Mentor skills in a new context: working with trainee teachers to develop the use of information and communications technology in their subject teaching

This article reports on the findings of a study looking at the role of the school‐based mentor in developing the competence of trainee teachers in relation to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the classroom. One key factor in determining the contribution of the mentor appears to be the level of confidence in his/her ability to use ICT, both personally and in the classroom, which in turn has an effect on both the nature and range of the support given to the trainee teacher. Questionnaire and interview data indicated that many mentors feel that their ICT expertise is often not as great as that of the trainee (and therefore feel less confident and/or willing to offer guidance in this area) and that they are unable to offer support to trainees in relation to contexts that involve the use of ICT in the classroom. The authors would suggest that traditional approaches to mentoring might need to be reviewed in the light of this and they would argue that there could be benefits from adopting more innovative ways of working whereby the trainee’s ICT knowledge and skills might be used to full effect when combined with the mentor’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning. Such a model has implications for the providers of initial teacher training and these are discussed.     

Library Technical Services: Key Ingredients in the Recipe for a Successful Institutional Repository

For years, academic institutions have established and maintained institutional repositories (IRs) to collect, preserve, and showcase their institution's research and scholarly output. Tammy Sugarman, Associate Dean for Collections at Georgia State University Library, presented “Library Technical Services: Key Ingredients in the Recipe for a Successful Institutional Repository” at the Mississippi State University Libraries eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit held at Mississippi State University, Mitchell Memorial Library on August 3, 2012. Sugarman provided historical background on IRs and explored the professional and organizational changes taking place in academic libraries to support IR programs, focusing on contributions of technical services units.     

A Theoretical Framework for Teaching Statistics

This article explores a theoretical framework to consider when teaching statistics. It is discussed and illustrated using one innovative approach to teaching using computer simulation methods. This framework can be considered across many different disciplines and age levels.     

The association between lower limb biomechanics and ball release speed in cricket fast bowlers: a comparison of high-performance and amateur competitors

The aim of this study was to compare the associations between lower limb biomechanics and ball release speed in 15 high-performance (HP) and 15 amateur fast bowlers. Kinematic and kinetic variables of the lower limbs collected in the laboratory environment with a 3D Vicon motion analysis system were compared between groups, as well as their associations with ball release speed. HP bowlers had a significantly higher run-up velocity at back foot impact but this difference became non-significant at ball release. Front knee kinematics were not statistically different, however effect sizes revealed medium-large differences with the HP group displaying a more extended knee joint at maximum flexion (d = 0.72) and ball release (d = 0.76). Only front hip positive power was significantly higher in the HP group and it was suggested that the probable cause was the HP bowlers having less knee flexion after front foot impact. From a joint power analysis, the extensor muscle groups of the hip and knee were shown to be important in developing ball release speed. This highlights the need for lower limb/core strength programmes to be multifaceted and focus on the muscles associated with both power and stability.     

An Exception in War and Peace: Ipswich Town Football Club,c. 1907–1945

This article explores the development of a football club as a means of understanding its late adoption of professionalism and its unusual wartime conduct. Ipswich Town were the only Football League team not to kick a ball for the duration of the Second World War. Arguably, the underlying causes of the club's inactivity in both global conflicts can be found in the patriotic and staunchly amateur ethos that permeated the organisation, resulting in a very late conversion to the professional game in 1936. When the Amateur Football Association (AFA) seceded from the Football Association (FA) in 1907, Ipswich Town sided with the gentlemen amateurs and competed in the socially-exclusive Southern Amateur League until the season before the club adopted professionalism. The unique nature of Ipswich Town's evolution offers an opportunity to explore the decline of this branch of the game in the face of professional football, the protagonists who were caught up in it, and the relationship between football and civic pride. In wartime, the human and social continuities between the professional company and its amateur predecessor arguably proved to be more influential than the ruptures that resulted from a controversial inter-war abandonment of cherished amateur principles.     

The Role of Interpersonal Comfort in Mentoring Relationships

This research examined interpersonal comfort as a potential mediating mechanism in mentoring relationships. Results indicated that interpersonal comfort mediated the relationship between gender similarity and protégé reports of career and psychosocial mentoring. Contrary to prediction, interpersonal comfort did not mediate relationships involving mentorship type (i.e., formal versus informal). However, we did find that informal mentoring and interpersonal comfort were positively associated with career mentoring. The research helps illustrate the important role that interpersonal comfort plays in the mentoring process.