The Differential Effects of Human Capital for Male and Female Division I Basketball Coaches

Abstract

A horizontal adductive arm swing executed at maximal speed, and timed at intervals of 15°, 53°, 90°, and 105°, was studied under two experimental conditions. Although the movement completed was the same in both conditions, the fundamental difference between the “normal” and “pre-tensed” arm movements was that in the latter condition the subject built up his arm strength maximally just prior to initiating the movement. Twenty trials under each condition was performed by 60 college men. All reliability coefficients were found to be high, i.e., over .89. In contradiction to expectations, the relationship between premovement strength and speed of movement at the first station (r = -.208) was lower than anticipated. However, the low correlations found between strength and speed of movement are in general agreement with the results of earlier investigators which have substantiated the predominance of neuromotor specificity.     

The Relationships Between Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy and Student Course Workload and Teacher Availability Expectations

The purpose of this study is to identify student expectations for course workload and teacher availability and to assess whether teacher nonverbal immediacy influences these student expectations. Based on a sample of 198 students at a large public university enrolled in a required general education hybrid communication course, students were willing to complete more work than the current course requires, which is comparable to other general education hybrid communication courses in the USA. Additionally, students have moderate to high expectations for teacher availability. Student perceptions of teacher nonverbal immediacy were positively correlated with students’ willingness to engage in their learning (reading, writing, speaking), teacher availability expectations, and tolerance for teacher unavailability.     

EDITORS' PREFACE

In this study, the authors explore the role of press freedom in the development of an economy, both in terms of economic growth and foreign direct investment. The relationship between press freedom, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is analyzed using a balanced panel of 115 countries. The existence of a bidirectional relationship between press freedom and economic growth is established using the generalized method of moments technique. We also find a bidirectional relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth using the analysis. Our results are not contradicted by similar indices produced by Reporters Sans Frontières and Freedom House.     

Beverage-agarose gel electrophoresis: an inquiry-based laboratory exercise with virtual adaptation

A wide range of literature and experience has shown that teaching methods that promote active learning, such as inquiry-based approaches, are more effective than those that rely on passive learning. Gel electrophoresis, one of the most common laboratory techniques in molecular biology, has a wide range of applications in the life sciences. As such, we chose it as a platform to expose high school and undergraduate students to the active process of scientific inquiry in general, while specifically teaching electrophoresis. First, we optimized DNA electrophoresis in the laboratory by using common beverages instead of standard media (e.g., Tris-based media). Second, we adapted this laboratory process of progressive optimization to a Web-based format in which students had to achieve all the same steps of optimization by performing serial electrophoreses. And third, we evaluated the use of this entirely Web-based virtual laboratory exercise in high school and undergraduate biology courses. Students learned fundamental and practical principles of electrophoresis, while experiencing the essential inquiry-based process of optimizing a technique, and they also enjoyed it. Our findings provide a readily accessible, inexpensive, and intriguing technique for teaching electrophoresis and the progressive optimization of a laboratory technique.     

Children's literacy environments and early word recognition subskills

First-grade children completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skill, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Phonological and orthographic processing skill were separable components of variance in word recognition. Orthographic processing ability accounted for variance in word recognition ability even after the variance in three phonological processing measures had been partialed. Additionally, variance in orthographic processing ability not explained by phonological abilities was reliably linked to differences in print exposure. The print exposure measure was not, however, linked to the measures of phonological processing. This finding was unexpected but it is consistent with some previous research. The theoretical implications of this result are discussed.     

A study of auditory preferences in nonhandicapped infants and infants with Down's syndrome

11 infants with Down's syndrome (MA 9.2 months, CA 12.7 months) and 10 of 11 nonhandicapped infants (MA 9.6 months, CA 9.3 months) demonstrated that they could operate an automated device which enabled them to choose to listen to 1 of a pair of auditory signals. All subjects showed preferential responding. Both groups of infants showed a significant preference for nursery rhymes sung by a female voice rather than played on musical instruments. The infants with Down's syndrome had much longer response durations for the more complex auditory stimuli. The apparatus provides a useful technique for studying language development in both normal and abnormal populations.