a significant contribution to this model. Results are discussed in the context of implementing interventions that foster school connectedness among this vulnerable population.     

The effect of badminton-specific exercise on badminton short-serve performance in competition and practice climates

This study examined the effects of changes in physiological and psychological arousal on badminton short-serve performance in competitive and practice climates. Twenty competitive badminton players (10 males and 10 females) volunteered to participate in the study following ethics approval. After familiarisation, badminton short-serve performance was measured at rest, mid-way through and at the end of a badminton-specific exercise protocol in two conditions; competition vs. practice. Ratings of cognitive and somatic anxiety were assessed at three time points prior to badminton short-serve performance using the Mental Readiness Form 3. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed during the exercise protocol. Results indicated that better short-serve performance was evident in practice compared to competition (P?=?.034). RPE values were significantly higher in the competition condition compared to practice (P?=?.007). Cognitive anxiety intensity was significantly lower post-exercise in the practice condition compared to competition (P?=?.001). Cognitive anxiety direction showed greater debilitation post-exercise in the competition condition compared to practice (P?=?.01). Somatic anxiety intensity increased from pre-, to mid- to post-exercise (P?=?.001) irrespective of condition. This study suggests that badminton serve performance is negatively affected when physiological arousal, via badminton-specific exercise, and cognitive anxiety, via perceived competition, are high.     

Ground reaction forces produced by two different hockey skating arm swing techniques

The arm swing in hockey skating can have a positive effect on the forces produced by each skate, and the resulting velocity from each push off. The main purpose of this study was to measure the differences in ground reaction forces (GRFs) produced from an anteroposterior versus a mediolateral style hockey skating arm swing. Twenty-four elite-level female hockey players performed each technique while standing on a ground-mounted force platform, and all trials were filmed using two video cameras. Force data was assessed for peak scaled GRFs in the frontal and sagittal planes, and resultant GRF magnitude and direction. Upper limb kinematics were assessed from the video using Dartfish video analysis software, confirming that the subjects successfully performed two distinct arm swing techniques. The mediolateral arm swing used a mean of 18.38° of glenohumeral flexion/extension and 183.68° of glenohumeral abduction/adduction while the anteroposterior technique used 214.17° and 28.97° respectively. The results of this study confirmed that the mediolateral arm swing produced 37% greater frontal plane and 33% less sagittal plane GRFs than the anteroposterior arm swing. The magnitudes of the resultant GRFs were not significantly different between the two techniques; however, the mediolateral technique produced a resultant GRF with a significantly larger angle from the direction of travel (44.44°) as compared to the anteroposterior technique (31.60°). The results of this study suggest that the direction of GRFs produced by the mediolateral arm swing more closely mimic the direction of lower limb propulsion during the skating stride.     

Cross‐time attitudes,concept formation,and achievement in college freshman physics

The relationships among science and engineering attitude, physics conceptual understanding, and physics achievement were explored for a population of college freshman engineering students over two semesters. Gender and SAT‐Quantitative measures were included as exogenous variables in a longitudinal path analysis. Attitude was theorized to predict achievement contemporaneously and at the next time point, while conceptual understanding was theorized to predict physics achievement contemporaneously and at the next time point. Each at one time was theorized to predict scores at the next time. A sample of 200 freshman engineering students participating in an integrated curriculum were assessed in September, December, and April (with a loss of 64 students) with the Force Concepts Inventory (FCI), Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT), and a locally developed attitude measure. The observed model indicated that the FCI predicted attitude at time 1 with no other paths between them, that FCI at time 1 predicted MBT at time 1 and time 2, FCI at time 2 predicted MBT at time 3, and MBT at time 1 predicted FCI at time 2. Gender and SAT‐Quantitative scores were predictive only of FCI and MBT at time 1. Results supported an interactive model of conceptual understanding and achievement, with attitude largely irrelevant to the process for this population. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 1112–1120, 2000     

Optimum non-linear Wiener filters

General conditions are given for the optimality of non-linear Wiener filters which minimize the mean-square difference between the desired and actual filter outputs. These conditions, which are a generalization of the Wiener–Hopf equation are applied to the Gaussian case and the kernels of the optimum realizable and unrealizable systems are derived.     

Integrating Religion and Spirituality Into Counselor Education: Barriers and Strategies

Despite a professionally recognized need for training in religion/spirituality, literature indicates that religious and spirituality issues continue to be inconsistently addressed in counselor education. Ten experts were asked to identify potential barriers to integrating religion and spirituality into counselor education and indicate strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Barriers included a lack of information and a lack of personal interest or relevance, and strategies included continuing education, heightened awareness of self and others, and curriculum‐specific recommendations. Implications for counselor training and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Measuring Success in Outsourced Cataloging: A Data-Driven Investigation

This article investigates the error rates in shelf-ready cataloged monographs from Ingram Coutts Information Services that were received at The University of Western Ontario. Using quality control reports from a period of two years, over 500 cataloging errors were entered into a database organized by frequency, severity, and other factors. With this information, we analyzed the frequency of errors and their root causes. We found that overall error rates are low, and the quality of shelf-ready cataloging has improved since first implementing the outsourcing program.