Effects of swing-weight on swing speed and racket power

Measurements are presented of the speed at which six different rods could be swung by four male students. Three of the rods had the same mass but their swing-weight (i.e. moment of inertia) differed by large factors. The other three rods had the same swing-weight but different masses. Our primary objective was to quantify the effects of mass and swing-weight on swing speed. The result has a direct bearing on whether baseball, tennis, cricket and golf participants should choose a heavy or light implement to impart maximum speed to a ball. When swinging with maximum effort, swing speed (V) was found to decrease as swing-weight (Io) increased, according to the relation V = C/Ion, where C is a different constant for each participant and n = 0.27 when Io > 0.03 kg x m2. Remarkably similar results were obtained previously with softball bats (where n = 0.25) and golf clubs (where n = 0.26). Swing speed remained approximately constant as swing mass increased (when keeping swing-weight fixed). The implications for racket power are discussed.     

Exciting nonfiction

Nonfiction for children and young adults long suffered from a reputation for dullness in both content and presentation. In recent years, however, the genre has been re-created with entertaining writing, focused treatment of subjects, supplementary backmatter, and an emphasis on design and illustration. In this article, a nonfiction writer describes some methods for making such books exciting and readable. James Cross Giblin is the author of eleven, nonfiction books for young readers, many of which have won awards and honors. His two most recent titles areThe Truth About Unicorns andThe Riddle of the Rosetta Stome: Key to Ancient Egypt. Mr. Giblin is also contributing editor at Clarion Books, and he lectures frequently at conferences of librarians, teachers, and writers.     

Social coping and self-concept among young gifted students in Ireland and the United States: a cross-cultural study

Social coping and self-concept were explored among Irish (n = 115) and American (n = 134) grades 3–8 students. Denying one’s giftedness or the impact it has on peer relationships were associated with poor self-concept in both samples. Among Irish students, denying giftedness was associated with more positive self-concept when paired with a high activity level. Engaging in many activities in the US sample and helping one’s peers in the Irish sample were positive predictors of academic self-concept. Findings suggest young gifted students may benefit from learning more about their exceptional abilities and their impact on peers. They should also be encouraged to engage in extracurricular activities and find ways to use their exceptional abilities to support their peers.     

The effects of middle-school career intervention on students’ career readiness

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - The study examines the effectiveness of a career intervention in middle schools. The intervention was organized in eight...     

Mentoring african american educational media and technology students

Summary Mentoring appears to help African-American students taking educational media and technology classes to have more confidence in their abilities to integrate technology. It has also provided them with an opportunity to express their concern about their lack of technology skills and anxiety about teaching. Furthermore, they were able to speak to someone who cares about them and who has also had similar concerns and anxieties. The fact that we were all African American facilitated communication and trust between each of my students and me. However, since there is typically a scarcity of African-American faculties to mentor them it is problematic to have same-race mentoring relationships for most African-American students at predominately White academic institutions. Research suggests however, that African-American students feel that having an African-American mentor is less important to them than having a mentor in their career field. With appropriate attitudes and the belief that cultural diversity is an asset and not a deficit, faculty of other races can effectively mentor African-American students. With this in mind coupled with the fact that research indicates that mentoring supports retention particularly for African-American students, all faculties should consider mentoring African-American and other minority students. Mentoring enables faculty to MEET their minority students where they are and move them forward. Remember to Model use of technology in the classroom, Engage students in dialogue in and out of class, Embrace their anxiety and point our their successes, and Team students with partners. Her research interest focuses on factors that support or inhibit preservice and professional teachers from integrating technology.     

Theory of mind and relational complexity

Cognitive complexity and control theory and relational complexity theory attribute developmental changes in theory of mind (TOM) to complexity. In 3 studies, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds performed TOM tasks (false belief, appearance-reality), less complex connections (Level 1 perspective-taking) tasks, and transformations tasks (understanding the effects of location changes and colored filters) with content similar to TOM. There were also predictor tasks at binary-relational and ternary-relational complexity levels, with different content. Consistent with complexity theories: (a) connections and transformations were easier and mastered earlier than TOM; (b) predictor tasks accounted for more than 80% of age-related variance in TOM; and (c) ternary-relational items accounted for TOM variance, before and after controlling for age and binary-relational items. Prediction did not require hierarchically structured predictor tasks.