Do field position and playing standard influence athlete performance in wheelchair basketball?

Improved understanding of mobility performance in wheelchair basketball is required to increase game performance. The aim of this study was to quantify the wheelchair-athlete activities of players in different field positions and of different playing standard during wheelchair basketball matches. From video analysis, absolute and relative duration and frequency of wheelchair movements and athlete control options were examined in 27 national standard and 29 international standard players during entire wheelchair basketball matches. Between-group factorial analysis of variances identified that national players drove more forward (42.6 ± 6.8 vs. 35.4 ± 3.7%; effect size Cohen’s d (ES) = 1.48) and started more often driving forward (33.9 ± 2.6 vs. 31.8 ± 2.8; ES = 0.77) during a match while the mean activity duration for a single driving forward activity was longer (4.3 ± 0.9 vs. 3.7 ± 0.6 s; ES = 0.75) than for international players. Furthermore, national players performed fewer rotational movements (21.8 ± 4.0 vs. 28.9 ± 7.8%; ES = –1.30) and started less often with the rotational movements (35.0 ± 3.6 vs. 40.5 ± 5.5; ES = –1.21) while the mean activity duration for a single rotation activity was shorter (2.1 ± 0.3 vs. 2.3 ± 0.3 s; ES = –0.67) than for international players. Differences in mobility performance among guard, forward and centre players were minimal. The results should help wheelchair basketball coaches specify wheelchair-handling training techniques and means to optimise wheelchair-athlete configurations.     

Unify and present: Using Monroe's Motivated Sequence to teach team presentation skills

Courses: Public speaking, business and professional communication, group communication

Objectives: This activity will introduce Monroe's Motivated Sequence as a way to organize persuasive arguments; improve students’ ability to deliver presentations with consistent content, voice, and style; and improve team-based delivery skills.     

Collaboration in ePortfolios with Web 2.0 tools in initial teacher training / La colaboración en eportafolios con herramientas de la Web 2.0 en la formación docente inicial

Collaboration is a specific process in the construction of portfolios. In the case of electronic portfolios, Web 2.0 tools make collaboration a key process. The process known as networking refers to the online connection and collaboration with others, which the social web contributes to the literature of electronic portfolios. This research describes and analyses the pilot implementation of an ePortfolio in the Early Childhood degree programme at the Ibiza Campus of the University of the Balearic Islands. The paper presents a qualitative research study which aims to understand collaborative students’ activity from multiple points of view. In view of this, the data collection techniques used are diverse: analysis of work done by students, Likert scale and group discussion. Atlas.ti software has been used to obtain a qualitative analysis of the students’ discourse. In general, the results show positive attitudes, with a gradual increase noticed in the students’ use of the tools and, finally, with collaboration being expressed in peer work, especially in relation to technology. The analysis carried out enables us to observe tensions between open tools, collaboration and assessment. The research has important implications for practice as it allows us to deduce how to improve the collaboration process in ePortfolios thanks to the introduction of Web 2.0 tools.     

Ecological dynamics of continuous and categorical decision-making: The regatta start in sailing

Abstract

Ecological dynamics of decision-making in the sport of sailing exemplifies emergent, conditionally coupled, co-adaptive behaviours. In this study, observation of the coupling dynamics of paired boats during competitive sailing showed that decision-making can be modelled as a self-sustained, co-adapting system of informationally coupled oscillators (boats). Bytracing the spatial–temporal displacements of the boats, time series analyses (autocorrelations, periodograms and running correlations) revealed that trajectories of match racing boats are coupled more than 88% of the time during a pre-start race, via continuous, competing co-adaptions between boats. Results showed that both the continuously selected trajectories of the sailors (12 years of age) and their categorical starting point locations were examples of emergent decisions. In this dynamical conception of decision-making behaviours, strategic positioning (categorical) and continuous displacement of a boat over the course in match-race sailing emerged as a function of interacting task, personal and environmental constraints. Results suggest how key interacting constraints could be manipulated in practice to enhance sailors' perceptual attunement to them in competition.     

Model-based reasoning in a year 10 classroom

Studies have shown that secondary school students experience difficulties making scientific models meaningful, yet explanatory models are central to the development of scientific understanding. This study investigated the extent and nature of students' model-based reasoning in a laboratory investigation. It was an interpretive study involving a single Year 10 Science class investigating the influence of six factors on electrical resistance. Before commencing their practical investigations students were re-familiarised with the “electron drift” model of metals. Data sources included videotapes of classroom interactions, audiotaped interviews with students, student workbooks showing their experimental procedures and results, and explanations of those results. The research suggests that spontaneous use of the model in explanations increased over the duration of the task but that the explanations were restricted mainly to model-based reasoning with lower order relational mapping. Even after further formal instruction on the model after the initial experimental investigations, many students were still unable to use the model effectively, displaying mainly the same level of reasoning. As model-based reasoning is an important part of learning some aspects of science, it is imperative that science educators take appropriate steps to facilitate the development of such reasoning in appropriate contexts.     

POSTCOLLEGE EARNINGS OF FORMER STUDENTS OF CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Methods, Analysis, and Implications

In the wake of new federal and state mandates,community colleges are faced with demands to provideaccountability reports on student outcomes. With the useof the Employment Development Department Unemployment Insurance (EDD-UI) wage record data, along withthe California Community Colleges Chancellor's OfficeManagement Information System administrative database,this study sought to investigate the extent to which completing an associate degree andvocational certificate impacts the postcollege earningsof students. Based on information from 700,564 studentsfrom California community colleges during the 1992-93 academic year, the findings suggest thatstudents' gains from first year out of college to thirdyear out will differ by age group. Among economicallydisadvantaged students, a strong positive relationship exists between educational attainment andpostcollege gains. An important finding among vocationalstudents is that as women complete more education, theearnings gap closes between men and women. Finally, this study raises several policy implicationsand presents suggestions for future research.     

Responding to university policies and initiatives: the role of reflexivity in the mid-career academic

How do academics make sense of university policies and strategic initiatives and act on them? Interviews were conducted with 27 mid-career academics in different disciplines, different research-intensive university environments and two countries (England and Australia). Data were analysed iteratively utilising a critical realist perspective, specifically, Archer’s modes of reflexivity. The paper argues that individuals’ responses to university policies and initiatives, to changes in policy and policy conflicts, can at least partially be understood through interrogating the modes of reflexivity they employ.     

A simple and efficient device for demonstrating cross‐sectional anatomy of the head

Described in this article is a novel device that facilitates study of the cross‐sectional anatomy of the human head. In designing our device, we aimed to protect sections of the head from the destructive action of handling during anatomy laboratory while also ensuring excellent visualization of the anatomic structures. We used an electric saw to create 15‐mm sections of three cadaver heads in the three traditional anatomic planes and inserted each section into a thin, perforated display box made of transparent acrylic material. The thin display boxes with head sections are kept in anatomical order in a larger transparent acrylic storage box containing formaldehyde solution, which preserves the specimens but also permits direct observation of the structures and their anatomic relationships to each other. This box‐within‐box design allows students to easily view sections of a head in its anatomical position as well as to examine internal structures by manipulating individual display boxes without altering the integrity of the preparations. This methodology for demonstrating cross‐section anatomy allows efficient use of cadaveric material and technician time while also giving learners the best possible handling and visualization of complex anatomic structures. Our approach to teaching cross‐sectional anatomy of the head can be applied to any part of human body, and the value of our device design will only increase as more complicated understandings of cross‐sectional anatomy are required by advances and proliferation of imaging technology. Anat Sci Educ 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.