An Alternative Early Field Experience for Physical Education Teacher Preparation

Implementation of early field experiences is a required component in nearly all teacher education programs because of the first-hand training in real-world situations that complement classroom learning. It is through the experiences that pre-service teachers have the platform to develop and demonstrate their competency in content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and professional dispositions. However, the onset of COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to set up in-person early field experiences. The purpose of this study was to (a) describe an alternative early field experience planned and implemented to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions, (b) document what the participants learned throughout the experience, and (c) provided university faculty with suggestions for virtual early field experiences. Nineteen students enrolled in a 200-level physical education teacher education activity class in the Spring of 2021 submitted 10 weekly reports after watching self-selected videos that were related to soccer and volleyball. The duration of each video submission was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data analyzed using the standard interpretive methods revealed three main themes. To identify their content knowledge acquisition, the participants described historical facts, abridged rules and regulations, sport-specific skills, strength and conditioning exercises, and tactical moves and team strategies. They also made game-related observations on the players, teams, and officials. Lastly, entertainment value was highlighted as a result of the freedom to choose the videos they were interested in. Suggestions for incorporating this early field experience and future research directions were discussed

Perceptions of Sexual Identity Stereotyping among Physical Education Undergraduate Students

This study examined the perspectives of six college students enrolled in a physical education teacher education program on sexual identity stereotyping (SIS), the stereotyping of individuals as a certain sexual identity (e.g., homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual) based on external factors. The purpose was to construct a general landscape of physical education (PE) majors’ views on SIS and gender roles, athletic and PE expectations in regards to gender and sexuality, and these ideas’ impact on the efficacy of PE, both for students and educators. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the standard interpretive methods of analytic induction and constant comparison. These findings revealed that in general, those interviewed were aware of SIS and could identify its potential impact. Still, the participants felt that SIS was not enough of an issue to prevent them from pursuing a career in PE. Multiple participants reported experiences with being stereotyped as a result of their athletic activities of choice. Through the thoughts of the interviewees, the authors of this study hope to enrich the field of PE and provide awareness towards biases that can cloud the quality of education

Effects of Smart Bottles on Water Consumption and Health Status of College Students

Hydration is important to a human body because it helps regulate body temperature, protect spinal cord, joints and other sensitive tissues, aid in the digestive system, remove body waste, and keep the brain function optimally. Despite the health benefits, most children and adults do not consume the recommended amount of water daily. Previous research suggested that interventions with a combination of educational/behavioral strategies and legislative/environmental prompts produced the best results to promote water intake. Existing in this technology-driven era, the invention of smart devices has changed the way we live. One type of devices, smart bottles, has been proved to be acceptable tools to monitor and promote water intake volume among kidney stone patients and senior citizens. This research aimed to examine the effects of smart bottles on college students’ water consumption and health status. Daily water intake for 35 days and urine samples were collected from two groups of students enrolled in a walking class at a regional university in southeastern United States. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t test, and binary logistic regression. Results revealed that the bottle’s smart features did not prompt or motivate the college students to drink more water and those who received the smart bottles did not show healthier results in urinalysis tests. A plausible explanation of the results can be caused by the lifestyle of typical college students who are more likely to consume beverages other than water because of personal preference and social influence

Effect of Physical Educators’ Appearance and Sex on Middle School Students’ Learning Outcomes and Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness

Physical Education (PE) teachers can have a great impact on the future physical activity levels of their students, and later, as adults. Professional appearance of teachers has been shown through previous research to have influence on student learning outcomes and perceptions of teacher effectiveness. This research aimed to build on prior studies to investigate the interaction between formal and informal appearance and gender of physical education teachers with middle school student learning outcomes and teacher perspectives. Four 20-minute videos were produced on the non-traditional invasion sport Tchoukball. The four videos consisted of female informal appearance, female formal appearance, male informal appearance, and male formal appearance. The videos were randomly shown to 433 middle school students located in southeastern United States followed by a post-video content examination and a teacher perception survey. Factoral ANOVAs were performed to identify any significant main effects or interactions on overall content exam, two content areas (skill technique and game strategy), and three teacher perspectives (likability, competence, and teacher as a role model). There was no significant main effect for teacher appearance and student learning outcomes. When considering sex of the teacher, there was a significant main effect for overall examination (F(1, 428) = 9.45, p < .001, η2 = .022, 1-β = .866) and for strategies ((F(1, 428) = 17.22, p < .001, η2 = .039, 1-β = .985), while nothing was found for technique-related questions. On the three teacher perspectives, no significance was found between likability and competence, however there was a main effect on the survey questions about teachers as a role model when taking teacher appearance into consideration ((F(1, 424) = 5.01, p < .001, η2 = .025, 1-β = .612)

Seasonal Variability of the Yellow Sea/East China Sea Surface Fluxes and Thermohaline Structure

Advances in Atmospheric Science

Seasonal and Nonseasonal Variabilities of the Yellow Sea/East China Sea (YES) Thermohaline Structure

This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code, Section 105, may not be copyrighted.We use the U.S. Navy's Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set (MOODS) for the Yellow Sea/East China Sea (YES) and to investigate the climatological water mass features and the seasonal and non-seasonal variabilities of the thermohaline structure. , and use the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) from 1945 to December 1989 to investigate the linkage between the fluxes (momentum, heat, and moisture) across the air-ocean interface and the formation of the water mass features. After examining the major current systems and considering the local bathymetry and water mass properties, we divide YES into five regions: East China Sea (ECS) shelf, Yellow Sea (YS) Basin, Cheju bifurcation (CB) zone, Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) region, Kuroshio Current (KC) region. The long term mean surface heat balance corresponds to a heat loss of 30 W m-2 in the ESC and CB regions, a heat loss of 65 W m-2 in the KC and TWC regions, and a heat gain of 15 W m-2 in the YS region. The surface freshwater balance is defined by precipitation minus evaporation. The annual water loss from the surface for the five subareas ranges from 1.8 to 4 cm mon-1. The fresh water loss from the surface should be compensated from the river run-off. The entire water column of the shelf region (ECS, YS, and CB) undergoes an evident seasonal thermal cycle with maximum values of temperature during summer and maximum mixed layer depths during winter. However, only the surface waters of the TWC and KC regions exhibit a seasonal thermal cycle. We also found two different relations between surface salinity and Yangtze River run-off, namely, off-phase in the East China Sea shelf and in-phase in the Yellow Sea. This may confirm an earlier study by Beardsley et al. (1985) that the summer fresh water discharge from the Yangtze River forms a relatively shallow, low salinity plume-like structure extending offshore on average towards the northeast