Classroom teachers and physical activity integration

This project examined 23 teachers’ involvement in a curricular project to integrate physical activity into the school day. The teachers represented all grade levels and worked in schools that served Native American students in the United States. Interviews occurred twice during the year-long project. Data were analyzed via constant comparison. Teachers’ willingness to engage was influenced positively by caring about students and their own personal wellness history. Their engagement was impeded by institutional factors of scheduling and assessment pressures. The results provide insights into how teachers might be persuaded to and prepared for the implementation of similar programs in new locations.     

How do pre-kindergarteners spend their time? Gender,ethnicity, and income as predictors of experiences in pre-kindergarten classrooms

The current paper considers how children spend their time in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and how time use relates to ethnicity, gender, and family income, based on the assumption that how time is spent in pre-kindergarten is relevant for the programs’ success in narrowing achievement gaps. Classroom observations of 2061 children in 652 pre-k programs in 11 states were analyzed. Findings indicated that the pre-kindergarten day was roughly equally divided among free choice, teacher-assigned activities, and meals/routines. Children spent much of their time in language/literacy, social studies, and art, and less time in math and gross motor activities. Much of the pre-k day was spent in ‘no coded learning activity.’ Children in classes with lower proportions of Latino and African American children and higher average income-to-need ratios were generally engaged in richer and more stimulating experiences. The child-level variables of ethnicity and income were generally unrelated to how children spent their time, above and beyond the effects of classroom-level ethnicity and income. There were generally small, but significant gender differences – always in the gender-stereotyped direction – in how time was spent, especially during free choice time.     

Investigating children's musical interactions within the activities systems of group composing and arranging: An application of Engeström's Activity Theory

This article applies Engeström's Activity Theory (AT) as an analytical lens to identify defining characteristics of the collaborative creative music making activities of composing and arranging. Attention is paid to the complex interrelationships among the various elements of interaction in children's collaborative creative music making as evidenced in group composing (where the activity features generation and revision of new musical material) and arranging (where the activity features creative use of existing musical material) are differentiated tasks. These include, for example, tool use in response to different tasks, the rules that govern peer collaboration, and the division of labour experienced among key players in the co-construction of decisions. Exemplary cases are sampled from data sets drawn from two separate sites one of which features a group composing task with fifth graders in a USA urban school and the other a group arranging task with eighth graders in a UK urban school. This micro-analysis is less concerned with the differences of collaborative interaction in varying cultural settings than with exploring the micro-analysis of social and language processes that characterise these differentiated creative tasks and the related activity systems. The activity system, or systems of social relations, is the unit of analysis applied across comparison-group cases using ethnographic observation, and discourse and event analysis. Analysis of the data indicates that composing and arranging involve differentiated activity systems. Important defining characteristics of the collaborative interactions, as outcomes of the children's approach to the task activities, are identified. Conclusions indicate that the application of an activity theory research perspective can provide a useful framework to make sense of the interrelated elements that characterise interaction in peer collaboration.     

MEMORY RECALL AND PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN THE ELDERLY: A STUDY OF GOLDEN AGE RADIO

Institutionalized elderly people often appear to live in the past, or in their long‐term memories. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of playing tapes of Golden Age radio shows, both musical and comedy, on the residents of a nursing home. In particular, the researchers were interested in memory recall, reactions to the memories, and the effects of this activity on involvement in planned nursing home activities. Trivia questions about the same time period were also utilized to determine if discussion of significant historical events in older persons’ lifetimes might be triggers for increased participation and socialization. The study was conducted in a 30‐bed nursing center located 20 miles west of a large midwestern metropolitan area. The participants included 12 women with a mean age of 90 years and of varying levels of cognitive functioning. The Golden Age radio programs were played on a tape recorder for a length of time not exceeding 20 minutes. Trivia questions were verbally posed by the researchers to the study group. Reactions to the Golden Age musical programs indicated that this type of music may evoke memories and encourage reminiscence in the lives of the elderly. The use of trivia is also recommended as a means of stimulating recall of historical and life events. The comedy programs evoked little response in this study, and the researchers feel that additional study in this area could be valuable.     

Implications of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights for Cultural Dimensions of National Copyright Laws

Many national intellectual property laws contain provisions that reflect cultural values and have trade significance. Although cultural value defenses have generally been rejected by GATT and WTO panels, they may be more likely to succeed in intellectual property disputes because many culturally-laden rules are widely accepted in the international intellectual property arena. Moreover, intellectual products are less completely commodified than other products. Cultural economists can provide valuable insights to aid WTO in distinguishing between those culturally-laden intellectual property rules that should be or should not permitted when they have an impact on trade.     

E-government policy and practice: A theoretical and empirical exploration of public e-procurement

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically and empirically explore how public e-procurement policies are translated into practice. The theoretical argument draws on actor network theory (ANT), coupled with Colebatch’s [Colebatch, H. K. (2002). Policy (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, Open University Press.] social construct of policy, to analyze the actors, actions, and circumstances through which understanding of public e-procurement comes to stabilize (or not) into a coherent policy for action. Drawing on three case studies of central government agencies in Italy, Scotland, and Western Australia, we suggest new intellectual perspectives and methodological heuristics that may assist researchers and practitioners analytical efforts in examining sociotechnical change and the implications for policy development and implementation.     

Gender differences in academic and social behavior of elementary school transfer students

This study describes a tutoring program designed to help children in grades 3 through 5 who underwent an unscheduled school transfer. We examined gender differences in self-concepts, academic performance, teacher evaluations, and peer ratings. Gender differences were found in several measures, although gender did not substantially interact with the intervention. As expected, female transfer students reported lower self-concepts than males; teachers reported that boys were more popular; peers also rated boys as more aggressive and girls as more likable. Findings suggest that preventive interventions for transfer students need to account for effects of gender.     

Social support dimensions and components of performance in tennis.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between dimensions of social support and components of performance in tennis. A post-match performance measure was completed by 144 British tournament tennis players. Principal components analysis yielded eight components, labelled Execution of (Flexible) Plan, Loss of Composure, Feeling Flat, Positive Tension, Worry, Flow, Effective Tactics and Double Faults. Before the match, 46 players had also completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List. Stepwise regression analyses revealed significant effects of the Belonging and Appraisal dimensions of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List on five of the performance components. The correlations between total support and four of these performance components were also significant. Logistic regression analyses revealed no significant effects of the dimensions of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List or Total Support upon winning versus losing. Effects of social support upon performance were therefore only apparent when attention was focused on the components of performance.     

Twenty-five years of psychology in the Journal of Sports Sciences: a historical overview

We provide an overview of some of the outstanding papers published in the Journal over the last 25 years within the discipline of psychology. Altogether, almost 300 papers had been published in the Journal under the psychology banner at the start of its silver anniversary year. The greatest contribution of papers has come from the motor control and learning and sport psychology sub-areas, with papers focusing on exercise psychology being a more recent addition. Prominent research themes that have emerged from each of the different sub-areas are reviewed and some notable omissions highlighted. Finally, some issues for sport and exercise psychologists to consider in coming years are briefly highlighted.