The second leg home advantage: Evidence from European football cup competitions

Abstract

The home advantage is a widely acknowledged sporting phenomenon, especially in association football. Here, we examine the second leg home advantage, an effect that is discussed in the public domain but which has received very little scientific attention. The second leg home advantage effect occurs when on average teams are more likely to win a two-stage knock-out competition when they play at home in the second leg. That is, both teams have a home advantage but this advantage is significantly greater for the team that plays at home second. Examining data from three different European Cup football competitions spanning 51 years, we show that the second leg home advantage is a real phenomenon. The second leg home team has more than a 50% probability to qualify for the next round in the competition even after controlling for extra time and team ability as possible alternative explanations. The second leg home advantage appears, however, to have decreased significantly over the past decade. Possible reasons for its existence and subsequent decline are presented.     

An Evaluation of Primary School Children Coding Using a Text-Based Language (Java)

All primary school children in England are required to write computer programs and learn about computational thinking. There are moves in other countries to this effect such as the U.S. K-12 Computer Science Framework (CSF) for development. Debates on how to program and what constitutes computational thinking are ongoing. Here we report on a study of programing by children aged 7 – 11 using Java and elements of computational thinking they experience. Our platform comprises a novel Story-Writing-Coding engine we have developed. We compare novice (children’s) processes of coding an animated story with that of experts (college students) and evaluate the differences using four measures based on the progressive coding of a complete program. We also analyze the use of novice (children’s) computational thinking in this coding process. This research is set against a backdrop of approaches to teaching programing and concepts of computational thinking in recent educational literature.     

Speech and language therapy provision for children using augmentative and alternative communication systems

A proportion of children with physical impairments experience significant difficulties in communicating with others and may be recommended augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems such as speech synthesizers and symbol charts to support ‘natural’ communication skills. However, AAC systems are often under-utilized. Parents have identified barriers to AAC system use to include the organization of speech and language therapy. Speech and language therapists are developing services to school-aged children in response to changes in education, health reforms and models of speech and language development. However, there is little evidence for commissioners of children's services about what constitutes ‘enough’ or ‘good’ speech and language therapy. This paper examines speech and language therapy provision to 23 children using AAC systems in six London authorities. Research strategies include documenting the amount, type, organization and objectives of provision. Evidence for collaboration between school staff and therapists is explored, analysis is made of child characteristics associated with provision and criteria for decision-making documented through interviews with therapists. However, little conjunction exists between what therapists said guided their decision-making concerning provision and observed provision. For the children surveyed in this study it seems that that provision in amount of therapy is related to educational placement rather than individual needs.     

Item-Level Comparative Analysis of Online and Paper Administrations of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

This article describes a comparative study conducted at the item level for paper and online administrations of a statewide high stakes assessment. The goal was to identify characteristics of items that may have contributed to mode effects. Item-level analyses compared two modes of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for up to four subjects at two grade levels. The analyses included significance tests of p-value differences, DIF, and response distributions for each item. Additional analyses investigated item position effects and objective-level mode differences. No evidence of item position effects emerged, but significant differences were found for several items and objectives in all subjects at grade 8 and in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) at grade 11. Differences generally favored the paper group. ELA items that were longer in passage length and math items that required graphing and geometric manipulations or involved scrolling in the online administration tended to be the items showing mode differences.     

Investigating the mechanisms of learning from a constrained preparation for future learning activity

Many studies have shown benefits associated with engaging students in problem-solving activities prior to administering lessons. These problem-solving activities are assumed to activate relevant knowledge and allow students to develop some initial knowledge structures, which support understanding of the lesson. In this paper we report the results of two studies in which we investigated the underlying benefits of engaging in a preparatory activity—setting up experiments without running them or receiving feedback—prior to an interactive computerized lesson on experimental design compared to only engaging in the interactive lesson. We predicted that the seventh-grade participants who demonstrated some initial knowledge of the topic—experimental design—would benefit more from spending the whole time engaged in instructional activities. However, we expected students who did not demonstrate initial knowledge would benefit more from engaging in the preparatory activity, which would allow them to activate or develop initial knowledge that would aid their understanding of the subsequent instruction. The predicted condition by initial knowledge interaction was found in both studies. In Study 1, the benefit of only engaging in the instruction was found only for the lowest-knowledge of students who demonstrated initial knowledge. For students who did not demonstrate some initial knowledge, the benefit of completing the preparatory activity appeared to be due to the development of an understanding of the general goal of the activity rather than of specific knowledge of experimental design. Based on this finding, in Study 2, we investigated an initial goal by condition interaction. In fact, students who did not express an understanding of the task goal on the pretest benefited from engaging in the preparatory activity and students who did benefited more from the instruction. Again, this benefit appeared to be due to students’ development of an appropriate understanding of the task goal during the preparatory activity.     

An investigation of factors involved when educational psychologists supervise other professionals

Inter-professional supervision combines the social processes of supervision and multi-agency working: both complex and often poorly understood processes. This paper discusses the first author’s research of inter-professional supervision, involving an educational psychologist (EP) supervising another professional and complements the recently published guidelines on professional supervision produced by the Division of Educational and Child Psychology (DECP). The research involved 10 semi-structured interviews with six EPs (supervisors) and four other professionals (supervisees) recruited through purposive sampling. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and coded using thematic analysis. Research findings suggested that inter-professional supervision was viewed positively. However, participants had a patchy experience of the contracting aspects of supervision and some talked of conflicting conceptualisations of supervision placing a strain on the supervisory relationship. Conclusions reflect the need to view supervision as a process enacted within multiple contexts which impact upon supervision in important ways.     

Young People's Voluntary and Campaigning Activities as Sources of Political Education

The article begins by examining the predominant image of young people today as alienated, apathetic, and uninvolved in their communities. It is argued that any debate about participation and politics should consider young people's involvement in voluntary and campaigning activities. Using data from a study of 1160 14-16 year-olds, it is shown that a considerable number of young people are involved in volunteering and campaigning, and also that these activities are influenced by gender, ethnicity, locality and the family. The article then explores the ways in which participation in volunteering and campaigning can promote the development of young people's political knowledge, awareness and understanding. It is demonstrated that involvement in these activities affects young people's political development in five ways, specifically in developing an understanding of the needs of different groups in society; a sense of influence over political and social events; a growing sense of party political differences and voting intent; reflection on social structures and processes; and acquiring skills useful in political campaigning. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.