Both ways strong: using digital games to engage Aboriginal learners

Engaging Aboriginal learners in the school curriculum can be quite a challenge given issues of cultural and linguistic differences. Even more so, these differences can be expanded when the students are in their adolescence. Creating learning environments that engage learners, while providing deep learning opportunities, is one of the biggest challenges for teachers in remote communities. This paper reports on a reform initiative that centred on the use of a digital game, Guitar Heroes, in a remote Aboriginal school. It was found that the digital media provided teachers with opportunities for new learning spaces and resulted in additional unintended learning outcomes.     

Becoming Mobile: Reference in the Ubiquitous Library

ABSTRACT

Library patrons are adopting mobile devices for personal and other uses. The ubiquity of mobile devices will lead to changes in how and where learning and education happens. Libraries have wanted to become ubiquitous by making resources and services available anywhere, anytime. Reference librarians can use mobile devices and applications to include services in mobile learning environments. Challenges to libraries include uncertainty about which technologies to adopt in a rapidly changing technology landscape, the cost of technology adoption, staffing for 24–7, diversity of needs and preferences among library patrons, and the need to offer stable, consistent services. The combination of mobile librarians, mobile patrons, and mobile content provides an opportunity to move closer to the ideal of the ubiquitous library.

This article originally published in Journal of Library Administration, Vol. 51, Issue 3, pages 279–290, 2011. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2011.556942.     

Plasma ß‐endorphin immunoreactivity: Response to resistance exercise

Previous research investigating the response of plasma ß‐endorphins (ß‐EP) to resistance exercise has resulted in equivocal findings. To further examine the effects of resistance exercise on ß‐endorphin immunoreactivity, six resistance‐trained athletes participated in a three‐set series of eight repetitions of isotonic exercise. All exercises were performed at 80% maximal effort. Blood was sampled from the group by venepuncture, both prior to and following the exercise bout, and ß‐endorphin concentration was determined by radioimmunoassay. The results indicated that mean ( ± S.E.) plasma levels of ß‐endorphins following exercise (18.04 ± 3.4 pg ß‐EP ml^‐1) were not significantly changed from pre‐exercise (control) levels (19.59 ± 2.4 pg ß‐EP ml^‐1), although there was considerable inter‐individual variability. Our results support previous research which has reported no significant changes in ß‐endorphin immunoreactivity following resistance exercise, as well as reported findings of considerable variability in the ß‐endorphin response to exercise.     

Self-Esteem, Locus of Control, College Adjustment, and GPA Among First- and Continuing-Generation Students: A Moderator Model of Generational Status

The role of generational status (first-generation vs. continuing-generation college students) as a moderator of the relationship between psychological factors and college outcomes was tested to determine whether generational status acts as a risk factor or as a sensitizing factor. The sample consisted of 322 undergraduate students who completed online measures of self-esteem, locus of control, and academic adjustment and provided self-reports of GPA. Generational status significantly moderated the relationship between psychological factors and academic outcomes. Generally, it was found that the relationship between psychological factors and academic outcomes were strongest among first-generation students. Further, it was found that for the majority of the interactions with locus of control, first-generation status acted as a sensitizing factor that amplified both the positive and negative effects of locus of control. In contrast, for self-esteem, first generation status acted as a risk factor that only exacerbated the negative effects of low self-esteem. These results are interpreted as reflecting motivational differences between first- and continuing-generation students and are discussed with respect to the social/cultural capital hypothesis that is most frequently presented in the existing literature.     

A Rhetoric of Traumatic Nationalism in the Ground Zero Mosque Controversy

In the summer of 2010, a national controversy erupted suddenly as a majority of Americans protested the building of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero. In this essay, I suggest the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” controversy makes visible the emergence of a rhetoric of traumatic nationalism that articulates suffering to citizenship and reproduces national crisis through a motif of consecration whose upshot is a conservative, bipartisan moralism. An anti-political discourse of victimization masquerading as a memory discourse of righteous sacrifice, traumatic nationalism serves as an alibi that excuses the United States from answering responsibly for the war on terror and prevents critical examination of the state of the union.     

Power,Conflict, and Cooperation: Toward a Micropolitics of Coaching

According to Jones, Wells, Peters, and Johnson (1993), being political is a necessary part of a coach's repertoire, because a coach's effectiveness and longevity may depend not only on a favorable win–loss record but also on an individual's ability to gain the approval of contextual power brokers (e.g., athletes, other coaches, or owners). Although only limited research has been done examining power and interpersonal relationships in coaching, there remains a paucity of work investigating the micropolitics inherent in such relationships. The aim of this article is to make the case for how the adoption of a micropolitical perspective could serve to further our understanding of the power-ridden, contested nature of sports coaching. After an introductory examination of the concept of micropolitics in the educational literature, a discussion of how such practice is beginning to emerge in recent ethnographic coaching research is presented. The literature addressing the micropolitical nature of teachers' interactions and relationships with other pedagogical stakeholders is then explored in terms of providing future avenues of critical investigation into the social complexity of coaching. Finally, a concluding section summarizes the main points and highlights their implications for future work.     

The differentiated classroom observation scale

This article presents a new classroom observation scale that was developed to examine the differential learning activities and experiences of gifted children educated in regular classroom settings. The Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale (DCOS) is presented in total, with clarification of the coding practices and strategies. Although the DCOS was developed to examine the impact of differentiated classroom practices for gifted children, it is expected that the scale could be used for observing the educational experiences of any identifiable group of children. Reflections on the benefits offered by the DCOS that are not available with existing measures are provided, and include (a) the ability to contrast the educational experiences of two groups of learners; (b) documentation of a variety of educational factors including pedagogy, student engagement, and level of cognitive activity; and (c) preservation of contextual factors for deeper investigation through a database‐driven record keeping system that maintains disaggregated data from a series of short observational segments.     

What do coaches orchestrate? Unravelling the ‘quiddity’ of practice

The general purpose of this article is threefold. Firstly, it is to further the notion of coaching as orchestration through developing insight into precisely how and what coaches orchestrate. Secondly, it is to firmly position coaching as a relational practice, whilst thirdly it is to better define coaching’s complex nature and how it can be somewhat ordered. Following an introduction where the purpose and value of the article are outlined, we present the reflective method of critical companionship through which we explored and addressed the aforementioned purposes. The case for the quiddity, or the ‘just whatness’ (i.e. the inherent nature or essence) of coaching as involving complex, relational acts which can be somewhat explained through recourse to the developing theory of orchestration is subsequently made. In doing so, two precise examples of how we as coaches orchestrate sporting practice are presented. The article concludes with both a summary of the principal argument(s) made, and some reflective considerations for future directions.