Two failures in computer-mediated textcommunication

The low uptake of computer text conferencing, despite its unique functionality, suggests that developers of this technology have paid insufficient attention to human factors. In Ergonomics (Human Factors Engineering) the study of untoward events such as user errors, systems failures and disasters is a widely-used and fruitful research strategy. Anomalous and unexpected events and actions likewise constitute an important source of data and insights for sociological, ethnographic and linguistic studies of human communication. In the present paper we combine these traditions, applying qualitative failure analysis to computer-mediated text conferencing. The data is drawn from two episodes of communication failure involving geographically dispersed groups engaged in different types of task. In one episode a consultative discussion aimed at the development of professional expertise collapsed in rancour. In the other, a design error was propagated, through misunderstanding, into the implementation stage of a project. The analysis has substantive implications for user training in new types of writing and reading skill and for the functional and interface design of textcommunication systems. There are also methodological implications for studies of computer mediated communications. It is argued that a surface analysis of the episodes is insufficient for full understanding of the communication failures: the record must be interpreted in the context of the practices, institutions and structures that exist in the social world outside the computerised textcommunication system.     

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Intragroup Conflict Scale: Validation in Athletic Trainer and Coach Populations

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to examine the factorial validity of the six-item Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS) in athletic trainer (AT) and coach populations and to examine measurement invariance by gender and profession. A total of 195 ATs and 615 head or assistant coaches working at secondary schools or National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions completed the ICS. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis procedures in LISREL 10 (Student Edition). Results supported the reliability and validity of the two-factor ICS model among ATs and coaches. Strict measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female AT responses. Strong measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female coach responses, as well as AT to coach responses. These data not only support the reliability and validity of the ICS for use in AT and coach populations but also support direct comparisons of mean scores across gender or profession.     

Personality Traits of Faster and Slower Competitive Swimmers

Abstract

This study made the comparison of swimmers ranked according to swimming ability as determined by actual time tests in events used in NCAA high school dual meets with personality traits as measured by the Thurstone temperament schedule. The purpose was to add to the knowledge of characteristics of swimmers by determining if the factors within the individual which make a boy a better swimmer correlate significantly with the measured personality traits. Twenty-one swimmers were timed throughout the swimming season on each of the swimming events and the rank of each swimmer calculated. Each swimmer was given the personality test. Statistical analysis of the rankings of these seven personality traits was made in comparison to the swimming rank of the swimmers in the various strokes. Three rank difference correlations were found significant at the .05 level, indicating a tendency for rank of swimming performance to correspond with rank of personality variable. The dominant trait was positively correlated with 100-yard freestyle ranking. Negative correlations were found with the sociable trait and the 100-yard breaststroke and with the reflective trait and 200-yard freestyle.     

Reconsidering teachers’ pedagogical reasoning and decision making for technology integration as an agenda for policy,practice and research

Educational technology research and development - This article focuses on preservice and in-service teachers’ pedagogical reasoning, decision making and action concerning technology...     

Long-term prediction of achievement and attitudes in mathematics and reading

The purpose of the longitudinal study was to investigate the prediction of children's academic achievement on the basis of cognitive tasks given prior to kindergarten, and academic attitudes on the basis of teachers' and mothers' ratings of the children's general cognitive abilities and actual achievement. Subjects were tested initially before entering kindergarten; from 105 to 154 of the 255 kindergarten children were followed through grades 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. A subset of cognitive tasks maintained a high relation to high school achievement scores, especially in reading. Tenth-grade self-concept of ability, expectancy for success, value of success, and perception of task difficulty showed effects of sex and academic content area, with boys generally being more favorable toward math and girls more favorable toward reading. Children's attitudes were related both to mothers' earlier ratings of their children's cognitive abilities and actual achievement scores; this was especially the case for girls. There was a negative relation between mothers' ratings and girls' attitudes toward mathematics. Sex differences in all measures throughout the 11-year period are reviewed.     

Can any good come out of researching in science education and being a science teacher at the same time?

Recent experience has demonstrated that for an aged researcher, teaching secondary school science at a selective high school while committed to carrying out research in science education is riddled with difficulties. With respect to the research, problems ranged from there being too much time required to establish one's credentials as a teacher, to too much research being too easily suggested and undertaken. With respect to the teaching, among other things, it was too time-consuming, there were too many other duties to perform and other teachers became too involved in one's own interests. To make matters worse, there were too many students, they were too varied, too interesting and the relationship with them became too rewarding. A thoroughly disturbing state of affairs. Specialisations: chemical education, history and philosophy of science, laboratory work, student conceptualisations.     

Dominant achievement goals across tracks in high school

The dominant achievement goals (DAGs) of 7008 students in the third grade of Dutch secondary education (US grade 9) were investigated, based on Elliot & McGregors’ 2 × 2 framework (2001), in relation to track-level and motivational variables. We found the mastery-approach goal and the performance-approach goal, generally considered adaptive, to be more prominent among students in lower tracks. In contrast, avoidance goals were more common in higher tracks. Most notably, in the highest track, the mastery-avoidance goal was the most prominent. Additionally, we found that students with a dominant performance-approach goal scored highest on almost all motivational variables examined; students without a DAG scored mostly second highest. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Multiculturalism in Relation to General and Diversity-Related Burnout

This study focuses on teachers’ general and diversity-related burnout in relation to teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism. Results are based on the responses of 120 teachers working at five different urban, ethnically diverse junior vocational high schools in the Netherlands. Analyses indicated that teachers with assimilative attitudes exhibited higher levels of general and diversity-related burnout, whereas there was no relationship between pluralistic attitudes and burnout. In addition, there were no relationships between teacher background variables and attitude and burnout, besides the finding that native teachers experienced less general burnout, and had less pluralistic attitudes, than nonnative teachers.