Going Global: Understanding the Choice Process of the Intent to Study Abroad

This study applies an integrated model of college choice to better describe students who do and do not intend to study abroad. Although internationalization through study abroad is widely touted as a preferred means of developing globally competent college graduates, very little is known about the factors that influence students’ predisposition to study abroad. This research explores the impact of financial, human, social, and cultural capital on students’ intent to study abroad. Analysis of data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE) demonstrates a complex interplay between SES, accumulated pre-college capital, and capital acquired during the freshman year. Important implications for national policy makers, senior administrators, study abroad professionals and higher education researchers are discussed.     

RECENT RESEARCH ON THE ECONOMICS OF ATTENDING COLLEGE: Returns on Investment and Responsiveness to Price

This article examines recent research on the private returns to investment in baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate postsecondary education, the social returns to investment in higher education, and student responsiveness to prices and subsidies (e.g., tuition and financial aid). The analysis focuses on the implications of recent research on the economics of attending college for policy and practice in a variety of specific areas such as enrollment management; the role of community colleges and other sub-baccalaureate institutions relative to welfare-to-work programs, tuition taxcredit legislation, and the value of investing in credits even without credentials; the development of effective high-tuition, high-aid, and other state and institutional pricing strategies; and the inequities in the distribution of access and choice in higher education that is evident in the widening gaps in participation rates of white and minority youth and higher- and lower-income students, as well as in the growing concentration of lower-income students at-and the flight of middle- and upper-income students from-community colleges.     

3D technology of Sony Bloggie has no advantage in decision-making of tennis serve direction: A randomized placebo-controlled study

This study aimed at exploring whether 3D technology enhances tennis decision-making under the conceptual framework of human performance model. A 3 (skill-level: varsity, club, recreational)?×?3 (experimental condition: placebo, weak 3D [W3D], strong 3D [S3D]) between-participant design was used. Allocated to experimental conditions by a skill-level stratified randomization, 105 tennis players judged tennis serve direction from video scenarios and rated their perceptions of enjoyment, flow, and presence during task performance. Results showed that varsity players made more accurate decisions than less skilled ones. Additionally, applying 3D technology to typical video displays reduced tennis players’ decision-making accuracy, although wearing the 3D glasses led to a placebo effect that shortened the decision-making reaction time. The unexpected negative effect of 3D technology on decision-making was possibly due to participants being more familiar to W3D than to S3D, and relatedly, a suboptimal task-technology match. Future directions for advancing this area of research are offered.

Highlights

• 3D technology augments binocular depth cues to tradition video displays, and thus results in the attainment of more authentic visual representation. This process enhances task fidelity in researching perceptual-cognitive skills in sports.

• The paper clarified both conceptual and methodological difficulties in testing 3D technology in sports settings. Namely, the nomenclature of video footage (with/without 3D technology) and the possible placebo effect (arising from wearing glasses of 3D technology) merit researchers' attention.

• Participants varying in level of domain-specific expertise were randomized into viewing conditions using a placebo-controlled design. Measurement consisted of both participants' subjective experience (i.e., presence, flow, and enjoyment) and objective performance (i.e., accuracy and reaction time) in a decision-making task.

• Findings revealed that wearing glasses of 3D technology resulted in a placebo effect that shortened participants' reaction times in decision-making. Moreover, participants' decision-making accuracy decreased when viewing video scenarios using 3D technology. The findings generated meaningful implications regarding applying 3D technology to sports research.

     

The effect of individualised sprint training in elite female team sport athletes: A pilot study

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate whether an individualised sprint-training program was more effective in improving sprint performance in elite team-sport players compared to a generalised sprint-training program. Seventeen elite female handball players (23 ± 3 y, 177 ± 7 cm, 73 ± 6 kg) performed two weekly sprint training sessions over eight weeks in addition to their regular handball practice. An individualised training group (ITG, n = 9) performed a targeted sprint-training program based on their horizontal force-velocity profile from the pre-training test. Within ITG, players displaying the lowest, highest and mid-level force-velocity slope values relative to body mass were assigned to a resisted, an assisted or a mixed sprint-training program (resisted sprinting in the first half and assisted sprinting in the second half of the intervention period), respectively. A control group (CG, n = 8) performed a generalised sprint-training program. Both groups improved 30-m sprint performance by ~1% (small effect) and maximal velocity sprinting by ~2% (moderate effect). Trivial or small effect magnitudes were observed for mechanical outputs related to horizontal force- or power production. All between-group differences were trivial. In conclusion, individualised sprint-training was no more effective in improving sprint performance than a generalised sprint-training program.     

A practical guide to zero-based curriculum review

This paper presents a systematic framework and practical guidelines for the implementation of a zero-based curriculum review (ZBCR). ZBCR begins with atabula rasa and the commitment that program faculty and an external advisory board will create a framework of competencies, knowledge bases, professional practices and skills which graduates should have. ZBCR is intended to help us move from an accidental curriculum to an intentional curriculum. Specific examples illustrate the structuring, conducting, and application of the results of the review. ZBCR maximizes the benefits of a fresh perspective and minimizes time and effort, with a situationally-flexible and reusable structure and process. ZBCR is based on procedures recently developed and used with success in reviewing the curricula of a department's programs at a major state university.He received his Ph.D. in higher education and economics from the University of Iowa. His research and teaching fields are postsecondary curriculum and instruction and economics of higher education.He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His research and teaching has focused on educational administration and planning.