Impact evaluation from quality assurance agencies’ perspectives: methodological approaches,experiences and expectations

Starting from the main objective of external quality assurance (EQA) procedures to assure and improve the quality of higher education institutions and its provisions, the paper examines expected impacts of EQA procedures on institutions from the perspectives of three European quality assurance agencies. First, the paper examines the expected impacts of different standard parts of a typical peer review procedure on higher education institutions and assesses when a procedure is most likely to have an effect on the institution. The second part presents the current practices of the three EQA agencies, AQU Catalunya (Spain), Evaluationsagentur Baden-Württemberg (evalag) (Germany) and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (Finland) on assessing the impact of their EQA procedures.     

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 Relationship Between Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Chronic Diseases,and Depression Among Older Korean Immigrants

It has been identified that performance of Activities of Daily living (ADL) and chronic disease are predictors of depression for older Asian immigrants. This study examined the independent and interactive effects of ADL performance and chronic disease on depressive symptoms among older Korean immigrants. Data from 210 older Korean immigrants in Los Angeles County were analyzed. Self-reported measures included sociodemographic characteristics, ADL performance, chronic disease, and depressive symptoms. A hierarchical regression model indicated that performance of activities of daily living were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Also, older Korean immigrants with more chronic diseases were more likely to have depressive symptoms. The interaction between ADL performance and chronic diseases was significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms (β = .46, p < .05). Findings suggest that it is critical to develop various strategies for enhancing immigrants’ ability to perform activities of daily living; this can lead to increased independence and reduced chronic illnesses, thus, improving overall quality of life.     

Elderly Korean Learners' Participation in English Learning Through Lifelong Education: Focusing on Motivation and Demotivation

This study explores motivational and demotivational factors in English learning among elderly learners attending a lifelong education institute located in Seoul, South Korea. A total of 420 elderly learners with limited English learning experience responded to a questionnaire with 47 five-point Likert-type items. In order to investigate what factors encourage and discourage elderly learners in their participation in English learning, we conducted factor analysis, which indicated five motivational and three demotivational constructs. The motivational factor of self-actualization proved the most influential, while pressure from the Graduation Equivalency Examination was the most demotivating. It was found that the motivational factors demonstrated positive correlations with demotivational factors, and that the ideal L2 self showed the highest correlation with demotivational factors. Furthermore, the elderly learners' motivation did not exhibit significant change related to their years of learning experience from less than one year to more than three years.     

Brain networks governing the golf swing in professional golfers

Golf, as with most complex motor skills, requires multiple different brain functions, including attention, motor planning, coordination, calculation of timing, and emotional control. In this study we assessed the correlation between swing components and brain connectivity from the cerebellum to the cerebrum. Ten female golf players and 10 age-matched female controls were recruited. In order to determine swing consistency among participants, the standard deviation (SD) of the mean swing speed time and the SD of the mean swing angle were assessed over 30 swings. Functional brain connectivity was assessed by resting state functional MRI. Pro-golfers showed greater positive left cerebellum connectivity to the occipital lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe and both frontal lobes compared to controls. The SD of play scores was positively correlated with the SD of the impact angle. Constant swing speed and back swing angle in professional golfers were associated with functional connectivity (FC) between the cerebellum and parietal and frontal lobes. In addition, the constant impact angle in professional golfers was associated with improved golf scores and additional FC of the thalamus.     

Pre-service teachers’ motivation,sense of teaching efficacy,and expectation of reality shock

The present study investigated how pre-service teachers’ motivation and their sense of teaching efficacy influence their expectation about reality shock during the first year of professional teaching. A total of 533 pre-service teachers at a state university in the US Midwest participated in this study. The results showed that the pre-service teachers’ expectation of reality shock was negatively related to teacher efficacy and intrinsic motivation while it was positively related to introjected and external motivation. The results of a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that pre-service teachers’ sense of efficacy and introjected motivation were strong predictors of their expectation of reality shock, when gender difference was controlled for. There was an interaction effect between intrinsic motivation and teachers’ sense of efficacy in predicting the reality shock expectation. We discussed the educational implications for future research in an endeavour to reduce the reality shock among novice teachers.     

Taekwondo training and fitness in female adolescents

In this study, we determined the specificity of a low frequency taekwondo training programme on physical fitness levels in adolescent females who receive limited physical education instruction (i.e. 2 days per week). Major components of physical fitness assessed were: skeletal muscle fitness (hand grip strength, bent arm hang, standing long jump, and isokinetic strength), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), speed and agility (10 × 5-m shuttle run), and cardiovascular fitness (VO(2max) and 20-m shuttle run). Changes in body composition were also assessed (dual X-ray absorptiometry, DXA). Participants were divided into two groups, a taekwondo training group (n = 21), which trained 50 min a day, 2 days per week for 12 weeks, and a control group (n = 10). Taekwondo training improved isokinetic strength, standing long jump, and sit-and-reach performance. Body fat mass and percent body fat were reduced. No changes in grip strength, bent arm hang time, speed and agility, or cardiorespiratory fitness were observed. Results indicate that low frequency taekwondo training in adolescent females produces beneficial changes in skeletal muscle fitness, flexibility, and body composition in a relatively short period of time. Consequently, this specific type of training can be useful to female adolescents in structured school environments where physical education classes are limited and there is little free time for physical activity.     

Comparison of children’s free-living physical activity derived from wrist and hip raw accelerations during the segmented week

This study assessed children’s physical activity (PA) levels derived from wrist-worn GENEActiv and hip-worn ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers and examined the comparability of PA levels between the two devices throughout the segmented week. One hundred and twenty-nine 9–10-year-old children (79 girls) wore a GENEActiv (GAwrist) and ActiGraph GT3X+ (AGhip) accelerometer on the left wrist and right hip, respectively, for 7 days. Mean minutes of light PA (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) per weekday (whole-day, before-school, school and after-school) and weekend day (whole-day, morning and afternoon–evening) segments were calculated, and expressed as percentage of segment time. Repeated measures analysis of variance examined differences in LPA and MVPA between GAwrist and AGhip for each time segment. Bland–Altman plots assessed between-device agreement for LPA and MVPA for whole weekday and whole weekend day segments. Correlations between GAwrist and AGhip were weak for LPA (r = 0.18–0.28), but strong for MVPA (r = 0.80–0.86). LPA and MVPA levels during all weekday and weekend day segments were significantly higher for GAwrist than AGhip (p < 0.001). The largest inter-device percent difference of 26% was observed in LPA during the school day segment. Our data suggest that correction factors are needed to improve raw PA level comparability between GAwrist and AGhip.