Perceptions of Women and Men Leaders Following 360‐Degree Feedback Evaluations

In this study, researchers used a customized 360‐degree method to examine the frequency with which 1,546 men and 721 women leaders perceived themselves and were perceived by colleagues as using 10 relational and 10 task‐oriented leadership behaviors, as addressed in the Management‐Leadership Practices Inventory (MLPI). As hypothesized, men and women leaders, as well as their supervisors, employees, and peers, perceived women leaders to employ nine of the 10 relational leadership behaviors significantly more frequently than men leaders. Additionally, the employees' perceptions of their women leaders' use of task‐oriented behaviors were significantly higher when compared to similar assessments from the employees of men leaders. However, the leaders as well as their supervisors and peers perceived men and women leaders' use of task‐oriented behaviors as approximately equal. Broader implications of these findings are discussed.     

Severe punishment of children by staff in Romanian placement centers for school-aged children: Effects of child and institutional characteristics

The objective of this study was to determine whether children's characteristics and/or institutional characteristics were predictors of severe punishments (including beatings) and/or frequency of punishments that children received from staff in Romanian institutions. The data was hierarchical with institutionalized children (N = 1391) nested within 44 institutions, and the measurement of punishments by the staff and frequency of punishments had a binary distribution. Thus, multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine the effects of individual and institutional level variables on reported punishments and to account for the clustering of the children within institutions. Two general patterns of results emerged. First, regarding individual level variables, it was found that: (1) amount of time spent by children in their current institutions had a significant effect on the probability of being punished by staff and the frequency of this punishment; (2) the probability of being punished was higher for boys than for girls; and (3) having no siblings in the institution increased the odds of being punished several times. Second, regarding institutional level variables: (4) being in placement centers for school-aged children with a traditional type of institutional organization increased the odds of severe punishment compared to a familial/mixed type. The results of the present study highlight the importance of understanding the consequences of institutionalization in a broader way, where children not only experienced early severe psychosocial deprivation as documented in other studies, but also high levels of severe punishments administered by institutional staff.     

Let’s Talk Play! Exploring the Possible Benefits of Play-Based Pedagogy on Language and Literacy Learning in Two Title I Kindergarten Classrooms

Early Childhood Education Journal - The research literature well establishes that adverse conditions, such as poverty, can affect children’s cognitive development and academic achievement....     

Dietary antioxidants and exercise

Muscular exercise promotes the production of radicals and other reactive oxygen species in the working muscle. Growing evidence indicates that reactive oxygen species are responsible for exercise-induced protein oxidation and contribute to muscle fatigue. To protect against exercise-induced oxidative injury, muscle cells contain complex endogenous cellular defence mechanisms (enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants) to eliminate reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, exogenous dietary antioxidants interact with endogenous antioxidants to form a cooperative network of cellular antioxidants. Knowledge that exercise-induced oxidant formation can contribute to muscle fatigue has resulted in numerous investigations examining the effects of antioxidant supplementation on human exercise performance. To date, there is limited evidence that dietary supplementation with antioxidants will improve human performance. Furthermore, it is currently unclear whether regular vigorous exercise increases the need for dietary intake of antioxidants. Clearly, additional research that analyses the antioxidant requirements of individual athletes is needed.     

Assessing participation skills: online discussions with peers

Many tertiary-level courses assess students’ participation in tutorial or online discussions. However, in educational and pedagogical research literature, criteria for assessing students’ skills in engaging with peers remain unclear. This article describes an online assignment with a set of participation criteria and a method for assessing the quality of students’ interactions with peers. The assignment focuses on students’ ability to utilise their critical thinking skills while engaging with peers on a particular topic. This includes abilities such as responding to criticism, justifying one’s view and contributing to discussion. While the assignment is designed for a critical thinking course in a philosophy curriculum, the method and participation criteria may be adapted for assessment in other discipline areas.     

Longitudinal Change in Throwing Performance: Gender Differences

Abstract

Twenty-four male subjects were used to study effects upon successive hand reaction times when the interval between paired visual stimuli was manipulated over the range 50 to 1,000 mseconds. Subjects were divided into fast and slow groups on the basis of well-practiced simple reaction time measures. Results indicated that both simple reaction time and initial paired response reaction time were unrelated to delays in the second response due to the psychological refractory period. It was suggested that a serious reappraisal of the single channel response system theory merits consideration and that ability to execute fast, consecutive paired responses may represent a new component in motor skills.     

Correction to: Let’s Talk Play! Exploring the Possible Benefits of Play-Based Pedagogy on Language and Literacy Learning in Two Title I Kindergarten Classrooms

Early Childhood Education Journal - The original version of this article unfortunately contained an error in Abstract section, in-text reference citation and reference section.