Relationship between decision-making self-efficacy, task self-efficacy, and the performance of a sport skill

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between decision-making self-efficacy and task self-efficacy and subsequent decision-making and task performance. Sixty undergraduate students (30 males, 30 females) participated in this study, which involved infield defensive plays in softball. The physical task required participants to throw a ball at a target. The decision-making task required participants to watch video scenes depicting different infield defensive situations and decide where to throw the ball in each situation. Both tasks used manipulated failure. Self-efficacy was assessed before performance. Strength of decision-making and task self-efficacy predicted physical performance, but not decision-making performance.     

Carrying out research across the arts and humanities and social sciences: developing the methodology for Dementia and Imagination

This paper analyses how the methodological approach for a major Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council-funded project entitled Dementia and Imagination ¹1. http://dementiaandimagination.org.uk/View all notes was formulated. This multidisciplinary project brings together the arts and humanities with the social sciences with their different epistemological philosophies and subsequent understandings of research methods. The main objective was to determine how visual arts activities may change, sustain and catalyse community cultures, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to create dementia-friendly communities. This project involves 6 different UK universities, 14 researchers, 10 formal partners, 7 project artists, 3 research artists and a large number of civil society organisations. The analysis presents a series of themes that have been identified as influencing the approach taken to develop methods which aimed to speak to different audiences in the social sciences, arts and humanities, policy/practice and public domains. It is concluded that a research project of this type needs to embrace a wide variety of epistemological positions if it is to successfully achieve its objectives. This paper contributes to knowledge about how the methodology of large-scale multidisciplinary projects may be constructed which will be of value to those building research consortia across different universities and between universities and community partners.     

(Re)Storying Obama: An Examination of Recently Published Informational Texts

American publishers have published numerous children’s books about Barack Obama over the past several years; most take the form of informational biographies. This article reports on a research project aimed at how these books incorporate sociohistorical narratives, particularly those related to the civil rights movement. Though the features of the books might cause the reader to presume political neutrality, the books link readers to distinct Discourses (Gee, 1996), suggesting particular ideologies. In this article, we identified the following differences: (1) specific happenings from Obama’s life were included in some texts while omitted in others; (2) when the events were included, how they were framed differed; and (3) the narrative constructions of the events varied. We use the differences amongst these texts to argue for the importance of critical literacy in elementary classrooms.     

Revisiting the classics in childbirth education

In celebration of Lamaze International's 50th anniversary, reviewers share their thoughts on some classic Lamaze resource materials and how their content relates to today's viewpoints on birth and childbirth education. Although some of the material may be outdated, all of the resources offer timeless insights as well as a unique view on the history of childbirth education. The following topics are addressed: past cultural views of birth; advocacy for change in birth practices; Lamaze method; pioneers in childbirth; importance of childbirth education; and birth advocacy.     

Path analysis examining self-efficacy and decision-making performance on a simulated baseball task

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between decision-making self-efficacy and decision-making performance in sport. Undergraduate students (N = 78) performzed 10 trials of a decision-making task in baseball. Self-efficacy was measured before performing each trial. Decision-making performance was assessed by decision speed and decision accuracy. Path analyses examined the relationships between self-efficacy, residualized past performance, and current performance. The results indicated that self-efficacy was a significant and consistent predictor of decision speed (eight of nine trials), but not decision accuracy (four of nine trials). It was also found that experience does not have a meaningful effect on the relationship between self-efficacy and decision-making performance in sport.     

Embers to bonfires: an analysis of early childhood teacher training in Zambia

This study examined a five-year project initiated by the Women’s Global Connection (WGC) to train pre-primary teachers in schools serving HIV/AIDS orphans in Zambia. The researchers evaluated the contextual factors of the training initiative to clarify why some teachers possess high self-efficacy, while others do not. The article analyses the self-report survey responses of all training participants and also describes compelling interview narratives obtained from a random sampling of extreme groups. When stories from the groups were compared, factors emerged that had enabled some participants to feel more successful than others. The researchers selected the Success Case Method (SCM) as a research process for its straightforward determination of the impact of organisational initiatives on the organisation’s project goals. The results may guide international teacher training for developing countries.     

Writing the wave: an argument for the didactic imperative of the British radical socialist literary tradition and its influence in the Australian context

This essay argues for the recognition of the importance of the continuity of the historical British radical socialist literary tradition for the role that this tradition has played in the education of the working class and the evolution of modern western adult education. It is further proposed that that this tradition has been perennially marginalized by the dominance of the liberal tradition and its partnership in the hegemony of capitalism. The suggestion is made that, through the cultural practice of absorption, the liberal tradition has laid claim to many of those advancements in working class education which are more truthfully products of the radical socialist tradition. The influence of the British tradition on the development of the Australian radical socialist literary tradition is discussed. It is argued that it is the radical socialist tradition that carries a message of hope for the great mass of humanity, providing an alternative social perspective to the cynicism of capitalism’s economic Darwinism. The case is made for a re-valuing and continuity of a distinct socialist literary tradition as a means of continuing the provision of an alternative argument against capitalist ideological hegemony.