Preschoolers at risk: Social,emotional and cognitive considerations

This report examines the IQs of 75 preschool children perceived to be “at risk” by parents, nursery school teachers, and diagnostic nursery staff. Full Scale, verbal and Performance IQs of the WPPSI were correlated with: (a) assessment of problem area (b) socioeconomic and familial variables (c) gross assessments of speech and motor development and (d) attendance, participation and improvement in a special preschool program. Significant correlations were obtained between IQ and: (a) socioeconomic and familial variables, and (b) perceived improvement. The findings emphasize that social, emotional and cognitive factors are interrelated components in the child's global development.     

Exploring problems of self‐directed learning within practice and discourse

Self‐directed learning is an important feature in using experiential approaches with adult students. It is both part of a theorisation and the basis of certain kinds of practices which together form a ‘discourse’ of self‐directed learning. The paper critically examines the general characteristics of this discourse and considers the consequences of the assumptions made about adult learning and teaching.

Case studies of practice involving experiential teaching approaches with two different groups of adult students are then presented and analysed. The idea is to show how the discourse of self‐directed learning relates to these actual situations of practice, it is clear that the discourse since it cannot take account of context misleadingly assumes adult learners to be naturally self‐directing. Practitioners, therefore, need to have a critical awareness of the frameworks of thinking and action which can be imposed by any discourse even if it purports to be ‘student‐centred’.     

Young people,social capital and network‐based educational decision‐making

This paper explores whether and in what ways young people's perceptions and experiences of higher education (HE) can facilitate the transmission within their social networks of social capital both upwardly (from child to parent) and horizontally (from sibling to sibling), and thus can potentially provide bridging capital to family members, especially in families with little or no prior experience of HE. It utilises data from a project that explored the embedded nature of decision‐making about HE amongst a group of ‘potentially recruitable’ adults and their wider networks. The study researched 16 networks, and the resultant sample of 107 individuals included six teenagers and 15 young people in their twenties. The paper concludes that, despite the general emphasis within existing theoretical approaches to network capital on the downward transmission of social capital, the educational experiences of younger generations can be critical in shaping the perceptions of other (including older) network members, albeit not always in ways that encourage formal educational participation.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teachergarten</Emphasis>: Creating an Environment Conducive to Meaningful Teacher Growth

This editorial provides discussion of conditions and actions needed to create and sustain a context and environment that is nurturing and conducive to meaningful professional teacher growth. The authors are a program director and master (lead) teacher from a university demonstration/laboratory program that is both state licensed and accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. They frame the dialogue to address issues of (a) commitment to professional development as a long-term investment in program quality, (b) intellectual safety and challenge, (c) creative use of available resources, (d) respect for all stakeholders in the program, and (e) intentional modeling.     

Assessing the reliability of self‐ and peer rating in student group work

Peer and self‐ratings have been strongly recommended as the means to adjust individual contributions to group work. To evaluate the quality of student ratings, previous research has primarily explored the validity of these ratings, as indicated by the degree of agreement between student and teacher ratings. This research describes a Generalizability Theory framework to evaluate the reliability of student ratings in terms of the degree of consistency among students themselves, as well as group and rater effects. Ratings from two group projects are analyzed to illustrate how this method can be applied. The reliability of student ratings differs for the two group projects considered in this research. While a strong group effect is present in both projects, the rater effect is different. Implications of this research for classroom assessment practice are discussed.     

Peak movement and collision demands of professional rugby league competition

ABSTRACT

To quantify the peak movement and contact demands of National Rugby League (NRL) and European Super League (ESL) competition players were tracked during 10 NRL (166 files) and 10 ESL (143 files) matches using microtechnology devices. The peak 1- to 5-min periods were then calculated for average match speed (m·min^?1), and acceleration (m·s^?2) when 0, 1, 2, and ≥3 collisions per min occurred. Linear mixed effect models and Cohen’s effect size statistic (± 90%CI) were used to determine the differences in movement profiles when collisions occurred. Compared to no collision periods, as frequency of collisions per minute increased, there were progressive reductions in running speed for most positional groups. The addition of 1 or more collisions per min resulted in average effect size reductions in match speed of ?0.14 for NRL forwards, ?0.89 for NRL backs, ?0.48 for ESL forwards, and ?2.41 for ESL backs. ESL forwards had the highest frequency of peak periods involving 3 or more collisions per min, 22% of all periods, followed by NRL forwards (14%), NRL backs (10%) and ESL backs (8%). This study highlights the peak movement and collision demands of professional rugby league competition and allows practitioners to develop training drills that reflect worst case scenarios.     

Development,implementation and assessment of a concussion education programme for high school student-athletes

Although experts have noted that adolescent athletes should be educated about concussions to improve their safety, there is no agreement on the most effective strategy to disseminate concussion education. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and assess a concussion education programme. More precisely, four interactive oral presentations were delivered to high school student-athletes (N = 35, M_age = 15.94, SD = 0.34) in a large urban centre. Participants completed a questionnaire at three time-points during the season to measure changes in their knowledge (CK) and attitudes (CA) of concussions, and focus group interviews were conducted following the concussion education programme. Questionnaire data revealed participants’ post-intervention CK scores were higher than their pre-intervention scores. During the focus groups, the student-athletes said they acquired CK about the role of protective equipment and symptom variability, and in terms of CA, they intended to avoid dangerous in-game collisions in the future. Our study was the first to create and deliver a concussion education intervention across multiple time-points, and to use mixed-methods in its assessment. These findings may be of interest to researchers, practitioners and stakeholders in sport who are invested in making the sport environment safer through concussion education and awareness.