Counsellor supervision In Zimbabwe: A new direction

This paper examines theneed for a new paradigm of counsellor supervision in Zimbabwe andprovides components for a new paradigm. The article identifiesissues that need to be considered in order to develop counsellorsupervision practice in an appropriate cultural and social contextfor the country. The issues that are examined are: counsellortraining in Zimbabwe; sociohistoric and present racial themes inZimbabwe; the impact of Eurocentric counselling theory, research andpractice in Zimbabwe; and the basic tenets of indigenous culture inZimbabwe that impact on the counsellor supervision process.     

Determinants of Self-Worth in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Harter (1987) argues that both competence-importance discrepancy and social support/positive regard constructs predict a child's global self-worth. In the current study, this model was used to ascertain whether both determinants were pertinent to the self-worth of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD: American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and to control children. A group of 36 children with DCD were compared with a matched group of 36 normally coordinated children. The two groups were matched on variables of age, gender, and verbal IQ. It was found that Harter's (1987) model was supported for the group of control children as both the competence-importance discrepancy and the social support/positive regard construct were significant predictors of self-worth. However, for the DCD group, only the competence-importance discrepancy predicted self-worth. The results of this study indicate that future research efforts need to examine an alternative model which incorporates the variables that are relevant to the self-worth of children with DCD.     

Web-Based Student Assessment for Program Evaluation

As part of an overall evaluation of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, (GLOBE) program, we designed a Web-based assessment environment to measure students' environmental awareness and data analysis skill. It was expected that students who were identified as high implementers in the GLOBE program would outperform low implementers in their ability to construct environmental inferences and the degree to which they could analyze environmental data. Seven high and middle school classrooms were identified as either high or low GLOBE implementers depending on the amount of atmospheric data they had collected during the year. Within each classroom students were assigned into smaller learning groups of three students per group. A total of 32 groups participated in this study. Analysis of students' responses to the tasks revealed that the students differed in their performance. Overall, the results showed that students in the high implementing classrooms were more likely to construct higher-level environmental inferences than students in the low implementing classes. Contrary to expectations, middle school students were more likely than high school students to solve the data analysis problem correctly. However, upon further analyses, high school students constructed more data graphs and were more skilled in providing correct evidence to support their decision making than were middle school students in GLOBE. This study confirms the viability of using technology-based assessments for measuring students' environmental awareness and data analysis.     

Free-Living Comparison of Physical Activity and Sleep Data from Fitbit Activity Trackers Worn on the Dominant and Nondominant Wrists

Despite proprietary algorithms to account for differences, output from activity trackers worn on different wrists may not be comparable because individuals vary in their reliance on each hand during free-living activities.

Participants (n = 48) wore Fitbit Flex or Flex2 monitors on each wrist for three days. T tests, equivalence tests, and correlations were used to compare steps, Calories, distance, active minutes, and sleep duration recorded by dominant and nondominant wrist-worn monitors and effect sizes and mean absolute and percent difference were calculated.

The nondominant Flex2 monitor was not equivalent to the dominant wrist-worn monitor and recorded significantly more steps/day (absolute difference = 708), miles/day (0.3), and active minutes/day (7.9) than the dominant Flex2 monitor. For all variables, nondominant and dominant output was correlated (r>0.75).

Nondominant and dominant Flex2 monitors are significantly different, but there were small differences for Flex monitors. Research should investigate effects on behavior and replicate findings using other monitors.     

Utility value interventions in a college biology lab: The impact on motivation

Science writing, such as lab reports, allows students to form a meaningful understanding of scientific concepts. However, students often view scientific writing as unimportant and utilize surface level approaches when completing writing assignments. The current study implemented three experimental interventions (directly-communicated, self-generated, and hybrid) aligned with prior literature and designed to improve the utility value of lab reports in college settings. Participants (n = 1,002) were recruited from 43 lab sections of an introductory biology course at a large southeastern university. Measures of subjective task value (utility value, attainment value, cost, and intrinsic value) were collected pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. The self-generated and hybrid groups exhibited higher self-reported utility value by posttest compared to the control group. Requiring students to generate their own utility value toward a task, followed by a written reflection, increases students' maintained and situational interest for biology laboratory reports.     

Leadership and the Profession of Counseling: Beliefs and Practices

Thirty‐one individuals who have provided leadership to the counseling profession completed 3 Q‐sorts. These individuals sorted 39 statements about leadership according to 3 phases: when a leadership effort is getting started, when work is progressing, and when a leadership effort is coming to a close. The authors present perspectives on leadership that emerged from the study, during each of the 3 phases, and attempt to present their findings in a way that honors multiple voices about leadership.     

Socialization and pre-career development of public relations professionals via the undergraduate curriculum

We interviewed racially/ethnically diverse, early career public relations practitioners. By asking participants to reflect on their collegiate social and educational development, we unearth contributing factors to these individuals’ success both in college and in their professions to date. Respondents desired much more in-school training and technical skill acquisition than they were provided. Respondents also alluded to ways that the female/male composition of the undergraduate classroom affected their educational environment and student learning experiences. Findings are used to address the extent to which the educational/prepare-students-for-industry dialectic should be addressed by communication faculty and administrators.