What factors promote student resilience on a level 1 distance learning module?

Resilience is understood to be the ability to adapt positively in the face of adversity. In relation to new students on a distance learning module, this can mean how they adapt and make sense of the demands of their chosen study to enable them to persist in their studies. This article reports a small-scale study involving semi-structured telephone interviews with students on a level 1 distance learning module at the UK Open University. Students identified the challenges they experienced such as carving out time to study alongside other commitments, as well as developing their academic writing. Students also identified factors that enabled them to adapt to these challenges and be successful in continuing to study. Students rated highly the support they received from tutors in the form of tailored, detailed feedback on their assignments. Other factors that enabled students to persist in their studies were time management, self-belief and motivation.     

Examination of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire - 2 in a sample of female athletes

We undertook two studies to determine the validity and reliability of the revised Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2). In Study 1, 201 female athletes (mean age 16.4 years) were administered the initial version of the PMCSQ-2 and a measure of reported tension and pressure experienced in sport. Exploratory principal component analysis suggested that the PMCSQ-2 contained two higher-order scales (Task-Involving and Ego-Involving climates), each with three subscales (Task: Cooperative Learning, Effort/Improvement, Important Role; Ego: Intra-Team Member Rivalry, Unequal Recognition, Punishment for Mistakes). In Study 2, 385 female volleyball players (mean age 15.2 years) completed the PMCSQ-2, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory and a measure of Team Satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to six competing models. The oblique six-factor model and oblique hierarchical model provided comparable fit to the data. Acceptable fit was reached based on model respecification. Across Studies 1 and 2, internal consistency was found to be acceptable for the higher-order scales and subscales (with the exception of the Intra-Team Member Rivalry subscale). We found evidence for the concurrent validity of the instrument.     

Interactions among Dietary Pattern,Physical Activity and Skinfold Thickness

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the effects of a specifically designed perceptual-motor training program on the level of perceptual-motor development, self-concept, and academic ability of kindergarten children. Subjects for the study were 40 kindergarten children randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Each group received the same kindergarten program with one exception, the experimental group was exposed to a specifically designed perceptual-motor program 30 min daily for 5 mo, while the control group received a free play period for 30 min daily. Results of the study indicated that the data tended to support the specificity of training concept. The variables showing the greatest change were the perceptual-motor tests which measured changes on specific aspects of the training program. There appeared to be some immediate transfer to academic abilities but this was not pronounced enough to suggest that perceptual-motor training was of real benefit in developing academic abilities for normal kindergarten children. In addition the follow-up test indicated no long term effects on academic performance.     

Book Reviews

This study examined the teaching of games via a tactical approach (also known as teaching games for understanding) from the theoretical perspective of social constructivism. A pilot study (of student teachers (STs) and pupils) informed the ‘main’ study which included collecting data on 49 STs, 58 cooperating teachers (CTs) and 1177 pupils. ST data were collected through videotaping (lessons), interviews and questionnaires; CT data through interviews and questionnaires; and pupil data through questionnaires. Data analysis techniques included systematic coding of teaching behaviours through computer software, using constant comparison to code open-ended question responses, and computing frequencies of Likert-scale question responses. T-tests were used to compare pre- and post-CT workshop data. Findings suggest that STs’ teaching of the tactical approach was in line with a social constructivist perspective, in part because lessons were student-centred. Overall student activity was 53% of all lessons taught, and STs facilitated pupil learning through several question and answer scenarios. Pupils wrote that they enjoyed playing games in what amounted to ‘authentic’ settings. Their responses also suggest that learning took place through ‘legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice’ and this facilitated pupil movement through the ‘zone of proximal development’. There were indications that pupil experiences were mediated by ST competence. CTs reported that an in-service workshop on the tactical approach and mentoring was beneficial and subsequent pairings with STs elicited positive feelings from both parties.     

Comparative career accomplishments of two decades of women and men doctoral graduates in education

Patterns of doctoral study and subsequent career progress were compared for 756 men and women doctoral graduates in education at a research university from two six-year periods, one before and one after a rapid nation-wide increase in the percentage of women doctorates. Despite advantages relative to men in admission, financial support and full-time study, women doctorates of both periods had achieved less career progress than men but held similarly positive perceptions concerning career impact of the degree. Work experience prior to doctoral study strongly predicted career progress for both genders. Thus, affirmative action may have positively affected the careers of recent women doctorates who were younger and who began study with less established careers than women doctorates prior to 1970.     

The Significance of Gender Boundaries in Preadolescence: Contemporary Correlates and Antecedents of Boundary Violation and Maintenance

Previous research has established the importance of gender boundaries as a normative aspect of development in middle childhood. Here, the nature and importance of gender boundaries as an individual differences construct was explored. Ratings of gender boundary violation and gender boundary maintenance were made of 47 10–11-year-old children participating in a series of summer day camps. These ratings were supported by videotape-based behavior codings of gender boundary violating behaviors and by live observations of sheer number of associations with members of the opposite gender. In addition, considerable external validation of these individual differences was obtained. Children low on gender boundary violation and (especially) children high on boundary maintenance were independently judged by camp counselors to be socially competent. They also were found to be higher on a friendship variable, based on observation. Those who violated boundary were especially unpopular with peers, based on a child interview. Finally, boundary violation and maintenance were related to attachment history and to early measures of parent-child generational boundary distortions.     

Group problem solving to promote integration in a desegregated high school: a case study

The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of a group problem-solving process to the problem of how to promote integration in a public secondary school in the U.S.A. The Improving the Human Environment of Schools (IHES) facilitation process of small-group, collaborative problem solving (Avis & Bigelow, 1984) was used to approach the broad presenting problem that the school was desegregated, but not integrated. Two observable manifestations of the problem—counselor programming, and differential academic achievement among white and racial/ethnic minority group students—were identified. Following an analysis of the counselor programming problem, the two solutions prioritized for implementation were to develop an integrated peer counseling program and to conduct a reassessment of counselor functions in light of the expressed concerns. Implementation plans and implications of the process are discussed. The case study represents a cooperative effort between a state agency and a local secondary school to address a complex, controversial issue in a positive, efficient, creative, and constructive manner.     

Questioning Techniques: A Study of Instructional Practice

To what extent do teachers use questions to encourage deeper thinking and elicit fuller responses? How do teachers use the levels of questions and wait time as a teaching technique? How do teachers make space for students to talk together so that their thoughts are visible to other students? This article seeks to provide answers to these important questions through a review of the literature that begins with a study of the history of questioning, and then turns to the following topics: developing higher level thinking through questioning strategies; the role of wait time within the context of classroom climate and peer interactions; and higher order questioning strategies aligned with student achievement in reading and language arts. Although the author's frame of reference for how these issues play out is within the context of a school where students’ ability to articulate understanding and their own point of view is purposefully promoted and highly valued, the insights will have broad applicability across a full spectrum of schools.