Coping with Complexity: How do educational psychologists assess students with emotional and behavioural difficulties?

This paper explores the issue of how educational psychologists (EPs) deal with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) referrals. Self-reported EP practice is highlighted and discussed using data gathered from a survey of EPs ( n =107) drawn from 16 local education authorities. Data relating to the age and gender of students referred, the types and frequency of tests used, and specialist interventions recommended/used are presented. A number of findings are emphasised; for example, the gender imbalance of referrals, the extensive range of behaviours deemed by referrers to provide evidence of EBD, and the considerable variations in the assessment and intervention practices of individual EPs.     

The effects of perceived and received support on self-confidence

A sample of 222 university athletes (mean age 19.8 years, s = 2.0), ranging in standard from university second team to international competitor, completed a measure of perceived support 2 weeks before an important competition or match. On the day before the competition or match, the athletes completed measures of stressors, stress, received support, and self-confidence. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses revealed the following key findings: (i) main effects for both perceived (DeltaR2 = 0.11) and received support (DeltaR2 = 0.14) upon self-confidence; (ii) stress-buffering effects for both perceived (DeltaR2 = 0.02) and received (DeltaR2 = 0.07) support upon self-confidence; (iii) when both aspects of support were considered simultaneously, stress-buffering effects were primarily attributable to the influence of received support. These results demonstrate the beneficial impact of social support on self-confidence, both directly and by reducing the negative effect of stress on self-confidence. Our findings emphasize the need to recognize the distinction between perceived and received support, both in terms of theory and the design of social support interventions with athletes.     

Teaching assistants' facilitators and barriers to effective practice working with children with ADHD: a qualitative study

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rates have increased in recent years, resulting in the need for more classroom support. In Wales, support for many pupils with ADHD is provided by the 16,157 teaching assistants (TAs) employed by local authorities. This qualitative study interviewed 15 primary school TAs to answer three questions concerning their feelings about their job, and the facilitators and barriers to their work with children with ADHD. Using thematic analysis, the researchers identified 10 themes: positive feelings, negative effects, a need for change, support, improvement over time, one-to-one relationship, lack of support, negativity towards ADHD, classroom environment, and poor knowledge and experience with ADHD. This study illustrates the TAs' love for their job and the importance of positive relationships. It also highlights a lack of support for TAs and negativity towards ADHD. Implications of the study and recommendations for the future are discussed.     

Learning environment of a distance and partly-distance postgraduate coursework programs

Learning Environments Research - To provide ongoing learning for busy professionals, universities are increasingly offering postgraduate opportunities by distance and online. This research examined...     

Redesigning the scaffolding metaphor to suit pupils with Acquired Brain Injury

This paper extends and develops the metaphor of scaffolding to take account of the specific needs of pupils with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), drawing on observational evidence gathered for an empirical enquiry into the learning of pupils with ABI in mainstream classroom conditions. This is an area in which there are few published studies to date. After considering the needs of this particular group of pupils, the development of the scaffolding metaphor is outlined. The use of scaffolding for a group of pupils with ABI is illustrated and the need for modifications discussed, before suggesting the acronym PEDER (Point out, Explain, Demonstrate, Encourage, Repeat) to focus on the particular needs of this group. However, in practice, this acronym has been found to assist a wider group than just pupils with an ABI.     

Do judges enhance home advantage in European championship boxing?

There have been many examples of contentious points decisions in boxing. Professional boxing is scored subjectively by judges and referees scoring each round of the contest. We assessed whether the probability of a home win (and therefore home advantage) increased when bouts were decided by points decisions rather than knockouts. Overall, we found that bouts ending in points decisions had a significantly higher proportion of home wins than those decided by a knockout, though this effect varied across time, and controlling for relative quality of boxers was only effective when using more recent data. Focusing on these data, again the probability of a home win was higher with a points decision and this effect was consistent as “relative quality” varied. For equally matched boxers (“relative quality” = 0), expected probability of a home win was 0.57 for knockouts, 0.66 for technical knockouts and 0.74 for points decisions. The results of the present study lend general support to the notion that home advantage is more prevalent in sports that involve subjective decision-making. We suggest that interventions should be designed to inform judges to counter home advantage effects.     

Examination of the Validity of the Social Support Survey Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

The Social Support Survey (SSS), validated by Richman, Rosenfeld, and Hardy (1993), is a multidimensional self-report measure of social support tested with student athletes. The SSS contains eight dimensions of support. For each dimension of support the same four questions are posed. The SSS could, therefore, be scored in two ways: (a) to derive a score for the support dimensions; (b) to derive a score for the questions posed across all eight support dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses of the SSS on 416 university athletes revealed poor fits to models for both the eight support dimensions and the four questions across all eight dimensions. This problem was clarified by using a multitrait-multimethod model, which led to improved model fit but revealed that most of the SSS items were two-dimensional. Caution should, therefore, be exercised in using the SSS as a measure of multidimensional social support.