Factors (not) affecting what students do with computers and internet at home

This paper presents the results of an analysis of secondary students’ computer use, aimed at understanding how different factors influence the profile of activities carried out by students with computers. The analysis is based on the data from a national study aimed at measuring students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for learning. A factor analysis was carried out to categorize students’ activities with computers and several indexes were constructed to define the comparison groups. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explain the frequency of the activities. Results show that students with access to computers at home mainly perform activities categorized as Socializing, Academic, Gaming and Production and that although the absolute frequency of these activities differs across groups, the profiles of computer use are surprisingly similar for groups based on students’ socio-economic group, experience with ICT, and self-confidence in the use of ICT. The only variable that discriminates user profiles is gender. Based on these findings, it can be claimed that Chilean secondary students with access to computers at home tend to show a rather homogenous computer-use profile, once access is equated.     

Unravelling knowledge creation and management in educational organisations: barriers and enablers

Knowledge Creation and Management (KCM) is one of the main strategies for fostering improvement in any kind of organisation, including educational organisations, on which this paper is focused. While KCM is being widely studied, little attention has been given to KCM in organisations supplying education, training and/or assessment services to learners (i.e., primary and secondary schools or higher education institutions, among others). From an educational management approach, the aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the factors that foster or inhibit KCM processes conducted within educational organisations. Professionals (n=84), moderators and managers or institutional leaders of four selected cases were surveyed and interviewed. Results show the importance of the main organisational and procedural factors (i.e., organisational values and goals, leadership, structure, culture, dynamics, Information and Communications Technologies, KCM processes and people) to improve KCM results in educational organisations.     

An assessment of a social–cognitive model of academic performance in mathematics in Argentinean middle school students

This study tested a set of hypotheses derived from the model of academic achievement in mathematics of the Social Cognitive Career Theory in a sample of Argentinean middle school students. To this aim, 277 students (male and female; age: 13–15 years) were assessed using the following instruments: logical–mathematical self-efficacy scale, mathematics outcome expectations, mathematics performance goals, and mathematics ability test. All of these instruments had been adapted for use in Argentinean students. Academic achievement in mathematics (i.e., grades obtained on regular school exams) was the variable to be modeled through the path analysis technique. The analysis allowed identification of interrelations among the variables and identification of direct and indirect effects. Academic achievement in mathematics was partially explained by the model. Overall, the results support the theoretical postulates of Social Cognitive Career Theory.     

Early Childhood Educators’ Use of Language-Support Practices with 4-Year-Old Children in Child Care Centers

The importance of encouraging language skills in early childhood has been well documented. Educators who are responsible for children in daycare services have many opportunities to use rich and stimulating educational practices that support language acquisition. The purpose of this study was to assess the language-support practices used by 22 educators in ECE centers with 174 children (87 girls and 87 boys) aged 55.7 months on average (SD = 4.2). The Teacher Interaction and Language Rating Scale developed by Girolametto et al. (Teacher interaction and language rating scale, Hanen Centre, Toronto, 2000) was translated and adapted for use in French. Analyses reveal the heterogeneity of language support provided to 4-year-old children attending early childhood education centers in Québec (Canada). Results are discussed in relation to the importance of the educational setting and specific training on language skill development provided to educators around promoting language skills in children, a fundamental prerequisite for educational success.     

Processing of derived forms in high-functioning dyslexics

We report on an experiment designed to evaluate processing of derived forms in high-functioning dyslexics, defined as university students with a history of reading difficulties who have age-appropriate reading comprehension skills. We compared high-functioning dyslexics with a group of normal adult readers in their performance on a lexical decision task with derived items (such as cloudy and ably) and pseudo-derived items (such as belly and gravy). Some items contained an orthographic change (such as able-ably and gravy) and others did not (such as cloud - cloudy). The results indicated that although control participants’ response times varied systematically as a function of morphological complexity, those of high-functioning dyslexics did not. Further, there was some evidence of a relationship between derivational processing and reading. It seems that high-functioning dyslexics have persistent difficulties in processing one particular aspect of morphology; that of derived forms.     

Conditioning of tentacle lowering in the snail (Helix aspersa): Acquisition, latent inhibition, overshadowing, second-order conditioning, and sensory preconditioning

In a series of related experiments, we studied associative phenomena in snails (Helix aspersa), using the conditioning procedure of tentacle lowering. Experiments 1A and 1B demonstrated a basic conditioning effect in which the pairing of an odor (apple) as the conditioned stimulus (CS) with the opportunity to feed on carrot as the unconditioned stimulus (US) made snails exhibit increased levels of tentacle lowering in the presence of the CS. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the magnitude of the conditioning was reduced when snails were exposed to the CS prior to the conditioning trial (a latent inhibition effect). Experiment 4 examined the effects produced by pairing a compound CS (apple—pear) with food presentations and demonstrated the existence of an overshadowing effect between the two odors. Experiment 5 revealed that pairing one CS with another previously conditioned stimulus increased tentacle lowering to the new CS (a second-order conditioning effect). Finally, Experiment 6 showed that pairing two odors prior to conditioning of one of them promoted an increase in tentacle lowering in response to the other (a sensory preconditioning effect). The results are discussed in terms of an associative analysis of conditioning and its implications for the study of cognition in invertebrates.     

Serial position effects in social transmission of food preference

The serial position effect in Long-Evans rats was evaluated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, the effect in a group for which an interstimulus interval (ISI) was introduced between items in a list of demonstrators was compared with that in a group without an ISI. With an ISI, a recency effect was produced. In Experiment 2, a serial position effect group was compared with four groups in which either the distinctiveness or the context of the middle item was changed, relative to the items on either side of it. A von Restorff effect was produced when a rat from a different strain was used as a demonstrator in Position 2. The results for Experiment 1 are discussed in relation to interstimulus effects in monkeys and those for Experiment 2 with respect to changes in the physical properties of middle items.     

Nutritional evaluation of caseins and whey proteins and their hydrolysates from Protamex

Whey protein concentrate （WPC 80） and sodium caseinate were hydrolyzed by Protamex to 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% degree of hydrolysis （DH）. WPC 80, sodium caseinate and their hydrolysates were then analyzed, compared and evaluated for their nutritional qualities. Their chemical composition, protein solubility, amino acid composition, essential amino acid index （EAA index）, biological value （BV）, nutritional index （NI）, chemical score, enzymic protein efficiency ratio （E-PER） and in vitro protein digestibility （IVPD） were determined. The results indicated that the enzymatic hydrolysis of WPC 80 and sodium caseinate by Protamex improved the solubility and IVPD of their hydrolysates. WPC 80, sodium caseinate and their hydrolysates were high-quality proteins and had a surplus of essential amino acids compared with the FAO/WHO/UNU （1985） reference standard. The nutritive value of WPC 80 and its hydrolysates was superior to that of sodium caseinate and its hydrolysates as indicated by some nutritional parameters such as the amino acid composition, chemical score, EAA index and predicted BV. However, the E-PER was lower for the WPC hydrolysates as compared to unhydrolyzed WPC 80 but sodium caseinate and its hydrolysates did not differ significantly. The nutritional qualities of WPC 80, sodium caseinate and their hydrolysates were good and make them appropriate for food formulations or as nutritional supplements.     

Question-answering systems as efficient sources of terminological information: an evaluation

Background: Question‐answering systems (or QA Systems) stand as a new alternative for Information Retrieval Systems. Most users frequently need to retrieve specific information about a factual question to obtain a whole document. Objectives: The study evaluates the efficiency of QA systems as terminological sources for physicians, specialised translators and users in general. It assesses the performance of one open‐domain QA system, START, and one restricted‐domain QA system, MedQA. Method: The study collected two hundred definitional questions (What is…?), either general or specialised, from the health website WebMD. Sources used by the open‐domain QA system, START, and the restricted‐domain QA system, MedQA, were studied to retrieve answers, and later a range of evaluation measures (precision, Mean Reciprocal Rank, Total Reciprocal Rank, First Hit Success) were applied to mark the quality of answers. Results: It was established that both systems are useful in the retrieval of valid definitional healthcare information, with an acceptable degree of coherent and precise responses from both. The answers supplied by MedQA were more reliable that those of START in the sense that they came from specialised clinical or academic sources, most of them showing links to further research articles. Conclusions: Results obtained show the potential of this type of tool in the more general realm of information access, and the retrieval of health information. They may be considered a good, reliable and reasonably precise alternative in alleviating the information overload. Both QA systems can help professionals and users can obtain healthcare information.