Microtechnology Processes and Cooperative Behavior of Third Grade Children

This study investigates four variations of a microtechnology process and its effect on the development of cooperative behavior in 96 third grade children. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups. The treatments were the complete microtechnology process and three variations of the process. Findings suggest that: cooperative behavior can be significantly (p < .01) increased by use of microtechnology techniques; the microtechnology process is effective without the self-confrontation component; and the behavior developed exhibited short-term retention.     

Data assemblages,sentient schools and digitised health and physical education (response to Gard)

Michael Gard raises some important issues in his opinion piece on digitised health and physical education (HPE) in the school setting. His piece represents the beginning of a more critical approach to the instrumental and solutionist perspectives that are currently offered on digitised HPE. Few commentators in education, health promotion or sports studies have begun to realise the extent to which digital data surveillance and analytics are now encroaching into many social institutions and settings and the ways in which actors and agencies in the digital knowledge economy are appropriating these data. Identifying what is happening and the implications for the concepts of selfhood, body and social relations, not to mention the more specific issues of privacy and the commercialisation and exploitation of personal data, requires much greater attention than these issues have previously received in the critical social research literature. While Gard has begun to do this in his article, there is much more to discuss. In this response, I present some discussion that seeks to provide a complementary commentary on the broader context in which digitised HPE is developing and manifesting. Whether or not one takes a position that is techno-utopian, dystopian or somewhere in between, I would argue that to fully understand the social, cultural and political resonances of digitised HPE, such contextualising is vital.     

Connecting Forensics and Assessment in the Twenty-First Century

A major feature of education in the twenty-first century is assessment. Forensic educators should heighten the importance of learning outcomes and utilize assessment efforts to directly measure how forensic programs develop educational foundations for students. This article focuses on the use of tournaments and noncompetitive educational outcomes, such as engagement within academic communities, service-learning, and the promotion of the value of forensics, to connect the educational benefits of the activity to help define the mission of forensics in the twenty-first century.     

Reviewing the Family Unit as a Stakeholder in Talent Development: Is It Undervalued?

As elite youth sport becomes more organized and professionalized, the role of the family is increasingly acknowledged as being significant in the development of young talent. High-profile examples across a range of professional sports, both positive and negative, have drawn attention toward this important stakeholder. Accordingly, this review first examines the key issues in relation to family involvement in talent development in relation to what is perceived as good and bad practice on behalf of the family. Next the key theoretical underpinning is considered, Family Systems Theory, and how it may be integrated within elite youth sport. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of where the current literature leaves us and where we can progress from here. Two possible inputs are suggested that could benefit the effectiveness of family involvement: a focus on the family holistically and a second on the role different family members can play.     

Required Collaborative Work in Online Courses: A Predictive Modeling Approach

This article describes a predictive model that assesses whether a student will have greater perceived learning in group assignments or in individual work. The model produces correct classifications 87.5% of the time. The research is notable in that it is the first in the education literature to adopt a predictive modeling methodology using data collected via a designed experiment. All subjects experienced both a collaborative and an individual assignment, thus mitigating uncontrolled external factors in the measurement of differences in perceived learning. The exploratory nature of the work prompted the use of Partial Least Squares Regression for estimation. The work serves as an illustration of how predictive modeling might enlighten those in educational and academic settings.     

Adult outcomes of sustained high-quality early child care and education: Do they vary by family income?

Experimental research demonstrates sustained high-quality early care and education (ECE) can mitigate the consequences of poverty into adulthood. However, the long-term effects of community-based ECE are less known. Using the 1991 NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 994; 49.7% female; 73.6% White, 10.6% African American, 5.6% Latino, 10.2% Other), results show that ECE was associated with reduced disparities between low- and higher-income children's educational attainment and wages at age 26. Disparities in college graduation were reduced the more months that low-income children spent in ECE (d = .19). For wages, disparities were reduced when children from low-income families attended sustained high-quality ECE (d = .19). Findings suggest that community-based ECE is linked to meaningful educational and life outcomes, and sustained high-quality ECE is particularly important for children from lower-income backgrounds.