Observations of youth football training: How do coaches structure training sessions for player development?

We used systematic observation tools to explore the structure (i.e., activity and inactivity) and sequencing (i.e., the types of activities used) of football coaching sessions in Australia following the implementation of a new National Curriculum. Youth soccer coaches (n = 34), coaching within the Skill Acquisition (U11–U13 n = 19) and Game Training (U14–U17 n = 15) phases of the Football Federation Australia National Curriculum participated. Participants were filmed during a regular coaching session, with systematic observation of the session undertaken to provide a detailed analysis of the practice activities and coach behaviours. Findings indicated a session comprised of Playing Form activities (40.9%), Training Form activities (22.3%), inactivity (31%), and transitions between activities (5.8%). Coaches prescribed more Training Form activities (e.g., individual (5.4%) and drills (15.1%)) early in the session and progressed to Playing Form activities (i.e., small-sided games (15.3%) then larger games (24.8%)) later in the session. Most inactivity reflected the players listening to the coach – either in a team huddle (9.9%) or frozen on the spot during an activity (16.5%). In addition, coaches generally spent over 3 min communicating to players prior to explaining and introducing an activity regardless of when in the session the activity was scheduled.     

Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Professional Communication Pedagogy

Critical thinking pedagogy offers a supportive environment for teaching ethics in the professional communication classroom. Four important aspects of critical thinking which particularly encourage ethical thought and behavior are identifying and questioning assumptions, seeking a multiplicity of voices and alternatives on a subject, making connections, and fostering active involvement. Focusing on these behaviors allows an ongoing incorporation of ethics into many different aspects of the classroom.     

A New Marketing Paradigm for Electronic Commerce

The World Wide Web possesses unique characteristics that distinguish it in important ways from traditional commercial communications environments. Because the Web presents a fundamentally different environment for marketing activities than traditional media, conventional marketing activities are becoming transformed, as they are often difficult to implement in their present form. In this article, we discuss the idea that these changes portend an evolution in the 'marketing concept' and argue that in order for marketing efforts to be successful in this new medium, a new business paradigm is required. In this new approach, the marketing function must be reconstructed to facilitate electronic commerce in the emerging electronic society underlying the Web.     

Helping the Gifted Escape Metaphorical Entrapment

Linguists and philosophers have revealed the powerful shaping influences of metaphor on thought. Metaphorical frameworks have inspired and confined theories of mind, research paradigms, and even conceptions of morality in the larger sociopolitical environment. This paper explores these strong metaphorical influences on thought and action with special attention to sociopolitical and moral dimensions. It reveals profound metaphorical effects on the functioning of minds as well as ideological, liberal and conservative conceptions of aspirations, self-fulfillment, success, and morality. The analysis suggests the need for more attention to metaphorical analysis and the development of moral imagination in the education of the gifted.     

Making Space for Consuming Practices

This empirically driven paper is about workplace learning with specific focus on the ‘work’ of consuming practices. By consuming we refer to the eating, and the drinking, and (at times) to the smoking that workers, in most organisations, do on a daily basis. Indeed, it is the quotidian nature of consuming, coupled with its absence from workplace learning research that make them noteworthy practices to explore. In using the term practice we draw on the recent tranche of practice based theorisations: notably Schatzki (1996, Organization Studies, 26(3), 465-484, 2005, Organization Studies, 27(12), 1863-1873, 2006) and Gherardi (Human Relations, 54(1), 131-139, 2001, 2006, Learning Organization, 16(5), 352-359, 2009). The paper frames consuming practices as ‘dispersed’ (general) practices and, illustrated through empirical data from multiple projects, we progressively outline how these contribute to the learning of ‘integrative’ (specialized work) practices. Our overall aim is to (re)position consuming practices from prosaic, to having much relevance for research on workplace learning.     

Understanding the Use of Student-Centered Teaching Methods in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses

A growing body of research suggests that student-centered teaching methods are associated with positive learning outcomes for undergraduate students. Yet, the extent of their use and factors leading to their adoption in fields, such as chemistry, continue to be under-explored. Utilizing survey data collected during 2015, we begin to fill this gap, first by considering the degree to which faculty and instructors use and plan to use various student-centered teaching methods in their undergraduate chemistry courses. Then, we examine three potential factors that may help us understand variation in (1) use of and (2) intentions to implement student-centered methods: attitudes toward teaching methods; teaching approaches; and institutional characteristics. Importantly, our findings suggest attitudes and individual teaching approaches are significant predictors of the use and intention to implement student-centered methods in the classroom. Perhaps surprisingly, several institutional factors examined (such as class size, percentage of time spent teaching, and type of institution) play no significant role. Given the positive student outcomes associated with various student-centered methods reported in literature, these findings suggest potential avenues for faculty and instructors’ professional development toward further implementation of these methods.

     

Age-related incidence curve of hospitalized Shaken Baby Syndrome cases: convergent evidence for crying as a trigger to shaking

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an age-specific incidence of hospitalized cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) that has similar properties to the previously reported "normal crying curve," as a form of indirect evidence that crying is an important stimulus for SBS. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study analyzed cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome by age at hospitalization from hospital discharge data for California hospitals from October 1996 through December 2000. PATIENTS: All cases of children less than 18 months (78 weeks) of age for whom the diagnostic code for Shaken Baby Syndrome (995.55) in the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification was assigned. RESULTS: There were 273 hospitalizations for SBS. Like the "normal crying curve," the curve of age-specific incidence starts at 2-3 weeks, has a clear peak, and declines to baseline by about 36 weeks of age. In contrast to the normal crying curve that peaks at 5-6 weeks, the peak of SBS hospitalizations occurs at 10-13 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The age-specific incidence curve of hospitalized SBS cases has a similar starting point and shape to the previously reported normal crying curve but the peak occurs about 4-6 weeks later. Of the likely predisposing causes, this pattern is only consistent with the properties of early crying. There are numerous explanations for the lag in the peaks between crying and SBS hospitalizations, including the possibility of repeat shakings prior to hospitalization. The importance of crying as a stimulus to SBS may provide an opportunity for preventive intervention.     

Support for Students with Hidden Disabilities in Universities: A Case Study

More students with disabilities are accessing the tertiary sector with many disabilities not easily observed (or hidden), because there are no physical indicators. These “hidden” disabilities affect a variety of cognitive processes and may be developmental or acquired. To ensure students with hidden disabilities can enrol, engage in and benefit from tertiary education, universities generally provide a range of supports. Typically these supports and any reasonable adjustments are negotiated with students taking into account a number of factors including, where available, any supporting documentation that they might be able to provide. This case study reports efforts within one large Australian university to support higher education students with hidden disabilities on campus. Perceptions on the use of and barriers to support available were collected from seven undergraduate students who self-identified as having hidden disabilities and from eight support staff. Results indicated that students found their informal networks to be their most effective supports, closely followed by clear, caring and flexible lecturers and tutors. There were mixed positive and negative perceptions reported on the universal and disability-specific supports available. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Pre-service physical education teachers’ Indigenous knowledge,cultural competency and pedagogy: a service learning intervention

In this paper, we investigate the effects of a community- and school-based service learning experience (SLE) on pre-service physical education teachers’ Indigenous knowledge, cultural competency and pedagogy. Informed by the theoretical tenets of Indigenous research methodologies, experiential learning and critical reflection, we examine 55 final-year pre-service physical education teachers’ (age: 21.9 [8.3]; 10.7% low SES; 68% females) cultural learning and competency in a core unit of study with a six-week SLE. Measures of their experiences included reflective journals, multicultural teaching competency scales and focus group interviews. Findings support the design of the SLE, with statistically significant changes in pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their cultural competency (p < 0.001). Pre-service teachers were able to challenge their assumptions about Indigenous students, plan and implement student-centred and culturally relevant pedagogies. Attention is drawn to the design of this SLE and demonstrates the importance of using Indigenous community members and teachers as mentors, which has not been explored in previous SLE studies.