Unravelling the complexities of distance education student attrition

This paper reports on an investigation into the complexities of student attrition in a distance education course. Deep‐seated factors involved in the attrition process are disclosed as the particular qualitative research process that was employed mapped student responses through the course of interviews. These tabulations reveal interesting patterns of change as students volunteer explanations for their decisions.     

The parent-coach/child-athlete relationship in youth sport: cordial, contentious, or conundrum?

The roles of coach and parent are often synonymous in youth sport, but little data-based research has been conducted on the parent-coach/child-athlete relationship. Six boys in U-12 competitive soccer were interviewed regarding positive and negative aspects about playing for their father-coach. Similar questions were posed to father-coaches and two teammates. Inductive content analysis indicated that, among the benefits, sons identified perks, praise, technical instruction, understanding of ability level, insider information, involvement in decision making, special attention, quality time, and motivation. Costs of being coached by one's father included negative emotional responses, pressure/expectations, conflict, lack of understanding/empathy, criticism for mistakes, and unfair behavior. For father-coaches, positive themes included taking pride in son's achievements, reason for coaching, positive social interactions, opportunity to teach skills and values, enjoying coaching son, and quality time. Negatives included inability to separate parent-child from coach-player role, placing greater expectations and pressure on son, and showing differential attention toward son. While teammates perceived some favoritism by the parent-coach, they cited mostly positive instructional experiences. Results are discussed within motivational theories that highlight the influence of significant adults on children's psychosocial development in the physical domain.     

The Air‐gap Phenomenon in Young Children's Pictures

In Experiment 1, 221 children aged 5;l‐10;2 were asked to crayon or paint an outdoor scene. The shift from leaving an air‐gap to filling in the sky occurred at approximately 8 years of age whether crayons or paint were used. In Experiment 2 four groups of children (mean age, 6;8) who normally left an air‐gap were asked to draw a photographic slide of an outdoor scene projected onto a screen. We manipulated the amount of exposure to the slide and also the information about it given by the experimenter. More children relinquished their air‐gap response when the experimenter had drawn their attention, verbally, to the full sky. When children received this information and were able to view the slide throughout the drawing session, there was also a tendency for more of them to draw the full sky and for those who left an air‐gap to draw the sky significantly deeper.