Kindergarten Transition Preparation: A Comparison of Teacher and Parent Practices for Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

The transition to kindergarten represents an important developmental milestone for children and may pose unique challenges to children with disabilities, their families, and teachers. The primary goal of the current study was to investigate teacher concerns regarding the transition to kindergarten as well as teacher and parent-reported transition preparation practices and involvement for a sample of children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 19) and children with other developmental disabilities (n = 76). Teachers reported significantly more concerns for children in the ASD group than for children in the DD group, although there was no difference in total involvement in transition practices between groups. Although teacher and parent involvement in transition preparation was generally high, generic less individualized practices often were utilized. Study findings are discussed in the context of future research directions to help facilitate kindergarten transitions for young children with disabilities.     

Early Intervention Practices for Children With Autism: Descriptions From Community Providers

Across the country, states are reporting increases in the number of children with autism enrolled in the education system. Although a few specific treatment methods have been established as efficacious for some children with autism in controlled settings, research examining the translation of these treatments into early intervention programs has been minimal. The current study examined provider self-reports of the use of interventions in community settings through focus groups. Providers report the use of both evidence-based and non-evidence-based techniques and indicate that they often combine and modify these techniques based on child, personal, and external factors. Few providers had a clear understanding of evidence-based practice, and all providers reported concerns about adequate training. Implications for early intervention research are discussed.     

A rule induction framework for the determination of representative learning design in skilled performance

Representative learning design provides a framework for the extent to which practice simulates key elements of a performance setting. Improving both the measurement and analysis of representative learning design would allow for the refinement of sports training environments that seek to replicate competition conditions and provide additional context to the evaluation of athlete performance. Using rule induction, this study aimed to develop working models for the determination of high frequency, representative events in Australian Rules football kicking. A sample of 9005 kicks from the 2015 Australian Football League season were categorised and analysed according to the following constraints: type of pressure, kick distance, possession source, time in possession, velocity and kick target. The Apriori algorithm was used to develop two models. The first consisted of 10 rules containing the most commonly occurring constraint sets occurring during the kick in AF, with support values ranging from 0.15 to 0.22. None of the rules contained more than three constraints and confidence values ranged from 0.63 to 0.84. The second model considered ineffective and effective kick outcomes and displayed 70% classification accuracy. This research provides a measurement approach to determine the degree of representativeness of sports practice and is directly applicable to various team sports.     

Explaining match outcome in elite Australian Rules football using team performance indicators

The relationships between team performance indicators and match outcome have been examined in many team sports, however are limited in Australian Rules football. Using data from the 2013 and 2014 Australian Football League (AFL) regular seasons, this study assessed the ability of commonly reported discrete team performance indicators presented in their relative form (standardised against their opposition for a given match) to explain match outcome (Win/Loss). Logistic regression and decision tree (chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID)) analyses both revealed relative differences between opposing teams for “kicks” and “goal conversion” as the most influential in explaining match outcome, with two models achieving 88.3% and 89.8% classification accuracies, respectively. Models incorporating a smaller performance indicator set displayed a slightly reduced ability to explain match outcome (81.0% and 81.5% for logistic regression and CHAID, respectively). However, both were fit to 2014 data with reduced error in comparison to the full models. Despite performance similarities across the two analysis approaches, the CHAID model revealed multiple winning performance indicator profiles, thereby increasing its comparative feasibility for use in the field. Coaches and analysts may find these results useful in informing strategy and game plan development in Australian Rules football, with the development of team-specific models recommended in future.     

Piloting a long-term evaluation of library data workshops

Background:Over four years of hosting library data workshops, we conducted post-workshop evaluation of attendees'' satisfaction with the workshops but not longer-term follow-up. To best allocate library resources and most effectively serve the needs of our users, we sought to determine whether our data workshops were impactful and useful to our community. This paper describes a pilot project to evaluate the impact of data workshops at our academic health sciences library.Case Presentation:We surveyed individuals who signed up for data workshops between 2016 and 2019. Surveys included open-ended and multiple-choice questions, with the goal of having participants describe their motivations for taking the workshop(s) and how they ultimately used what they learned. An analysis of responses using the Applied Thematic Analysis model indicated that the workshops had an impact on the respondents, although the strength of our conclusions is limited by a relatively low response rate.Conclusions:Survey results indicated that our workshops impacted how researchers at our medical center collect and analyze data, supporting the conclusion that we should concentrate our educational efforts on providing skills-based workshops. The low response rate and time-consuming nature of the analysis point toward several improvements for future evaluation efforts, including better tracking of workshop attendees, a shorter survey with fewer open-ended questions, and survey implementation within one year of the workshop date.     

Shared Entertainment,Shared Opinions: The Influence of Social TV Comments on the Evaluation of Talent Shows

The present research investigated whether co-viewer comments in social TV interactions are able to enhance or weaken media effects. With the example of talent shows, the valence of co-viewer comments (pro/contra/none) as well as the type of content (antisocial behavior vs. conventional performance) were varied in an experiment (N = 117). Results showed that participants’ own comments and their private attitudes about the judges varied in line with comment valence. Findings suggest that social TV viewers are prone to social influence of their co-viewers, which might amplify problems regarding the portrayal of antisocial behavior in reality TV.     

The potential role of citizen conservation in re-shaping approaches to murals in an urban context

Public visual spaces, populated by a blend of community murals, unauthorised street art, and historic painted mercantile signs, are often the mark of an urban environment that is both progressive and eclectic. Changes in the aesthetic and cultural value of these urban mural forms have led to an increase in the appreciation and, in some instances, promotion of their artistic merit and cultural significance as examples of public art. However, examining the significance of these works, with a view to implementing a conservation approach is problematic. This is due to a number of practical and theoretical considerations that are primarily a result of the ephemeral existence of urban murals outside conventional exhibition spaces, and issues associated with their often fragmented ownership and uncertain authorship. Consequently, larger thinking on the interpretation, conservation assessment, and advocacy for the conservation of urban murals are required. Key to defining and implementing such strategies is contextualising the public visual spaces that these murals occupy and, as part of this, the local and wider communities’ perception of these murals as culturally significant objects as well as fostering awareness and understanding of appropriate measures aimed at their conservation. This paper examines the role of citizen science, or crowd-sourcing, of local community members in establishing a conservation dialogue and generating conservation- relevant data on urban murals. It looks specifically at a project involving a collection of in situ historic painted mercantile signs — also known as ghost signs — in the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne, Australia. The project fostered the establishment of an informed and open dialogue between conservation specialists and participants from the local community on the significance of local ghost signs whilst transferring knowledge on conservation processes and assessment methods. Working directly with community members, a programme was designed in which conservation and community knowledge of these urban art forms, could be collected and exchanged across digital platforms. This enabled researchers to examine how citizen science can be utilised as a research tool as well as a means to advocate for the conservation of collections of urban murals. It created the opportunity to consider the role of non-specialists and shared authorities in the collection and collation of conservation- relevant data and how information generated from what we call citizen conservation projects, can inform the way in which conservators evaluate and prioritize the conservation of urban cultural heritage. The data gathered and interpreted proved to be the most effective means of ‘conserving’ these often ephemeral forms of cultural material.     

Mirroring the Media: The Relationship Between Media Consumption,Media Internalization,and Profile Picture Characteristics on Facebook

Social cognitive theory suggests that stereotypes of attractiveness from mainstream media may function as models for online profile pictures. The present study explores the relationship between media consumption, internalization, and body-ism, clothing, and gaze through a content analysis of the Facebook profile pictures of 288 students, and a survey to assess their media consumption and internalization. The relationship between magazine exposure and pictures was mediated by internalization: magazine readers who internalized media ideals were more likely to select pictures showing their body in revealing clothing. Television viewing had a direct effect on picture selection, but was not mediated by internalization.     

Nothing to Fear? An Analysis of College Students' Fear Experiences With Video Games

This study presents the results of a survey of 269 undergraduate students conducted to examine fright experiences caused by video games. Over half of the participants reported game-induced fear. Sex, sensation-seeking, and empathy all emerged as important individual differences in terms of enjoyment of frightening content, consumption of frightening content, and frequency of fright experience. Interactivity and presentations of realism also predicted fear. This work identifies titles, stimuli, and features that caused fright experience.