Programming and reprogramming sequence timing following high and low contextual interference practice

Individuals practiced two unique discrete sequence production tasks that differed in their relative time profile in either a blocked or random practice schedule. Each participant was subsequently administered a "precuing" protocol to examine the cost of initially compiling or modifying the plan for an upcoming movement's relative timing. The findings indicated that, in general, random practice facilitated the programming of the required movement timing, and this was accomplished while exhibiting greater accuracy in movement production. Participants exposed to random practice exhibited the greatest motor programming benefit, when a modification to an already prepared movement timing profile was required. When movement timing was only partially constructed prior to the imperative signal, the individuals who were trained in blocked and random practice formats accrued a similar cost to complete the programming process. These data provide additional support for the recent claim of Immink & Wright (2001) that at least some of the benefit from experience in a random as opposed to blocked training context can be localized to superior development and implementation of the motor programming process before executing the movement.     

Effects of repeated retention tests on learning a single timing task

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that administering an initial retention test would influence any subsequent retention tests administered to the same participants. Participants performed 40 practice trials of a four-segment key-pressing task with a movement time goal of 925 ms. Participants were then administered either two retention tests (Day 1-Day 1 group, 10 min and 20 min after practice; Day 1-Day 2 group, 10 min and 24 hr after practice; Day 2-Day 2 group, 23 hr 50 min and 24 hr after practice) or one retention test (Day 1-Control group, 20 min after practice; Day 2-Control group, 24 hr after practice). The first test had a deleterious effect on performing the second test for the Day 2-Day 2 group, which would be expected if the task representation was updated and re-encoded at the time of recall using diminished information. This finding suggests that researchers should be cautious about using repeated retention tests that are administered 1 day after practice. In addition, teachers and coaches should consider administering a test under gamelike conditions following practice of a new technique. Otherwise, performance of the new technique may be degraded or perturbed at the time of later performances.     

Gathering faculty teaching evaluations by in‐class and online surveys: their effects on response rates and evaluations

This study compares student evaluations of faculty teaching that were completed in‐class with those collected online. The two methods of evaluation were compared on response rates and on evaluation scores. In addition, this study investigates whether treatments or incentives can affect the response to online evaluations. It was found that the response rate to the online survey was generally lower than that to the in‐class survey. When a grade incentive was used to encourage response to the online survey, a response rate was achieved that was comparable with that to the in‐class survey. Additionally, the study found that online evaluations do not produce significantly different mean evaluation scores than traditional in‐class evaluations, even when different incentives are offered to students who are asked to complete online evaluations.     

The social construction of learning disabilities

Underpinning the technical gaze that dominates learning disabilities theory and practice is the assumption that learning disabilities are a pathology that resides in the heads of individual students, with the corollary that remedial efforts also focus on what goes on in the heads of students classified as learning disabled. This article begins with a critique of the ideology of individualism that situates individual success and failure in the heads of individuals as a means of introducing an alternative perspective--social constructivism--that locates learning and learning problems in the context of human relations and activity. Extended examples are used to illustrate how the performative aspects of learning disabilities emerge in the context of human relationships. The primary argument developed here is that one cannot be learning disabled on one's own. It takes a complex system of interactions performed in just the right way, at the right time, on the stage we call school to make a learning disability. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the instructional implications of a social constructivist stance.     

The Ohio Career Education Association: Providing leadership in a changing society

Summary Founded in 1975, the Ohio Career Education Association has grown and matured into a vital, action-oriented professional organization of 1,700 members. Major initiatives include an outstanding annual conference, a quarterly newsletter, legislative relations activities, partnerships, publicity campaigns, and professional development seminars.CEA's dual mission is to promote the growth and expansion of career education in Ohio and to serve the interests of career education practitioners — teachers, counselors, career program personnel, and other local supporters.The key to CEA's success is that it functions as an active member of Ohio's career education network.Curt Heady is Director, Tri-County Education Program, Nelsonville, Ohio. He is also currently serving as Immediate Past President of the Ohio Career Education Association.     

School Trouble: A mother's burden

ABSTRACT The desire for parent involvement in children's schooling is based on the assumption that parents play a significant role in children's educational achievements. As a policy goal, parent involvement includes the participation of both mothers and fathers. However, in practice, parent involvement refers more often to the work of women in support of children's schooling. The coordination and supervision of children's educational activities often demands a significant portion of mothers' waking hours, particularly in the case of mothers whose children are doing poorly in school. This article draws on interviews with parents of children who struggled academically in school to examine the effects of 'school troubles' on mothers who, among the parents interviewed for this study, were much more likely to assume the material and emotional burdens for school troubles.     

The Flunk Heard Round the World

In April 1998, the state of Massachusetts implemented its first-ever high-stakes teacher test, requiring a pass of all those who sought a teaching license. Fifty-nine percent of teacher candidates failed, and their flunk was heard in newspaper and television stories around the world. This article presents brief highlights from a study of the impact of the Massachusetts test on teacher education at five higher education sites in the state. Contrary to expectations based on research about the impact of high stakes tests in K-12 schools, the study indicated that the teacher test had little impact on teacher education curriculum or program structures. Drawing on a market-policy lens, the article suggests that, instead, one of the major impacts of the test was its contribution to the grand narrative about teaching and teacher education as culprits in what is wrong with public schools and public education, which in turn supports a larger political agenda for privatization and a market approach to educational reform.