Confirmation of a Teacher Expectancy Model: Student Perceptions and Causal Attributions of Teaching Behaviors

Abstract

This study described patterns of observed and student perceived teaching behaviors directed to high and low expectancy students and determined how students attribute causes to the teaching behaviors. Eleven certified elementary classroom teachers and their second and third-grade classes served as subjects for the study. Twenty-seven high expectancy and 33 low expectancy students were identified by having the teachers rate their students in terms of expected levels of performance for the school year. Three types of teacher feedback were recorded by trained observers: a) praise/encouragement; b) skill correction; and c) corrective behavior feedback. Students were also interviewed to see whether their perceptions of the teachers' actions were consistent with the coded dyadic interactions. In addition, interviewers asked the students to describe the causes for the teacher's actions. Each cause was classified into one of four attributional categories: a) personal causes; b) teacher causes; c) environmental causes; and d) complex causes. Major differences between observed and perceived teacher praise and corrective behavior feedback were found for high and low expectancy students. Attributional data also revealed that low expectancy students tended to attribute corrective behavior feedback to personal causes much more so than high expectancy students. High expectancy students, on the other hand, were more inclined to attribute the same behavior to teacher characteristics.     

A longitudinal assessment of adolescent student-athletes’ school performance

In Germany, extraordinarily talented student-athletes are offered the special school setting of elite schools of sport (ESSs). These schools seek to optimally adjust the daily affordances of athletic high-performance training with those of regular school education. The aim of the present analysis was to empirically explore whether elite student-athletes’ school grades develop differently than those of fellow students who dropped out of the ESS’s athletic program. One cohort of student-athletes (N?=?260) was tracked from the moment of their enrollment in the ESS until the end of lower secondary school (from school level 7 to 10). Multilevel modeling was used to analyze this longitudinal dataset. Elite student-athletes who manage to still meet their school’s athletic standards after class level 10 (n?=?158) came to their ESSs with better school grades in mathematics and German from primary school than program dropouts (n?=?102). Additional comparisons show that after class level 10, all ESS students’ school grades in mathematics and German were not significantly different from the federal state’s general average at schools without high-performance sport programs. Findings are interpreted against the background of the hypothesis that the system of high-performance sports tends to produce an instance of total commitment and that educational disadvantages for ESS student-athletes could follow as a consequence.     

Lower extremity joint coupling variability during gait in young adults with and without chronic ankle instability

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a condition resulting from a lateral ankle sprain. Shank-rearfoot joint-coupling variability differences have been found in CAI patients; however, joint-coupling variability (VCV) of the ankle and proximal joints has not been explored. Our purpose was to analyse VCV in adults with and without CAI during gait. Four joint-coupling pairs were analysed: knee sagittal-ankle sagittal, knee sagittal-ankle frontal, hip frontal-ankle sagittal and hip frontal-ankle frontal. Twenty-seven adults participated (CAI:n = 13, Control:n = 14). Lower extremity kinematics were collected during walking (4.83 km/h) and jogging (9.66 km/h). Vector-coding was used to assess the stride-to-stride variability of four coupling pairs. During walking, CAI patients exhibited higher VCV than healthy controls for knee sagittal-ankle frontal in latter parts of stance thru mid-swing. When jogging, CAI patients demonstrated lower VCV with specific differences occurring across various intervals of gait. The increased knee sagittal-ankle frontal VCV in CAI patients during walking may indicate an adaptation to deal with the previously identified decrease in variability in transverse plane shank and frontal plane rearfoot coupling during walking; while the decreased ankle-knee and ankle-hip VCV identified in CAI patients during jogging may represent a more rigid, less adaptable sensorimotor system ambulating at a faster speed.     

Does inside passing contribute to the high incidence of groin injuries in soccer? A biomechanical analysis

Groin injuries are common in soccer and often cause time-loss from training. While groin injuries have been linked to full effort kicking, the role of inside passing is unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate hip joint kinematics and muscle force, stress and contraction velocity for adductor longus and gracilis during inside passing. 3D kinematics of ten soccer players (23.4 yrs; 77.5 kg; 1.81 m) were captured with a motion capture system inside a Footbonaut. Muscle force and contraction velocity were determined with AnyBody Modelling System. Gracilis muscle forces were 9% lower compared to adductor longus (p = 0.005), but muscle stress was 183% higher in gracilis (p = 0.005). Contraction velocity reveals eccentric contraction of gracilis in the last quarter of the swing phase. Considering the combination of eccentric contraction, high muscle stress and the repetitive nature of inside passing, gracilis accumulates high loads in matches and training. These results indicate that the high incidence of groin injuries in soccer could be linked to isolated pass training. Practitioners need to be aware of the risk and refrain from sudden increases in the amount of pass training. This gives the musculoskeletal system time to adapt and might avoid career threatening injuries.     

Comparison of individual and group-based load-velocity profiling as a means to dictate training load over a 6-week strength and power intervention

ABSTRACT

This study compared the effects of dictating load using individual (ILVP) or group (GLVP) load-velocity profiles on lower-body strength and power. Nineteen trained males (23.6 ± 3.7 years) completed a back squat one-repetition maximum (1-RM), load-velocity profiling (LVP), and countermovement (CMJ), static-squat (SSJ) and standing-broad (SBJ) jump tests before and after 6 weeks of resistance training. Participants were randomly assigned to an ILVP, or GLVP intervention with intra-session load dictated through real-time velocity monitoring and prediction of current relative performance using either the participant’s LVP (ILVP) or a LVP based on all participant data (GLVP). Training resulted in significant increases in back squat 1-RM for the ILVP and GLVP group (p < 0.01; 9.7% and 7.2%, respectively), with no group-by-time interaction identified between training groups (p = 0.06). All jump performance significantly increased for the ILVP group (p < 0.01; CMJ: 6.6%; SSJ: 4.6%; SBJ: 6.7%), with only CMJ and SSJ improving for the GLVP group (p < 0.05; 4.3%). Despite no significant group-by-time interaction across all variables, the ILVP intervention induced a greater magnitude of adaptation when compared to a GLVP approach. Additionally, an individualised approach may lead to greater positive transfer to power-based movements, specifically vertical and horizontal jumps.     

A Roundabout Revolution: Rethinking the Decolonization of Rwanda by the Practices of the Catholic Scouting Movement, 1954–1964

Modelling itself on the organizational structure and the physical fitness culture of Catholic scouting, the xaveri movement in Rwanda developed within a climate which was highly susceptible to the development of deep racial and political divisions. Between 1954 and 1964, this Catholic youth organization was influential in the gestation of a Christian democratic culture which was one of the essential elements of the ideology behind the ‘Hutu revolution’. Covering the colonial to the postcolonial period and from the angle of the rise of the xaveri movement, this paper shows how the ‘Hutu revolution’ was a consequence of a liberation struggle from an imagined oppressor. This is in reference to colonial privileges attributed (until the end of the 1940s) to the Tutsi minority. However, and still from the perspective of the organization explored here, it seems that the model of the ‘civilised Tutsi’ targeted by the revolutionary Hutu movement was the essential referent of the more subconscious invention by republican leaders.     

The role of shoe design on the prediction of free torque at the shoe–surface interface using pressure insole technology

The goal of the current study was to expand on previous work to validate the use of pressure insole technology in conjunction with linear regression models to predict the free torque at the shoe–surface interface that is generated while wearing different athletic shoes. Three distinctly different shoe designs were utilised. The stiffness of each shoe was determined with a material’s testing machine. Six participants wore each shoe that was fitted with an insole pressure measurement device and performed rotation trials on an embedded force plate. A pressure sensor mask was constructed from those sensors having a high linear correlation with free torque values. Linear regression models were developed to predict free torques from these pressure sensor data. The models were able to accurately predict their own free torque well (RMS error 3.72 ± 0.74 Nm), but not that of the other shoes (RMS error 10.43 ± 3.79 Nm). Models performing self-prediction were also able to measure differences in shoe stiffness. The results of the current study showed the need for participant–shoe specific linear regression models to insure high prediction accuracy of free torques from pressure sensor data during isolated internal and external rotations of the body with respect to a planted foot.     

Assessing pitcher and catcher influences on base stealing in Major League Baseball

A formal statistical analysis is performed to determine the extent to which pitchers and catchers can influence stolen-base attempts and successes. Two response proportions, attempt/opportunity and success/attempt, are modelled separately using mixed-effects logistic regression models applied to situations with a runner on first and other bases empty. Data include the first innings of all Major League Baseball games played between 1978 and 1990, which encompasses over 48,000 opportunities and 9000 attempts. Pitchers and catchers are entered as random effects and various other factors thought to influence stolen-base attempts and successes are entered as fixed effects. Variance components are estimated and hypotheses tests indicate that the population variance components for both pitchers and catchers are significant for both response proportions. The presence of variation among players at the respective positions is interpreted as evidence that stolen-base defence is a real skill exhibited to varying extents by different players. Furthermore, the variance component for pitchers is greater than that for catchers for both response proportions, indicating that pitchers have greater potential to affect stolen-base attempts and successes. Under usual conditions, it is estimated that 95% of pitchers have first-inning stolen-base success/attempt probabilities between 0.50 and 0.84, while 95% of catchers have probabilities between 0.59 and 0.79.     

A model study of optimal training reduction during pre-event taper in elite swimmers

The aim of this study was to assess responses to taper in elite athletes using computer simulations. Parameters of a non-linear model were derived from training and performance data over two seasons for eight elite swimmers. The fit between modelled and actual performances was statistically significant for each swimmer (r(2) = 0.56 +/- 0.06; P < 0.01). The simulations were used to estimate characteristics of step and progressive tapers that would maximize performance either (1) after regular training only or (2) after overload training of a 20% step increase in regular training for 28 days. The highest performance with a step taper was greater with than without prior overload training (101.4%, s = 1.6 vs. 101.1%, s = 1.4 of personal record; P < 0.01) but required a longer taper duration (22.4 days, s = 13.4 vs. 16.4 days, s = 10.3; P < 0.05). The optimal progressive taper led to a better performance only after the overload period (101.5%, s = 1.5; P < 0.001). Negative and positive influences of training were estimated as indicators of fatigue and adaptations to training respectively. During the optimal taper, the negative influence was completely removed, independently of the prior training, whereas the positive influence increased only after overload training. Our computer simulations show that the characteristics of an optimal training reduction in elite athletes depend on the training performed in the weeks prior to a taper.     

Literacy in the digital age: Learning from computer games

The need for literacy and the English curriculum to attend to digital literacies in the twenty-first century is well established. Although studies in digital literacies have examined the inclusion of computer games in schools, there has not been an extended study of English teachers incorporating computer games into their teaching and learning through action research projects. This paper outlines the structure and progress of a research project exploring the uses of computer games in English classrooms. We argue that much can be learned about the teaching of both print and digital literacies from examining computer games and young people's engagement in online digital culture in the world beyond school.