In Search of the Environmentalist Way: Beyond Mending the Machine

In this essay, Andrew Stables notes that philosophies such as existentialism, humanism, and environmentalism come in either exploratory or active forms: that is, one can study the nature of existence or the human, or one can ascribe to a way of life in an attempt to improve the world. Among the major influences on active environmentalist thought are (forms of) humanism, socialism, posthumanism, and post‐ (or pre‐)colonialism. In many cases, however, such ways of thinking can be as damaging or unsuccessful as they may be ameliorative and successful. The search for an environmentalist Way, Stables maintains, must transcend entrenched binaries, oppositions, and ideologies without lapsing into thoroughgoing antirealism or willfully ignoring current realities. Here, he explores the valuable contributions that Daoist and Buddhist texts and practices have to offer in this search.     

Cost economies in the provision of higher education for international students: Australian evidence

In the past few decades, the additional revenues available via higher education exports (through both relatively higher prices and increased enrolments) have attracted the attention of providers in many developed countries, not least in Anglophone countries like the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia. However, while the revenue case is strong, the institutional cost structures underlying the provision of higher education services for international students remain relatively unknown at the sector level. Accordingly, we offer a comprehensive analysis of the cost economies underlying higher education provision for international students using a sample of 37 Australian public universities over the period from 2003 to 2012. The findings suggest that it is appealing to enrol additional overseas students given their lower average and marginal costs and the significant economies of scale prevailing in higher education generally. Further, while we find evidence of economies of scope for overseas students only in smaller institutions, there is no evidence of diseconomies of scope, implying the current number of overseas students and their joint production with domestic students at the least does not lead to unnecessarily higher overall costs.     

A longitudinal study of religious identity and participation during adolescence

To examine the development of religious identity during the teenage years, adolescents (N = 477) from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds completed questionnaires in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades (10th grade age: M = 15.81, SD = 0.36). Results indicated that religious identity remained stable across high school whereas religious participation declined. Even after controlling for ethnic differences in religious affiliation, socioeconomic background, and generational status, adolescents from Latin American and Asian backgrounds reported higher levels of religious identity and adolescents from Latin American backgrounds reported higher rates of religious participation. Within individual adolescents, changes in religious identity were associated with changes in ethnic and family identities, suggesting important linkages in the development of these social identities during adolescence.     

Rethinking critical mathematics: a comparative analysis of critical, reform, and traditional geometry instructional texts

This paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of three similar secondary geometry texts, one critical unit, one standards-based reform unit, and one specialist chapter. I developed the critical unit as I took the tenets of critical mathematics (CM) and substantiated them in printed curricular materials in which to teach as part of a larger study. The reform and specialist texts were both sections from commercially available textbooks. The primary goal of the textual analysis was to examine how the incorporation of critical or political themes into the required secondary mathematics curriculum transformed this curriculum. Key findings were that the CM text exchanged political for mathematical content and sent class-based messages about students’ academic potential. I conclude by arguing that the CM agenda proposed by advocates in the USA is problematic in terms of promoting equity in mathematics education.     

Which children benefit from non-parental care?

This paper investigates the relationship between non-parental care and toddlers’ behavioral outcomes using data from Australia. In particular, we explore heterogeneity in the relationship using the unique data on quality attributes: carer/child ratio, share of qualified staff, and expert ratings. The results suggest that full-time non-parental care, particularly center care, is negatively associated with toddlers’ behavioral outcomes. The negative association is however mitigated when centers have a larger number of carers per child. The negative association between non-parental care and behavioral outcomes also appears to be larger for children with better-educated parents.     

“Nobody Really Wants to be Called Bossy or Domineering”

This article examines talks given by 12 female media professionals at a Southern US university’s center on women in communication between 2013 and 2015 to identify the influence of hegemonic masculinity in industry speak about women and professionalism in the fields of journalism, advertising, and public relations. This paper applies a feminist critique of discussions about “work–life balance,” “leaning in,” “emotion,” and language about the role of technology and innovation in women’s careers, to argue that inherent in these discussions about media professionalism are traits that perpetuate binary notions of feminine–masculine traits of the workplace. As a whole, these messages fail to account for notions of intersectionality and perpetuate inequality and masculine power for future professionals.     

Bridging the ‘Know‐Do Gap’: a role for health information professionals?

This feature briefly examines the development of knowledge translation, knowledge transfer and the knowledge broker role as constituting the next manifestation of the movement that brought us evidence based medicine and its derivatives. It examines the extent to which health information professionals currently meet the specification for a knowledge broker role. In doing so it assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the profession when ranged alongside the five components of the knowledge transfer process that is, problem identification; knowledge development and selection; analysis of context; knowledge transfer interventions; and knowledge utilization. Current deficiencies also lie in a need for political astuteness and awareness and in a lack of knowledge of the most significant models of behavioural change. The feature concludes by examining the potential for knowledge team approaches arguing that gains from a wider perspective that encompasses the entire knowledge process may be even more significant than the pooling of collective knowledge, skills and expertise.     

Examining the influence of the parent-initiated and coach-created motivational climates upon athletes' perfectionistic cognitions

The aims of this study are threefold. First, we investigate the influence of the parent-initiated motivational climate upon elite junior athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. Second, we examine whether the coach-created motivational climate predicts additional variance in elite junior athletes' perfectionistic cognitions beyond the effects associated with the parent-initiated motivational climate. Third, we test the moderating role of athletes' gender and age in the relationship between the parent-initiated and coach-created motivational climates and athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. A total of 190 elite junior athletes (mean age 15.2 years, s?=?1.5, range 10-18) completed the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire-2 (White & Duda, 1993), the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000), and the Perfectionistic Cognitions Inventory (Flett, Hewitt, Blankstein, & Gray, 1998). Regression analyses revealed that mother- and father-initiated worry-conducive climates, the father-initiated success-without-effort climate, and the coach-created performance motivational climate predicted male athletes' perfectionistic cognitions. Female athletes' perfectionistic cognitions were predicted by the mother-initiated worry-conducive climate, father-initiated learning-enjoyment climate, and both dimensions of the coach-created climate. Finally, athletes' gender emerged as a significant moderator of the mother-initiated worry-conducive climate and athletes' perfectionistic cognitions relationship. Findings confirm that the parent-initiated motivational climate is a significant predictor of athletes' perfectionism-related thoughts, and provide initial support for the influence of the coach-created motivation climate over children's perfectionistic cognitions.     

The impact of different types of physical activity on total and regional bone mineral density in young Brazilian athletes

Bone turnover is affected by exercise throughout the lifespan, especially during childhood and adolescence. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of different sports on total and regional bone mineral density in male Brazilian adolescent athletes. Forty-six adolescents aged 10-18 years participated in the study: 12 swimmers, 10 tennis players, 10 soccer players, and 14 sedentary individuals. The athletes had engaged in physical activities for more than 10 h per week in the previous 6 months. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (L1-L4), left proximal femur region, and whole body was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results showed higher mean values in the proximal femur region of tennis and soccer players (1.02 ± 0.18; 0.96 ± 0.16, respectively) than swimmers and controls (0.91 ± 0.14 and 0.87 ± 0.06, respectively) (P < 0.05). In relation to the impact of sporting activities based on bone age determination, we observed significant differences in bone mineral density at all evaluated sites at the end of puberty (16-18 years) compared with 10-12 years, with increases of 78% in the lumbar spine, 47% in the proximal femur, and 38% in the whole body.