Coaching competency and satisfaction with the coach: a multi-level structural equation model

The purpose of this initial predictive validity study was to determine the ability of measures derived from the Athletes' Perceptions of Coaching Competency Scale II?-?High School Teams (APCCS II-HST) to predict satisfaction with the head coach. Specification of the statistical model was informed by the mediational model of coach-athlete interactions. The technical quality of the satisfaction measure was evaluated before testing the predictive validity of the coaching competency measures. Data were collected from athletes of seven sports. Athlete observations (N?=?748) were clustered within teams (G?=?74). Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) provided evidence for factorial invariance of a reduced version of the satisfaction measure by athlete gender. Multi-level CFA provided evidence of model-data consistency for a reduced version of the satisfaction measure. Multi-level structural equation modelling provided evidence for the ability of latent coaching competency to positively predict latent satisfaction at both the athlete level (technique competency and motivation competency) and the team level (coaching competency) and for close model-data fit. Implications of this study include: that the APCCS II-HST should be viewed as a replacement for the Coaching Competency Scale when the intended population is appropriate; a preliminary multi-level measurement model for satisfaction with one's coach that should be considered as a potential starting point in subsequent studies; and empirical support for a key relationship proposed in the mediational model of coach-athlete interactions.     

Forces affecting change in small rural schools

Selected curriculum changes were studied in two rural shcool‐community contexts. Both qualitative and quantitative data indicated that implementation was at a low level of use and that factors related to isolation were particularly powerful influences in the change process. A major implication of the study is demonstrated need for detailed curriculum implementation plans that account for local school community factors.     

Music discriminations by carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Studies using three koi (Cyprinus carpio) investigated discrimination of musical stimuli. The common protocol used a single manipulandum and a multiple continuous reinforcement-extinction schedule signaled by music of the S+ and S− types in 30-sec presentations separated by a silent 15-sec intertrial interval. In a categorization study, the fish learned to discriminate blues recordings from classical, generalizing from John Lee Hooker (guitar and vocals) and Bach (oboe concertos) to multiple artists and ensembles. A control-by-reversal test developed into a demonstration of progressive improvement in iterated reversal learning. The subjects next learned to discriminate single-timbre synthesized versions of similar music. In the final study, which used melodies with the same order of note-duration values, but with mirror-image orders of pitch values, one fish discriminated melodies with no timbre cues, in contrast to results reported in rats.     

Can typical game features have unintended consequences? A study of players’ learning and reactions to challenge and failure in an educational programming game

It is difficult to motivate learners to seek out and persist at challenging learning tasks where failure is likely. However, in game environments, people seem highly motivated to engage with challenges and respond productively to failure. Many typical game features purportedly enhance intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, which should improve students’ reactions to challenge and failure, which should in turn enhance learning. An experimental study with early middle school students tested these assumptions by comparing a “Full” version of a typical, commercial programming game to a “Minimal” version of the same game where common game features such as narrative, performance metrics, high-quality graphics, and sound were removed. In contrast to our hypotheses, players of the Full Game were less likely to choose coding challenges, were less tolerant of coding failures and gained less coding knowledge. Intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy did not differ between conditions. Correlational analyses showed that failure tolerance and challenge seeking may critically affect learning from educational games. The current study offers an existence proof that some common game features can hinder players' failure tolerance, challenge-seeking and learning, in certain game contexts. Future research should isolate the effects of individual game features, test generalizability and explore which contextual variables influence the findings.