The Effect of Test Anxiety,Intelligence, and Sex on Children’s Problem Solving Ability

Little experimental research has been done on the relationship between test anxiety, intelligence, sex, and problem solving ability. Thirty-seven third grade children were selected on the basis of average or superior intelligence and high or low test anxiety. The children were placed in small groups, and under normal and anxiety provoking instructions were asked to solve simple and complex problem solving tasks. Problem solving ability was measured by an anagram test. The results of the 3-factor ANOVA indicated that the anxiety treatment was not significantly related to level of intelligence. The 2-factor design indicated a significant Sex by Anxiety interaction for both simple and complex problem solving.     

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING TEACHING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES: AN ABUNDANCE OF FEELINGS AND LIMITED FACTS

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate outcomes of the Virginia Community College System's (VCCSs) Professional Development Initiative, specically to determine the extent to which documented professional development needs of faculty members had been addressed and the extent to which student learning had been enhanced. Results of a five-year follow-up survey and the qualitative research techniques applied to peer group conferences and research grants revealed that specific professional development needs of faculty members were being met through the VCCS Professional Development Initiative. More faculty members were attending conferences or professional meetings their professional activity of choice than five years earlier as a result of increased funding for this development activity, particularly through peer group conferences and other VCCS sponsored workshops and meetings. Peer group conferences effectively addressed the problem of professional isolation, bringing together faculty members from every discipline to address significant professional issues and learn from each other. Research grants supported and encouraged faculty scholarship in every major area of development. Both peer group conferences and research grants provided faculty members with opportunities to keep abreast of the rapid technological changes affecting teaching and learning. Most importantly, the research findings indicated that the VCCS Professional Development Initiative had succeeded remarkably well in achieving its overarching goal enhancing student learning.     

Supporting e-learning: an overview of the needs of users

It has become banal to refer to the growth in the use of the Internet in Higher Education (HE). It is now time to regard ‘e-learning’ as an integral part of academic activity, which needs to be routinely supported. This article provides an overview of what is happening and makes some suggestions for organising support services for e-learning.     

Authentic assessment for a more inclusive history

ABSTRACT

Practitioners and theorists in higher education have explored authentic assessment as a mechanism to better connect student work to real-world practice. This article considers the possibilities for authentic assessment in teaching history as a discipline and professional field at university, considering how ‘real-world practice’ might be expanded to include the understanding and practice of inclusive or participatory history. This article explores student survey responses related to three authentic assessment tasks, designed and delivered over a three-year history curriculum. This survey was designed to understand the efficacy of authentic assessment for scaffolding historical practice at university, and to also evaluate its possibilities for helping to transform the practice of history, which in recent decades has sought, with limited success, more inclusive epistemologies and pedagogies. In this article we suggest that authentic assessment is likely to successfully connect history students to real-world activities, but that it is necessary to consider whose authenticity is at stake if the discipline of history is to succeed in its wider aims. Drawing on student comments, we conclude that authentic assessment can contribute to student becoming, but that it also helps build a similar kind of ‘becoming’ for the discipline and practice of history itself.     

The relationship between the use of kinaesthetic imagery and different visual imagery perspectives

In two studies, we examined the strength of relationship between internal and external visual imagery with kinaesthetic imagery. In Study 1, 56 participants completed the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire and the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Pearson's product-moment correlations failed to reveal a significant correlation between external visual imagery and kinaesthetic imagery. However, the correlation between internal visual imagery and kinaesthetic imagery approached significance. In Study 2, the instructional set of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire was changed to make the participant the 'agent' of the external visual perspective images rather than somebody else. Sixty-four participants completed the two questionnaires. The results indicated a significant correlation between external visual imagery and kinaesthetic imagery (r = 0.60, P < 0.01). However, the correlation between internal visual imagery and kinaesthetic imagery was non-significant (r = 0.23, P > 0.01). The results are discussed in relation to who is the agent of the image and the processes that may underlie kinaesthetic imagery. The implications for researchers trying to establish the functional, behavioural and neurological differences within, and across, imagery modalities are considered.     

Sources of stress, burnout and intention to terminate among rugby union referees

We examined sources of stress, burnout and intention to terminate among rugby union referees. Questionnaires were returned by 682 of 1175 referees (58%) from Wales, Scotland and England. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed four correlated sources of stress factors (performance concerns, time pressure, interpersonal conflict and fear of physical harm), which accounted for 49.6% of the variance. Referees believed the first three factors to be mildly related to their stress. They believed fear of physical harm to be unrelated to their stress. A structural model hypothesizing that time pressure and interpersonal conflict predict burnout, and that age and burnout predict intention to terminate refereeing, fit the observed data. The goodness-of-fit index for this model was 0.96. Our results and those of other studies indicate that interpersonal conflict and time pressure are common sources of stress for sport officials and are frequently related to their burnout experiences. Also, age and burnout are frequently, although only marginally, related to intention to terminate.