A Comparative Study of Physique and Performance Measures Resulting from a Short-Term Physical Fitness Course

Abstract

Cardiorespiratory and anthropometric assessments were made on 95 randomly selected young college males enrolled in three physical fitness sections and one tennis course, each lasting eight weeks. Laboratory and field measures were utilized to report and evaluate changes in functional fitness and physique variables, including nine selected fat and girth measurements, height and weight, timed vital capacity, Harvard Step Test, grip strength, mile run time, and vertical jump. Analysis of the data yielded the following conclusions: (a) Eight weeks of physical fitness training can produce significant improvements in physique and circulorespiratory characteristics; (b) A skill-oriented tennis class demonstrates no significant physical improvements; (c) Body weight can be increased while body fat is lost; (d) Vital capacity has little value in reflecting levels of physical performance; (e) Specificity of a physical fitness program will influence its outcome.     

Students' evaluations of university instructors: The applicability of American instruments in a Spanish setting

Items from two American instruments designed to measure students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness were translated into Spanish and administered to a sample of Spanish university students. Most of the items were judged by the students to be appropriate, every item was chosen by at least a few as being a most important item, and all but the Workload/Difficulty items clearly differentiated between lecturers whom students indicated to be “good,” “average,” and “poor.” A series of factor analyses clearly identified the factors that the instruments were designed to measure and that have been identified in previous research. Finally, a multitrait-multimethod analysis demonstrated that there was good agreement between factors from the two instruments which were hypothesized to measure the same components of effective teaching, and provided support for both the convergent and discriminant validity of the ratings. The findings illustrate the feasibility of evaluating effective teaching in a Spanish university and the appropriateness of the two American instruments.     

Assessment of the Motivational Reactions of Teachers to a School-Based Performance Award Program

The Charlotte–Mecklenburg Schools school-based performance award program (SBPA) for teachers and classified staff is an accountability program that measures and sets goals for student achievement, provides numerous performance enablers for teachers (such as professional development and information about best practices), and awards monetary bonuses to teachers and staff in schools that meet their goals. Based on expectancy and goal-setting theory, an interview protocol was used to assess teachers motivational reactions to the program. Teachers reported that the goals were specific, understandable, focused, and challenging; there were concerns, however, about being able to meet ever higher future goals. The usefulness of the performance enablers received mixed reactions. Bonuses were viewed as appropriate and an appreciated form of recognition, though of too small an amount. Helping students learn and seeing them meet achievement goals were reported to be more potent motivators than the bonus per se. Comparison of these reactions to those from teachers under the Kentucky SBPA showed both common and contrasting impacts. Numerous implications for future research, and for the design and implementation of SBPA programs, were suggested.     

Personalization in science: Preliminary investigation at the middle school level

A science program in which students were encouraged to select their own project goal as well as the apparatus to accomplish this goal was developed and tried in two fifth-grade classes. The program was designed to foster children's logical thinking skills. The classes in the study had not previously experienced any individualized program. The advantages, disadvantages, problems, and questions that resulted from the program are discussed. Observations during the program revealed that the transition from group to personalized work is a complicated process. Changes in the classroom social structure, reward structure, and general organization are described. Evaluation of student progress revealed that the major intellectual goal of the program was accomplished. Children in the program performed better on measures of describing variables and interpreting experiments than did control children. Differences in individuals which affect success in the program are discussed.This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. An earlier version of this research was presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching meeting, Chicago, 1974. We wish to thank Joan C. Randle for teaching the classes and the Moraga School District for their cooperation.Advancing Education through Science Oriented Programs (AESOP).     

Academic self-concept, interest, grades, and standardized test scores: reciprocal effects models of causal ordering

Reciprocal effects models of longitudinal data show that academic self-concept is both a cause and an effect of achievement. In this study this model was extended to juxtapose self-concept with academic interest. Based on longitudinal data from 2 nationally representative samples of German 7th-grade students (Study 1: N = 5,649, M age = 13.4; Study 2: N = 2,264, M age = 13.7 years), prior self-concept significantly affected subsequent math interest, school grades, and standardized test scores, whereas prior math interest had only a small effect on subsequent math self-concept. Despite stereotypic gender differences in means, linkages relating these constructs were invariant over gender. These results demonstrate the positive effects of academic self-concept on a variety of academic outcomes and integrate self-concept with the developmental motivation literature.