Sport Commitment Among Competitive Female Gymnasts

The purpose of this study was to examine age and competitive level differences in the relationship between determinants and level of sport commitment. Gymnasts (N = 304) comprised three age groups (8–11, 11–14.5, and 14.5–18 years) and two competitive levels (Levels 5–6 and 8–10). Multiple regression analyses revealed: (a) perceived costs and social constraints from parents and best friends were the strongest predictors of commitment for the youngest gymnasts, (b) perceived costs, personal investments, and parent social constraints predicted commitment for 11–14.5-year-old gymnasts, and (c) perceived competence and costs predicted commitment for the oldest gymnasts. Competitive level differences also emerged; for Level 5–6 gymnasts, personal investments, perceived costs, coach social support, and social constraints by coach, best friend, and teammates were predictors of commitment. Personal investments and teammate social constraints were significant predictors for Level 8–10 gymnasts. Developmental factors and additional determinants are important to consider in further studies of the sport commitment model.     

The Impact of Girls' Interscholastic Sport Participation on Academic Orientation

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the influence of athletics and other extracurricular activities on the academic orientation of female high school students. Senior girls were categorized into groups—labeled athlete-only (comprising students who participated only in athletics as an extracurricular activity), service-only (students who participated in service activities only), athlete-service (students participating in both) and neither (students whose extracurricular activities included neither athletics nor service activities). Categorizations were based on listings from their high school yearbooks. Those taking the ACT college entrance exam (N = 487) were compared on composite and English scores to the other groups, and to national and state averages. Analyses of covariance, controlling for SES and extent of activity involvement revealed that the athlete-only group recorded the lowest average scores, but these could not be attributed to the participation category to which they belonged. Rather, socioeconomic level and extent of activity involvement were factors contributing to most of the differences between groups in which higher SES levels and higher levels of involvement were predictive of higher ACT scores. Moreover, none of the groups' scores were significantly different from national or slate averages. These results refute the notion that involvement only in athletics is detrimental to educational achievements for females, and lead to certain recommendations for longitudinal, multi-measure investigations of academic orientations.     

Influence of Social Goal Orientations and Peers on Unsportsmanlike Play

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the influence of personal (i.e., social goal orientations or definitions of success that include interpersonal relationships) and situational (i.e., peer influence) factors on decisions surrounding unsportsmanlike play. Middle school students (ages 11–15 years) completed a measure to assess task, ego, and social goal orientations. Participants also read scenarios about unsportsmanlike actions and responded to questions tapping the intention to perform those actions. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that in certain peer contexts, social goal orientations influenced unsportsmanlike play responses above and beyond the contribution of task and ego goal orientations. Results varied for boys and girls and provide support for including social goal orientations in achievement motivation research in the physical domain.     

Developing research capacity among graduate students in an interdisciplinary environment

A critical review of research to date suggests a need to explore the development of graduate student research capacity from the standpoint of graduate students. Six members of an interdisciplinary graduate student colloquium at the Centre for Youth and Society (Victoria, Canada) offer their perspective. Our research involved four phases, each illustrating the processes that refined our understanding of the components that contributed to the development of our graduate student research capacity. First, we engaged in several round-table discussions and created a conceptual map depicting components that were meaningful in developing our research capacity. Second, we examined previous work on graduate student research capacity development and compared this data to the conceptual map. Third, we conducted a thematic analysis of secondary data of graduated students with similar interdisciplinary training and involvement in the Centre. Finally, the data analysis was used to refine the conceptual map that may benefit educators and future graduate students. From the standpoint of students themselves, we discuss those components perceived as best contributing to the development of graduate student research capacity and highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary context and writing process.     

Four methods of identifying change in the context of a multiple component reading intervention for struggling middle school readers

The results from controlled intervention research have indicated that effective reading interventions exist for children with reading difficulties. Effect sizes for older struggling readers, however, typically have not matched the large effects demonstrated with younger children. Standardized effect sizes for intervention/control comparisons obscure important individual differences within intervention and control groups—differences potentially relevant to the who and why of intervention success. The present study reports the outcomes of PHAST Reading, a research-based multiple component reading intervention. Participants were 270 Grade 6, 7, and 8 students reading significantly below age-level expectations, who participated in a year-long intensive small-group intervention. Four methods were applied to characterize individual change: (a) normalization relative to age-appropriate standards; (b) statistically-reliable pre–post change using the Jacobson–Truax index; (c) individually-estimated growth rates using hierarchical linear modeling; and (d) change to a fixed criterion across multiple measures. Each method was evaluated for its ability to identify intervention outcomes, replicate traditional group-based effect size metrics, and characterize individual differences across participants depending on whether change was demonstrated. Each method replicated traditional group-based effect sizes, with advantages in consistency and predictive power for the reliable change index and growth curve approaches.     

Academic Self-Concept and Academic Self-Efficacy: Self-Beliefs Enable Academic Achievement of Twice-Exceptional Students

Many studies have reported that twice-exceptional (2e) students were vulnerable in psychological traits and exhibited low-academic self-concept and academic self-efficacy. Such vulnerability may cause their academic failures. This study applied interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a qualitative approach to investigate the perceptions of academic self-concept and academic self-efficacy in six 2e students from a Singapore secondary school. Results demonstrate that 2e students could possess high-academic self-concept and academic self-efficacy that empower their academic success. This study suggests strategies such as focusing on the 2e students’ strength areas and developing their interests in particular academic domains to enable their development of high-academic self-concept. We also recommend practices such as creating the experiences of success, practicing effective parental and teacher support, and providing positive peer influence to foster 2e students’ high-academic self-efficacy.     

Understanding and Theorizing the Role of Culture in the Conceptualizations of Successful Aging and Lifelong Learning

Successful aging and lifelong learning are value-laden concepts that are culturally determined. To this effect, people with different value systems and cultural backgrounds may perceive and understand these two concepts differently, resulting in different definitions and conceptualizations by people in diverse cultural contexts. There have been studies of successful aging and lifelong learning that considered what role culture plays in these two constructs separately. However, there is a lack of research studying successful aging and lifelong learning alongside each other, using the same culturally relevant approach to examine the impact of culture on how these two constructs are understood and conceptualized. The aim of this paper is, therefore, two-fold. First, it will examine the concepts of successful aging and lifelong learning and consider the role that culture plays in the understanding of these two constructs. Second, it will present a culturally relevant theoretical framework to theorize and explain older people's own value systems and the predominant cultural values that have influenced their understandings and conceptualizations of what successful aging and lifelong learning mean to them in old age. Considering and examining the theoretical framework from the perspectives of elders themselves is necessary if we are to understand the ways in which culture shapes the experiences of aging and learning in later life.     

Practicing New Convergences: The REA and Religious Education into the Next Century

This article is the text version of a plenary address given on November 6, 2015 before the Religious Education Association at its annual meeting, in Atlanta, Georgia.     

Integrating problem- and project-based learning opportunities: assessing outcomes of a field course in environment and sustainability

Improving student competencies to address sustainability challenges has been a subject of significant debate in higher education. Problem- and project-based learning have been widely celebrated as course models that support the development of sustainability competencies. This paper describes a course developed for a professional Master’s program in environment and sustainability that employs such a model. Additionally, the course was designed to offer value-added opportunities by introducing attributes of interdisciplinary training, service learning, academic research, and professional practice. Results from the course assessments by students, faculty, community clients and organizational partners show this model provided a range of learning, professional and practical outcomes for course partners. The value-added benefits include strengthening sustainability competencies and professional skills for students; longitudinal research opportunities for teaching faculty; real-time assessments of farming practices for community clients; and a heightened regional profile for the non-profit biosphere reserve organization supporting course delivery.     

Drawings of People by Australian Aboriginal Children: the Inter-mixing of Cultural Styles

The general developmental changes observed in human figure drawings of modern-day young children in western societies are reviewed in this paper. Differences in style over historical time and in other societies throw doubt on the notion of a fixed and universal pattern of development. Even so, children’s drawings seem to become more westernised as schooling has spread to more and more remote, rural societies. In Australia, however, the Warlpiri Aboriginal people have continued to use their traditional pictorial symbols in their paintings, sand drawings and school books; Warlpiri school-children use and develop both the indigenous and the westernised styles of drawing.