Synchronized metronome training induces changes in the kinematic properties of the golf swing

The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible effects of synchronized metronome training (SMT) on movement dynamics during golf-swing performance, as captured by kinematic analysis. A one-group, between-test design was applied on 13 male golfers (27.5 ± 4.6 years old, 12.7 ± 4.9 handicap) who completed 12 sessions of SMT over a four-week period. Pre- and post-assessments of golf swings with three different clubs (4-iron, 7-iron, and pitching wedge) were performed using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Club velocity at three different swing phases (backswing, downswing, and follow-through) was measured and cross-correlation analysis of time-series signals were made on joint couplings (wrist–elbow–shoulder) of both arms, and between joints and the club, during the full golf swing. There were significantly higher cross-correlations between joint-couplings and concomitant changes of the associated phase-shift differences, as well as reduced phase-shift variability at post-test. No significant effect of SMT was found for the club velocities. We suggest that domain-general influences of SMT on the underlying brain-based motor control strategies lead to a more coordinated movement pattern of the golf-swing performance, which may explain previous observations of significantly improved golf-shot accuracy and decreased variability after SMT.     

Parental refusal to consent for evaluation: A legal analysis with implications for school psychologists

The decision to begin the process for special education eligibility has complexities impacting children, parents, teachers, and schools. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) eligibility provisions specify the need to obtain consent prior to evaluation and options when consent cannot be obtained. School psychologists may encounter parents who are reluctant to provide consent or parents who may seek to condition their permission. The reasons for parent refusal to consent to evaluation are analyzed in a review of administrative and judicial decisions published in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Law Report between 2004 and 2008. Possible parent reactions to the request for evaluation are discussed, and guidelines for school psychologists encountering reluctant parents are provided. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Community response in disasters: an ecological learning framework

Natural disasters are frequently exacerbated by anthropogenic mechanisms and have social and political consequences for communities. The role of community learning in disasters is seen to be increasingly important. However, the ways in which such learning unfolds in a disaster can differ substantially from case to case. This article uses a comparative case study methodology to examine catastrophes and major disasters from five countries (Japan, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Germany) to consider how community learning and adaptation occurs. An ecological model of learning is considered, where community learning is of small loop (adaptive, incremental, experimental) type or large loop (paradigm changing) type. Using this model, we consider that there are three types of community learning that occur in disasters (navigation, organization, reframing). The type of community learning that actually develops in a disaster depends upon a range of social factors such as stress and trauma, civic innovation and coercion.     

Lady Albemarle’s youth workers: contested professional identities in English youth work 1958–1985

This article examines tensions and developments in youth work following the Albemarle Report in 1960, which sought to revive the flagging youth service. It uses oral history interviews with former youth workers and club members in London and Liverpool, archival research looking at the documents of voluntary youth clubs and associations in London and Liverpool, and national policy documents to uncover ideas about the professional youth worker between 1958 and 1985. It examines three main areas of tension: between older and newer methods in youth work, between volunteers and those with a sense of themselves as professional workers, and the conflict between those in voluntary youth association management, allied professions (e.g. teaching and social work) and the youth worker. Ultimately it shows youth work was professionalising at this time but that its status remained unclear. This article aids our understanding of professionalisation, informal education, and youth in post-war Britain.     

Negative priming and occasion setting in an appetitive Pavlovian procedure

Rats received training in which two auditory target stimuli, X and Y, were signaled by two visual stimuli, A and B, and followed by food (i.e., A-->X+, B-->Y+). The test consisted of presentations of X and Y preceded either by the same signal as during training (same trials: A-->X, B-->Y) or by the alternative signal (different trials: A-->Y, B-->X). After 8 training sessions, the animals responded less on same trials than on different trials; this effect was significantly reduced after 24 training sessions. In two additional experiments, animals that had also experienced presentations of A and B alone, either before or during training, showed the opposite pattern of results, responding more on same trials than on different trials. These results are interpreted as being due to the interaction between the effects of occasion setting and negative priming (see Wagner, 1981).     

Teacher Leadership in Practice: Mapping the Negotiation of the Position of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator in Schools

Special needs care has taken on a substantial evolution within education. Special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) are no longer considered to provide individual guidance to students but to support and professionalize regular teachers in fulfilling special needs care in their classroom. In doing so, they act as teacher leaders. Many concerns are raised about how teacher leadership may interfere with the existing working relationships in schools. In this study, we use Positioning Theory as a theoretical approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of how the position of the SENCO and the responsibilities attached to this position are negotiated within the school. The findings illustrate that SENCOs received the legitimacy to act as teacher leaders when their expertise was recognized, when teachers perceived their task as first-line helpers, and when school principals were willing to release power.     

Components of fostering self-regulated learning among students. A meta-analysis on intervention studies at primary and secondary school level

Due to new standards in fostering life-long learning at school, research has increasingly dealt with the promotion of self-regulated learning, resulting in a large number of intervention studies conducted at primary and secondary school. The current study aimed at investigating the impact of various training characteristics on the training outcomes, regarding academic performance, strategy use and motivation of students. Two meta-analyses were conducted separately, one for primary and one for secondary school level to allow for comparisons between both school levels. The meta-analyses included 49 studies conducted with primary school students and 35 studies conducted with secondary school students; analyzing 357 effect sizes altogether. The potential effects of training characteristics were investigated by means of meta-analytic multiple regression analyses. The average effect size was 0.69. For both school levels, effect sizes were higher when the training was conducted by researchers instead of regular teachers. Moreover, interventions attained higher effects when conducted in the scope of mathematics than in reading/writing or other subjects. Self-regulated learning can be fostered effectively at both primary and secondary school level. However, the theoretical background on which the training programme is based, as well as the type of instructed strategy led to differential effects at both school levels.

The effects of controversy,concurrence seeking,and individualistic learning on achievement and attitude change

The effects of cooperative-controversy, cooperative-concurrence seeking, and individualistic learning were compared on motivation, achievement, and attitudes toward the science subject being studied. Eighty-four fifth-grade students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for sex and reading ability. In all three conditions students studied whether wolves should or should not be a protected species. The results indicate that cooperative-controversy resulted in the highest achievement, greatest motivation to learn more about wolves, more positive attitudes toward the wolf, and more positive attitudes toward controversy.     

Curriculum Leadership Roles of Chairpersons in Continuously Planning Departments

Forty-four chairpersons of departments judged by academic vice presidents at randomly selected institutions to be engaged in especially effective curriculum planning were interviewed about their roles. The interviews suggest 7 leadership roles used in the curriculum development process. The roles varied by institutional type, department size, and personal choice. This article reviews the conceptual framework that guided the study, describes the interview population and sample, illustrates the leadership roles with quotations, relates the roles to curriculum planning and organizational contexts, and develops implications for researchers.     

Teaching and learning One-Course-At-A-Time

In 1978 Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, adopted the One-Course-At-A-Time calendar, under which professors teach and students take one course only for three-and-a-half week terms. This paper examines the impact of the calendar on overall faculty workload and student performance and development. It also considers faculty attitudes concerning the effects of the intensive format on teaching effectiveness and student learning, along with the types of courses and teaching methods best suited to the calendar. Faculty and student satisfaction with the calendar is high.Charlotte Vaughan received a B.A. from Northwestern University, a Masters of Science in Teaching from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. She is a professor emerita in sociology at Cornell College and is currently the college's Director of Institutional Research. She is interested in research in higher education. Christopher Carlson received a B.A. from the University of California at Davis, an M.A. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oregon. He is an associate professor of sociology at Cornell College and currently serves as the college's Affirmative Action Officer. He is interested in the family, gender roles, and social change.