Baumgartner's Modified Pull-Up Test For Male and Female Elementary School Aged Children

Abstract

Nineteen college men and women (aged 18–23 yrs, × = 21.1) were studied to ascertain the force-time components of a rapid maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVC) for ankle dorsiflexors, knee extensors, elbow flexors, wrist flexors and hand grip. Standardized isometric strength testing protocol was used. After a practice period subjects were instructed to make an MVC without jerking and as quickly as possible, for each of the muscle actions noted above. Force readings were taken from a load cell assembly through an analogue-to-digital converter and analyzed to yield time values for MVC, 3/4 MVC, 1/2 MVC, and 1/4 MVC. The results indicated significant differences (p < .01) between the responses of the men and women, with the women reaching full MVC more rapidly than the men. Also, there were significant differences among the five muscle groups tested, with the wrist flexor muscle group developing MVC most quickly, while the knee extensors took the longest time to full MVC. Based upon these data it may be concluded that the time to full MVC differs between men and women, and also that the time to full MVC differs among the five muscle groups tested in this experiment.     

From students to teachers: using surveys to build a culture of evidence and inquiry

In an effort to make decisions about teacher education policy and practice that were informed by research and evidence, participants in Boston College's ‘Teachers for a New Era’ Evidence Team (http://www.teachersforanewera.org) designed a portfolio of assessments and studies. This article describes one project in the portfolio – a series of surveys that trace teacher candidates' experiences over time and track shifts in these experiences as respondents progress from students during the pre‐service period to teachers in the first few years of work in the profession. The article illustrates how various constituencies in the teacher education programme and the larger university used survey data to guide practice, shape policies, and raise new questions about the curriculum, relationships with schools, and the performance of teachers and their pupils. The article argues that these surveys helped to create a new ‘culture of evidence and inquiry’ within which decisions about local policy and practice were made in the teacher preparation programme and the larger university.     

Change in Student Perceptions of Course and Instructor Following Curriculum Change

Ongoing curriculum change in higher education is essential to enhance student learning and better prepare them for the job‐market. However, research shows that faculty are reluctant to implement such changes because students generally react adversely thereby negating any potential benefits, and moreover, sanction faculty through lower evaluations and future enrollment. Yet, understanding of the effect of curriculum changes on students’ course and instructor perceptions is limited. In this article we attempt to fill this gap. Drawing on two empirical findings—students’ motivation to attend college becoming increasingly extrinsic since the 1960s and their inability to recognize, ex ante, the value‐added by a curriculum change—and the norm life‐cycle theory, we argue that any effort‐increasing or grade‐threatening change is viewed as non‐normative and will lead to an adverse student reaction. However, this adverse reaction will dissipate over time once a critical mass of students is convinced of the merits of the new curriculum. We find support for our hypotheses by analyzing change in student perceptions following curriculum changes at a U.S. University. In addition, we also find that once the adverse reaction dissipates, students’ perceptions of the new curriculum become more positive than the old curriculum, only to be reversed once the revised curriculum is accepted as the new norm.     

Mothers' Concepts of Young Children's Areas of Personal Freedom

White suburban working- to upper-middle-class mothers ( N = 40) of children ages 5 and 7 were interviewed regarding their concepts of children's areas of personal discretion, autonomy, and individuality. Mothers treated standardized moral, conventional, and prudential items as issues that mothers should control, while standardized personal items were treated as up to the child. In open-ended interviews, mothers reported setting limits around issues of safety, family conventions, and daily routines but permitted children to make decisions about food, recreational activities, clothes, and playmates. Mothers viewed mother-child conflict as occurring over these same issues and viewed children's choices as helping them to develop autonomy and competence. Mothers viewed their roles as educators and nurturers and valued the development of individuality in their children, which was thought to emerge in infancy or toddlerhood. Few age differences were observed, but gender differences were found in the ways mothers characterized boys and girls' resistances to parental authority and in the content of mother-child disputes. Results were interpreted in terms of the emergence of the personal domain in children.     

Implicit theories of communicative competence: The semantics of social behavior

Observers evaluating the competence of communicators use both observed behaviors and traits inferred from these behaviors in their evaluation. In order to understand the process by which these evaluations are made, the manner in which the beliefs about trait/behavior relationships that underlie this process must be understood. Based on analysis of judgments of prototypical “communicators” of different skill levels and of actual people, trait/behavior relationships are, with one exception, similar across competence level and communicative situation.     

11. JOURNALISM

THE AMERICAN BOOK BUYERS STUDY “conducted and prepared”; by Bruno and Ridgway Research Associates for Publishers Weekly and the Book Industry Study Group (New York: Cahners Publishing Company, September 1997—$295.00, paper [additional copies $60.00 for BISG voting Members, $80.00 for BISG non‐voting members], ISBN 0–940016–68–0, approximately 550 pages [various pagings], tables, charts, appendixes)

BOOKS, BRICKS &; BYTES: LIBRARIES IN THE TWENTY‐FIRST CENTURY, edited by Stephen R. Graubard and Paul LcClerc (New Brunswick, NJ and London: Transaction, 1998—$24.95 paper, ISBN 1–56000–986–1, 361 pp.)

BOOKNOTES: AMERICA'S FINEST AUTHORS ON READING, WRITING, AND THE POWER OF IDEAS by Brian Lamb (New York: Times Books, 1997— $15.00, paper, ISBN 0–8129–3029–0, 426 pp., illustrations, appendix, index)

EXPERIMENTATION AND COLLABORATION: CREATING SERIALS FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM: Proceedings of the North American Serials Interest Group 12th Annual Conference edited by Charlene N. Simser and Michael A. Somers (New York: Haworth Press, 1998—$69.95, ISBN 0–7890–0525–5, 442 pp., index)     

Teacher’ use of humor,self‐disclosure,and narrative activity as a function of experience

This investigation reported normative data for experienced (N = 20) and less‐experienced (N = 20) college teachers’ use of humor, self‐disclosure, and narrative activities. Results indicated that both groups of teachers observed in the study incorporated the three behaviors within their 50‐minute lectures. Experienced teachers, however, used humor, self‐disclosure, and narrative activities more frequently than the less‐experienced teachers. Additionally, the experienced teachers used the behaviors to clarify course content.     

Identity Challenges in Field Research: Three Stories

We tell of our struggles in completing ethnographic field research by showing the hurdles and difficult interactions we faced on our different projects. We interpret the obstacles as threats to our identities and show how we responded to them. Our conclusion shows how we preserved the independence of our interpretations while completing the data collection and interpretation.     

Moral Education at Religious Research Universities: Exploring Faculty Attitudes

This article presents the results and an analysis of 1,728 survey responses from faculty at four top tier religious research universities regarding their support for moral and civic education. The results demonstrate that a majority of faculty members at these schools supported both the general goals of moral and civic education and specific suggestions for integrating moral and civic education into the curriculum. Nonetheless, three major concerns emerged about its actual implementation into the curriculum.