Introduction: Reflexions on Interdisciplinarity in Adapted Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

The articles included in this special issue of Quest emerged from a research workshop entitled Thinking About Our Thinking in Adapted Physical Activity, held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, from June 18–19, 2013. The aim of the workshop was to examine different worldviews that contribute to the adapted physical activity research literature, to identify key disciplinary assumptions, and to outline their consequences for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in the field. A lack of understanding of the basic assumptions held by researchers often impedes communication between the disciplines. Hence, a sub-theme of this special issue is communication across disciplines. These conversations are, of course, essential to interdisciplinary inquiry.     

Representation strength in pigeon short-term memory: Effect of delay training

An attempt was madeto manipulate the strength of internal stimulus representations by exposing pigeons to brief delays between sample offset and comparison onset in a delayed conditional discrimination. In Experiment 1, pigeons were first trained on delayed conditional discrimination with either short (0.5-sec) delays or no delays. When delays were increased by 2.0 sec, birds trained with a delay performed at a higher level than did birds trained with no delays. In Experiment 2, subjects were first trained on a delayed simple discrimination. Following a circle stimulus, responses to a white key were reinforced; however, following a dot stimulus, responses to the white key were not reinforced. The pigeons were then trained on a delayed conditional discrimination involving hue samples and line-orientation comparisons with differential outcomes. Choice of vertical following red yielded food; choice of horizontal following green yielded no food. Mixed delays were then introduced to birds in Group Delay, whereas birds in the control group received overtraining. When tested on a delayed simple discrimination with hue stimuli (red and green initial stimuli followed by white response stimulus), pigeons in Group Delay tended to perform at a higher level than did birds in the control group (i.e., although the birds in both groups responded more following red than following green, birds in Group Delay did this to a greater extent than did birds in the control group). Thus, experience with delays appears to strengthen stimulus representations established during training.     

Addressing individual difficulties in reading: issues relating to Reading Recovery and Pause,Prompt, Praise

Recently the DfES has issued guidance on ways to address the needs of students who experience difficulties in literacy through Wave Three provision in the National Literacy Strategy ( DfES, 2002 ). This guidance raises the issue of what kind of programmes might be initiated in mainstream schools that will improve what is available generally for pupils who experience difficulties. The original Literacy Taskforce report (1997) named Reading Recovery (RR) as one programme suitable for this purpose. It is not the only programme with 'proven' efficacy, however. This article compares RR and another New Zealand‐based programme, Pause, Prompt, Praise (PPP) with which it has a number of characteristics in common, in order to examine particular issues which are important to ensure that a particular programme can meet individual children's literacy needs and also have the potential for adoption by LEAs and schools in the current national curricular context. These issues are the underpinning rationales, assumptions about the reading process and questions of resources, ownership and control ( Openshaw et al., 2002 ).     

Approach tendency and threat display as related to social status of Siamese fighting fish,Betta splendens

Forty-eight maleBetta splendens were assigned to three groups of 16 (eight pairs) each. In two of the groups, pairs of fish were first allowed to fight until a dominance-subordinance relationship was established. Then each subject was tested on measures of time spent in approach and threat display toward either (1) its own pair member, with which it was experienced and familiar (Group EF), or toward (2) another combat-experienced fish, with which it was unfamiliar (Group EU). A third group of inexperienced and unfamiliar individuals (Group IU) were first exposed to their own mirror images and then tested for approach and threat-display duration. Pairs of these fish were then allowed to fight until dominance was determined. The three major findings were: (a) Dominant subjects approached and displayed significantly more than subordinates in all three groups; (2) Dominant subjects of Group IU did not differ significantly from dominants in the other two groups with respect to time spent in approach and display; and (3) Fish exposed to mirrors prior to combat required significantly fewer sessions to establish dominance than fish not receiving mirror exposure. Results suggest that dominant fish can be distinguished on the basis of their approach tendency and threat-display scores prior to actual physical combat. An habituation model of dominance determination was proposed.     

A Study of Home Emergent Literacy Experiences of Young Latino English Learners

This empirical study explored the home environment literacy practices of young Latino English learners and their families. The participants were 217 incoming Kindergarten Latino EL students and parents. The data collection included a completed HLEQ by the parents. In addition, children were administered the PPVT, the preLAS, the PALS-K screening, the Woodcock Reading Mastery assessment, and the Wide Range Achievement test. All of the literacy assessments given to the children provided the researchers with comprehensive look at their literacy knowledge base. The results of this study indicate that there were two significant paths for students’ achievement: availability of books and child initiated literacy factors that were directly related to the phonological processing efforts of students.     

History, Myth, and the Politics of Educational Reform

This paper analyzes the politics of education in the United States by considering the ideas and lives of Emma Willard and Catharine Beecher, nineteenth century educational reformers. It argues that understanding these women as American Antigones, as working through the contradictions between their public writing and their private lives, provides a perspective on the history of educational reform that combines myth and history. This perspective refuses idealized accounts of "lost" moments or possibilities in the past, grounding educational reform in the project of reimagining gender relations within families and schools in the present.     

Data-driven assessment of teacher candidates during their internships in deaf education

Deaf education teacher training programs have received criticism for graduating students with gaps in knowledge and skills required for specific placements. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) requires that accredited programs engage in self-study, and NCATE guidelines require programs to collect valid, reliable evidence of teacher candidate performance and candidates' effect on student learning. In the present study, an ecobehavioral assessment computer program, MS-CISSAR (Mainstream Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response), was used in evaluations of 8 teacher candidates during internship experiences. Results were mixed. Some of the instructional arrangements, teaching behaviors, and student responses resembled those found in studies using in-service teachers as subjects; however, some data revealed a need for changes in instruction. Data gathered with MS-CISSAR could be added to evaluations to help training programs meet NCATE requirements for evidence on teacher candidate performance and candidates' effect on student learning.     

Deciding for themselves

World Education, in a collaboration with PfP/International and with funding from US AID, has begun comprehensive program in Kenya that offers non-governmental organizations non-formal training, technical assistance in organization and business management, and financial assistance in the form of loans for revolving credit funds. The approach emphasizes Kenyans deciding for themselves about the directions projects should take. This article discusses the Tototo Home Industries' rural economic development program. After receiving a loan from Tototo, the women of Bofu village planned to stock their small village shop with matches, kerosene, soap, salt, and cooking oil. The remainder of the loan was saved to purchase future stock. For this project, bookkeeping and management skills were necessary. To meet this need, the Tototo small business advisor designed a simple cash boom system to be used by all the groups. Sessions in accounting were included in the annual training of trainers workshop. Currently, accounts advisor visit the groups monthly to provide follow-up training and assistance to ensure the women understand how to record project transactions accurately. The lesson to be drawn from these projects is simple. It is not unrealistic to set high expectations for project participants, but it is important to remain aware of the difficulty of the new concepts presented to these groups. In order for them to adequately master both concept and practice, the participants must be given sufficient time and support. In fact, consistent follow-up and close contact with the villages is the key to Tototo's success.     

Programs for the promotion of family wellness and the prevention of child maltreatment: a meta-analytic review

OBJECTIVE: The objectives were to determine the effectiveness of programs in promoting family wellness and preventing child maltreatment and to identify factors that moderate program success. METHOD: Meta-analysis, employing a 3-step model testing procedure, was used to review 56 programs designed to promote family wellness and prevent child maltreatment. RESULTS: The effect sizes for proactive interventions were larger at follow-up than at post-assessment, while the effect sizes for reactive interventions were higher at post-assessment than follow-up. The lowest effect sizes for home visitation programs on child maltreatment were for programs with 12 or fewer visits and less than a 6-month duration. Intensive family preservation programs with high levels of participant involvement, an empowerment/strengths-based approach, and a component of social support had higher effect sizes than programs without those elements. Also, both home visitation and intensive family preservation interventions achieved higher effect sizes with participants of mixed socioeconomic status (SES) than participants with low SES. CONCLUSIONS: The total mean weighted effect size was .41, indicating that outcomes for the intervention group exceed 66% of those in control/comparison groups. The findings from this review demonstrated that child maltreatment can be prevented and that family wellness can be promoted.     

Computer conferencing with access to a 'guest expert' in the professional development of special educational needs coordinators

This article describes and outlines the implications of a one‐year case study of students’ use of the computer conferencing facility of a postgraduate module for special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) at a distance‐learning institution. This facility incorporates a virtual space for a ‘guest expert’. The aim of the study was to inform future development of courses at a time when computer conferencing was just becoming widespread in the university concerned. Quantitative data associated with the volume and patterns of individual participation in the computer conference were collected as well as interview material from students, tutors and the ‘guest expert’. Findings from the study indicate that computer conferencing has the potential to facilitate the professional development of teachers as reflective practitioners and researchers. However, they also point to a number of barriers to student participation that must be addressed. These include access issues related to time constraints, unfamiliarity with the medium, and lack of confidence in expressing personal views in a public arena. A major conclusion drawn from this study is that it may be appropriate to consider future developments which incorporate the assumption that, in computer conferences of large professional development courses, students are much more likely to participate through reading rather than making personal contributions to conference discussions. This opens the possibility of reconceptualising the role of the ‘guest expert’ as two or more discussants with relevant expertise dialoguing with each other while students follow a threaded discussion and/or make personal contributions.