The need for an effective means of enhancing the science comprehension of elementary teachers brought about changes in the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exit exam for 5th grade students. The overall goal of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of an alternative method of science instruction to train pre-service teachers. Web-based instructional designs are emerging as an alternative medium for disseminating course content in continuing education. A need exists to reach a point where web-based materials can be evaluated in terms of achieving desired teaching and learning outcomes, e.g., course grade, professional development certification, skills development and application of course content. The course offered to pre-service teachers provided the opportunity to build their confidence in teaching science and knowledge of subject matter using a combination of traditional and web-based instructional components. The entire course including lessons, exams, and ancillary materials were included in a WebCt distance education platform at Texas A&M University, for pre-service teachers to access online. During the course of the semester students took six exams which determined their overall grade in the course. Study objectives were measured using students enrolled in WFSC 420 Ecology for Teachers during the Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 semesters. The four required assessments were administered before the first exam and after the fifth exam. Analysis of pre- vs. post-course assessments was conducted using paired t-test analysis of mean scores on two assessments including the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument and traditional versus web-based instruction. Student scores on the TAKS test were compared using raw average scores pre- and post-course. Additionally, each student's final course grade was correlated to the final TAKS score to determine the level of score consistency. WFSC 420 Ecology for Teachers prepared pre-service teacher trainees to teach elementary science in two ways. First it provided the relevant science content necessary for teachers to adequately prepare their students for the TAKS exam. Secondly, it has been shown to improve students' confidence in their ability to teach science. Both of these provide a firm foundation to properly educate elementary science teachers for the future.

Although no one program exists for leadership development, there is an understanding among practitioners and researchers that leader and leadership development occur in many venues, with one of those venues being an academic classroom where experience and theory are juxtaposed. One such program is the Eisenhower Leadership Development Program. In an effort to strengthen the academic discipline of leadership and to garner further respect for leadership development programs such as ELDP, leadership development programs must be assessed and evaluated in order to ensure that the objective of the program is being met. Brungardt and Crawford noted that, "assessment and evaluation of leadership programs help ground programs in the needs of students while working within the constraints of academe" (1996, p. 37). The purpose of this study was twofold. First, this study sought to ensure that the Eisenhower Leadership Development Program was producing the outcomes the program was designed to produce. Second, this study sought to demonstrate the worth of ELDP to past, current, and future stakeholders. Former ELDP students were surveyed regarding the perceptions of their learning outcomes based on four practical skills (problem defintion, discovery of research alternatives, delegation/teamwork, and achievable challenge) and four complimentary adaptive skills (focusing on an issue, direct attention to detail, management of time and resources, and persistence). This study found that students did perceive to have gained leadership skills in each of the practical and adaptive skill constructs. The comparison between students' perceptions of each skill before participating in ELDP and after participating in ELDP was positively correlated and statistically significant in every construct. In short, the relationship between the practical and adaptive skills taught in ELDP and the learning outcomes is not serendipitous. The findings show that ELDP is improving the development of students in terms of them becoming leaders and in terms of the greater concept of leadership as related to the four practical and adaptive skills emphasized by ELDP. Further research related to the interdisciplinary design through which the practical and adaptive skills are taught is recommended.

Interruption interference refers to significant decreases in performance that occur following task interruption. Evidence has suggested that practicing recovering from interruptions can reduce interruption interference as measured by the time required for resuming the interrupted task. Conflicting evidence, however, has indicated that interruption practice might only improve resumption for the practiced primary and interrupting task-pair. The studies within this dissertation utilize a transfer paradigm to resolve this conflict and determine whether or not interruption resumption practice in one task-pair context can benefit interruption resumption in a novel task-pair context. A new theory, Interruption Recovery Goal, defines the mechanisms of interruption handling skill acquisition and transfer as production consolidation that facilitates the storage and maintenance, via rehearsal, of the pre-interruption task state, as well as any planned action sequences, for retrieval after the interruption. The first two reported studies provided evidence that interruption handling skill for one task-pair context transferred to a novel task-pair when one (first study) or both (second study) tasks in the context changed. The third study supported theories that have defined the mechanism of interruption handling skill as an improvement to primary task goal state and action sequence memory, rather than reconstruction, by showing that resumption times improved even when the onscreen display of the primary task’s target state was removed at resumption. This study also supported the task-general view of interruption handling skill by providing evidence that interruption handling skill acquisition and transfer did not strongly relate to primary task skill acquisition and transfer. The fourth study tested for interruption handling skill transfer across novel interruption contexts when interruption duration, the availability of pre-interruption rehearsal, or both differed at transfer. The results showed resumption time improvements across interruption contexts, indicating that rehearsal and retrieval mechanisms vital for interruption resumption remained similar across contexts for skill transfer. Although further research is needed to understand the extent to which this transfer is fully task-general, the theory supported by these studies provides new directions for the study of interruption handling skill and has implications for the development of training methods for reducing interruption interference in high-risk workplaces.

Published Article / The issue of Generic Skills has received considerable attention over the past few years as universities, in their response to calls for accountability, need to articulate and demonstrate the achievement of these (Barrie, 2005: 1). In recent years, employers and their representatives consistently demand that their employees must possess a range of personal and intellectual attributes. These include attributes beyond those traditionally made explicit in programmes of study in higher education institutions (Harvey, 2000:7). Universities describe these graduate qualities differently, resulting in a variety of terms used to target the same attribute (Barrie, 2006:218). This diversity of descriptions prompts questions as to the extent to what stakeholders in the Radiography programme understand by the term generic graduate skills. One of the major goals was to explore what the stakeholders involved in academic and work-based learning as well as radiography students identified as generic graduate skills radiography students must obtain during their studies to prepare them adequately for the world of work. Findings from this study agreed on the importance of higher education to be informed of expectations from employees in order to respond to the need of preparing students adequately for future job tasks and contributions to society. In addition to this. the study also identified the particular generic skills stakeholders regard essential for students entering the profession.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Fast pushing like forms of knee extension were previously studied (van Ingen Schenau, 1994, Bobbert 1994). From these the role of mono and bi-articular muscles was established for this type of pushing like motion patterns. The way whipping like forms of knee extension are controlled is however less understood. This study investigated the impact of skill level in modulating fast forms of knee extension. The investigation was carried out by using a Taekwondo fast front kicking action, mean peak leg angular velocity 18.65 rads/s, as the subject task. A total of 40 healthy male and female participants volunteered to take part in this study. Of these, 20 were skilled martial arts athletes while the remaining 20 were unskilled. Expert and novice groups were randomly divided into treatment and control groups. A ten week intervention program aimed at increasing the skill level of participants of the expert and novice groups was conducted. The kinematic profile of the execution of a fast front kick performed under various settings of velocity, range of motion and degrees of freedom was obtained by a high speed camera. The myoelectrical activity of selected muscle units was simultaneously obtained while kicks were video recorded. Expert and novice participants were tested pre and post intervention program. Of the available kinematic variables such as segmental angular velocities, joint linear velocities and intersegmental timing and coordination, it was found that only: peak ankle linear and leg angular velocities, intersegmental timing, thigh to leg peak angular velocity ratio and a calculated performance index, have the potential to discriminate differences in skill level in this form of kicking. Pre and post intervention differences between groups were assessed from these variables. It was of interest to this study to identify the sources of these differences. To this end, an inverse dynamics analysis of the interaction between segments during the execution of a front kick was performed. It was found that the interaction between segments evolves with increases in skill level. Expert athletes utilize a i) precursor knee flexion moment to assist hip flexion moment during the initial stages of the kicking action and ii) a late hip flexion moment to assist further increases of kicking speed. These moments were absent in the execution of a front kick by novice athletes. These findings were also obtained form an optimization approach to the analysis of interactive moments during kicking. An important conclusion from these analyses is that the view of a front kick as a proximal to distal motion pattern is inadequate. Evidence from this study suggests that this action is best defined as a distal-proximal-distal motion pattern in an expert population. It then indicates that skill gains rely on the utilization of intrinsic muscle properties to assist the execution of tasks like a front kick.

Abstract The first clause of the first chapter in law of vocational training stipulates that the implementation of vocational training aims in particular to cultivate the manpower of country-building skills, to enhance job skill, and promote people¡¦s work. Hence, the goal of vocational training lies mainly in facilitating people¡¦s work. The problem of being unemployed results from the transition of the industrial structure and the job market; therefore, the short-term training of HVAChas been opened with a view to helping the jobless learn the skill for earning a living as soon as possible, and promoting more chances of work for the jobless return to the job market as early as possible. This study includes the applied area on the market of HVAC, the vocational training program of short-term training, the contents of training courses and skill tests. By means of the analysis of applied area on HVAC, the questionnaire of related staff, the results of interview and survey, it has confirmed that the theory of supply and demand of economics, and has also proved that the short-term training of HVAC for the jobless can meet the demands of job market HVAC. For the jobless who are able to learn the skill to work, the short-term vocational training of HVAC, increasing the chances of work, is really worth affirmation.

Flow is a state of consciousness where the individual experiences engagement, concentration, and enjoyment. An intervention was conducted focusing on challenge-skill balancing and intrinsic motivation, both previously conceptualized as aspects of flow. The variables evaluated were challenge-skill balance, concentration on task, flow, and intrinsic motivation. The study had 211 undergraduate college students (control = 104, intervention = 107). Repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the data. The findings were mixed. Significant main effects between groups were not found. Significant main effects for time (pre-test to post-test) were found for challenge-skill balance, flow, and intrinsic motivation. A statistically significant change from pre-test to post-test for the control group on intrinsic motivation suggests the possible presence of a confounding effect by the control group curriculum. Some evidence was found that flow can be influenced by direct intervention. Further research is needed to clarify, evaluate, and extend these findings. / text