Regulating interest when learning online: Potential motivation and performance trade-offs

Online learning may be particularly sensitive to self-regulatory trade-offs between maintaining interest and performance. Undergraduates in online or on-campus sections of the same course rated strategies used to motivate studying for the first exam, and interest after the first exam and at semester's end. First exam and final class grades were obtained. We compared online and on-campus students in reported use of strategies to enhance the importance of studying-related outcomes (goals-defined) and to enhance the studying experience (experience-defined). The latter included an Internet-based strategy (i.e., making studying more enjoyable by exploring class web page). Online and on-campus students did not differ in reported use of outcome-focused strategies but online students were more likely to report exploring the class web page. For online students, greater exploration was associated with higher interest but lower first exam grades, which predicted final interest and grades. Implications for regulating interest and online learning are discussed.     

Management education and the challenge of action learning

The phenomenal growth of management education in the last two decades has been accompanied by much controversy. Critics consider that business schools tend to concentrate on theory and on quantitative analysis, while neglecting interpersonal relationships and qualitative thinking. It is often stated that management education should be experience-based, active, problem oriented and modified by feedback. The extent to which Action Learning meets these criteria is discussed in this paper. The difference between Action Learning and other types of management education is stressed.Attention is drawn to Action Learning programmes that have been conducted in Belgium, in the United Kingdom and in Australia.Various difficulties that may be encountered in introducing Action Learning to management schools are described and some strategies for overcoming these difficulties are suggested.The paper mentions problems connected with evaluating Action Learning programmes and suggests that Action Learning may be useful in management education.     

Speed Versus Accuracy: Implications of Adolescents' Neurocognitive Developments in a Digital Game to Train Executive Functions

Adolescence is a period of rapid cognitive change, including an initial increase in speed of cognitive processing and a more gradual increase in efficiency of cognitive processing. This study examined how neurophysiological changes associated with adolescent development can inform the design of game‐based executive function (EF) training. Two versions of a digital game designed to train the EF subskill of inhibition were given to adolescents (aged 13–17; N = 96): one focusing on speed, the other on accuracy. Consistent with neurocognitive developments, it was hypothesized that younger adolescents would benefit more from the speed version, and older adolescents more from the accuracy version. A significant age by condition interaction was found: Controlling for pretest, younger adolescents had better outcomes in the speed condition, while older adolescents had better outcomes in the accuracy condition. These findings argue for consideration of adolescents' neurocognitive development when designing games for learning and skill improvement.     

Do mental skills make champions? Examining the discriminant function of the psychological characteristics of developing excellence questionnaire

Abstract

The ability to successfully develop to the highest levels in sport is dependent on a range of variables, not least an individual's ability to cope with the various challenges of development. Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence (PCDEs) include both the trait characteristics and the state-deployed skills that have been shown to play a crucial role in the realisation of potential. Psychological characteristics of developing excellence equip aspiring elites with the mental skills, attitudes, and emotions to cope with the challenges of the development pathway, as well as underpinning their capacity to make the most of their innate abilities. The Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire (PCDEQ) was designed to assess the possession and deployment of these characteristics. The purpose of this paper was to examine the ability of the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire to effectively discriminate between good and poor developers based on their current possession and deployment of psychological characteristics of developing excellence. Two hundred and eighty-five athletes (n = 192 team athletes; n = 93 individual athletes) completed the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire. Results from the discriminant function analysis suggest that the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire correctly classifies between 67% and 75% of athletes based on their responses. The Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire can be used as a formative assessment tool to direct training programmes by identifying weaknesses in psychological characteristics of developing excellence and incorporating specific training to address these weaknesses in advance of developmental challenges.     

Change of plans: an evaluation of the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of successful talent transfer

Abstract

Talent transfer (TT) is a recently formalised process used to identify and develop talented athletes by selecting individuals who have already succeeded in one sport and transferring them to another. Despite the increasing popularity of TT amongst national organisations and sport governing body professionals, however, there is little empirical evidence as to its efficacy or how it may be most efficiently employed. Accordingly, this investigation was designed to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of TT, achieved through a two-part study. Stage 1 provided a quantitative analysis of the incidence and distribution or, in this respect, epidemiology of TT, finding the most popular transfer to be sprinting to bobsleigh, with an average transfer age of 19 years. Stage 2 scrutinised the TT process and explored the specific cases revealed in stage 1 by examining the perceptions of four sport science support specialists who had worked in TT settings, finding several emergent themes which, they felt, could explain the TT processes. The most prominent theme was the psychosocial mechanism of TT, an aspect currently missing from TT initiatives, suggesting that current TT systems are poorly structured and should redress their approach to develop a more integrated scheme that encompasses all potential mechanisms of transfer.     

Changes on creativity scales following continuing education courses

Some educational courses for adults are concerned with developing general cognitive skills and flexibility, rather than specific concepts and competencies. Examples of such courses are those involving the encouragement of creativity, flexible and clear thinking, and efficient reading. These cognitive development courses are difficult to evaluate; for it is not immediately clear whether adult students learn anything from the novel activities experienced in them. It is necessary to examine learning of this kind using appropriate psychological tests, so as to assess student's thinking in terms of its creativity and complexity. A study was undertaken of six adult education courses, including in particular four creativity‐training courses, with two other university groups serving as controls. With the adult education groups, several significant improvements in test results were gained following the six‐week courses, involving the student's production of ideas, preference for complex stimuli, and creative independence. Consequently, creativity‐training and similar courses for general cognitive development are recommended for inclusion in both professional and lay adult‐education courses.     

Knowledge of Traumatic Brain Injury among Educators

The purpose of this study is to determine knowledge of traumatic brain injury among educators. Few studies have examined knowledge of traumatic brain injury in this population and fewer still have included a substantial proportion of general education teachers. Examining knowledge of traumatic brain injury in educators is important as the vast majority of children with traumatic brain injury will return to school and many are likely to require support in the short term and some will require special education services in the long term. The Common Misconceptions of Traumatic Brain Injury questionnaire was completed by 94 educators. Participants demonstrated accurate knowledge on a number of questionnaire items associated with the identification of individuals with traumatic brain injury, common socio-emotional effects, and recovery from traumatic brain injury; however, a considerable degree of uncertainly was indicated on several items relevant to the school setting. In addition, substantial misconception rates were noted on only four items including one pertaining to recovery and another concerning the likelihood of additional brain injuries. Knowing someone with traumatic brain injury, participating in training and having taught a student with traumatic brain injury resulted in greater knowledge. Implications of these findings for educators are discussed.