Exposing athletes to playing form activity: outcomes of a randomised control trial among community netball teams using a game-centred approach

This study evaluated whether exposing junior netball players to greater amounts of competition relevant activity (playing form activity) had an effect on game play outcomes and session involvement. A group-randomised controlled trial in one junior netball club in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Ninety female athletes (mean age = 9.04 years, SD 1.53) were randomised by team (n = 11) into the intervention (n = 41) or 9-week wait-list control (n = 49) condition. The Professional Learning for Understanding Games Education into Sport (PLUNGE into Sport) programme was undertaken in the first half of nine training sessions (9 × 30 min). The intervention exposed athletes to playing form activity through a coach development programme within training sessions. Athletes’ decision-making, support and skill outcomes during a small-sided invasion game, and session involvement (pedometer step/min), were measured at baseline and 9-week follow-up. Linear mixed models revealed significant group-by-time intervention effects (P < 0.05) for decision-making (d = 0.4) and support (d = 0.5) during game play, and in-session activity (d = 1.2). An intervention exposing athletes to greater levels of playing form activity, delivered via a coach education programme, was efficacious in improving athlete decision-making and support skills in game play and increasing athlete involvement during sessions.     

Regular class teachers' perceptions of transition programs for EMR students and their impact on the students

This study was designed to obtain the perceptions of regular class teachers who taught children who had been in EMR programs, but had been decertified (D) and returned to regular classes in response to court cases and recent legislation. A cohort of regular class (RC) students were selected for comparative purposes. It was found that D students were placed into low ability classes; yet, teachers perceived D subjects to be significantly lower than RC students in both academic achievement and social acceptance. Only a small proportion of teachers indicated that the enrollment of D students had much impact on the regular class instructional program. However, the teachers were rather critical of the services received under the auspices of a transitional program, indicating in large part that the services were either not apparent or ineffective.     

Philosophy: A Special Place in the Liberal Arts

Abstract

A comprehensive model of the dynamics of one-on-one teaching is described. Adoption of specific teaching styles is influenced by the learning styles of students; the interest in faculty to build interpersonal relationships with learners; teacher need to control the task; the capability of students; and situational constraints. In clinical settings, thesis work, and other areas, faculty preferred the use of Personal Model, Facilitator, and Delegator teaching styles. Relative to classroom teaching, these styles were used more frequently and the Expert and Formal Authority Styles were less prominent. This is consistent with the goals of one-on-one teaching to develop the ability of learners to work independently.     

Effect of perceived ease of use on librarians' e-skills: Basis for library technology acceptance intention

Despite the widespread application of technology in the 21st century, making informed decisions regarding its acceptance in organisations is a function of several factors, particularly in developing countries, due to factors such as rising cost of the information technology infrastructure and low technological exposure. A model that incorporated perceived ease of use (PEOU) and e-Skills to examine librarians' intention for actual library technology acceptance was tested. The correlational research design, along with a multistage sampling procedure, was applied to select samples to reduce the sample to a manageable proportion. Professional librarians and library officers in four university libraries provided the data for the study. Results showed that e-Skill is the model's strongest determinant of technology acceptance intention among librarians. Also, PEOU will significantly moderate librarians' intention towards library technology acceptance when e-Skills are insufficient. From these outcomes, the understanding of the determinants of behavioural intention captured in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAT) is extended and refined.     

Student perceptions of the fairness of grading procedures: a multilevel investigation of the role of the academic environment

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of assessment method (essays vs. examinations) and instruction method (seminars vs. lectures) on student perceptions of the fairness of the assessment process. Department-specific combinations of these factors give a unique profile to the assessment process and to the way students interact with faculty. It is argued that the conditions thus created place students in some departments in a more advantageous position when it comes to meeting justice-related expectations. The variables of interest are procedural justice (PJ) and informational justice (IJ). For PJ, aspects regarding the amount of control students can exert on the grading process (PJ-C) are distinguished from aspects regarding the perceived validity of grading procedures (PJ-V). The sample consists of 1549 students from 48 departments of a German university. Analysis is done via multilevel mixed effects models. Models also check for cross-level interactions between effects of the academic environment and student socioeconomic status (SES). Results show that PJ-C and PJ-V are significantly affected by the assessment method. Higher proportions of essays relative to examinations in a department lead to higher ratings of PJ-C, while they decrease ratings of PJ-V. Ratings of IJ are higher as well if assessment is more essay-based, although this only affects low-SES students. Regarding the instruction method, a higher proportion of seminars was found to significantly increase PJ-C and IJ. Again, effects on IJ are moderated by parental SES. Policy implications for reducing feelings of injustice are discussed.     

Maddy and Mathematics: Naturalism or Not

Penelope Maddy advances a purportedly naturalistic account ofmathematical methodology which might be taken to answer thequestion `What justifies axioms of set theory?' I argue thather account fails both to adequately answer this question andto be naturalistic. Further, the way in which it fails to answerthe question deprives it of an analog to one of the chief attractionsof naturalism. Naturalism is attractive to naturalists andnonnaturalists alike because it explains the reliability ofscientific practice. Maddy's account, on the other hand, appearsto be unable to similarly explain the reliability of mathematicalpractice without violating one of its central tenets.

1 Introduction

2 Mathematical Naturalism

3 Desiderata and the attractionof naturalism

4 Assessment: Naturalism and names

4.1 Taking‘naturalism’seriously

4.2 Second philosophy (orwhat's in a name)

5 A way out?

6 Or out of the way?

     

Exploring the validity of assessment in anatomy: Do images influence cognitive processes used in answering extended matching questions?

Assessment is an important aspect of medical education because it tests students' competence and motivates them to study. Various assessment methods, with and without images, are used in the study of anatomy. In this study, we investigated the use of extended matching questions (EMQs). To gain insight into the influence of images on the validity of test items, we focused on students' cognitive processes while they answered questions with and without images. Seventeen first‐year medical students answered EMQs about gross anatomy, combined with either labeled images or answer lists, while thinking aloud. The participants' verbal reports were transcribed verbatim and then coded. Initial codes were based on a task analysis and were adapted into final codes during the coding process. Results showed that students used more cues from EMQs with images and visualized more often in EMQs with answer lists. Ready knowledge and verbal reasoning were used equally often in both conditions. In conclusion, EMQs with and without images elicit different results in this think aloud experiment, indicating different cognitive processes. They seem to measure different skills, making them valid for different testing purposes. The take‐home message for anatomy teachers is that questions without images seem to test the quality of students' mental images while questions with images test their ability to interpret visual information. It makes sense to use both response formats in tests. Using images from clinical practice instead of anatomical drawings will help to improve test validity. Anat Sci Educ 7: 107–116. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.