Characteristics of the start in women's World Cup skeleton

This study characterizes key elements of the start in elite female World Cup skeleton athletes. The top 20 female competitors in three World Cup races were videotaped within a calibrated space to allow the following components of the start to be quantified: (1) acceleration (velocity at 15-m mark, time to 15-m mark), (2) capacity (time to load, total number of steps to load), and (3) load (velocity at 45-m mark). A correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between the variables of interest and overall start time (15- to 65-m mark). Velocity at the 15-m mark accounted for 86% of the variance in overall start time at St. Moritz and 85% at Sigulda. A stepwise regression analysis revealed that approximately 89% of the variation in start time could be explained by velocity at the 15-m mark, time to load, and velocity at the 45-m mark. Of the variables analysed in this study, rapid acceleration to attain a high velocity at the 15-m mark was the most important component of a fast overall start time. The importance of the time to load and velocity at the 45-m mark vary according to the different track characteristics.     

The Emotionally Affected University Student: support from the university community

The study measured the general attitudes towards disability of academics, administrative staff, and students in a small rural University. Respondents were also asked to comment on the nature of support that might be provided for a student with an emotional disability. There were some significant differences in level and nature of support for students with an emotional disability among academics, administrative staff, and students. These differences were related to the levels of comfort with, and sympathy felt towards, students with an emotional disability. However, overall the results suggest that university students with expressed emotional difficulties are liable to be relatively negatively regarded and are not liable to receive much concrete assistance for the difficulties they face. It is proposed that the data supports the notion that academics, of all the groups measured, are best placed to decide types of support for students with an emotional disability on a case by case basis.     

Evaluating metacognitive scaffolding in Guided Invention Activities

Invention and Productive Failure activities ask students to generate methods that capture the important properties of some given data (e.g., uncertainty) before being taught the expert solution. Invention and Productive Failure activities are a class of scientific inquiry activities in that students create, implement, and evaluate mathematical models based on data. Yet, lacking sufficient inquiry skills, students often do not actualize the full potential of these activities. We identified key invention strategies in which students often fail to engage: exploratory analysis, peer interaction, self-explanation, and evaluation. A classroom study with 134 students evaluated the effect of supporting these skills on the quality and outcomes of the invention process. Students in the Unguided Invention condition received conventional Invention Activities; students in the Guided Invention condition received complementary metacognitive scaffolding. Students were asked to invent methods for calculating uncertainties in best-fitting lines. Guided Invention students invented methods that included more conceptual features and ranked the given datasets more accurately, although the quality of their mathematical expressions was not improved. At the process level, Guided Invention students revised their methods more frequently and had more and better instances of unprompted self-explanations even on components of the activity that were not supported by the metacognitive scaffolding. Classroom observations are used to demonstrate the effect of the scaffolding on students’ learning behaviours. These results suggest that process guidance in the form of metacognitive scaffolding augments the inherent benefits of Invention Activities and can lead to gains at both domain and inquiry levels.     

Using Spacing to Enhance Diverse Forms of Learning: Review of Recent Research and Implications for Instruction

Every day, students and instructors are faced with the decision of when to study information. The timing of study, and how it affects memory retention, has been explored for many years in research on human learning. This research has shown that performance on final tests of learning is improved if multiple study sessions are separated—i.e., “spaced” apart—in time rather than massed in immediate succession. In this article, we review research findings of the types of learning that benefit from spaced study, demonstrations of these benefits in educational settings, and recent research on the time intervals during which spaced study should occur in order to maximize memory retention. We conclude with a list of recommendations on how spacing might be incorporated into everyday instruction.     

Television History

SATURDAY MIGHT: A BACKSTAGE HISTORY OF SATURDAY MIGHT LIVE by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad (New York: Beech Tree Books/Morrow, 1986—$17.95)

THE SOAP OPERA ENCYCLOPEDIA by Christopher Schemering (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985—$8.95, paper)

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION: EVERY SHOW OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES EPISODE-BYEPISODE by Lynn Woolley, et al. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1985—$25.95)

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN BANDSTAND by Michael Shore with Dick Clark (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985—$12.95, paper)

A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO TV MEMORABILIA by Anthony Slide (Wallace-Homestead Book Co., 580 Waters Edge, Lombard, IL 60148—$13.95, paper)     

The combined effect of personalized appeal and precoding of personal data on questionnaire returns

This study investigated the combined effect on return rates of personalizing the cover letter and including precoded personal information on a mail questionnaire. The 2 × 2 factorial design allowed for the testing of an interaction effect as well as for main effects. The study found no interactive effect between the kind of cover letter sent and whether or not subjects were given the option of removing the precoded data. In addition, neither of the main effects was significant. The finding that the inclusion of precoded personal data on a questionnaire does not impair return rates may be welcome news to investigators in higher education conducting studies in which they have prior knowledge of respondent characteristics.An earlier version of this paper was given at the 1986 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association held in San Francisco.     

Science and report writing

In recent years Australian primary schools have adopted an across-the-curriculum approach to writing. However, relatively little research has been conducted in the area of primary science. This paper reports the result of a small scale collaborative study involving a Year 2 and a Year 5 class, and their classroom teacher, which used science activities as the basis for developing report-writing skills using a framework consisting of three focus questions. Students in both classes learned to use the framework in one term and it was found that it improved the quality of reports. Specialisations: science and technology curriculum development, secondary and primary teacher education in agriculture, science and environmental education. Specialisations: cognition and curriculum, early childhood and primary teacher education in science and social education.