No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a circuit training programme on the physical fitness of grade 5 girls. Two classes of grade 5 girls at Kerrisdale Elementary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, participated in this experiment. All students within these two classes were given the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test -modified pull-up, sit-up, shuttle run, standing broad jump, 50-yard dash, softball throw for distance, 600-yard run-walk. One class was selected at random to be the Experimental Class, the second class to be the Control Class. The Experimental Class participated in a ten-minute circuit training programme at the beginning of each lesson for eight weeks. The remainder of the lesson was devoted to the regular physical education programme. The Control Class participated in the regular physical education programme for the eight weeks. At the end of the eight weeks both groups were re-tested on the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. Improvements were measured statistically within each group and a comparison of the improvements was made between the groups both on separate test items and on a total physical fitness score. In addition, a coefficient of correlation was calculated between the gains of the Experimental Class and their physical education teacher's rating of student "co-operativeness". The Experimental Class showed a significant gain in performance in the modified pull-up, sit-up, shuttle run, standing broad jump, Softball throw for distance and 600-yard run-walk. The Control Class showed a significant gain in performance in the sit-up, shuttle run, standing broad jump, Softball throw for distance and 600-yard run-walk. The Control Class made significantly greater gains than the Experimental Class in the shuttle run. Both groups made statistically, significant gains in the total physical fitness scores. However, there was no statistically significant difference between these mean gains. There was some relationship, though low, between the gains made by the Experimental Class and the teacher rating of student "co-operativeness". The conclusion resulting from this study was that a physical education programme for grade 5 girls which includes a ten-minute circuit training programme, does improve their physical fitness, as measured by the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. The data of this study also should, be interpreted to indicate that programmes other than circuit training may be equally effective in increasing physical fitness as measured by the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This study reviews the growth and development of the Health Centre for Children, Vancouver General Hospital, which has offered, for the past four years, a diagnostic and treatment service to children in low-income families. The aim of the project is to determine to what extent the need in the community for a service of this kind is being met. The main research methods used to obtain the necessary information have been interviews and studies of medical and social case records. The medical structure is described in detail with suggestions for improvement of service in this area. The role which the social worker fulfills is outlined, and is compared with the role which the social worker would ideally assume in a setting of this type. Suggestions for improvement of service are made in this area also. Particular emphasis is placed upon the need for treatment of the "whole" individual, a factor which, because of concentration upon expansion of medical services, appears to have received too little attention in the Health Centre. Although there is still room for improvement in the programme, there is reason to believe that the need in the community for a service of this kind is being met to a great extent. The main indication of this is the comparatively large number of people who use the Health Centre facilities. This is particularly evident when attendances for the four-year period are compared with the numbers who used the only public medical services formerly available. Since the Health Centre will be moving into new and more spacious quarters in the course of the next few months and since, at this time, many major and minor changes will be instituted, this study is considered an interim one. It would be valuable to have a further study completed after four or five years of continued operation. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The use of standardized tests in the assessment of ethnic students who speak English as a second language has become an important issue in Canada due to the increasing number of immigrant students in the school system. The subjects of this study were a group of 34 Canadian born, bilingual Chinese third graders with at least three years of schooling in English. They were tested on two standardized tests and the results were compared with the standardization population. The study also investigated the correlations among these two measures and an informal teacher rating scale. The subjects were found to perform more than one standard deviation below the norm on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test - Revised, which is a test of receptive language. Chinese speaking home environments and the culturally biased items in the test might have resulted in the significantly low score obtained by the subjects. On the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition, the subjects did not perform significantly different from the norm on the Test Composite, Verbal Reasoning, Abstract/Visual Reasoning, Short-Term Memory and seven subtests. They did score significantly higher than the norm on Pattern Analysis, Matrices, Number Series and Quantitative Reasoning and significantly lower on Copying and Memory for Sentences. When compared with a group of Asian subjects (ages 7-11) from the Stanford-Binet standardization sample, the subjects performed significantly higher on Quantitative Reasoning and lower on Short-term Memory. As consistent with the results of previous research, the subjects in the present study excelled in visual/perceptual and mathematical tests. It is possible that their (English Language) proficiency may have brought about significantly low score in Memory for Sentences. The four reasoning area scores on the Stanford-Binet were found to be significantly different from each other with the subjects' highest score in Quantitative Reasoning and the lowest in Short-Term Memory. Correlations among the three measures reached statistical significance ranging from the thirties to the sixties. Teacher rating correlated equally well with the standardized tests as there was no significant difference among the correlations. However, the correlations indicated that though these tests shared something in common, in practice, they cannot be used interchangeably. The study concluded that the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised may not be an appropriate instrument for measuring the receptive language of Chinese students who have English as their second language. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition could be considered a valid measure of the cognitive ability of this group of students. The positive and significant correlations among Teacher Rating and standardized tests indicate that teachers' perception of student ability parallels what formal testing reveals. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 16 week training programme on selected on-ice and laboratory variables of 9-10 year-old boys involved in a competitive ice hockey programme. Twenty-four players from two A-level representative teams were selected as subjects for this study. Players from one team served as the training group while players from the second team served as the age-matched control group. On-ice measures were calculated from a Repeat Sprint Skate (RSS) whereby subjects performed 4 repetitions of 91.45 metres, commencing each repetition every 35 seconds. Laboratory measures included a Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) which was extended to 40 seconds, an Anaerobic Speed Test (AST), and strength and power measurements (30, 100, 180 deg*sec⁻¹) of the quadriceps and hamstring muscle groups. Results from this study indicate that the training group showed significant (p = .05) improvement over the control group in the following variables: (1) the AST; (2) RQ (30 deg*sec⁻¹); (3) RH (30 deg*sec⁻¹); (4) RH (100 deg*sec⁻¹) ; (5) LH (30 deg*sec⁻¹). Findings from this study indicate that intense anaerobic training will benefit prepubertal ice hockey players on selected anaerobic and strength measures. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The WISC-R (Wechsler, 1974) was administered to 29 good spellers and 31 poor spellers in grade six. The obtained scaled scores were recategorized in the manner suggested by Bannatyne (1974) into Spatial (Block Design, Object Assembly, and Picture Completion), Conceptual (Vocabulary, Similarities, and Comprehension), and Sequential (Digit Span, Coding, and Arithmetic) categories. The poor spellers were highest (mean score) in the Spatial category, intermediate in the Conceptual category, and lowest in the Sequential category. The good spellers were highest in the Conceptual category, intermediate in the Sequential category and lowest in the Spatial category. These results are similar to those obtained in Bannatyne's 1971 study of genetic dyslexic children, and other studies reported in the literature for disabled and retarded readers. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Paul Schoenfield’s Slovakian Children’s Songs for flute and piano is a unique work in the flute repertoire, incorporating Slovakian folk quotes from Béla Bartók’s For Children (Volume II, Based on Slovakian Folk Tunes) with layers of Slovakian folk elements used in the overall texture. The primary objective of this dissertation is to expand the limited resources available to flutists regarding Slovakian Children’s Songs. Detailed comparative analysis will demonstrate both Paul Schoenfield’s use of Slovakian folk tunes in the piece and his compositional style. In addition, this dissertation will develop the performer’s understanding of the work through background information, comparative analysis, and interviews to encourage insightful and informed performance. The dissertation’s purpose will be achieved through examining 1) the life, historical, and musical background of Paul Schoenfield and Slovakian Children’s Songs, as well that of Béla Bartók and For Children, and 2) how Schoenfield quotes and arranges Bartók’s For Children by providing a comparative analysis. Interviews with both the composer and Carol Wincenc will be included in the dissertation along with performance suggestions received directly from Carol Wincenc in the appendix.

This study investigated the relation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised (WISC-R) for learning disabled (LD) children, the relation of K-ABC Achievement subtests with other achievement tests, and the relation of verbal and perceptual abilities assessment and the K-ABC. One hundred white, middle to above socioeconomic status (SES), LD students 6 to 12 1/2 years old were administered the K-ABC in addition to the test battery used to identify them. Findings indicated significant differences (2<-01) between WISC-R Full Scale scores and KABC MPC scores, with MPC scores being 3.33 points lower. Significant correlations (2<-01) were found between the following: (a) WISC-R Performance scores and K-ABC Simultaneous scores, (b) K-ABC Sequential and Simultaneous scores, (c) WISC-R Performance and K-ABC Sequential scores, (d) K-ABC Arithmetic and WRAT Arithmetic, and (e) K-ABC Reading Understanding and the following: Woodcock Word Identification, Woodcock Passage Comprehension, WRAT Reading, and Durrell Silent Reading. The study found the MPC correlates higher with tests of perceptual ability than with tests of verbal ability. Results indicate the following: (a) the WISC-R and K-ABC can substitute each other when measuring overall intelligence, (b) the WISC-R and K-ABC do not measure the same abilities, (c) the Sequential-Simultaneous score discrepancy is a poor diagnostic indicator of LD, (d) the discrepancy between the Achievement scale and the K-ABC intelligence scales is a poor diagnostic indicator of LD, (e) the K-ABC Arithmetic subtest is no better and no worse than the WRAT Arithmetic subtest, (f) WRAT Reading, Woodcock Word Identification and K-ABC Reading Recognition are not interchangeable measures of word calling skills, (g) the K-ABC Reading Understanding subtest is as adequate a measure of reading comprehension as other available tests, (h) the MPC is clearly more a measure of perceptual ability than of verbal ability, and (i) the KABC is no more fair a measure to use with LD children than are intelligence tests with a heavy language component.

This study examined factors that motivate parents to involve their children in organized gymnastics programs. A questionnaire based on McCullagh et al.'s (1993) study of recreational soccer players was used along with open-ended questions. The questionnaire was administered to parents of children who were involved in a private gymnastics club. Descriptive statistics of 156 surveys showed that fitness, skill development, and fun were most frequently cited reasons for parents in their decision to enroll and keep their child in gymnastics programs. Competition was the least important factor. ANOVA showed that competition and team membership factors were more important to the parents of competitive gymnasts than parents of recreational gymnasts. Coaches and youth sport program organizers could use these findings to develop and market youth activity programs.