Talent Development: A Guide for Practice and Research Within Sport

The transformation of talented youngsters into senior world-beaters is a topic of interest for practitioners and researchers alike. Unfortunately there is a dearth of research to guide the optimization of this process. Accordingly, this paper offers an overview of key themes apparent in the literature that have relevance to the effective development of talent. The five key generic features that emerge consistently include long-term aims and methods; wide ranging coherent messages and support; emphasis on appropriate development rather than early selection; individualized and ongoing development; and finally, integrated, holistic, and systematic development. In addition to the review, exemplars of current worldwide practice are used to further highlight both the need and direction for further research and more broad education of an effective talent development model.     

The beginning op the accrediting system of secondary schools in Missouri

The introduction raises basic issues about the many contradictory shapes of constructivism and the possible existence of a central substance or philosophical core that can be called constructivism. The ontological and epistemological dimensions of constructivism that help mold the different shapes are highlighted in the introduction. Next comes an analysis of constructivist shape-shifting from Piaget to the social constructivists, followed by a synthesis of any substantial tenets that might bring "identity" to constructivism. I then show how teacher education has applied some key constructivist ideas, and I evaluate the soundness of constructivism as a framework for teacher education.     

Effects of network treatments on perceptions of a political campaign film: Can rhetorical criticism make a difference?

Presented here are the findings from a quasi‐experimental comparison of three network treatments of “A New Beginning,” a campaign film that aroused considerable controversy when the Republicans substituted it for a speech at the 1984 Republican National Convention as a way of getting the networks to air it. Of paramount interest in the study were the effects on viewers of one network's critical preview of the film. Of the three major networks, only NBC elected to air the entire film, but they preceded its showing with a commentary on the film that was far more critical than those by CBS and ABC. Surprisingly, Ss predisposed toward Ronald Reagan did not derogate the NBC treatment of the film, but neither did NBC's criticisms adversely affect perceptions of the film. To the contrary, ratings of the film and network treatments of the film were highest for NBC viewers. The findings are discussed with a view toward assessing the uses and limitations of rhetorical criticism in television coverage of political campaigns.     

The communication investigator: Teaching research methods to undergraduates

This essay explores the basic communication research course for undergraduates. Discussed are several key notions for making this course valuable to the undergraduate: the attitude of the instructor, the attitude of the students, course requirements and activities, and evaluation techniques.     

Effect of worked examples and Cognitive Tutor training on constructing equations

Algebra students studied either static-table, static-graphics, or interactive-graphics instructional worked examples that alternated with Algebra Cognitive Tutor practice problems. A control group did not study worked examples but solved both the instructional and practice problems on the Cognitive Tutor (CT). Students in the control group requested fewer hints and made fewer errors on the CT practice problems but required more learning time on the instructional examples. There was no difference among the four groups in constructing equations on a paper-and-pencil posttest or on a delayed test that included training and transfer problems. However, students who studied worked examples with a table were best at identifying the meaning of the equation components. The concept of transfer-appropriate processing (the overlap between instructional task and assessment task) aided our interpretation of the findings. Although the CT had a short-term effect on reducing errors and hint requests on CT practice problems, the worked examples were as effective on delayed paper-and-pencil tests. The subsequent construction of a new module for the Animation Tutor (Reed and Hoffman, Animation Tutor: Mixtures. Instructional software, 2011) used both the interactive-graphics and static-table worked examples to take advantage of the complementary strengths of different representations (Ainsworth, Learn Instr 16:183–198, 2006).     

Functional Competence in Mathematics

Cognitive and educational researchers are paying increasing attention to the impact of instruction in the college classroom. Recent research has demonstrated that students' manipulated perceptions of control and success can impede or enhance the benefits of one effective teaching behavior, namely, instructor expressiveness. In this study, students' actual perceptions of control and success were assessed, rather than manipulated. In a simulated college classroom, students were classified into perceived control (low, high) and perceived success (low, high) categories based on their perceptions of control and success over their prelecture test performance. Students were presented with either unexpressive or expressive instruction; then they completed a postlecture achievement test and postachievement questionnaire. Under both instruction conditions, high-control/high-success students demonstrated the best achievement results, whereas, inconsistent with the hypotheses, students with low perceptions of control and high perceptions of success demonstrated the poorest academic performance and unique affects. These results are discussed in relation to the significance of individual differences across teaching conditions.