Faculty and Staff

Readability formulas are used widely in education, and increasingly in business and government. Over 30 years of research on more than 200 readability formulas has demonstrated moderate to strong predictive correlations with reading comprehension. In this study, five well-known readability formulas correlated highly with each other when applied to selected recent historical articles (N = 22) from two music education research journals. The mean level of difficulty (readability) for all 22 articles was grade 14.04, near the beginning of the second year of college. Since research shows that most people read below their highest completed school grade and also prefer easier materials, this is probably an appropriate level of difficulty for the presumptive readers of these two journals (i.e., holders of undergraduate and graduate degrees). Professors, librarians, and others responsible for guiding students toward reading material at appropriate levels of readability could benefit from these results.

Poster about meeting the academic and cultural needs of international students at the Arizona State University Libraries and the University of Arizona Libraries. The poster presentation focuses on:

1. Strategies to promote information literacy skills of international students in the two university libraries.
2. What the libraries are doing to improve services to meet the needs and encourage library use among international students.
3. Partnerships that have been established with other academic departments or institutions.

Readability formulas are used widely in education, and increasingly in business and government. Over 30 years of research on more than 200 readability formulas has demonstrated moderate to strong predictive correlations with reading comprehension. In this study, five well-known readability formulas correlated highly with each other when applied to selected recent historical articles (N = 22) from two music education research journals. The mean level of difficulty (readability) for all 22 articles was grade 14.04, near the beginning of the second year of college. Since research shows that most people read below their highest completed school grade and also prefer easier materials, this is probably an appropriate level of difficulty for the presumptive readers of these two journals (i.e., holders of undergraduate and graduate degrees). Professors, librarians, and others responsible for guiding students toward reading material at appropriate levels of readability could benefit from these results.

||中文摘要
《音樂教育研究期刊》與《音樂教育歷史研究期刊》中部分文章的閱讀難度水準
Alexandra H. Humphreys
Arizona State University—Phoenix, U.S.A.
Jere T. Humphreys
Arizona State University—Tempe, U.S.A.
可讀性估算公式被廣泛運用在教育領域，而且在商業和政府部門的使用頻率與日俱增。在過去的30 年裏，
研究人員共研發了200 多種可讀性估算公式，這些公式所估算的可讀性指標與實際閱讀理解程度具有中度
或很強的相關性。本文使用了五種著名的可讀性估算公式來評估最近發表的22 篇音樂教育史文章，發現這
五種公式的計算結果有很強的相關性。這22 篇文章的平均閱讀難度水準是14.04， 接近大學二年級初期的
閱讀水準。由於先前的研究结果显示大部分人喜歡閱讀難度水準低於本人學歷水準的文章以及比較容易理
解的文章，這兩種期刊中文章的閱讀難度水準非常適合預計的閱讀對象（有學士學位和研究生學位的人）。
本文研究結果可能會對那些大學教授，圖書館員和其他負責指導學生閱讀的人員有所幫助。

Background: A limitation of traditional outcome studies from behavioral interventions is the lack of attention given to evaluating the influence of moderating variables. This study examined possible moderation effect of baseline activity levels on physical activity change as a result of the Ready for Recess intervention.

Methods: Ready for Recess (August 2009-September 2010) was a controlled trial with twelve schools randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control group, staff supervision, equipment availability, and the combination of staff supervision and equipment availability. A total of 393 children (181 boys and 212 girls) from grades 3 through 6 (8–11 years old) were asked to wear an Actigraph monitor during school time on 4–5 days of the week. Assessments were conducted at baseline (before intervention) and post intervention (after intervention).

Results: Initial MVPA moderated the effect of Staff supervision (β = −0.47%; p < .05), but not Equipment alone and Staff + Equipment (p > .05). Participants in the Staff condition that were 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean for baseline MVPA (classified as “low active”) had lower MVPA levels at post-intervention when compared with their low active peers in the control condition (Mean_diff = −10.8 ± 2.9%; p = .005). High active individuals (+1SD above the mean) in the Equipment treatment also had lower MVPA values at post-intervention when compared with their highly active peers in the control group (Mean_diff = −9.5 ± 2.9%; p = .009).

Conclusions: These results indicate that changes in MVPA levels at post-intervention were reduced in highly active participants when recess staff supervision was provided. In this study, initial MVPA moderated the effect of Staff supervision on children’s MVPA after 6 months of intervention. Staff training should include how to work with inactive youth but also how to assure that active children remain active.

Background: In the United States, approximately one in 110 pregnancies end in stillbirth affecting more than 26,000 women annually. Women experiencing stillbirth have a threefold greater risk of developing depressive symptoms compared to women experiencing live birth. Depression contributes negatively to health outcomes for both mothers and babies subsequent to stillbirth. Physical activity may improve depression in these women, however, little is known about acceptable physical activity interventions for women after stillbirth. This is the purpose of this descriptive exploratory study.

Methods: Eligible women were between ages 19 and 45, and experienced stillbirth within one year of the study. An online survey was used to ask questions related to 1) pregnancy and family information (i.e., time since stillbirth, weight gain during pregnancy, number of other children) 2) physical activity participation, 3) depressive symptomatology, and 4) demographics.

Results: One hundred seventy-five women participated in the study (M age = 31.26 ± 5.52). Women reported participating in regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes of moderate activity weekly) before (60%) and during (47%) their pregnancy, as well as after their stillbirth (61%). Only 37% were currently meeting physical activity recommendations. Approximately 88% reported depression (i.e., score of >10 on depression scale). When asked how women cope with depression, anxiety, or grief, 38% said physical activity. Of those that reported using physical activity to cope after stillbirth, they did so to help with depression (58%), weight loss (55%), and better overall physical health (52%). To cope with stillbirth, women used walking (67%), followed by jogging (35%), and yoga (23%). Women who participated in physical activity after stillbirth reported significantly lower depressive symptoms (M = 15.10, SD = 5.32) compared to women who did not participate in physical activity (M = 18.06, SD = 5.57; t = -3.45, p = .001).

Conclusions: Physical activity may serve as a unique opportunity to help women cope with the multiple mental sequelae after stillbirth. This study provides data to inform healthcare providers about the potential role of physical activity in bereavement and recovery for women who have experienced stillbirth. Additional research is necessary in this vulnerable population.