Deliberate Imagery Practice

Abstract

This study examined the reliability of a retrospective recall methodology for providing evidence of deliberate imagery practice. A secondary purpose was to determine which imagery activities constituted the sport-specific definition of deliberate practice (Starkes, Deakin, Allard, Hodges, & Hayes, 1996). Ninety-three Canadian athletes from one of three different competitive levels (regional, provincial, and national) completed the Deliberate Imagery Practice Recall Questionnaire, which was specifically designed for the present study. The athletes also completed a 1-week imagery diary to assess their use of 14 different imagery activities. The results of the study indicated that the athletes were able to reliably estimate their use of imagery over a short recall interval. Four imagery activities were also determined to fulfill the sport specific definition of deliberate practice.     

Educational accountability tests,social and legal inclusion approaches to discrimination for students with disability: a national case study from Australia

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability promotes equal and full participation by children in education. Equity of educational access for all students, including students with disability, free from discrimination, is the first-stated national goal of Australian education. Australian federal disability discrimination law, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, follows the Convention, with the federal Disability Standards for Education 2005 enacting specific requirements for education. This article discusses equity of processes for inclusion of students with disability in Australian educational accountability testing, including international tests in which many countries participate. The conclusion drawn is that equitable inclusion of students with disability in current Australian educational accountability testing is not occurring from a social perspective and is not in principle compliant with law. However, given the reluctance of courts to intervene in education matters and the uncertainty of an outcome in any court consideration, the discussion shows that equitable inclusion in accountability systems is available through policy change rather than expensive, and possibly unsuccessful, legal challenges.     

Affordability,accessibility, and accountability: Perceived impacts of the Pre-primary Education Vouchers in Hong Kong

Hong Kong launched the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) in 2007 to promote the “3A's” of early childhood education (ECE): affordability, accessibility, and accountability. The PEVS has three unique features: discriminating against profit kindergartens, promoting teacher professional development, and limiting parents’ choice to only non-profit schools. To understand the voucher scheme's perceived impacts, this study conducted stratified random sampling to include 10% of Hong Kong kindergartens and surveyed their parents, principals, and teachers. A total of 380 completed questionnaires were collected and analyzed, and the results indicated that (1) the majority of the respondents perceived positive impacts on the 3A's of ECE; (2) significant effects of stakeholders (parents, teachers and principals), school types (profit or non-profit), eligibility, and familiarity were found in between- and within-group comparisons; (3) the parents and especially those from non-profit/eligible kindergartens tended to perceive more positive impacts than others; and (4) the principals and teachers reported some implementation difficulties. Implications for voucher reform in others countries are discussed.     

伤城——保罗·阿里金

虽然距离明年的选秀大会差不多还有半年多的时间,但留意一下各大篮球门户网站或者国内这些炙手可热的篮球杂志,都能看到不少关于明年将要跻身NBA篮球圣殿的那些家伙们的讯息。     

Young children's number sense in Finland,Hong Kong and Singapore

This study examines young children's number sense in subjects from Finland (n=254), Hong Kong (n=246), and Singapore (n=130). Chinese, English and Finnish versions of the Early Numeracy Test (ENT; Van Luit et al., 1994) were used. Two highly correlated aspects of number sense were measured, one reflecting children's abilities to organize and compare quantities (i.e. relational skills), and the other pertaining to their ability to operate with number-word sequence (i.e. counting skills). The results showed significant age-related gain on the relational and counting scales. No gender or language differences were found. The children in Hong Kong and Singapore outperformed those in Finland in relational and counting tasks starting at the age of four years. The children in Singapore also had better relational and counting skills than those in Hong Kong. Differences in teaching were assumed to explain the findings.     

Motivational orientations and imagery use: a goal profiling analysis.

The aim of this study was to establish whether different motivational profiles that result from performing a cluster analysis reflect the use of different functions and amounts of imagery. One hundred and five competitive swimmers were recruited to participate in the study. They were asked to complete both the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. The results of a K-means cluster analysis on the TEOSQ scores resulted in a three-cluster solution that maximized between-group differences and minimized within-group differences. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the three cluster groups could be distinguished by their use of imagery. Specifically, the results indicated that individuals with a 'complementary balance' between task and ego orientations were more motivated to perform the functions of imagery that would help them to maximize their performance.