Beliefs about Genes and Environment as Determinants of Behavioral Characteristics

This study investigates beliefs about the determinants of suchbehavioral characteristics as intelligence, athleticism, obesity,and alcoholism by asking respondents to the 2004 General SocialSurvey to rate vignettes describing individuals exhibiting thesecharacteristics along a 21-point scale ranging from completegenetic determination to complete environmental determination.The vignettes systematically varied the social desirabilityof the characteristic as well as the race and gender of theperson exhibiting it. We analyzed the effect of the carefullycounterbalanced vignette characteristics and the correspondingrater characteristics on respondents’ ratings of the vignettes,hypothesizing that these ratings would reflect mechanisms ofclaiming credit for desirable characteristics and avoiding blamefor undesirable ones. Contrary to our expectations, we foundno effect of any of the vignette characteristics on the ratings,and only two significant main effects of respondent demographiccharacteristics: Black respondents were more likely to use geneticratings; and better educated respondents, environmental ones. Received for publication October 26, 2006. Accepted for publication April 23, 2007.     

Exploring a Model of Situated Professional Development: Impact on Classroom Practice

A hallmark of current science education reform involves teaching through inquiry. However, the widespread use of inquiry-based instruction in many classrooms has not occurred (Roehrig and Luft in Int J Sci Educ 26:3–24, 2004; Schneider et al. in J Res Sci Teach 42:283–312, 2005). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a professional development program on middle school science teachers’ ability to enact inquiry-based pedagogical practices. Data were generated through evaluation of teacher practice using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (Sawada et al. in School Sci Math 102:245–253, 2002) at three distinct junctures, before, during, and after the professional development treatment. Analysis of teacher-participant post-institute reflections was then utilized to determine the perceived role of the various institute components. Statistical significant changes in RTOP scores indicated that the teachers were able to successfully transfer the enactment of the inquiry-based practices into their classrooms. The subsequent discussion provides connection between these pedagogical changes with use of professional development strategies that provide a situated learning environment.     

Children's Increased Emotional Egocentricity Compared to Adults Is Mediated by Age‐Related Differences in Conflict Processing

This study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying age‐related differences in emotional egocentricity bias (EEB) between children (aged 7–12 years, n = 30) and adults (aged 20–30 years, n = 30) using a novel paradigm of visuogustatory stimulation to induce pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Both children and adults showed an EBB, but that of children was larger. The EEB did not correlate with other measures of egocentricity. Crucially, the developmental differences in EEB were mediated by age‐related changes in conflict processing and not visual perspective taking, response inhibition, or processing speed. This indicates that different types of egocentricity develop independently of one another and that the increased ability to overcome EEB can be explained by age‐related improvements in conflict processing.     

Toward a Multilevel Framework to Examine the Underrepresentation of Racial Minorities in Golf Within the United States

In the current U.S. economy, leaders in the golf business are increasingly concerned with the long-term growth potential for the game, particularly at the recreational level. Adding to that concern is the underrepresentation of Blacks and Hispanics who participate in golf at a time when the latter group is demonstrating exponential growth in the U.S. population. This article examines those and other factors that are contributing to the declining trend in golf participation by using a three-level analytic framework. Specific examples of factors at each level are discussed along with strategies for research and practice.     

Utility of the early screening profiles in identifying preschoolers at risk for cognitive delays

This study investigated the utility of the Early Screening Profiles (ESP; Harrison, 1990) to differentiate between preschoolers at risk for cognitive delays (n= 49) and non‐risk preschoolers (n= 44). Step‐wise discriminant function analysis was performed using the ESP Profiles and Total Screening scores as the predictors of group membership. The Total Screening score, by itself, was found to correctly classify approximately 81% of the preschoolers. In a separate discriminant analysis, the Cognitive/Language and Motor profiles were required to maintain a similar level of correct classifications as the ESP Total Screening score. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Changes in teacher salaries during the 1970s: The role of school district demographics

This paper analyzes changes in the teacher salary schedules of Michigan school districts between 1970 and 1980. We find that starting salaries, expressed in 1970 dollars, decreased by an average of 20% over the decade. Real maximum salaries decreased by 15%. The between-district variability of starting salaries increased markedly over the decade, making the average starting salary a much poorer estimate of the starting salary a particular teacher earned in 1980 than was the case in 1970. The between-district variability of maximum salaries did not increase over the decade. Student enrollment changes were a significant predictor of the changes in maximum salaries. Districts that experienced the greatest percentage losses in students tended to experience the greatest declines in real maximum salaries. Student enrollment changes were also related to changes in starting salaries, but the relationship was more complex.     

Sport and International Relations

This article explicates the inconvenient truth that is at the core of the crisis currently facing the field of kinesiology. Namely, the instantiation of an epistemological hierarchy that privileges positivist over postpositivist, quantitative over qualitative, and predictive over interpretive ways of knowing. The discussion outlines the political, economic, and cultural forces responsible for kinesiology's putative scientific hegemony and speaks to its corollary: the very demise of the field caused by intensified subdisciplinary specialization and fragmentation and fundamental lack of comprehensiveness. The article outlines a potential corrective to kinesiology's blinkered epistemological and empirical vision, currently being developed at the University of Maryland. Physical Cultural Studies (PCS) is introduced as a synthesis of empirical, theoretical, and methodological influences (drawn from, among other sources, the sociology and history of sport and physical activity, the sociology of the body, and cultural studies) that are focused on the critical analysis of active bodies and specifically the manner in which they become organized, represented, and experienced in relation to the operations of social power. Thus, PCS is offered as an important contribution toward realizing the truly integrative and comprehensive kinesiology to which we as kinesiologists—and regardless of our empirical, theoretical, or epistemological proclivities—should aspire.     

Effect of Learner Strategies With Modular Versus Traditional Instruction on Motor Skill Learning and Retention

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of learner strategies on learning and remembering a series of juggling skills, using modular versus traditional modes of instruction. The 48 subjects (M age = 16.6 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) a group taught by a live instructor (traditional) using learner strategies; (b) a traditionally taught no-strategies group; (c) a self-instructed group that used strategies with a modular instructional approach; and (d) a control group exposed to a similar module without the use of strategies. Two juggling experts rated subjects on their ability to perform five juggling skills immediately following eight learning sessions (acquisition) and 7 days after the first test (retention). The use of ANOVA revealed that the groups which used modular instruction, as opposed to traditional instruction, and strategies in comparison to no strategies, performed significantly better when scores on the acquisition and retention tests were combined. Performance on the retention test was similar for all groups. The results provided partial support for the use of modular instruction and learner strategies in the learning and remembering of complex gross motor skills. However, contrary to expectations, the combination of these factors did not elicit performance superior to that elicited by the other conditions.