Self-defense and martial arts evaluation for college women: preliminary validation of perceptions of dangerous situations scale

Martial arts and self-defense programs train fearful people, especially women, to be more competent and confident to defend themselves in dangerous situations. However, there are no validated instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of programs purporting to teach self-protection. The Perceptions of Dangerous Situations Scale (PDSS), composed of fear, likelihood and confidence subscales, was developed and validated for university women. Participants were 368 university women, ages 17 to 45 years (M age = 20.7 years). Content validity of the PDSS was established through an expert panel, and construct validity was established through principal components analysis and determination of instructional sensitivity. Reliability was established through alpha coefficients. The PDSS, when used with university women, offers promising measurement opportunities in self-defense and martial arts settings.     

Exercise, plasma catecholamine concentrations and decision-making performance of soccer players on a soccer-specific test.

The main aim of this study was to compare the decision-making performance of college soccer players on a soccer-specific, tachistoscopically presented test, at rest and while exercising at their adrenaline threshold and at their maximum power output. These were determined following an incremental test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. After the initial maximum power test, participants (n = 9) were allowed 10 habituation trials on the soccer decision-making test. Participants' decision-making performance was tested at rest, while cycling at a power output that had previously been determined to elicit their adrenaline threshold and while cycling at maximum power output. Accuracy and speed of decision were the dependent variables. A one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed no significant effect of exercise on accuracy, and showed speed of decision to be significantly affected by exercise. Tukey post-hoc tests showed that speed of decision at rest was significantly slower than in the other two conditions, which did not differ significantly from one another. Based on allocatable resources theories of arousal and performance, we conclude that the adrenaline threshold may be indicative of increases in the resources available to the individual. Furthermore, we considered that exercise at maximum power output may only induce a moderate rather than a high level of arousal.     

Using Learning Reconsidered to reinvent disability education

The two widely acclaimed Learning Reconsidered reports are helping to reshape the college student experience. Karen Myers applies their principles to the learning of students with disabilities and to students learning about disabilities.     

Social Media as Primary Source

This article explores and critiques the use of social media as a primary source in the writing of twenty-first-century history. Since the introduction of so-called social media in the early 2000s, social scientists, journalists, and users have hailed this media form as a revolutionary departure from the ‘old media’ that dominated the twentieth century. Part of the narrative of ‘new media’ is it provides greater amounts of user agency, removes structural impediments for social dialog, and promotes an egalitarian exchange within the global sphere. This article suggests that this account is a product of the narrative structure of classical liberalism, through which social media as an object of knowledge and effectivity is produced. It concludes that the use of social media as a primary source for social histories of popular protest will require substantive theoretical scrutiny by scholars writing about these processes of the twenty-first century.     

Sample size and power estimates for a confirmatory factor analytic model in exercise and sport: a Monte Carlo approach

Monte Carlo methods can be used in data analytic situations (e.g., validity studies) to make decisions about sample size and to estimate power. The purpose of using Monte Carlo methods in a validity study is to improve the methodological approach within a study where the primary focus is on construct validity issues and not on advancing statistical theory. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how Monte Carlo methods can be used to determine sample size and to estimate power for a confirmatory factor analytic model under model-data conditions commonly encountered in exercise and sport. Because the purpose is pursued by way of demonstration with the Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams, related sample size recommendations are provided: N > or = 200 for the theoretical model; N > or = 300 for the population model. Technical terms (e.g., coverage) are defined when necessary.     

An investigation of nonresponse bias in medical student assessment of instruction

Research in Higher Education - Nonresponse bias in medical students' ratings of basic science instructors was studied by comparing the responses of initial respondents with those obtained...     

Learning in politics: Teachers’ political experiences as a pedagogical resource

The suggestion that teaching is a political act has been a divisive issue among educators. However, there has been little analysis of the ways that teachers draw on their political experiences as pedagogical resources. Using a case study of seven teachers in Porto Alegre, Brazil who were involved in politics, this article explores the relationship between political experiences and teaching citizenship. The data consisted of interviews with the teachers, observations of their teaching, and classroom materials. This research shows that politics played an important role in their efforts to teach democratic citizenship. Through the teachers’ diverse political experiences and ideologies, they developed different understandings of the relationship of politics with citizenship education that promote democratization and social change.