The Relationship between Students’ Characteristics and Their Impressions of Online Courses

This study explored relationship between students’ conscientiousness and motivation, their impressions of the online environment, and their learning. Also examined were relationships between their impressions of the online environment and their sense of community and their interactions with others. Questionnaires were completed by 84 students at a private college. Students who were more conscientious and intrinsically motivated had more favorable impressions of online courses. They were engaged, and perceived value in the course, and were less anxious or frustrated when taking online courses. Those students who perceived a sense of community, or social presence, also had more favorable impressions. These relationships and their implications are discussed.     

A review of primary and secondary influences on sport expertise

Sport scientists have examined numerous factors influencing the acquisition and manifestation of high levels of performance. These factors can be divided into variables having a primary influence on expertise and variables that have a secondary influence through their interaction with other variables. Primary influences on expertise include genetic, training, and psychological factors while secondary influences include socio‐cultural and contextual elements. This paper reviews the factors affecting the development of expert performance in sport and suggests directions for future research.     

What do we know about early sport specialization? Not much!

In November 2005, the International Olympic Committee's Medical Commission issued a statement on Training the elite child athlete recommending that “more scientific research be done to better identify the parameters of training the elite child athlete”. This paper focuses on a specific issue related to training the child athlete: early specialization. While associations between early specialization and expertise development are highlighted, much research also suggests early specialization is associated with a range of negative consequences affecting physical, psychological, and social development. Alternately, some researchers have proposed that an early diversification approach does not disadvantage athletes in acquiring expertise, and is important for the development of intrinsic motivation and skill transferability. However, this review suggests that inadequate evidence exists to resolve the issue in favor of either approach.     

The origin of universal shadow education: what the supplemental education phenomenon tells us about the postmodern institution of education

Prodigious growth in out-of-school, private educational activities meant to supplement formal schooling is observed worldwide. Why has shadow education expanded, and what does it mean for the future of education in postmodern society? Illustrated by the historical development and recent changes in the Japanese shadow education industry, it is suggested that shadow education follows the institutional logic of formal education. And as this logic has become more homogenized and expansive globally, so have the forms and goals of shadow education. Because of its focus on learning and achievement, which are central to formal education, it is predicted that shadow education will be increasingly incorporated into the broader culture of education.     

Reconstructing professionalism in ECEC: the case for the ‘critically reflective emotional professional’

This paper is concerned to present professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) as a sociocultural construction. In particular the article is concerned with how professional identities are inflected by autobiography and the spaces and opportunities that exist for the construction of alternative professional identities. Drawing on a recent empirical study with nursery workers in London a critical appraisal of hegemonic discourses is presented and a consideration of ‘professionalism from within’ is offered. A specific focus is placed upon the notion of the ‘critically reflective emotional professional’ and how that might be taken up or resisted at different levels of the ECEC policy–practitioner landscape.     

A measure of emergent literacy for students with severe developmental disabilities

This study examined the underlying structure of the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment (NVLA), an instrument designed to measure emergent literacy for K–fourth‐grade students with severe developmental disabilities. The NVLA was conceptualized as having six constructs that reflected emergent literacy skills: (a) phonemic awareness, (b) phonics, (c) comprehension, (d) vocabulary, (e) listening comprehension, and (f) text awareness. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from 207 student administrations was used to examine the six‐factor model and two alternative models. Results suggested that all three models fit the data, but the high corrections coefficients among the constructs suggested that a one‐factor model of emergent literacy was the best‐fitting model. Implications and limitations are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Vital statistics and early death predictors of North American professional basketball players: A historical examination

While empirical evidence suggests that elite athletes have superior lifespan outcomes relative to the general population, less is known regarding their causes of death. The purpose of this study was to critically examine the mortality outcomes of deceased National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association players. Death data were collected from publicly available sources until 11 December 2015, and causes of death were categorized using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD). Mortality was measured through: i) cause-specific crude death rates (CDR), ii) estimates of death rates per athlete-year (AY), and iii) binary and multinomial regression analyses. We identified 514 causes of death from 787 deceased players (M = 68.1 y ± 16.0) from 16 different ICD groups, 432 of which were from natural causes. Findings showed similar leading causes of death and CDRs to sex- and race-matched controls, higher death rate differences per AY within time-dependent variables (i.e., birth decade, race, and height), and a higher likelihood of dying below the median age of death for black and taller players, although this was highly confounded by birth decade. More complete knowledge of mortality outcomes would provide broad public health applications and disarm harmful stereotypes of elite athlete health.