A Framework for Creating a Climate of Transparency for Professional Performance Assessment: Fostering Student Investment in Gatekeeping

Students unfamiliar with their counseling program's professional performance assessment policies may consider such policies pejorative. Moreover, student beliefs about the primacy of ethical service to clients may be confounded when faculty members are reluctant or fail to formally address concerns about deficient professional performance of students. The authors propose a framework intended to promote openness and transparency in professional performance assessment and believe this framework is critical to students' accurate perceptions of the assessment process, their trust in faculty members, and their future investment in safeguarding public welfare and the ethical integrity of the counseling profession through gatekeeping.     

Technical determinants of tackle and ruck performance in International rugby union

The most frequently occurring contact events in rugby union are the tackle and ruck. The ability repeatedly to engage and win the tackle and ruck has been associated with team success. To win the tackle and ruck, players have to perform specific techniques. These techniques have not been studied at the highest level of rugby union. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify technical determinants of tackle and ruck performance at the highest level of rugby union. A total of 4479 tackle and 2914 ruck events were coded for the Six Nations and Championship competitions. Relative risk ratio (RR), the ratio of the probability of an outcome occurring when a characteristic was observed (versus the non-observed characteristic), was determined using multinomial logistic regression. Executing front-on tackles reduced the likelihood of offloads and tackle breaks in both competitions (Six Nations RR 3.0 Behind tackle, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.9–4.6, effect size [ES] = large, P < 0.001); Championship RR 2.9 Jersey tackle, 95% CI: 1.3–6.4, ES = moderate, P = 0.01). Fending during contact increased the chances of offloading and breaking the tackle in both competitions (Six Nations RR 4.5 Strong, 95% CI: 2.2–9.2, ES = large, P = P < 0.001; Championship RR 5.1 Moderate, 95% CI: 3.5–7.4, ES = large, P < 0.001). For the ruck, actively placing the ball increased the probability of maintaining possession (Six Nations RR 2.2, 95% CI: 1.1–4.3, ES = moderate, P = 0.03); Championship RR 4.0, 95% CI: 1.3–11.8, ES = large, P = 0.01). The techniques identified in this study should be incorporated and emphasised during training to prepare players for competition. Furthermore, these techniques need to be added to coaching manuals for the tackle and ruck.     

Achieving results with a performance‐centered design framework

Working with clients to deliver solutions provides ample opportunity for success as well as failure. This article focuses on how to address three shortcomings that often contribute to performance solutions missing the mark. These shortcomings include (a) the framework used to view, discuss, and analyze performance is too narrow; (b) performance solutions do not address the ineffective habits of performers; and (c) the important process step of design is often improperly defined or even ignored.     

Theoretical and experimental study of through-wall microwave tomography inverse problems

We consider the problem of building structure estimation using microwave ray tomography. A Bayesian formulation is developed, and a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure is used to sample the posterior distribution, which is based on a data likelihood defined in terms of a residual misfit between observed and predicted waveforms. To accelerate model optimization, a simulated annealing approach is combined with the MCMC, using specific model moves to explore each component of the model space. Our approach is applicable to data acquired in the frequency or time domain and for monostatic or bistatic acquisition modes. Experimental data for a multi-wall laboratory test structure were acquired using a horn antenna connected to a vector network analyzer and used to validate both the forward model and the inversion approach. Although, in true remote sensing problems for building structure, the model order is usually unknown, in this initial study, the actual inversion experiment is performed in a reduced-dimension model space for which a subset of the variables are taken as known or fixed. Generalization to the variable-dimension problem can be achieved by using reversible jump MCMC sampling procedures.     

Ten years of forfeitures by the federal communications commission

The following analysis of how the FCC has used its recently granted (1960) power to levy fines and forfeitures is a companion piece to the authors’ “Station License Revocations and Denials of Renewal, 1934–1969,” which was published in the Journal of Broadcasting, X1V:4:411 (Fall 1970). Charles Clift is assistant professor in the School of Radio‐Television of Ohio University; Fredric Weiss is lecturer in the Division of Radio‐TV‐Film of the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art of the University of Maryland; and John Able is assistant professor in the Department of Television and Radio of Michigan State University.     

Just-in-Time Teaching for Food Science: Creating an Active Learner Classroom

ABSTRACT: Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) combines the best features of traditional in-class instruction with the communication potential available via the Web. We describe here how JiTT has been used in Biology Education and how it can be used in Food Science Education. JiTT uses Webbased "Warm Up" assignments due before class to stimulate critical thinking and create a feedback loop between faculty and students. By examining responses to "Warm Up" exercises before class, faculty members determine students' prior knowledge and misconceptions and directly address these misconceptions while discussing course content in class. Assessment results in Biology include decreased attrition rates and increases in student attitudes, motivation, interactivity, study habits, and cognitive gains.     

Assessing Sitting Across Contexts: Development of the Multicontext Sitting Time Questionnaire

Purpose: To describe the development and preliminary evaluation of the Multicontext Sitting Time Questionnaire (MSTQ). Method: During development of the MSTQ, contexts and domains of sitting behavior were utilized as recall cues to improve the accuracy of sitting assessment. The terms “workday” and “nonworkday” were used to disambiguate occupational and discretionary sitting. An expert panel evaluated content validity. Among 25 participants, test–retest reliability of the MSTQ items was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Convergent validity was assessed versus relative and absolute accelerometer-estimated sedentary time and activity log using Pearson (r) or Spearman (ρ) correlation coefficients where appropriate. Results: Pilot testing revealed Web-based MSTQ administration was rapid, scalable, and inexpensive. Most items in the MSTQ demonstrated acceptable reliability (ICCs>.70). Compared with accelerometer-estimated sedentary time relative to total wear time, the MSTQ exhibited a low correlation on workdays (r = .34) and a moderately high correlation on nonworkdays (r = .61). Conclusions: The systematic development of the MSTQ resulted in several improvements over previous tools and may serve as a model for purpose-driven questionnaire design. Additional validation is needed to conclusively determine the utility of the MSTQ.     

Empirical Research on Ethnic Minority Students: 1995–2009

Ethnic minority disproportionality has been a topic of extensive discussion and research for many years. In 1997, Artiles, Trent, and Kuan conducted a seminal review of the special education research literature to identify how often researchers report and disaggregate data in ways that would support conclusions about specific ethnic minority groups. These authors found alarmingly low rates of publication on identifiable minority groups. The purpose of this review is to replicate the work of Artiles et al. and extend this literature analysis to the subsequent 15‐year period (1995–2009). We found increases in the proportion of articles reporting ethnic minority information 15 years following the Artiles et al. publication. Discussion focuses on the gap in our knowledge of evidence‐based practices for ethnic minority students in special education.     

Teachers' experiences and perceptions of primary EFL in Norway and the Netherlands: a comparative study

This article compares the organization and practice of primary English language teaching in Norway and The Netherlands, considering the strengths and weaknesses of the respective systems. It is based on surveys carried out in each country. Several issues considered essential to the success of a primary EFL program are addressed, such as starting age, contact hours, teacher competence, teaching priorities, classroom practice, the use of the target language as the language of instruction, and materials used. Special attention is given to the transition from the primary to secondary level. Although both countries share common challenges and problems, these appear to be far greater in the Netherlands than in Norway, especially with regard to continuity from primary to secondary.

Cet article compare l'organisation et la pratique de l'enseignement de l'anglais à l'école primaire en Norvège et aux Pays‐Bas, en considérant les forces et les faiblesses des systèmes respectifs. L'article se base sur des enquêtes réalisées dans chaque pays. Plusieurs éléments essentiels ont été pris en compte pour le succès du programme de EFL (anglais langue étrangère) à l'école primaire, comme l'âge des élèves, le nombre d'heures d'enseignement, la compétence du professeur, les priorités de l'enseignement, les pratiques de classe, l'utilisation de la langue cible pendant l'enseignement et le matériel utilisé. Une attention toute particulière a été accordée à la transition du niveau primaire au niveau secondaire. Bien que les deux pays partagent les mêmes ambitions et les mêmes problèmes, il semble qu'ils soient mieux abordés aux Pays‐Bas qu'en Norvège, particulièrement si l'on considère la continuité entre le niveau primaire et le niveau secondaire.

Este artículo compara la organización y la práctica de la enseñanza del idioma inglés en la escuela primaria en Noruega y en los Países Bajos, considerando lo positivo y lo negativo de los sistemas respectivos. Se basa en investigaciones realizadas en cada país. Se toman en cuenta varios elementos esenciales para el éxito del programa de EFL (enseñanza del inglés para extranjeros) en la escuela primaria, como la edad de los alumnos, las horas de enseñanza, la competencia del profesor, las prácticas de clase, el uso del idioma enseñado en la situación de enseñanza y el material utilizado. Una atención particular está otorgada a la transición de la escuela primaria a la segundaria. Aunque los dos países compartan los mismos desafíos y problemas, aparece que son tratados mejor en los Países Bajos que en Noruega, especialmente si se considera la continuidad entre el nivel primario y el segundario.

Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags steht ein Vergleich der Organisation und Praxis des Grundschul‐Englischunterrichts in den Niederlanden und in Norwegen, wobei Stärken und Schwächen der jeweiligen Systeme aufgezeigt werden. Die Untersuchung beruht auf Umfragen, die unter Lehrkräften in den beiden Ländern durchgeführt wurden. Eine Reihe wichtiger Aspekte, die für den Erfolg von Englischprogrammen im Grundschulbereich verantwortlich sind, wie Eingangsalter der Schüler, Stundendeputat, Kompetenz der Lehrkraft, Unterrichtsziele, Unterrichtspraxis, Unterrichtsprache und Lehrmittel, werden angesprochen. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird dem Übergang vom Grundschul‐ zum Sekundarbereich gewidmet. Obwohl beide Länder vor ähnlichen Problemen und Herausforderungen stehen, scheinen diese in den Niederlanden sehr viel schwerwiegender als in Norwegen zu sein, ganz besonders in Bezug auf die Frage der Kontinuität beim Wechsel von der Grundschule zur Sekundarstufe.