Effect of Weight Training on Self-Concept: A Profile of those Influenced Most

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of weight training on the self-concepts of college males. Another purpose was to identify the types of males, relative to measures of extroversion, neuroticism, body cathexis, somatotype, and muscular strength, who experience the most improvement in self-concept during a lifting program. Subjects of the experimental group (n = 113) trained with weights twice each week for 16 weeks, while controls (n = 127) were educated relative to personal health concepts. The results revealed significant posttest differences in global, internal, and external self-concept between the groups, confirming the hypothesis that regular weight training is positively associated with the improvement of self-concept. Pretest body cathexis, self-concept, and neuroticism scores were significant predictors of global self-concept change from the pretest to the posttest, whereas pretest measures of extroversion, somatotype, and muscular strength were not. Changes in neuroticism, body cathexis, and muscular strength scores were significant predictors of self-concept change, while extroversion change was not, indicating that the positive association between weight training and self-concept enhancement is multivariately determined, and that some types of males experience more improvement of self-concept than others during a weight training regime.     

Sweat lactate response during cycling at 30°C and 18°C WBGT

Sweat lactate reflects eccrine gland metabolism. However, the metabolic tendencies of eccrine glands in a hot versus thermoneutral environment are not well understood. Sixteen male volunteers completed a maximal cycling trial and two 60-min cycling trials [30°C?=?30±1°C and 18°C?=?18±1°C wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT)]. The participants were requested to maintain a cadence of 60 rev?·?min^?1 with the intensity individualized at ～ 90% of the ventilatory threshold. Sweat samples at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60?min were analysed for lactate concentration. Sweat rate at 30°C (1380±325?ml?·?h^?1) was significantly greater (P<0.05) than at 18°C (632±311?ml?·?h^?1). Sweat lactate concentration was significantly greater (P<0.05) at each time point during the 18°C trial, with values between trials tending to converge across time. During the 30°C trial, both heart rate (20, 30, 40, 50 and 60?min) and rectal temperature (30, 40, 50 and 60?min) were significantly higher than in the 18°C trial. Higher sweat lactate concentrations coupled with lower sweat rates may indicate a greater relative contribution of oxygen-independent metabolism within eccrine glands during exercise at 18°C. Decreases in sweat lactate concentration across time suggest either greater dilution due to greater sweat volume or increased reliance on aerobic metabolism within eccrine glands. The convergence of lactate concentrations between trials may indicate that time-dependent modifications in sweat gland metabolism occur at different rates contingent partially on environmental conditions.     

Computer Science in Liberal Arts Colleges

When a liberal arts college decides to include computer science as one of its academic disciplines, a number of questions arise. What is an appropriate curriculum? What sort of laboratory support does this new discipline need? How does a small liberal arts school attract, retain, and evaluate faculty in this area? Do computer science faculty become a separate department or remain joined with mathematics or some other discipline? In short, what must be done to put computer science on equal footing with mathematics and other scientific disciplines? This paper addresses these questions.     

The architecture of peer assessment: do academically successful students make good teammates in design assignments?

This paper considers the relationship between architecture and construction management students’ overall academic abilities (as measured by Weighted Average Marks [WAMs]), their peer ratings for contributions to team design assignments (as measured by an online Self-and-Peer-Assessment [SAPA] tool), and their specific abilities as building designers (as measured by grades in individual design assignments). The research was conducted to determine whether a student’s prior academic achievements might indicate how well they will work in teams. The research demonstrates a statistically significant relationship between WAMs and SAPA ratings indicating that academically successful students more often than not make good teammates. However, the study also highlights that when peers are assessing contributions to teamwork they are assessing skills and qualities in their teammates other than overall academic ability or the ability to design well. Whilst this study is largely located within the field of design, the findings are relevant to any group work where teachers aim to design assessment that unravels group and individual contribution.     

Contextually Based Professional Development

In this article, the authors detail a study of a three-year professional development project designed to increase in-service teachers’ classroom technology integration. Participants engaged in learning activities that modeled technology integration from a contextually based perspective that included technology, and pedagogical and content knowledge. Although participants reported having very limited technology skills before professional development began, after two years they reported a significant increase in using technology skills. In addition, participants reported increased comfort and confidence in using technology to the level where they changed their teaching practice to integrate technology. Indeed, between years two and three, participants reported a significant increase in technology use for learning by their students.     

Intended and unintended consequences of student use of an online questioning environment

While supplementation of face‐to‐face (F2F) teaching with online engagement is increasingly common, the educators' challenge of teaching F2F personalities and facilitating online personalities has not been widely explored. In this paper, we report on a project in which 1st‐year students attended F2F sessions and engaged with an anonymous online questioning environment. The differences between students' F2F and online behaviour led to intended and unintended consequences. The purpose of this paper is to explore these intended and unintended consequences of technology use. The project was undertaken over a 3‐year period, starting in 2004. In 2004, a pilot project was conducted based on a class of 35 students studying a 1st‐year programming course in information systems. The investigation was again conducted in 2005 for the same course, this time with 63 students. In 2006, the project was extended to a class of 610 1st‐year commerce students studying an introductory information systems course. In all cases, students met F2F and when online, engaged with an anonymous Web/SMS collaborative tool. The intended consequence was that a blending of F2F with online interaction extended student engagement beyond the limitation of a classroom and provided a forum for further collaboration and consultation. The intended outcome was achieved. An unintended consequence was that the tool provided the lecturer with diagnostic information that was used to impact on pedagogical designs. This was often a result of students taking on an online personality that would very often be extremely frank and honest about the manner in which the course was conducted, and how learning was taking place. The findings show that students used the tool in ways that exceeded the envisaged intention, and student use of the tool positively impacted on the curriculum, pedagogy and general running of the course. The paper concludes that integration of online engagement with F2F teaching adds value to the teaching and learning experience.     

Disclosure of information by children in social networking—Not just a case of “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine”

This paper reports the results of a study of MySpace use, by Sydney high school children. It examines the reasons why children disclose information on the website and their understanding of some of the privacy issues involved. The study provides a useful beginning for further work in this area. Regression is used to validate a proposed model of the factors influencing information disclosure and cluster analysis provides an indication of characteristics shared by children who disclose sensitive information, such as name, address and telephone number. It also suggests that children who are taught to value privacy are less likely to disclose sensitive information on-line.     

Ownership concentration and innovativeness of corporate ventures

Corporate venture investments are an established means for incumbent firms to access radical innovation. Drawing from a behavioural agency framework, we distinguish two mechanisms that govern the relationship between corporate venture investment and radical innovation, the safety net that corporate sponsors provide and control incentives. While the safety net induces a gap between the radical innovation success of corporate ventures (CVs) and ventures without a corporate sponsor, the superior radical innovation success of CVs decreases with the corporate sponsor’s incentives to control the venture. The impact of the safety net and control incentives further depends on the corporate sponsor’s position vis-à-vis her aspiration level.