Effects of Sports Fitness Camp Experience on Locus of Control Orientation in Children,Ages 6 to 14

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if children, ages 6 to 14, would experience greater internal locus of control as a result of participation in an eight-week sports fitness summer camp program. Locus of control is the belief in one's own capacity to control reinforcements. An internally controlled person perceives himself as being in control of what happens, while an externally controlled individual feels that luck, fate, chance, or powerful forces too complex to understand determine what happens to him. Subjects were 74 boys and 35 girls enrolled in the Emory University Sports Fitness Camp in the summer of 1975. During the first week of the camp, the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale (CNS-IE) and a battery of physical fitness tests were administered to the campers. The procedure was repeated at the conclusion of the eight-week program. Results indicated that there were significant changes from an external to an internal locus of control as well as significant improvement in the six measures of physical fitness. It was concluded that the camp experience was accompanied by a stronger belief, on the part of the children, in their own ability to control what happens     

Organising for continuing vocational education in British universities

In 1990 a research and development project set out to identify and promote good practice in continuing vocational education (CVE) in the British universities. This paper explains the origins and approach of this project. It explains the centrality of organisational arrangements to the health and prospects of continuing vocational education, and the different models and assumptions which are commonly encountered, to do with its ‘mainstreaming’ and its supposedly self‐financing nature. Some particular concerns are addressed: the role of specialised units; the evolution of the British extramural tradition into new forms; the relationship with industrial liaison officers; and the supervision of university CVE operations. Desirable elements in the organisation of university continuing education are presented.     

LIFELONG EDUCATION AND THE UNIVERSITIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

The higher education system of the United Kingdom, of which the universities are only part, is changing rapidly. Although broad social conditions explain why universities should be centres of lifelong learning and specific institutional needs are in fact pushing them in this direction, changing demography is only one explanation among many. The kinds of programmes and related policies concerning students, teaching and curricula which are seen as relevant to continuing or lifelong education are widening and diversifying as the political and funding environment of higher education also changes. Research on continuing education and that generated by it are also being perceived differently. The new decade of the 1990's seems likely to witness significant changes in what is identified as continuing education as present trends in favour of integration or mainstreaming accelerate and new arrangements are made for more accessible and flexible forms of study both for degrees and for short courses. This process will be a part of a wider and more fundamental change as higher education moves somewhat towards a mass from an élite model and as the concept of a university and of a university education changes in step behind these changes in practice. The possibility exists that more fundamental changes in the initial undergraduate curriculum will also make universities more effective centres in terms of preparing their young students for lifelong learning.     

How Much for Whom? Lessons From an Efficacy Study of Modest Professional Development for Child Care Providers

Research Findings: Examining the effects of professional development of the early childhood workforce that fit within the constraints of government policy is crucial for identifying types and amounts of effective training and informing child care policy. The present study used a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the effects of a professional development program for child care providers designed to meet the criteria for 2 state-level policies: (a) that child care providers working in licensed centers engage in 10 hr of professional development annually and (b) that all licensed child care settings provide 30 min of developmentally appropriate literacy activity daily. Results indicated that 10 hr of professional development focused on literacy was effective for significantly improving the literacy practices and knowledge of child care providers. However, it was not effective in eliciting substantial growth in child literacy outcomes, at least in the short term. The lack of child outcomes illustrates the importance of measuring professional development effects at both the provider and child levels. Practice or Policy: This study illustrates the importance of critically questioning and analyzing state policy, particularly dosage. In practice, dosage is an influential factor in how professional development is selected by programs and providers, because most policies only specify a required number of hours to be completed. The design of policy, which can influence both provider practice and child outcomes, relies upon alignment between early childhood research and policy.     

Telecommunication

Morton I. Hamburg All About Cable: Legal and Business Aspects of Cable and Pay Television (Law Journal Press, 233 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10007—$32.50),

Judith S. Duke Children's Books and Magazines: A Market Study (White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1979— $24.95)

Frederic W. Goudy Goudy's Type Designs: His Story and Specimens (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Myriade Press, 1978—$9.95, paper with hardback available)     

Changes in Handedness Associated with Onset or Disappearance of Stuttering

The relationships between scores on the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF), the Brown Personal Beliefs and Teaching Practices Inventories, and the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale for 191 female, beginning teacher education students were investigated using canonical and simple correlation analyses. A significant canonical correlation of .51 was established between these measures, with factors M (Practical vs. Imaginative), and Q1 (Conservative vs. Experimenting) of the 16 PF and total scores on the Brown inventories accounting for the multivariate correlation. Teacher education students who indicate high agreement with Dewey’s philosophy on the Brown instruments appear to also score high on the imagination and experimentation factors of the 16 PF. An additional finding of importance was the absence of significant relationships between the 16 PF and the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale.     

Adults can be discipline problems too!

Over the course of a school year, observational data and survey information were collected on student behavior problems and discipline policies in a large suburban high school. Analysis of the data indicated that many of the concerns of teachers and administrators centered more around adult behavior than student behavior. Six categories of adult “discipline problems” were identified: inconsistent rule enforcement, noncomplance with discipline policies, insensitivity to students, lack of disciplinary data, lack of classroom management skills, and inadequate administration of disciplinary policies.