Verbal Bourbon: Speaking Secrets to Intoxicate Your Audience

Public speaking strikes fear in the heart of many people. This tactics session sought to sharpen the audience's public speaking and presentation skills by providing them with six ingredients to a successful presentation: comfort level, gaining attention, organization, presentation style, discussion, and the wrap-up. Incorporating these principles in one's presentation would help the speaker gain the attention of the audience, communicate effectively, and enact change.     

Sport,physical activity and educational achievement – towards an explanatory model

Sport and other forms of physical activities have traditionally held an ambiguous place within schooling, often being pushed to the margins. At the same time, there is a consensus that such activities are necessary for the healthy development of young people. This was proven during the second half of the last century, representing a revolution in the understanding of health. Recent developments in neurology, psychology and related sciences hint at a second revolution in which a strict distinction between mind and body has become redundant. This article examines the case that sport and physical activity can make distinctive contributions to educational achievement, and a host of wider benefits. Focusing on cognitive functioning, psychosocial development, school engagement and general educational attainment, the article reviews the available evidence and concludes that there is sufficient reason to believe that sports and physical activity can make useful contributions to educational achievement.     

Ground reaction forces produced by two different hockey skating arm swing techniques

The arm swing in hockey skating can have a positive effect on the forces produced by each skate, and the resulting velocity from each push off. The main purpose of this study was to measure the differences in ground reaction forces (GRFs) produced from an anteroposterior versus a mediolateral style hockey skating arm swing. Twenty-four elite-level female hockey players performed each technique while standing on a ground-mounted force platform, and all trials were filmed using two video cameras. Force data was assessed for peak scaled GRFs in the frontal and sagittal planes, and resultant GRF magnitude and direction. Upper limb kinematics were assessed from the video using Dartfish video analysis software, confirming that the subjects successfully performed two distinct arm swing techniques. The mediolateral arm swing used a mean of 18.38° of glenohumeral flexion/extension and 183.68° of glenohumeral abduction/adduction while the anteroposterior technique used 214.17° and 28.97° respectively. The results of this study confirmed that the mediolateral arm swing produced 37% greater frontal plane and 33% less sagittal plane GRFs than the anteroposterior arm swing. The magnitudes of the resultant GRFs were not significantly different between the two techniques; however, the mediolateral technique produced a resultant GRF with a significantly larger angle from the direction of travel (44.44°) as compared to the anteroposterior technique (31.60°). The results of this study suggest that the direction of GRFs produced by the mediolateral arm swing more closely mimic the direction of lower limb propulsion during the skating stride.     

The educational potential of multimedia authoring as a part of the earth science curriculum—a case study

The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of multimedia authoring, as a learning tool, using the software ASTOUND. The subjects in this study were 32 students in two Grade 12 classes. The context of the study was a multi‐disciplinary environmental unit about earthquakes. Students were provided with basic background about earthquakes via laboratory experiments and field trips. At a later stage, the students did in‐depth independent projects on selected topics related to earthquakes. Once completed, the students presented their projects using the multimedia software ASTOUND . The research consisted of the following stages: a pre‐development phase; curriculum design phase; implementation and evaluation. The research tools included: questionnaires, interviews, observations, concept mapping, and an analysis of the multimedia presentations. The findings showed that an integration of laboratory exercises, field trips, and an independent study project, could lead to meaningful learning. However, although most of the students enjoyed using the multimedia program, there was no evidence to support the assumption that it contributed to knowledge acquisition. In fact, much of the time invested in multimedia authoring was devoted to producing decorative effects, reducing the time available for meaningful learning. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 1121–1153, 2000     

The Effects of a Monetary Incentive System on Work Performance of Mental Health Counselors

Improving the productivity of mental health counselors was investigated with the use of an incentive system. Ten Masters-level mental health clinicians (5 females, 5 males) with a range of 1.5 to 17 years experience participated in the study. Single-case and between-group methodologies were used to assess the effects of the incentive on the number of direct client contact sessions conducted per day. Incentive payments were provided to clinicians above a minimum number per two-week pay period. The number of session credits improved from a baseline of 73.6 to a mean of 85.9 during the program.