Female Wheelchair Athletes and Changes to Body Image

This paper examined the effect of a psychological intervention program on attitudes to body image of female wheelchair athletes. A single case, multiple-baseline study was employed to examine the presentation of a brief, six session, cognitive behavioural intervention program on six National female wheelchair basketball players over a period of six weeks. Initially the six wheelchair athletes' satisfaction levels were compared to 20 able-bodied basketball players on four measures: the Physical Self-Perception Profile, Multi-Dimensional Body Image Scale, Social Physique Anxiety Questionnaire, and the Body Parts Questionnaire. Results indicated that as a result of the cognitive behavioural intervention program, physical self-perception increased for the wheelchair athletes and for 50% of the wheelchair athletes on the multi-dimensional components of body image, using the non-parametric split-middle technique. Further analysis revealed a significant effect of self-perceived competence across time indicating post-hoc significant differences between baseline data and Week 6 of the intervention program. With reference to caution due to the nature of case study research, it is asserted that this study shows promise for improving various aspects of body image satisfaction by means of a cognitive-behavioural approach and has potential for wheelchair athletes and other special populations.     

The computer-mediated public sphere and the cosmopolitan ideal

In response to the attractive moral and politicalmodel of cosmopolitanism, this paper offers anoverview of some of the conceptual limitations to thatmodel arising from computer-mediated, interest-basedsocial interaction. I discuss James Bohman'sdefinition of the global and cosmopolitan spheres andhow computer-mediated communication might impact thedevelopment of those spheres. Additionally, I questionthe commitment to purely rational models of socialcooperation when theorizing a computer-mediated globalpublic sphere, exploring recent alternatives. Andfinally, I discuss a few of the political andepistemic constraints on participation in thecomputer-mediated public sphere that threaten thecosmopolitan ideal.``Nature should be thanked for fostering socialincompatibility, enviously competitive vanity, andinsatiable desires for possessions and even power.Without these desires, all man's excellent naturalcapacities would never be roused to develop.' Theultimate destiny for mankind, according to Kant whowrote these words in 1784, is to achieve through theuse of reason a `cosmopolitan existence' or ``thematrix within which all the original capacities of thehuman race may develop.' Ironically, however, as Habermas andothers have realized, Kant's carefully developedvision for `perpetual peace' among nations and `worldcitizenship' is now murky even as the electronicallymediated infrastructure of that matrix is rapidlydeveloping. Globalization as a process has intensifiedto the point where a new social, political, andeconomic condition has taken hold in the global arena.Recently this condition has been termed ``globality' –a term denoting a networked world characterized byspeed, mobility, risk, insecurity, andflexibility. And a debate is forming around thequestion of whether we are still in late modernity andexperiencing the culmination of modernity's inherentlyglobalizing tendency or instead we have entered thenetworked age, in which the tension between collectiveand transformative identities and the networking logicof dominant institutions and organizations heralds theend of civil society. Inthis paper assume the latter but wish to explorefurther the political and epistemic constraints onparticipation in the computer-mediated public sphere.These constraints seem certain to impact the viabilityof a cosmopolitan public sphere. In the first sectionI shall discuss James Bohman's definition of theglobal and cosmopolitan spheres and howcomputer-mediated communication (hereafter CMC) mightimpact the development of those spheres. In the secondsection, I question the commitment to purely rationalmodels of social cooperation when theorizing a globalpublic sphere. I explore recently proposed alternativeways of thinking about this issue in section three.And finally, I discuss a few of the political andepistemic constraints on participation in thecomputer-mediated public sphere that threaten thecosmopolitan ideal.     

Legitimising transgression: design and delivery of a science Work Integrated Learning program that draws on students’ extant work in diverse,non-science fields

ABSTRACT

Recent focus on graduate employability has exposed the inadequacies of work preparation for science students, who need an employability toolkit to navigate the modern work landscape. An established mechanism to develop students’ employment awareness is Work Integrated Learning (WIL), but Australian mathematics and science students participate in fewer WIL activities than students in other disciplines. In this article, we present a conceptual discussion around the design of a non-traditional Bachelor of Science WIL program that transcends commonly held perceptions of WIL as primarily discipline-orientated and placement-based. This design dramatically expands the possibilities for WIL in science programs, enabling WIL participation for students unable to engage in a traditional science work placement. The program draws on and legitimises students’ experiences in diverse non-science, part-time workplaces and extra-curricular activities; we term this ‘transgressional learning’. Students engage in reflective and active learning opportunities designed to help them explore and articulate their skill sets in a manner that speaks to multiple future work settings. By drawing on students’ extant work experiences, the program explicitly supports students to foreground and expand on broad skill sets acquired in extra-curricular settings. This article suggests a new conceptual approach and a path forward for large-scale WIL delivery in generalist science degrees. It draws on the reflections of the project team and student participants to outline the goals and design ethos of the program and reflect on the legitimacy of this transgressional program as a science WIL offering.     

The Effects of Using Different Procedures to Score Maze Measures

The purpose of this study was to examine how different scoring procedures affect interpretation of maze curriculum‐based measurements. Fall and spring data were collected from 199 students receiving supplemental reading instruction. Maze probes were scored first by counting all correct maze choices, followed by four scoring variations designed to reduce the effect of random guessing. Pearson's r correlation coefficients were calculated among scoring procedures and between maze scores and a standardized measure of reading. In addition, t tests were conducted to compare fall to spring growth for each scoring procedure. Results indicated that scores derived from the different procedures are highly correlated, demonstrate criterion‐related validity, and show fall‐to‐spring growth. Educators working with struggling readers may use any of the five scoring procedures to obtain technically sound scores.     

‘I found out the hard way’: micro-political workings in professional football

This paper examines the micro-political experiences of Adam (a pseudonym), a newly appointed fitness coach at a Football Association Premier League club, in his search for acceptance by senior colleagues. Data were collected through a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, before being subject to a process of inductive analysis. Goffman's writings on impression management and stigma, Kelchtermans's micro-political perspective and Garfinkel's notion of status degradation are primarily utilised to make the sense of Adam's perceptions and actions. The findings point to the value of developing coaches’ micro-political understandings, and of including their formal facilitation within given professional preparation programmes. Doing so, it is argued, would better equip coaches for the problematic realities of their practice.     

Foucault on camp: What does his work offer outdoor education?

In this paper we examine aspects of French social theorist, Michel Foucault's work and the contributions these can make to understanding practices in outdoor education. We look specifically at his notions of practice, discourse, power and the self and the lines of questioning that these concepts make possible in relation to outdoor education. We conclude with a discussion of some of the challenges of doing research with Foucauldian tools.     

Modelling success networks to improve the quality of undergraduate education

Discussions of support and intervention in undergraduate university education are dominated by discussion of attrition. This study quests more broadly in arguing that support and intervention for undergraduate students may also benefit from models of engagement and success as well as conventional risk and failure. Supporting this proposition is a study that involved multifactorial approaches based in a combination of aspects of social network theory and social ecology theory. Analysis was enacted through social network analysis of archival data sets derived from a single cohort of 4065 undergraduate students at a regional Australian university. The findings suggest that models of academic success are suited to examination of the broader issues of student agency and undergraduate university education. The success networks developed are uniquely student-centred and place-based and may serve as more nuanced models for university intervention and support structures and mechanisms.     

Scientists’ Ontological and Epistemological Views about Science from the Perspective of Critical Realism

Including the perspectives of scientists about the nature and process of science is important for an authentic and nuanced portrayal of science in science education. The small number of studies that have explored scientists’ worldviews about science has thus far generated contradictory findings, with recent studies claiming that scientists simultaneously hold contradictory sophisticated and naïve views. This article reports on an exploratory study that uses the framework of Bhaskar’s critical realism to elicit and separately analyse academic scientists’ ontological and epistemological views about science in semi-structured interviews. When the views of scientists are analysed through the lens of critical realism, it is clear that it is possible to hold a realist ontological commitment about what knowledge is of, simultaneously with a fallibilist epistemological commitment about knowledge itself. The apparent incongruence of scientists’ so-called naïve and sophisticated views about science is resolved when analysed using a critical realist framework. Critical realism offers a simple and coherent framework for science educators that avoids many of the problems of positivism and social constructivism by finding a middle ground between them. The three pillars of critical realism: ontological realism, epistemological fallibilism and judgmental rationality help to make sense of how socially constructed scientific knowledge can be anchored in an independent reality.     

Capturing the ‘vibe’: an exploration of the conditions underpinning connected learning environments

Learning Environments Research - Student achievement and engagement are both influenced by the quality of the learning environment. Effective learning environments are characterised by high levels...     

Gifted Education and Counselling in Canada

Education in Canada is determined at the provincial level of jurisdiction. Each province and territory has a unique system of legislation and policy, although most provinces view the education of gifted students as a category of service provision under special education. The first section of this paper provides a brief, general overview of key themes that emerge from an analysis of the relevant Education Ministry documents and literature concerning gifted education and counselling within the Canadian context. Where appropriate, the particular province(s) and/or territory(s) associated with the themes is noted. The second section highlights the work of Canadian scholars most relevant to counsellors working with gifted students. A brief review of recommended counselling needs, goals, and practices for the gifted is presented in the conclusion.