Physical Education Teacher Attitudes toward Fitness Tests Scale: Cross-Revalidation and Modification

This study aimed to provide further evidence of validity and reliability for the Physical Education Teacher Attitudes toward Fitness Tests Scale (PETAFTS), which consisted of affective and cognitive domains. There were two subdomains in the affective domain (i.e., enjoyment of implementing fitness tests and enjoyment of using test results) and one domain in the cognitive domain (i.e., beliefs in the usefulness of test results). Full-time physical education teachers (N?=?469) from two southwestern states in the United States participated in the study. Reliability and validity of the scale were examined. Alphas were computed for the entire 16-item scale, the affective and cognitive domains, and the two subdomains, respectively, to test the reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to investigate the construct validity. The commonly used CFA indices, such as the chi square (χ²), the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), the goodness of fit index (GFI), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), were used to assess the fit of the data to the model. The CFA results suggested that the data from the study did not fit the original model proposed by Keating and Silverman (2004b) Keating, X. D. and Silverman, S. 2004b. Physical education teacher attitudes toward fitness test scale: Development and validation. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 23: 143–161. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], resulting in the elimination of item 3. The fitness of the data to the model was improved and deemed acceptable. More studies on the reliability and validity of the scale are needed in the future in order to use the scale with more confidence.     

A DIALECTICIAN RESPONDS TO A PHILOSOPHER WHO HOLDS AN ORTHODOX VIEW OF KNOWLEDGE

The purpose of this paper is to examine and reject a number of criticisms which can be made against a dialectical approach to educational knowledge by proponents of an orthodox epistemology.     

Revolutions in print: Jewish Publishing under the Tsars and the Soviets

Jack Kugelmass is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a member of the faculty of the Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, he has taught courses on the anthropological study of Ashkenazic Jewry at YIVO.     

Unravelling the mysteries of expert mental calculation

Considering that the average adult cannot perform even the most elementary of mental calculations, the calculative feats of expert mental calculators seem unbelievable and mysterious. The processes and procedures which characterize expert mental calculation will be identified through a review of the published literature. In particular, it will be argued that experts can perform complex mental calculations because of their knowledge of a variety of calculative methods, their ability to recall instantly large numerical equivalents, and their ability to remember the numbers involved in the various stages of a calculation.     

The Construction of Meaning from Text: possible effects of different reading strategies

An examination is reported of the effect of differences in reading strategies on the construction of meaning from novel length text. Following a brief review of psychological theory relevant to the question of how particular strategies could constrain meaning construction, specific differences are hypothesised in relation to Orwell's classic tale, Animal Farm. The results of an experimental examination using post‐graduate Diploma in Education students as subjects, and multidimensional scaling as the analytic technique, support the contention that reading strategies are important in the construction of differential meanings. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to the change in school practice from teacher‐directed reading to students reading more books but on their own or in small groups, without direct teacher intervention.     

Partnership working in the production of clinical guidelines

This article describes a working partnership between the Cairns Clinical Librarian Service, Health Care Libraries, University of Oxford and the Emergency Department (ED) at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. This collaboration resulted in the establishment of a guideline development group in June 2002. The aim of the group is to produce a set of easily accessible, user-orientated, evidence-based guidelines for the use of clinicians in the Emergency Department, within a realistic timescale. The Cairns Clinical Librarian Project was built on previous models of clinical librarianship and incorporated an evaluation of previous programmes. The objective was to provide information to clinicians at the time and point of need. Consultation with the ED from the outset determined the approach adopted by the Cairns team. Clinical guidelines have been shown to improve clinical practice. Pending the introduction of nationally available protocols, we have begun to establish a collection of evidence-based guidelines using web-based architecture in conjunction with the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust's IT department. A piece of diagnostic analysis was undertaken to ensure a coherent strategy was developed for the guideline project. An 'intermediate approach' was adopted, where existing valid guidelines were modified to fit local circumstances. We strove to be transparent at all times about all aspects of the guideline development process. Formative evaluation has shown how the application of evidence-based health care needs adequate resources and requires people with appropriate knowledge and skills. This article charts the progress of the project and highlights how the partnership between the clinical team and the Clinical Librarian has been deemed to be essential to the success of the project.     

Reviews

Peet, M. C. and Robinson, D. (1978) The Critical Examination. Morris, Helen (1979). Where's That Poem? Swatridge, C. and S. (1979) The Biblio File: an Index of prose Passages. Raggett, Michael, Tutt, Christine, qnd Raggett, Patricia (Editors), (1979) Assessment and Testing of Reading: Problems and Practices.     

Index for Volume 56 (1985)

Abstract

This study was a staff experiment carried out in 1953 as a follow-up to several preliminary experiments by graduate students at the University of Illinois, School of Physical Education. The studies were carried out in the Physical Fitness Research Laboratory. The preliminary studies as well as the staff experiment of 1953 and the reversal experiment of 1954 all showed some advantage for supplementary feedings of wheat germ oil (WGO) administered during or immediately following physical conditioning periods of conditioning exercises and swimming in an indoor pool with water temperature 74°-76° F. The subjects were adult men, 26–60 years of age, mainly sedentary, volunteers from the nonphysical education staff.

The WGO capsules (20 capsules per day, 3 minims each, and each containing 175 mg. of WGO and 0.44 mg. of mixed tocopherol) were fed for eight weeks in connection with the progressive physical training experiment. Two groups of eight men each were matched in treadmill-running time, the brachial pulse wave and age. Two other inactive control groups of 5 men each were tested at the beginning (T₁) and at the end (T₂) of the eight week period. The group results show significant advantage for the experimental subjects who took WGO over those who did not in both performance (willpower dominated) tests and in naive (non-willpower) tests.

The physiological advantage is shown in terms of running endurance in “all-out” treadmill runs, T-wave of the ECG (CR_iv-vlead), lower systolic blood pressure, the Schneider Index and the Illinois total body reaction-time test in response to light, sound, and combined signals. Individual differences in response are shown and some of the factors which cause such variations are identified.