A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of ‘named’ methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.     

Toward an understanding of academic self‐concept in distance education

Abstract

Academic self‐concept has been demonstrated to influence student success in distance education. The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of academic self‐concept in distance education and to determine its enhancers and detractors. It was determined that this construct is dynamic and multi‐faceted: the process of both learning as an adult and learning at a distance, as well as the content studied, influences academic self‐concept. Implications for both practice and further research are discussed.     

La calidad en la educación abierta y a distancia en México

Abstract

Since 1947, distance education in Mexico has had an important role for nonconventional populations. Considering that distance education is a heterogeneous and dynamic field, it is important to reflect on the need to improve quality as measured by our own standards. With that perspective in mind, a national meeting was organized to start a self‐diagnosis in which quality and access were the main concerns. Five hundred and twenty specialists from fifty‐one institutions participated in a national interactive synchronous meeting held in four regions. As a result of the meeting, thirty‐five criteria and 230 parameters of quality were established. The main conclusion of the meeting refers to the need for the elaboration of our own indicators for open and distance education.     

Measuring efficiency of Tunisian schools in the presence of quasi-fixed inputs: A bootstrap data envelopment analysis approach

The objective of this paper is to measure the efficiency of high schools in Tunisia. We use a statistical data envelopment analysis (DEA)-bootstrap approach with quasi-fixed inputs to estimate the precision of our measure. To do so, we developed a statistical model serving as the foundation of the data generation process (DGP). The DGP is constructed such that we can implement both smooth homogeneous and heterogeneous bootstrap methods. Bootstrap simulations were used to estimate and correct the bias, and to construct confidence intervals for the efficiency measures. The simulation results show that the efficiency measures are subject to sampling variations. The adjusted measure reveals that high schools with residence services would have to give up less than 12.1% of their resources on average to be efficient.     

‘Science to the Glory of God’. The Popular Science Magazine Ibérica and its Coverage of Radioactivity, 1914–1936

This paper provides a first approach to the history of Ibérica, one of the most important popular science magazines published in Spain before the Civil War. Founded in 1914 by members of the Society of Jesus based at the Ebro Observatory, Ibérica reached a weekly circulation of about 10,000 in the mid 1920s, and was instrumental in extending science education in Jesuit education facilities and in developing a “reactionary modernist” culture that embraced Catholicism and modernisation. By focusing on its coverage of radioactivity and the radium industry, the article aims to examine the magazine’s popularising style and ideology, and to determine its role in the debates regarding the cultural value of science in the first decades of twentieth century Spain.