Aerobic Capacity in Black Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Our purpose was to determine the aerobic capacities (VO₂max) of a group of black female adolescents (age = 11.4 ? 15.8 years) randomly chosen from a single urban school. Of 91 girls selected, 64 performed an incremental treadmill running test to volitional exhaustion and achieved VO₂max as determined from expired gas measures. Other measures included height (m), weight (kg), and calf and triceps skinfolds (for % fat estimates). Girls were also asked whether they had achieved menarche. VO₂max averaged 37.3 ± 6.2 ml·kg^?1 ·min^?1 and was significantly correlated (r[62]) with height (?.32, p < .01), body mass index (?.63, p < .001), and % fat (?.65, p < .001) but not with age (?.16, p > .10). Postmenarchal girls were significantly taller and older than premenarchal girls. Contrary to previous studies, the girls' VO₂max values were not related to biological age. Our subjects' aerobic capacity values averaged 14% less than those of nonblack U.S. female adolescents previously reported in the literature. This difference in VO₂max was primarily a function of body weight. Study implications support the possibility that overweight in adult black women may originate prior to or during early adolescence. Future longitudinal studies should be designed to investigate the effects of aerobic fitness on cardiovascular risk factor reduction in black adolescent girls.     

Effect of Optimized and Standard Cycle Ergometry on VO2max in Trained Cyclists and Runners

Abstract

This study contrasted prepractice modeling with either the perceptual component (perceptual modeling) or the motor component (movement pattern) of a coincident-timing task to determine whether experiencing the modalities singly or in combination enhanced timing performance on initiation of active practice. The motor component was a 60-cm right-to-left arm movement coincident with the illumination of lights on a Bassin timer runway to displace a barrier as the final runway light was illuminated. Four groups were compared (n = 12 per group). A perceptual modeling group passively viewed stimulus runway lights prior to attempting the task. A motoric modeling group viewed a videotape prior to practice of a model performing the motor component of the skill with zero timing error. A perceptual modeling plus motoric modeling group experienced both modeling modalities prior to performance. Finally, a no modeling group simply initiated practice on the task without modeling. Results indicated that the groups experiencing perceptual modeling initiated practice with significantly less average timing error and variability. Thus, perceptual modeling appeared to be at least as important as motoric modeling as a source of prepractice information to make available to a learner to optimize coincident-timing skill acquisition.     

State Anxiety as a Function of Skill Level and Proximity to Competition

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between the oversized racquet and the standard-sized racquet in (1) a tennis shot accuracy test on four basic strokes (ground strokes, volley, return of serve, and serve), and (2) a measure of players' subjective evaluation of playability (control, accuracy, power, and feel). Research participants (n = 57) were undergraduate students separated into two skill levels, intermediate (n = 29) and beginners (n = 28). Data were analyzed using a two-factor ANOVA with repeated measures on one factor. Result from the skills tests indicated that both beginning and intermediate groups scores significantly higher when using the oversized racquet. The scores received when using the oversized racquet tended to reflect a general increase in all four components of the skill test, particularly the return of serve. Data indicated that the subjective evaluation of the playing characteristic of each racquet was influenced by the player's skill level. Beginning players favored the oversized racquet, yet intermediate players rated the two racquet types about equal. The investigation suggests that beginning and intermediate tennis players, educators, and tennis teaching professionals should consider using and encouraging the use of oversized racquets.     

Innovation and firm value: An investigation of the changing role of patents, 1985–2007

This paper examines how the relationship between firm value and patent-based indicators of inventive activity has changed over time. We use data from more than 33,000 mergers and acquisitions deals between 1985 and 2007, and distinguish between American (USPTO) and European (EPO) patents. Our results indicate that over time EPO patents have become the dominant indicator of innovative activity, while USPTO patents have no effect on firm value near the end of the sample period. The results are robust to controlling for citations and are especially strong for small firms, for firms operating in the drug and chemical industries, and when target and acquiring firms operate in different industries or countries.     

‘The helping,the fixtures,the kits,the gear,the gum shields,the food,the snacks,the waiting,the rain,the car rides … ’: social class,parenting and children's organised activities

ABSTRACT

Class-related parenting cultures and ideologies have been of considerable interest to academics over the last two decades. Much of the research thus far has focused on exploring Annette Lareau's conceptualisations of ‘natural growth’ and ‘concerted cultivation’ and the implications for outcomes in relation to education. The focus of the present article is organised activities, which are a central but as yet relatively under-researched feature of middle-class parenting. The findings are based upon 73 semi-structured interviews with parents and children from 48 middle-class families living in and around a small city in northern England. The article reveals that initiating and facilitating children's organised activities is considered a central aspect of ‘good’ parenting in middle-class social networks. It is shown how this is a consequence of several developments within society over the past three decades or so, including the rising levels of maternal employment, the growing competitiveness of the labour market and the increasing concerns related to children's health and safety. It is argued that these developments have heightened middle-class parents’ predisposition to not only be involved with and invest in their children's leisure biographies, but to do so in a more deliberate, rigorous and rational manner.     

Effects of Different Instructional Approaches on Young Children's Achievement and Motivation

Children in child-centered preschools and kindergartens were compared to children in didactic, highly academic programs in terms of their basic skills achievement and a set of motivation variables. The study included 227 poor, minority, and middle-class children between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Children in didactic programs that stressed basic skills had significantly higher scores on a letters/reading achievement test but not on a numbers achievement test. Being enrolled in a didactic early childhood education program was associated with relatively negative outcomes on most of the motivation measures. Compared to children in child-centered programs, children in didactic programs rated their abilities significantly lower, had lower expectations for success on academic tasks, showed more dependency on adults for permission and approval, evidenced less pride in their accomplishments, and claimed to worry more about school. Program effects were the same for economically disadvantaged and middle-class children, and for preschoolers and kindergartners.     

Learning to observe: using video to improve preservice mathematics teachers’ ability to notice

Video has assumed an increasingly prominent role in teacher education, particularly in the form of the viewing of videotaped class lessons by preservice teachers. Yet there is little research that confirms whether preservice teachers attend to the aspects of the video(s) that teacher educators anticipate or desire. This article explores this issue and reports on the impact of video viewing as a means to improve teachers’ ability to be observers of classroom practice. We utilized a pre- and post-test design to measure the quantity and type of classroom events that preservice mathematics teachers noticed before and after a teaching methods course where improving observation skills was an explicit goal. The results of the pre-assessment suggest that preservice teachers generally do not enter teaching methods courses with well-developed observation skills. The post-assessment indicates that the course led to significant increases in preservice teachers’ observation skills, particularly in teachers’ ability to notice features of the classroom environment, mathematical content of a lesson, and teacher and student communication during a lesson.

Economic stress, parenting, and child adjustment in Mexican American and European American families

To assess the impact of economic hardship on 111 European American and 167 Mexican American families and their 5th-grade (M age=11.4 years) children, a family stress model was evaluated. Structural equation analyses revealed that economic hardship was linked to indexes of economic pressure that were related to depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of both ethnicities. Depressive symptoms were linked to marital problems and hostile parenting. Paternal hostile parenting was related to child adjustment problems for European Americans, whereas marital problems were linked to child adjustment problems for Mexican Americans. Maternal acculturation was associated with both higher marital problems and lower hostile parenting. The utility of the model for describing the effects of economic hardship in Mexican Americans is noted.     

‘Truth before reconciliation’: the difficulties of transforming higher education in settler colonial contexts*

ABSTRACT

In response to the contemporary context of reconciliation in Canada, colleges and universities have made efforts to ‘Indigenise’ their campuses, extending earlier, Indigenous-led efforts to create more space for Indigenous peoples and knowledges. While many welcome these efforts, others express concern that they fail to go beyond conditional inclusion to fundamentally shift relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples. In this article, I examine these developments and suggest that most institutions and individuals have yet to face the full extent of their complicity in colonisation. I argue that perhaps it is only by doing so, and thus, arriving at the impossibility of reconciliation, that a transformation of settler–Indigenous relationships might be possible.     

Creating Learning Prisms with an Interdisciplinary Case Study Workshop

With increasing specialization, most academic disciplines have become highly compartmentalized. Numerous organizations in higher education strongly encourage interdisciplinary collaboration at the faculty and student level. The purposes of this article are (a) to provide a conceptual framework for explaining how and why an interdisciplinary case study method is a catalyst for the development of students and faculty; (b) to document the conception, planning, organizing, and results of an interdisciplinary case study workshop; and (c) to provide recommendations to encouragechange others who might want to apply this model to their own interdisciplinary efforts.All authors are at Towson University Sharon B. Buchbinder, R.N., PhD, is associate professor of health science. She received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Special interests are physician job satisfaction and turnover, patient compliance, learning styles and teamwork among undergraduates. Patricia M. Alt, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is professor of health science. Special interests are state level policies on aging and human subjects protection, the impact of baby boomer aging on public services, responsible conduct of research training and typologies of institutional review boards. Karen Eskow, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of occupational therapy and occupational sciences and director of the Family Studies Program. Special interests are family professional relationships, family quality of life, and families with adolescents. William Forbes, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of Kinesiology and director of the Wellness Center. Special interests are developing quality programming to assist older adults in improving their fitness and wellness, racquetball, squash, downhill skiing, and billiards. Eva Hester, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of communication science and disorders and special assistant to the dean, College of Health Professions. Special interests are speech language-disorders in children and adults. Miriam Struck, O.T., doctoral student, University of Maryland is currently occupational therapist, Physical Disabilities Program, with the Montgomery County Public Schools. Special interests are disability, transitioning from school to work, and instructional methods. Dianne Taylor, R.N., Ed.D., University of Maryland is associate professor, nursing. Special interests are psychiatric nursing and critical incident stress management.