Walter E. Davis

Bio: Walter E. Davis is an academic researcher from Kent State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Task analysis & Task (project management). The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 28 publications receiving 1543 citations.

How to Succeed in School without Really Learning: The Credentials Race in American Education

Abstract: How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning: The Credentials Race in American Education, by David Labaree. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. 328 PP. $35.00 David Labaree adds to a very large body of literature that criticizes American schooling. In How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning he describes the relationship and contradictions between social mobility (private good), social efficiency, and democratic equality (public good). His thesis is that the pursuit of credentials (grades, degrees, etc.), as private good, has come to dominate and actually hinder students from acquiring knowledge and learning skills that would make them better citizens and better contributers to the capitalist economy. Labaree follows the earlier credential theorists, Boudon (1974) Collins (1979) and Brown (1995), adding information from his historical case study of an American high school. His arguments are clear and cogent, but for readers who anticipate new solutions to education's "crisis" there may be disappointment. In the final chapter, Labaree simply states: "Social mobility, I conclude, needs to be balanced by democratic equality and social efficiency, or else we wi ll continue to reproduce an educational system that is mired in consumerism and credentialism." The formula by which such a balance is to be achieved is not provided by Labaree. To be sure, credentialist theory has much to offer in describing the state of professionalism in American schooling today, and Labaree lays out its major themes clearly and concisely in his first chapter. In his next three chapters he focuses upon "the sorting and selecting of students within schools" by examining the historical roots, consequences, and implications of that process. This is followed by an analysis of education stratification from a market perspective. "From this perspective, the processes of selection and stratification that characterize education are the result not simply of societal needs but of individual demands, as individual consumers pursue symbolic advantages that will enhance their competitive position. The logic that governs these processes is that of the market." Labaree states that "arguments most often found in the literature [ldots] draw on either human capital theory or social reproduction theory," a practice he finds to be inadequate. But this is an unnecessary simplification of a large body of literature that has much to offer as well as to reject. Though he is rightly concerned about the slight of individual agency, Labaree's market individualism takes the other extreme, which is equally insufficient as an approach aimed at describing the "root causes" of education's woes. Consistent with liberalism, Labaree accepts the contradiction between corporate and democratic values as necessary and wants to promote both. That corporate capitalism undermines both political and educational democracy is well documented (e.g., Barrow, 1990; Callahan, 1962; Hollinger, 1996; Lustig, 1982; Ophuls, 1997; Weinstein, 1968). Rather than attempting to balance the conflicting goals by putting social needs above personal desires, a better solution is to make the two identical (Benedict, 1992). But Labaree gives no credence to the possibility of a democratic economic system that meets, as Bowles and Gintis (1992) phrase it, "the demanding criteria of fostering fundamental fairness, the dignity of the human person, and enhanced social participation" (p. 3). A major contention of Labaree is "that the central problems with education in the United States are not pedagogical or organizational or social or cultural in nature but are fundamentally political." Labaree claims a tie to Weber, but does not seem to appreciate that "class, status, and party" have to be grasped as phenomena of the distribution of power (Giddens, 1982). Thus, completely absent is any discussion of the influence of corporate power on schooling in particular and society as a whole (e. …

Analysis of “Invariant Characteristics” in the Motor Control of Down’s Syndrome and Normal Subjects

Abstract: Following Asatryan and Fei'dman (1965), two experiments were conducted to describe the so-called invariant mechanical properties underlying movement control in Down's syndrome and normal subjects. The invariant characteristic is a curve on a graph of joint torque versus joint angle. The task required subjects to maintain a steady joint angle against an external load (torque). Torque was systematically changed via partial unloading in order to obtain torque by length (joint angle) functions at three separate initial joint angles. Instructions required subjects "not to intervene" when unloading occurred in Experiment 1 and to "tense" their muscles prior to unloading in Experiment 2. Both normal and Down's syndrome groups revealed systematic torque by length functions that might be expected according to a simple mass-spring system model. Although the gross organization of movement in Down's syndrome subjects was nearly the same as normals, important differences between the two groups were found. Down's syndrome subjects revealed underdamped motions relative to normals (as shown by differences in the degree of oscillation about the final equilibrium position) and were less able to regulate stiffness (as shown by differences in slope of the torque by angle functions in Experiment 2). We promote the notion that damping and stiffness may be sensitive indices of hypotonia-the most common description of neuromuscular deficiency in Down's syndrome

Ecological Task Analysis: Translating Movement Behavior Theory into Practice

Abstract: A new approach to task analysis is presented based upon an ecological theory of perception and current motor development and control theories. The ecological task analysis (ETA) approach stands in sharp contrast to more traditional approaches and offers procedures equally applicable to instruction and assessment of movement performance as well as to applied research. The strengths of the ETA approach lie in (a) its grounding in current motor development and control theories, (b) its linking of the task requirements, environmental conditions, and performer characteristics, (c) its application of a functional and dynamic approach to instruction and assessment, and (d) its integration of instruction and assessment procedures. Following a discussion of the traditional approach and ecological theory, four concepts are presented that emanate from Gibson’s theory of affordances. From these concepts ETA procedures are derived. Applied research questions relating to task analysis are also implied from the ecologic...

Body-scaled ratio as a control parameter for prehension in 5- to 9-year-old children.

Abstract: The purpose of the experiment was threefold: (a) To find evidence that grasping is body-scaled and thus remains invariant during development; (b) to seek evidence that the body-scaled ratio of cube and hand size serves as a control parameter for the phase transition from one-handed to two-handed grasping by identifying the presence of sudden jump, enhanced variance, multistability, and hysteresis; and (c) to examine whether the stability properties of the observed grasping patterns increase with age. Thirty-three children aged 5, 7, and 9 years old were required to grasp and lift 14 cardboard cubes of different sizes (2.2, 3.2, 4.2, etc. to 16.2 cm diameter). Three conditions were used: (a) an increasing condition with sizes ordered from the smallest size to the largest; (b) a decreasing condition, with the sizes ordered from the largest to the smallest; and (c) twice in a different random order. Video recordings were analyzed and scored for the percentage of one-handed grasps. The results showed that the shift from one-handed to two-handed grasping occurred at the same body-scale ratio between cube size and finger span for all three age groups. Evidence was found for the presence of a sudden jump, enhanced variance, multistability, and hysteresis, indicating that the body-scaled ratio of cube and hand size serves as a control parameter. No change with age for the stability properties of the grasping patterns were observed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 33: 351–361, 1998

Once More on the Equilibrium-Point Hypothesis (λ Model) for Motor Control

Abstract: The equilibrium control hypothesis (λ model) is considered with special reference to the following concepts: (a) the length-force invariant characteristic (IC) of the muscle together with central and reflex systems subserving its activity; (b) the tonic stretch reflex threshold (λ) as an independent measure of central commands descending to alpha and gamma motoneurons; (c) the equilibrium point, defined in terms of λ, IC and static load characteristics, which is associated with the notion that posture and movement are controlled by a single mechanism; and (d) the muscle activation area (a reformulation of the “size principle”)— the area of kinematic and command variables in which a rank-ordered recruitment of motor units takes place. The model is used for the interpretation of various motor phenomena, particularly electromyographic patterns. The stretch reflex in the λ model has no mechanism to follow-up a certain muscle length prescribed by central commands. Rather, its task is to bring the system to an ...

Neural Mechanisms for Interacting with a World Full of Action Choices

Abstract: The neural bases of behavior are often discussed in terms of perceptual, cognitive, and motor stages, defined within an information processing framework that was originally inspired by models of human abstract problem solving. Here, we review a growing body of neurophysiological data that is difficult to reconcile with this influential theoretical perspective. As an alternative foundation for interpreting neural data, we consider frameworks borrowed from ethology, which emphasize the kinds of real-time interactive behaviors that animals have engaged in for millions of years. In particular, we discuss an ethologically-inspired view of interactive behavior as simultaneous processes that specify potential motor actions and select between them. We review how recent neurophysiological data from diverse cortical and subcortical regions appear more compatible with this parallel view than with the classical view of serial information processing stages.

An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education

Abstract: Accessible yet theoretically rich, this landmark text introduces key concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis and situates these within the field of educational research. The book invites readers to consider the theories and methods of three major traditions in critical discourse studies � discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis -- through the empirical work of leading scholars in the field.

Speaker–listener neural coupling underlies successful communication

Abstract: Verbal communication is a joint activity; however, speech production and comprehension have primarily been analyzed as independent processes within the boundaries of individual brains. Here, we applied fMRI to record brain activity from both speakers and listeners during natural verbal communication. We used the speaker's spatiotemporal brain activity to model listeners' brain activity and found that the speaker's activity is spatially and temporally coupled with the listener's activity. This coupling vanishes when participants fail to communicate. Moreover, though on average the listener's brain activity mirrors the speaker's activity with a delay, we also find areas that exhibit predictive anticipatory responses. We connected the extent of neural coupling to a quantitative measure of story comprehension and find that the greater the anticipatory speaker-listener coupling, the greater the understanding. We argue that the observed alignment of production- and comprehension-based processes serves as a mechanism by which brains convey information.