Constraints on dynamic stability during forward,backward and lateral locomotion in skilled football players

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of speed and plane of motion on stability during locomotion in skilled football players. Ten male national-level football players participated in this study to run forward, backward and in lateral directions on a treadmill at 80%, 100% and 120% of their preferred running speeds. The coordinate data of passive reflective markers attached to body segments were recorded using motion capture systems. Time series data obtained from the ankle marker were used for further analyses. The largest finite-time Lyapunov exponent and maximum Floquet multiplier were adopted to quantify local and orbital dynamic stabilities, respectively. Results showed that speed did not significantly change local and orbital dynamic stabilities in any of running patterns. However, both local and orbital dynamic stability were significantly higher in the secondary plane of progression. Data revealed that in running, unlike walking, stability in the direction perpendicular to the direction of running is significantly higher, implying that less active control is required in the secondary plane of progression. The results of this study could be useful in sports training and rehabilitation programmes where development of fundamental exercise programmes that challenge both speed and the ability to maintain stability might produce a tangible enhancement of athletic skill level.     

Portfolio versus syllabus methods in experiential education

The portfolio method of assessing past experience for the award of academic credit is being nationally promoted by the Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning (CAEL). The portfolio method has evolved since 1974 and is used in a number of colleges and universities. The project-syllabus method was developed by the author in 1969 to support experiential credit for students in sponsored experiences. Beginning about 1973, the project-syllabus method was also used to support credit for past experiences in some areas. These two methods are contrasted, comparisons made to traditional classroom methods, and strengths and weaknesses analyzed.D. Keith Lupton, the Guest Editor for this issue, is the Director of the Off-Campus Term Program, University of South Florida.     

Minor Parenting Stresses with Young Children

The importance of major life stress and minor daily hassles associated with parenting was studied in 74 mothers and their 5-year-old children. Of interest were the relative and absolute contributions of the stress factors to indices of parental, child, and family functioning. Mothers completed questionnaires regarding stressors, aspects of parenting and individual psychological status, social support, family functioning, and child behavioral status. Mother-child pairs were also observed in interactions in a laboratory setting. Analyses indicated that life stress and parenting daily hassles significantly predicted aspects of child, parent, and family status. Hassles, however, proved to be a more powerful stress construct. Further analyses indicated that mothers' social support moderated the influence of hassles on indices of maternal behavior. The results are discussed in relation to the potential for minor parenting stresses to influence microsocial processes within parent-child relationships and contribute to dysfunction in children and families.     

The Contribution of Educational Psychology to Intervention Research and Practice

Advances in psychological theory have made significant contributions to the considerable progress that has been achieved in intervention research and practice, especially in the past two decades. This article presents a discussion of the major conceptual and methodological issues that have arisen in intervention research, with a focus on interventions for children with learning problems, particularly reading problems. Examples from our own research are presented to illustrate how conceptual and methodological factors in intervention research can be taken into consideration in the design of intervention studies.     

GCSE Art and Design: An Arena for Orthodoxy or Creative Endeavour?

This article explores the potential correlation between key aspects of the creative process and the requirements of GCSE Art and Design Specifications as determined and defined by stated assessment objectives. It considers approaches that might be employed to more effectively establish a link between pupils’ creative endeavours and their necessary evidencing of attainment in respect of these objectives. In order to illustrate and amplify this enquiry reference is made to specific examples of candidates' work that was selected by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) to exemplify and disseminate GCSE Art and Design standards for teachers in 2006. It concludes with a set of implications for consideration.     

Attitudes of pre-service mature age women students towards teaching primary science: An interview study

During the first semester of their teacher education degree mature age women improved significantly in their attitude towards teaching primary science compared to other sub-groups. The reasons for this difference were explored by interviewing several of the mature age women. An interpretation of these interviews and possible implications for pre-service science education are reported. Specializations: primary science and environmental teacher education.     

Components of phonological awareness

The factorial structure underlying different types of tasks within the domain of phonological awareness was examined in two studies. Large sample sizes allowed for sensitive differentiation of constructs. In the first study, 128 preschool children without any experience of formal reading instruction were tested with a battery of tasks intended to tap various aspects of phonological awareness: rhyme recognition, syllable counting, initial-phoneme matching, initial-phoneme deletion, phoneme blending, and phoneme counting. Three basic components were extracted in a principal component analysis: a phoneme factor, a syllable factor and a rhyme factor. Cross-tabulations indicated considerable dissociation between performance on phoneme, syllable, and rhyme tasks. The structural relationships were replicated on a much larger sample (n=1509) in the second study. Subjects in this study were one year older and were attending grade 1 thus providing an opportunity to test their reading achievement. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the phonemic factor was by far the most potent predictor. However, the rhyming factor made an independent (although small) contribution to explaining the reading variance. Among the phonemic tasks, phoneme identification proved to be the most powerful predictor.     

Accuracy in direct behavior rating is minimally impacted by completion latency

Direct behavior ratings (DBRs) have been proposed as an efficient method to assess student behavior in the classroom due to their relative ease of administration compared to alternative methods like systematic direct observation. DBRs are considered low‐inference assessments of behavior because they are designed to be completed immediately following a specified observation period of student behavior; however, in practice it is common for teachers and other respondents to delay completion of a DBR until they are reminded to do so. It is unclear what effect, if any, this latency between observation and DBR completion has on rater accuracy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of completion latency on accuracy in an analogue setting. Two‐hundred forty‐one undergraduate students (83.8% female) with a mean age of 21 participated across eight groups and were asked to complete an electronic DBR immediately after watching a video of student behavior or after a predetermined delay of 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or 6 hours. A one‐way analysis of variance revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between completion latency and DBR accuracy, F(7, 233) = .959, p = .46, η² = .028.