An examination of motives underlying active sport tourist behavior: a market segmentation approach

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a preliminary sport tourism motivation scale (STMS) that detected unique active sport tourist segments according to their social psychological motives for traveling to a destination to compete in sport. Segments’ conative loyalty were also analyzed to gain a greater understanding of how underlying motives for sport event tourism influences consumers’ behavioral intentions. A convenient sampling approach was used to collect data from 380 athletes participating in the 2014 GoPro Mountain Games in Colorado. In developing the STMS, items derived from previously validated sport and tourism motivation scales were used to reduce and verify a parceled STMS factor structure. Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded acceptable psychometric properties. Ward’s Hierarchical cluster analysis identified three segments: tourism-oriented, sport tourism enthusiasts, and sport-oriented. The sport tourism enthusiasts, who exhibited favorable valuations on each of the nine STMS factors, demonstrated elevated conative loyalty characteristics above those of the other two segments. Additionally, the STMS was able to explain 30% of the variation in consumers’ conative loyalty with factors, ‘Destination Attributes’ and ‘Competitive Desire’ being the most influential predictors. Overall, the study’s findings may better equip event managers with information necessary to tailor event service elements which may enhance customer satisfaction and lead to greater retention.     

A systematic review and meta-analysis of implicit theory research in sport,physical activity,and physical education

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to gather, catalogue, assess, and evaluate the available evidence examining implicit beliefs about ability in the sport, physical activity, and physical education contexts. A total of 43 studies were found, of which 39 were subjected to meta analyses. With only 7 experimental studies, the strength of evidence is moderate, and the field would benefit from greater experimental work. Overall, incremental beliefs were moderately associated with a small group of theoretically derived correlates, while entity beliefs were only weakly associated. The field would benefit from expanding these outcomes to include a wider range of pertinent outcomes. Researchers should focus their efforts on systematically exploring the most powerful ways of inducing adaptive implicit beliefs with the aim of providing solutions to significant problems such as preventing dropout from organised sports, improving academic grades in and beyond physical education, and increasing levels of physical activity.     

Links among segmenting,spelling, and reading words in first and second Grades

Twenty first graders and twenty second graders were examined on skills in segmenting, reading, and spelling 50 words with regular and exceptional spelling patterns. By using the same words for each task, it was possible to assess the interrelationships among these skills on a word by word, child by child basis. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted on difference scores among segmentation, reading, and spelling. Generally, differences favored segmentation and were maximized when final sounds were deleted and minimized when medial sounds were deleted. In addition, graphical analyses showed a greater probability of correct reading and spelling given correct segmentation than incorrect segmentation. Results were interpreted to support a computational notion of phonology as a prerequisite to reading and spelling, with a more reflective notion explaining the reciprocal relation between reading and segmentation of consonant blends and medial sounds.     

Representations of proportional relationships: Are children part-part or part-whole reasoners?

This research describes an intensive study undertaken to determine children's representational strategies for relational numbers (e.g. proportions, ratios, fractions). Relational numbers have three quantities associated with them: a whole and two parts. Given these three quantities, children can form a representation based on a part-whole relationship or on a part-part relationship. Fifteen children (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) solved fifteen probability problems which varied information content and quantitative relationships between the quantities expressed in the problems. A quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed that children prefer a part-part representation to solve problems with relational quantities.     

Implementation of a Curriculum-Integrated Computer Game for Introducing Scientific Argumentation

Argumentation has been emphasized in recent US science education reform efforts (NGSS Lead States 2013; NRC 2012), and while existing studies have investigated approaches to introducing and supporting argumentation (e.g., McNeill and Krajcik in Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(1), 53–78, 2008; Kang et al. in Science Education, 98(4), 674–704, 2014), few studies have investigated how game-based approaches may be used to introduce argumentation to students. In this paper, we report findings from a design-based study of a teacher’s use of a computer game intended to introduce the claim, evidence, reasoning (CER) framework (McNeill and Krajcik 2012) for scientific argumentation. We studied the implementation of the game over two iterations of development in a high school biology teacher’s classes. The results of this study include aspects of enactment of the activities and student argument scores. We found the teacher used the game in aspects of explicit instruction of argumentation during both iterations, although the ways in which the game was used differed. Also, students’ scores in the second iteration were significantly higher than the first iteration. These findings support the notion that students can learn argumentation through a game, especially when used in conjunction with explicit instruction and support in student materials. These findings also highlight the importance of analyzing classroom implementation in studies of game-based learning.