The persuasiveness of persuasive discourse

This investigation explored why and how persuasion occurs. Toward this end, we examined the processing of two articles under conditions called for in the persuasion and conceptual change literatures. One unique aspect of the current study was the use of topic-specific measures of beliefs, knowledge (i.e., perceived and demonstrated), and interest. The performance of members of three educational communities (i.e., undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty) was compared, as was the knowledge and interest of more or less persuaded readers. One article argued that there are prenatal similarities among humans and other mammals, while the second presented a favorable view of same-sex marriages. Although both articles produced significant changes in readers’ beliefs, knowledge, and interest, there were performance differences by text, educational community, and persuasion group. Results showed that readers’ perceptions of their knowledge played a more significant role in persuasion outcomes than the knowledge they actually demonstrated. Outcomes suggest the need to look more closely at the relationship between knowledge and interest in subsequent studies of persuasion.     

A causal analysis relating previous achievement,attitudes, discourse,and intervention to achievement in biology and chemistry

This study described the relationship of 38 variates to achievement in high school biology and chemistry classes. Forty-four teachers prepared audio tape recordings of discussions throughout a nine-month period. Equal-sized groups received treatment consisting of wait time feedback and/or supportive intervention, a form of peer coaching. Other variables were initial measures, which included the variates of class size and previous science grade, pre- and posttest scores on student attitudes and perceptions, and prediscourse and discourse analyses, which included the variates of wait times, actions, and response durations. While previous research has shown that wait time feedback and supportive intervention are effective means of changing teacher behavior, the results of the present study revealed that previous student achievement and the attitudes of students accounted for 70% of the variation in the final examination scores (New York State Regents) on the basis of only the first three weeks of data collection on the variables assessed. Generally, little emphasis on higher-level thinking, wait time, or problem solving was found at the beginning of the school year, and only minimal changes resulted from the application of the treatment variables. Pressures for content coverage and preparation for externally imposed statewide examinations that emphasize memory-level learning augured against the changes that the independent variables were designed to produce.     

Participation in transition review meetings: a case study of young people with learning disabilities leaving a special school

Transition into adulthood has been identified as a critical period in the lives of young people with learning disabilities, with national guidance and legislation emphasising the role of participation and inclusion as central to the transition process. In this article, Steven Carnaby, a clinical psychologist working with adults with learning disabilities in London and a lecturer in learning disability at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent; Patricia Lewis, head of the sixth form and SENCo; Di Martin, senior teacher and former SENCo; John Naylor, deputy head of the sixth form and head of arts; David Stewart OBE, headteacher, all from the Shepherd School, Nottingham, report the outcomes of a small-scale case study exploring these issues. The project ran for four years and, in Phase 1, evaluated the ways in which students with learning disabilities were involved in their transition review meetings as they entered their final year at school. This first phase found that many students were excluded from meaningful discussion in their planning meetings, highlighting students with more severe disabilities as being more vulnerable to exclusion. After a series of recommendations were made for improving practice in terms of inclusion and participation, Phase 2 of the study assessed ways in which practice in these areas had improved. The school had developed more individualised ways of working using person-centred techniques to enhance meaning for students. At the close of this article, the authors summarise these improvements and propose further strategies for enhancing the participation process.     

Predicting ground reaction forces in running using micro-sensors and neural networks

Measurement of ground reaction force (GRF) in running provides a direct indication of the loads to which the body is subjected at each foot-ground contact, and can provide an objective explanation for performance outcomes. Traditionally, the collection of three orthogonal component GRF data in running requires an athlete to complete a series of return loops along a laboratory based runway, within which a force platform is embedded, in order to collect data from a discrete footfall. The major disadvantages associated with this GRF data collection methodology include the inability to assess multiple consecutive foot contacts and the fact that measurements are typically confined to the laboratory. The objective of this research was to investigate the potential for wearable instrumentation to be employed, in conjunction with artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) models, for the estimation of GRF in middle distance running. A modular wearable data acquisition system was developed to acquire in-shoe force (ISF) data. Matched data sets from wearable instrumentation (source data) and force plate (target data) records were collected from elite middle-distance runners under controlled laboratory conditions for the purposes of ANN and MLR model development (MD) and model validation (MV). In terms of statistical measures of prediction accuracy the MLR model was found to provide a superior level of accuracy for the prediction of the vertical and medio-lateral components of GRF and alternatively, the ANN model provided the most accurate predictions of the anterior-posterior component of GRF. The prediction accuracy of each component of GRF was found to be governed by the inherent signal variability, in which case the vertical and anterior-posterior components were more reliable and subsequently predicted significantly more accurately than the medio-lateral component. The emerging capability for obtaining continuous GRF records from wearable instrumentation has the potential to permit unprecedented quantification of training stress and competition demands in running.