A Descriptive Analysis of Elite-Level Racquetball

In this study, we used social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, &; Hackett, 1994) to examine the development of female athletes' career interest in coaching and, specifically, the impact of contextual factors (female coaching role models, working hours, and perceived discrimination) on coaching self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Participants were 205 predominantly White, heterosexual female student athletes. A path analysis indicated that role models and working hours predicted coaching self-efficacy, which predicted coaching outcome expectations. Additionally, coaching self-efficacy, coaching outcome expectations, and contextual factors predicted coaching interest. Practical implications are discussed as well as suggestions for further research in this relatively unexplored area.     

基于标准的评核：教育领域人力资本和能力提升的工具与方法

本文概述了一种评核概念和理论，即基于标准的评核。这种评核模式通过把学生的成绩和他们的知识、课程标准联系起来，给学生的学习成绩赋予意义。它有效地将评核的焦点从对成绩排名的关注（仅仅把学生的表现与同学相比较）转移到了对学生学习进步的关注上来。本文关注这一转变过程，并为这一评核方式的实施提供可能的策略。同时，本文认为这一评核体系将会对教育中人力资本和能力提升产生深远的影响。     

Comparing children's and student teachers’ ideas about science concepts

Children and teachers may not think in the same way about particular science concepts. Such parallel lines of thought can compound children's confusion and misunderstanding as they learn science at primary school. The situation could be more acute when student teachers are teaching science, because of their limited experience of considering children's ideas. This paper investigates children's and student teachers’ ideas about certain science concepts: ‘animal’, ‘flower’, ‘living’, ‘force’ and ‘energy’. The ideas and understandings of 96 children and 168 student teachers were explored. Results showed that the student teachers and children had similar ideas about ‘flower’ and ‘animal’, whereas they evidenced very different responses to ‘living’, ‘energy’ and ‘force’. Implications for classroom practice are considered.     

TEACHING RESEARCH IN GERONTOLOGY: TOWARD A CUMULATIVE MODEL

In this article, we consider different approaches to teaching research methods in gerontology across a continuum of educational program levels. Our goal is to offer a conceptual framework and stimulate productive discussion of key issues and challenges in teaching research in gerontology. It is our belief that education in gerontology should include some level of training in research methodologies across all levels of gerontology instruction. Therefore, we have sought to identify those components of research training most appropriate for each level of gerontological education. Thus, basic understanding of research methods is appropriate at the associate's degree level and introductory exposure to basic issues involved in conducting research with elders provides a necessary backdrop to undergraduate programs. More in-depth understanding of gerontological research methods, particularly those involved in applied research, is a component of quality master's level programs. Finally, in-depth knowledge and the ability to apply distinctively gerontological research methods are necessary for conducting advanced original research at the doctoral level.     

Factores predictivos del éxito en el aprendizaje de la lectoescritura

Resumen

Este estudio ha tenido como objetivo determinar los factores subyacentes a las pruebas de madurez y su valor predictivo para el éxito en el aprendizaje de la lectoescritura. Para ello, se llevó a cabo un estudio longitudinal, con una muestra de 60 escolares de distintos centros de E.G.B, de la Isla de Gran Canaria, que se iniciaban en el aprendizaje sistemático de la lectura y escritura. En un primer estudio, los factores madurativos hallados fueron cuatro: Lingüístico, Estructuración visomotriz, Organización conceptual y Memoria reproductiva. Al relacionar esta estructura factorial con los resultados obtenidos en lectoescritura, se demuestra que los factores Lingüístico y de Organización conceptual son los que mejor predicen el éxito en lectoescritura, frente al escaso valor predittivo mostrado por los factores de Estructuración visomotriz y Memoria reproductiva.     

Metaconocimiento fonológico: estudio descriptivo sobre una muestra de niños prelectores en edad preescolar

Resumen

Este estudio ha consistido en investigar en una muestra de niños prelectores de zona rural y bajo nivel socioeconómico el nivel de metaconocimiento fonológico que presentan al finalizar el periodo de preescolar. Para ello, se utilizó la Prueba de Segmentación Lingüística (Forma A) (Jiménez y Ortiz, en prensa) que comprende un conjunto de tareas metafonológicas donde los niños han de descubrir rimas, aislar, dividir, y omitir unidades mínimas del lenguaje. Los principales hallazgos del trabajo coinciden con los resultados obtenidos en otros estudios que se ban realizado en diferentes ámbitos lingüísticos. Concretamente, se demuestra que las habilidades de segmentación silábica se adquieren antes que las habilidades de análisis fonético de las palabras. También se relacionan estos resultados con la variable sexo y nivel de madurez o disposición para aprender a leer de los escolares según juicio del profesor. Por último, se describen las implicaciones educativas que se derivan de los hallazgos encontrados en la investigación.     

Higher education policy in post-devolution UK: more convergence than divergence?

Many researchers studying the impact of parliamentary devolution conclude that education policies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverging. They attribute this to five factors: the redistribution of formal powers associated with devolution; differences in values, ideologies and policy discourses across the four territories; the different composition, interests and policy styles of their policy communities; the different ‘situational logics’ of policy-making and the mutual independence of policy decisions in the different territories. This article reviews trends in higher education (HE) policy across the UK since parliamentary devolution. It focuses on policies for student fees and student support, for widening participation, for supporting research and for the HE contribution to economic development, skills and employability. On balance, it finds as much evidence of policy convergence, or at least of constraints on divergence, as of policy divergence. It argues that each of the five factors claimed to promote divergence can be associated with corresponding pressures for convergence.     

The Effects of the Number of Scale Points and Non-Normality on the Generalizability Coefficient: A Monte Carlo Study

Increasingly, assessment practitioners use generalizability coefficients to estimate the reliability of scores from performance tasks. Little research, however, examines the relation between the estimation of generalizability coefficients and the number of rubric scale points and score distributions. The purpose of the present research is to inform assessment practitioners of (a) the optimum number of scale points necessary to achieve the best estimates of generalizability coefficients and (b) the possible biases of generalizability coefficients when the distribution of scores is non-normal. Results from this study indicate that the number of scale points substantially affects the generalizability estimates. Generalizability estimates increase as scale points increase, with little bias after scales reach 12 points. Score distributions had little effect on generalizability estimates.