Socially constructed readiness for school

Educational researchers, early childhood educators, and parents often think of readiness for school as a measurable child characteristic. This ignores the social process by which readiness is used to group, rank, and compare children and the variability in the term's use from community to community. This study proposes that readiness for school should be conceived as being “socially constructed.” Using a conceptual framework based on Vygotskian theory and cultural anthropology, we develop the concept of “activity setting” as a social process in which cognitive processes and meaning structures develop. The emerging meaning of readiness is examined by using an activity‐setting analysis in three different communities and kindergarten settings.     

Influence of two preservice teachers’ value orientations on their interpretation and delivery of sport education

Teachers’ beliefs have a considerable impact on their instructional styles, methods, objectives and curricular organization. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of two preservice teachers’ (PTs’) value orientations on their interpretation and delivery of sport education (SE). A secondary purpose was to describe possible changes and development of PTs’ value orientations while teaching SE. Data were collected while they engaged in their final student teaching experience using a variety of qualitative techniques. These were analyzed using standard interpretive techniques. Results indicated that their disciplinary mastery focus strongly influenced the type of SE seasons they delivered. In addition they revealed that the PTs broadened their beliefs about their teaching toward the end of student teaching to the extent that they expressed interest in goals related to and used pedagogies consistent with social reconstruction, social responsibility and self-actualization value orientations.     

Relationship of Technical Skill Rank to Age,Gender, and Number of Years in Dance Training

Abstract

The field of movement behavior has been strongly led by a research tradition in which manipulations are performed in order to search for differences in dependent variables. In this article, I argue for an alternative viewpoint, in which experimental manipulations are provided so that invariances in dependent variables can be seen. If, in the face of changes in nearly countless dependent variables, a particular simple or derived value remains constant, strong suggestions are provided about the underlying control of the motor system. This method is illustrated with examples of invariances in motor behavior, the most important of which is the tendency for the temporal events in a movement to expand or contract nearly proportionally with movement time so that relative timing is invariant. A model following from these invariances, and criticisms of it, are discussed.     

Item Response Theory and the Measurement of Motor Behavior

Abstract

Item response theory (IRT) has been the focus of intense research and development activity in educational and psychological measurement during the past decade. Because this theory can provide more precise information about test items than other theories usually used in measuring motor behavior, the application of IRT in physical education and exercise science merits investigation. In IRT, the difficulty level of each item (e.g., trial or task) can be estimated and placed on the same scale as the ability of the examinee. Using this information, the test developer can determine the ability levels at which the test functions best. Equating the scores of individuals on two or more items or tests can be handled efficiently by applying IRT. The precision of the identification of performance standards in a mastery test context can be enhanced, as can adaptive testing procedures. In this tutorial, several potential benefits of applying IRT to the measurement of motor behavior were described. An example is provided using bowling data and applying the graded-response form of the Rasch IRT model. The data were calibrated and the goodness of fit was examined. This analysis is described in a step-by-step approach. Limitations to using an IRT model with a test consisting of repeated measures were noted.     

The Reliability of Aerobic Capacity (VO2max ) Testing in Adolescent Girls

Purpose: This study compared the relative peak torque and normalized electromyographic (EMG) mean frequency (MNF) responses during fatiguing isokinetic muscle actions for men versus women. Method: Twenty men (M _age ± SD = 22 ± 2 years) and 20 women (M _age ± SD = 22 ± 1 years) performed 50 maximal concentric isokinetic muscle actions of the leg extensors at a velocity of 180°/s while surface EMG signals were detected from the vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, and vastus medialis. The dependent variables were initial, final, and average peak torque; percent decline; the estimated percentage of fast-twitch fibers for the vastus lateralis; and the linear slope coefficients and y-intercepts for normalized EMG MNF versus repetition number. The data were analyzed with independent-samples t tests and 2-way mixed-factorial analyses of variance. Results: The mean initial, final, and average peak torque values for men were greater than those for women. There were no mean differences for percent decline and the estimated percentage of fast-twitch fibers for the vastus lateralis. There were also no sex differences for the linear slope coefficients, but there were differences among the muscles (vastus medialis>vastus lateralis>rectus femoris). The mean y-intercept for the vastus lateralis for men was greater than that for women. Conclusions: Men demonstrated greater peak torque values than those for women, but the declines in peak torque and normalized EMG MNF were similar between the sexes. The vastus medialis was more fatigue-resistant than both the vastus lateralis and rectus femoris.     

The Difficulty of Sit-Ups Tests: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

This study estimated the difficulty of various sit-ups tests using an item response theory (IRT) model, the Rasch Poisson Counts model Scores were obtained on 18 sit-ups tests. All tests were thought to vary in difficulty based on clinical observations. Item difficulty was defined by the Poisson model as the difficulty of Step 1, where the difficulty of a step represented the difficulty of completing a sit-up. The difficulty values of the tests ranged from ?4.02 to ?3.57. The easiest test was executed with hands on thighs and feet anchored. Most tests had good fit values. The results demonstrated that a variety of sit-ups tests can provide a range of difficulties and variety in forming a sit-ups test bank.     

Feedback and Skill Learning

Abstract

This study was an investigation of the course of learning a specified arm movement pattern under conditions that varied as to the type and frequency of feedback information. After several days of practice, subjects performed a criterion test which was the same as the learning movement pattern, but explicit visual feedback was withdrawn.

Forty undergraduate students were divided into five groups. Each group was randomly assigned a method of learning the task. The methods of receiving information about performance were as follows: (a) concurrent visual feedback, (b) concurrent proprioceptive feedback and terminal knowledge of graphs, (c) a combination of (a) and (b), (d) concurrent visual feedback interspersed with passive watching, and (e) concurrent visual feedback at two different speeds.

The results indicated the following: (a) the most effective variable for learning the pattern was concurrent visual feedback, (b) performing the movement at a slower than normal rate was detrimental to performance on the criterion test, (c) sitting and watching was as effective a learning method as performing at two speeds, and (d) subjects in the slow-standard speed group were significantly poorer than subjects in other groups during performance of the criterion test. The other methods did not differ significantly from each other.     

Editorial Policies

Abstract

A screening test for lateral dominance was administered to 167 college women. Twenty-six showed left dominance. Of this group four were taught to bowl left-handed, six were eliminated from the study for various reasons and 16 were taught to use their preferred hand, the right. All 20 subjects preferred using their right hand. Both groups were equated as to the amount of practice and motor ability. The group using the presumably dominant left hand were significantly poorer in their bowling average than the group which, though demonstrating left dominance, were permitted to bowl with their preferred hand.