Perceptions from Athletic Training Students Involved in an Intentional Peer-Assisted Learning Pedagogy

Context: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has been shown to benefit students across educational levels. Current research has investigated perceptions of PAL, postgraduate impact, as well as prevalence. This study investigated athletic training students’ perceptions of an intentional PAL pedagogy on both the peer-student and peer-tutor. In this study, the peer-tutors had training prior to implementation. Objective: To explore athletic training students’ perceptions of an intentional PAL pedagogy. Design: Qualitative study using a phenomenological approach. Setting: Focus group interviews with professional undergraduate athletic training students. Patients or Other Participants: Eleven athletic training students from 1 accredited athletic training program volunteered for this study. Five students (4 females, 1 male) serving as peer-tutors and 6 (5 females, 1 male) peer-students participated in focus group interviews in spring term 2015. The peer-tutors completed training prior to tutoring the peer-students. Main Outcome Measure(s): Focus group interviews were conducted with a structured interview protocol. The peer-student and peer-tutor groups were asked separate questions. Interview data were analyzed inductively to uncover dominant themes, first by organizing the data, then summarizing into codes, and finally interpreting. Credibility was secured through member checking, triangulation, and investigator triangulation. Results: Themes indicated that both peer-students and peer-tutors perceived that, through PAL, they collaborated, built relationships, gained confidence, were exposed to varied techniques, and the PAL pedagogy served as a way to review and practice, which changed their clinical educational experiences. Peer-tutors developed skills in leadership and teaching through their PAL experience. Conclusions: Evidence demonstrated that PAL created a learning environment in the student’s clinical educational experiences that involved collaboration, relationships, confidence building, and more time for review and practice

Perceptions from Graduates of Professional Athletic Training Programs Involved in Peer-Assisted Learning

Context: Research has not explored how peer-assisted learning (PAL) impacts graduates once they are practicing as athletic trainers. Peer-assisted learning has been used in a variety of health education settings but there is a lack of data on its effects on the performance of graduates. Objective: To investigate professional graduates’ perceptions of PAL pedagogy in their athletic training education and the impact of that experience on their first job. Design: Qualitative study using a phenomenological approach. Setting: One-on-one phone interviews with athletic training graduates. Patients or Other Participants: Participants were from 8 accredited athletic training programs that varied in terms of the size of their institution, geographic location, number of graduates, and program directors’ willingness to promote the study. Thirteen (7 female, 6 male) 2010 (n ¼ 5) or 2011 (n ¼ 8) graduates volunteered for this study. Ten of the participants were from undergraduate baccalaureate athletic training programs, while 3 were from professional postbaccalaureate athletic training programs. Main Outcome Measure(s): One-on-one phone interviews were conducted with a structured interview protocol. Each participant was asked the same questions and allowed to clarify when needed. Interview data were analyzed inductively to uncover dominant themes, first by organizing the data, then by summarizing them into codes, and finally by interpreting them. Credibility was secured through a pilot study, member checking, triangulation, and peer debriefing. Results: Data were analyzed through a qualitative process; themes indicated graduates who have experienced PAL believe it led to improved communication and confidence, enhanced teaching skills, better clinical reasoning, improved socialization, and a deeper understanding that contributed to success on the Board of Certification examination. Conclusions: These findings are significant to the field of athletic training education as program directors investigate pedagogies that can assist students to think clinically as graduates. Evidence demonstrated that PAL does impact the students after graduation

Critical-Thinking Skills of First-Year Athletic Training Students Enrolled in Professional Programs

Context: The Examination of Professional Degree Level document presented to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Directors states that research in athletic training education has not investigated differences in the critical-thinking skills of professional athletic training students. Objective: Investigate the differences in critical thinking and other demographic variables across first-year athletic training students enrolled in professional bachelor’s- and master’s-degree programs. Design: Quantitative study. Setting: District 10 athletic training programs. Patients or Other Participants: Students (N ¼ 40) enrolled within their first 6 months of a professional athletic training program were asked to complete the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). Twelve first-year master’s-degree students (8 female, 4 male) and 28 bachelor’s-degree students (18 female, 10 male) completed the CCTST (age ¼ 20.73 6 3.09 years). Main Outcome Measure(s): Athletic training students in District 10 were asked to complete the CCTST during the first 6 months of their respective programs. Independent t tests were used to evaluate the difference in critical-thinking scores between professional master’s- and bachelor’s-degree athletic training students. A 1-way analysis of variance was conducted to determine differences in critical-thinking skills with regard to gender, age, and parental educational level. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in critical-thinking skills between bachelor’s- and master’s-degree athletic training students enrolled in a professional athletic training program (P ¼ .991). Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in critical-thinking skills with regard to gender (P ¼ .156), age (P ¼ .410), or parental education level (P ¼ .156). Conclusions: The results suggest master’s students do not have greater critical-thinking skills than professional bachelor’s students before engaging in athletic training education. Therefore, as the professional degree of athletic training transitions to the graduate level, athletic training educators may need to investigate and use pedagogical practices that will graduate critically thinking athletic trainers

Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - Initial Results

Funded by the Department of Human Resources, the Georgia State welfare leavers study is tracking families as they leave Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Using administrative data combined with the results of a telephone interview, the project monitors the impact of leaving welfare on the individuals, their families and their communities.2 The study includes both single-parent and child-only leavers and, unlike studies in some other states, does include individuals who have returned to the rolls. The response rate for this study approaches 35% and continues to rise as the project makes intensive efforts to locate respondents. Preliminary analyses of administrative data indicate that interview respondents closely resemble individuals whom the project has been unable to interview

Georgia Welfare Leavers Study - Technical Appendices

The following provides an overview of the Georgia State study and compares it to that of leavers studies in other states. While there are similarities, this study differs in several crucial ways from these other studies

The Other Side of the Moon: The Data Problem in Analyzing Growth Determinants

Replication of two recent studies of growth determinants shows that results are sensitive to the choice of data from which growth rates are calculated, especially with respect to whether economic convergence has occurred. Previous warnings against using data that has been adjusted to increase cross-country comparability to study within-country patterns over time (growth rates) have been largely ignored at the cost of possibly contaminating the conclusions.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40068/3/wp682.pd

A Rise By Any Other Name? Sensitivity of Growth Regressions to Data Source

Measured rates of growth in real per capita income differ drastically depending on the data source. This phenomenon occurs largely because data sets differ in whether and how they adjust for changes in relative prices across countries. Replication of several recent studies of growth determinants shows that results are sensitive in important ways to the choice of data. Previous warnings against using data adjusted to increase cross-country comparability to study within-country patterns over time (growth rates) have been largely ignored at the cost of possibly contaminating the conclusions.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64394/1/wp889.pd

Design strategies for the creation of aperiodic nonchaotic attractors

Parametric modulation in nonlinear dynamical systems can give rise to attractors on which the dynamics is aperiodic and nonchaotic, namely with largest Lyapunov exponent being nonpositive. We describe a procedure for creating such attractors by using random modulation or pseudo-random binary sequences with arbitrarily long recurrence times. As a consequence the attractors are geometrically fractal and the motion is aperiodic on experimentally accessible timescales. A practical realization of such attractors is demonstrated in an experiment using electronic circuits.Comment: 9 pages. CHAOS, In Press, (2009