Learning a musical instrument: the case for parental support

The aims of this research were to identify the ways in which parents may most constructively support their children's musical development, and to ascertain whether styles of parent-teacher and parent-pupil interaction would influence the extent to which parents engage in different types of supportive behaviours. A model of parent involvement as comprising behavioural support, cognitive/intellectual support and personal support was applied to a sample of 337 parent-pupil-teacher trios, in the context of individual violin instruction. A typological approach was taken; using a quantitative survey that measured interpersonal interaction behaviours, as well as learning outcomes, six distinct categories of parent-pupil-teacher interaction types in instrumental learning were identified. The three categories of parental support were compared across these interaction types. The extent to which parents engaged in various types of support was found to vary according to interpersonal relating style, and the interaction types in turn were found to impact on learning outcomes. Learning outcomes, including enjoyment of music, motivation, self-esteem, self-efficacy and personal satisfaction with music lessons, were found to be enhanced when parents: (1) elicited their children's views regarding appropriate parental involvement, (2) negotiated with their children over practising issues, within parameters set by the teacher, (3) provided a structured home environment for practice, (4) took an interest in promoting good teacher-pupil rapport, (5) communicated with the teacher in relation to the child's progress and (6) remained as a supremely interested audience. © 2010 Taylor & Francis

Psychological Testing and Constitutional Rights

The federal government uses psychological tests throughout the employment process-in hiring, promoting, and retiring its employees. Some of these tests probe into the most intimate aspects of an individual\u27s life. Do these tests produce their intended results? Are they necessary for effective government service? Do they unreasonably interfere with the private lives of the individuals tested? These and other questions have been asked with increasing frequency recently, and the author, who was counsel to the Senate Subcommittee which has been investigating governmental psychological testing, attempts to answer some of them in this article

Interpersonal interaction within the violin teaching studio: the influence of interpersonal dynamics on outcomes for teachers

The overall aims of this study were to identify qualities of interpersonal interaction within teacher- parent-pupil learning partnerships and to explore whether these characteristics were predictors of learning and teaching outcomes for teachers, parents and pupils participating in pursuit of expertise on musical instruments. This article presents the findings relating to how teachers' beliefs relating to interpersonal interaction with pupils and parents impacted on their professional satisfaction, self-efficacy, and involvement with pupils and parents. Two hundred and sixty-three violin teachers were surveyed, each completing a questionnaire that included measures of the interpersonal constructs of control and responsiveness as well as measures for outcomes that included professional satisfaction, teacher self-efficacy, and involvement with pupils and parents. The scales for control and responsiveness were subjected to a principal component analysis, revealing several underlying dimensions of these constructs. Multiple regressions revealed that facets of control bore significant correlations with all of the specified teacher outcomes, while the interpersonal factor that had the greatest influence overall was teacher sensitivity (a responsiveness component). At the heart of this finding is a model of a 'responsive leader', providing authoritative direction but also compelled to respond to the individual pupil needs and parental wishes or circumstances. © The Author(s) 2010

Learning a musical instrument: the influence of interpersonal interaction on outcomes for school-aged pupils

Researchers in recent years have increasingly placed an emphasis on seeking pupils' perceptions of educational settings. Alongside this shift towards attaching value to the pupil viewpoint has been a growing interest concerning how interpersonal relationships, manifested as control or responsiveness between teachers and pupils or parents and pupils, impact on learning processes and outcomes. This study aimed first to elicit pupils' perceptions of their interpersonal interactions with teachers and parents, in the context of learning a musical instrument. The second aim was to explore whether dimensions of interpersonal interaction could account for variability in learning outcomes. Three hundred and thiry-seven violin pupils were surveyed, and measures for the interpersonal dimensions of control and responsiveness, as well as measures for outcomes that were defined as self-esteem, self-efficacy, motivation, enjoyment of music and musical attainment, were collected. A principal component analysis of the control and responsiveness scales was carried out. Multiple regressions revealed that receptiveness to parental support and pupil-teacher accord accounted for significant variability in the learning outcomes. The research reported here adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the interpersonal dynamics of pupil-parent and pupil-teacher dyads represent a powerful influence in pupils' experiences of learning musical instruments. © The Author(s) 2011

Every picture tells a story: pupil representations of learning the violin

Abstract: 
 The influence on learning outcomes of interpersonal interaction amongst
 teachers, pupils and parents is the subject of an inquiry that took this researcher on a
 voyage from the qualitative to the quantitative side of the “methodological divide”, and
 back again.
 This paper presents findings from first phase of the research, which included a
 quantitative survey to examine how learning and teaching experience for violin pupils was
 influenced by the interpersonal dynamics of responsiveness and control, within pupilparent
 and pupil-teacher relationships.
 As part of the survey pupils were asked to draw pictures of their violin lessons. It was
 thought that the pictures might reveal pupils’ perceptions of their experience of learning
 an instrument and that the pictures would add depth to the quantitative scales that
 measured interpersonal mechanisms and pupil outcomes.
 The pictures were subjected to content analysis and coded accordingly. These codes
 were matched with pupil artists’ scores for control and responsiveness, as well as with
 their scores for outcomes that included enjoyment of music, personal satisfaction, self
 esteem, self efficacy, friendship, motivation and musical attainment. Analysis of variance
 was computed in order to test the null hypotheses that a) pupil-teacher-parent
 interpersonal behaviour (control and responsiveness) was not represented in their
 pictures and b) pupil outcomes were not reflected in their depictions of violin lessons. This
 paper presents the results of this analysis, thus addressing the question of whether the
 pictures could be accepted as telling a credible and coherent story about pupils’
 perceptions of learning the violin

NASAs Space Launch System: Launch Capability for Lunar Exploration and Transformative Science

Excitement is building for the first launch of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS), a unique exploration asset for the agencys Artemis lunar program as well as for a new generation of science missions. SLS is designed for an array of missions beyond Earths orbit. The flexible system, which can be configured for Orion, cargo or Orion with co-manifested payload missions, offers high escape velocities to send more mass to deep space destinations. When configured with an 8.4 m-diameter fairing, SLS offers unmatched payload volume for human exploration and science missions. The initial Block 1 variant will insert at least 26 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI) and the more powerful Block 1B vehicle will launch 34-37 t to TLI using a new-development upper stage. Much of the initial SLS Block 1 vehicle is complete, including the upper stage and payload section, the core stage, engines and the solid rocket boosters. The first mission, Artemis I, launching from modernized and upgraded facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), will be an uncrewed test flight of SLS, Orion and ground processing, with a primary objective of testing Orions heat shield at lunar re-entry velocity. Artemis I will have accommodations for 13 6U CubeSat payloads. These CubeSat missions will be deployed along the upper stage disposal trajectory after Orion separates from the vehicle. A rare opportunity for CubeSats to be deployed beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), Artemis I CubeSat missions range from searching for hydrogen and other volatiles on the lunar South Pole to studying the acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles from a heliocentric trajectory. With manufacturing of the initial vehicle complete, fabrication and procurement is progressing for the second flight of SLS and Orion, Artemis II. Also an SLS Block 1 and Orion flight launching from KSC, Artemis II will mark the return of American astronauts to deep space with a lunar flyby-free return trajectory mission. With the Artemis III flight, NASA has the goal to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon. Infrastructure beyond SLS will be required for this effort, including elements of the lunar Gateway as well as lunar rovers, landers and additional commercially supplied launch services. SLS, as the only vehicle with the capability to lift 26 t of mass to TLI in its initial Block 1 variant, will remain a key component of this new-era exploration program. Future variants Block 1B and Block 2 will lift 34-45 t to TLI. This paper will discuss the status of testing and integration for the Artemis I vehicle, manufacturing progress for the second vehicle and the manifest outlook for primary, co-manifested and secondary payloads in the current deep space exploration environment

The Separate or Concurrent Effects of Methylphenidate and Alcohol on Acquisition and Retention of the Morris Water Maze in Adolescent Rats

Alcohol’s (A) capacity to impair learning and memory has been well documented in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) but few studies have examined methylphenidate’s (MPH) impact on MWM performance (Haidun et al., 2010; Zeise et al., 2007). Even fewer studies have evaluated concurrent administration of these two drugs in adolescent rats (see Markwiese, et al., 1998). This project used a rat model of adolescent drug use to examine individual effects of MPH and A, as well as polypharmacy interactions between MPH and A, on MWM spatial acquisition and retention. Thirty-two adolescent (P30) male Long-Evans hooded rats were used. Subjects were assigned to one of 4 conditions based on drug administered prior to 6 consecutive acquisition sessions. Animals received 2 i.p. injections prior to each session. The methylphenidate group (MPH+S) received 2 mg/kg MPH and 1 ml/kg saline solution (S), the alcohol group (A+S) received 2 g/kg ethanol and S, the methylphenidate and alcohol group (MPH+A) received both MPH and A, and the saline control group (S+S) received S injections. MPH was administered 50 mins prior to each session and A administered 20 mins prior to each session. Each session consisted of 4 trials and rats swam from one of four start locations (N,E,S,W) to a submerged platform in the NE quadrant. Trial duration was 60 seconds and rats remained on the platform for 10 secs. Performances were video recorded, and latency and swim accuracy scored. Whishaw Corridors established a direct swim path from start location to platform and an error was recorded when swim paths exited the corridor. On day 7, the submerged platform was removed and a single, 60 sec retention test was conducted with no drug administered prior to test. Amount of time spent swimming in the NE quadrant was analyzed to assess retention. Acquisition: Both dependent measures, latency and swim accuracy, yielded similar outcomes. Factorial ANOVAs and post hoc tests showed improvement across training sessions for all groups. Importantly, the MPH+A group was impaired relative to all other conditions, and the S+S group performed better than the A group. No significant differences were observed between S+S and MPH+S groups. Retention: A one-way ANOVA of swim time in the NE quadrant revealed longer swim times for the S+S group compared to the A+S group, and longer swim times for the MPH+S group compared to the A+S group. No other significant differences were observed. While all groups improved performance during acquisition, methylphenidate + alcohol compromised spatial learning, and alcohol alone impaired learning relative to controls. Interestingly, measures of retention indicated only alcohol diminished spatial memory in adolescent rats

Marine Sponges as Bioindicators of Nitrogen within Estuaries on the Oregon Coast

As filter feeders, sponges are highly integrated with their environment. Many sponges also host diverse communities of bacteria, including many that are hypothesized to carry out a variety of nitrogen transformations. The presence of these bacteria makes sponges an integral part of the nitrogen cycle in their habitats and suggests that sponges are an excellent bioindicator of environmental conditions. To test these hypotheses, we collected sponge tissue from two Oregon estuaries and extracted microbial DNA from these samples. To assess bacterial diversity, we performed Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) on a fragment of the 16S gene. We also examined nitrogen cycling in sponges by examining the sponge samples for the presence of the amoA and nirS genes, which encode for enzymes in the nitrification and denitrification pathways, respectively. DGGE results showed diverse bacterial communities, with clear differences between the sites. The results also showed little variation within sites, but were suggestive of seasonal variation. Both functional genes were present in all five species of sponge that we collected. These results suggest that sponges and their associated bacterial communities play a critical role in nitrogen transformations within these bays and that these sponge-associated bacterial communities are bioindicators of environmental variation