A generalized rank-order method for nonparametric analysis of data from exercise science: a tutorial

Frequent violations of the assumption that data are normally distributed occur in exercise science and other life and behavioral sciences. When this assumption is violated, parametric statistical analyses may be inappropriate for data analysis. We provide a rationale for using a generalized form of nonparametric analyses based on the Puri and Sen (1985) L treated as a chi 2 approximation. If data do not meet the assumption of normality, this nonparametric approach has substantial power and is easy to use. An advantage of this generalized technique is that ranked data may be used in standard parametric statistical programs widely available on desktop and mainframe computers, for example, regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) within BioMed, SAS, SPSS. Once the data are ranked and analyzed with these programs, the only adjustment required is to use a standard formula to calculate the nonparametric test statistic, L, instead of the parametric test statistic (e.g., F). Thus, rank-order nonparametric models become parallel with their parametric counterparts allowing the researcher to select between them based on characteristics of the data distribution. Examples of this approach are provided using data from exercise science for regression, ANOVA (including repeated measures) and MANOVA techniques from SPSSPC. Using these procedures, researchers can easily examine data distributions and make an appropriate decision about parametric or nonparametric analyses while continuing to use their regular statistical packages.     

Field philosophy: environmental learning and moral development in Isle Royale National Park

We conducted a qualitative analysis of 5 years of student writing data to understand learning and moral development on a field philosophy course in Isle Royale National Park. We were interested in the connection between physical experiences in the natural world and the way students care about or value nonhuman beings, natural systems, and place. Students consistently demonstrated a shift from a dualistic to a more complex understanding of ideas, relationships, and the natural world. This widening perception and moral awareness occurred in tandem with course content learning. In this paper we describe the model that emerged from our data to describe this shift from dualism to complexity – from self-awareness, to social learning, to curriculum engagement, to a wider moral community – and the factors that facilitate each step. We also provide a planning and assessment tool to help other educators begin to observe ethical development and relational growth in their own interdisciplinary environmental field classes.     

The impact of early institutional rearing on the ability to discriminate facial expressions of emotion: an event-related potential study

Event-related potentials (ERPs), in response to 4 facial expressions of fear, angry, happy, and sad, were collected from 72 institutionalized children (IG), ages 7 to 32 months, in Bucharest, Romania, and compared with ERPs from 33 children, ages 8 to 32 months, who had never been institutionalized (NIG). The NIG and IG exhibited different patterns of responding in early latency components. Moreover, group differences in amplitude were evident across all components. Such differences may point to the role of early deprivation in disrupting the development of the neural circuitry involved in the recognition of facial expressions.     

Jumping Into the Deep End: Developing Culturally Responsive Urban Teachers Through Community-Immersive Partnerships

Abstract

Preparing special educators for the highest-need schools remains an ongoing challenge in urban districts across the United States. One university’s collaborative community-based immersive partnership model, with emphasis on service learning, has demonstrated promising levels of impact on candidates’ preparation as preservice teachers learning how to celebrate the rich cultural histories of the communities where they are immersed. Both quantitative and qualitative results on the impact of one specific example of this work are provided.     

Children''s Understanding of Action Lines and the Static Representation of Speed of Locomotion

Children's understanding of the static representation of speed of locomotion was explored in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, 20 7-year-olds and 20 9-year-olds drew pictures of 2 people walking and running at different speeds. Children then made judgments about pairs of unambiguous drawings of a person walking or running, as did a sample of 20 adults. The drawings varied according to whether action lines, background lines, or no lines were present. Children were asked to say which figure appeared to be moving faster. In Experiment 2, 20 7-year-olds, 20 9-year-olds, and 21 adults sorted ambiguous drawings of a person walking and running at different speeds. The pictures again contained action lines, background lines, or no lines. In the drawing task, children more frequently used page position and biomechanical information than action lines to represent fast and slow walking and running. In the judgment task, 7- and 9-year-olds offered equivalent judgments of action lines and background lines, whereas adults distinguished between these pictorial devices. In the sorting task, all subjects distinguished between action lines and background lines and judged that pictures containing action lines looked faster than pictures containing background lines and pictures without lines. Taken together, the results indicate that subjects' judgments were influenced by the form of locomotion and degree of ambiguity in the depicted events they saw. The findings are consistent with the view that different categories of pictorial devices exist, but the effectiveness of each device is contingent upon the perceiver's experience with it and the context in which it appears.     

Two-year-olds will name artifacts by their functions

Do young children take functional information into account in naming artifacts? In three studies of lexical categorization, 112 children 2 years of age learned new names for novel artifacts with novel functions and then extended the names to new objects. The objects were designed to have functions that were causally related in simple and compelling ways to perceptible aspects of their physical structure. Despite only minimal opportunity to familiarize themselves with the objects, children generalized the names in accordance with the objects' functions. This result obtained even when children had to discover the functions of the named objects on their own (Experiment 2) and when all the test objects had some discernible function (Experiment 3). Two-year-olds name by function when they can make sense of the relation between the appearances and the functions of artifacts.     

Senior Leaders and Teaching Environments: Faculty Perceptions of Administrators’ Support of Innovation

We used data from the 2012 administration of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement to measure faculty perceptions of senior leaders’ (e.g., deans, provosts, presidents) support for innovation in teaching. Specifically, this study explored what faculty characteristics predict faculty perceptions of leaders’ support for innovation in teaching and how those perceptions relate to several teaching practices (e.g., active classroom practice). The goal for this study was to gain additional insight into how faculty members approach teaching. The implications of these findings are presented along with some considerations for future research.     

Long-Term Effects of Institutional Care and Enhanced Attachment Relationships on Close Adolescent Friendships

This study examined whether early institutional rearing and attachment security influence the quality and quantity of friendships at age 16 in 138 participants, including children abandoned to institutions in Bucharest, Romania, who were randomized to care as usual (n = 45, 26 female), or foster care (n = 47, 25 female), and a never-institutionalized group (n = 46, 18 female). Adolescents in the foster care group with secure attachment to their foster mothers at 42 months were comparable to never-institutionalized adolescents in having more friends and more positive behaviors with their friend during dyadic interactions, compared to the foster care group with insecure attachment and care as usual group. Interventions targeting early child–caregiver attachment relationships may help foster the ability to build positive friendships in adolescence.     

Peer Mentoring: A Citizenship Entitlement at Tanfield School

This paper describes the experience and benefits of peer led education at Tanfield School and how this led to the development of a peer mentoring scheme in the school, which was linked to citizenship education. The project aimed to strengthen existing links and ease the transition of pupils from feeder primary schools to the secondary school. The second aim was to improve the key skills of the mentors and have an impact on their learning. The project involved year 10 older students mentoring pupils in year 7. The findings of the evaluation are reported and it is argued that the aims were met.     

Faculty willingness to accommodate students with learning disabilities: a comparison among academic divisions

One hundred seven faculty members at a northwestern college responded to a questionnaire devised to assess faculty willingness to provide students with learning disabilities instructional, assignment, examination, and special assistance accommodations. Faculty responses to the questionnaire were analyzed to determine if differences existed among faculty in the colleges of Education, Business, and Arts and Sciences. Results indicate that, in general, faculty were willing to provide students with learning disabilities accommodations, but that differences exist among the three academic divisions as to faculty willingness to provide students accommodations. The implications of these results for colleges and universities and future research are discussed.