This paper examines what goes on in an improvising jazz combo in a secondary school in Scotland, where teaching follows Rogoff's three-stage sociocultural process, moving from an initial apprenticeship model through one of guided participation to one of participatory appropriation. Using a case study research design and interpretative…

Self-report survey-based data collection is increasingly carried out using the Internet, as opposed to the traditional paper-and-pencil method. However, previous research on the equivalence of these methods has yielded inconsistent findings. This may be due to methodological and statistical issues present in much of the literature, such as…

Over the last decade, the emerging field of sport-for-development (SFD) has advanced global efforts of related and applied scholarship and programming. While most of the existing SFD body of knowledge addresses social challenges of the "global south", today's economic global recession spreads challenges beyond these regions.…

Using a Hong Kong-sourced sample of 261 participants, this study set out to validate the Volunteer Satisfaction Index (VSI) in the Chinese cultural context and to evaluate its psychometric properties. The VSI was originally developed by Galindo-Kuhn and Guzley (2001) to measure the outcomes of volunteer experiences. In this study, exploratory…

Geriatric nursing is a physically and emotionally demanding job in healthcare. It is a neglected field despite the growing population of the elderly, and the experiences of geriatric nurses are one of the unrecognized aspects of this field. This qualitative study purports to explore the successes and struggles of the lived experiences of a select…

Personal and Professional Development (PPD) is now key to the undergraduate medical curriculum and requires provision of appropriate learning experiences. In order to achieve this, it is essential that we ascertain students' perceptions of what is important in their PPD. We required a methodological approach suitable for a large medical school,…

Study looks at whether religious doubt is related to psychological well-being, and tests for age differences in the relationship between these two constructs. Findings suggest that religious doubt tends to erode feelings of psychological well-being. The deleterious effects of doubt were found to be greater for younger than older people.…

China is a key player on the global stage, and nearly 300 million Chinese youth stand to be affected by rapid social and ecological transformations. Programs that promote developmental assets in Chinese youth could increase their resilience in the face of contemporary stressors and enhance their capacity to contribute to China's development. In…

Background: Family resilience is a growing field of inquiry, investigating factors that contribute to a family's becoming stronger in spite of dealing with adversity. Despite the growing interest in studying family resilience, the topic has not been explored in families with children who have disabilities. This report, a part of a larger…

What are the long term consequences associated with serving as a state FFA officer? Using a semi-structured interview format, selected state FFA officers from a twenty year time span were interviewed to assess their perceptions of and assets attributed to their experiences as a state officer. Results indicated that past state officers, regardless…

The Student Development Inventory and its seven subscales were administered to 163 college students to determine its reliability and factorial validity. Results suggested that it is a reliable and convenient attitudinal inventory. (Sample items are included.) (Author/GDC)

Adult piano students (N = 711) from 24 states across the U.S. rated the existence and importance of 31 potential benefits of adult piano study. Benefits selected from existing adult music and leisure-benefit research were organized into three categories: Personal, Skill, and Social/Cultural. The category of Skill Benefits was the most-agreed-upon…

loveLife is a high profile, expensive and controversial nationwide awareness and prevention campaign that has been addressed at young South Africans since 1999. This paper examines the discourses 20 Black youths used to narrate their involvements, satisfactions and difficulties as peer educators. The primary data sources are individual interviews…

Changes in attitude were examined over a one-year period in pre-, early, and later adolescent samples. Self-esteem, locus of control, and achievement motivation were examined. The amount of attitudinal change evidenced by subjects at each age level varied with the kind of attitude being assessed. (Author/RD)

Examines the reasons given by professional and paraprofessional librarians for participating in continuing education programs offered by the North Carolina Library Staff Development Program. Use of the Participation Reasons Scale is discussed, and four underlying components for participation are described: (1) personal concerns, (2) patron…