Political instability, pro-business market reforms and their impacts on national systems of innovation

We investigate the impacts of political instability and pro-business market reforms on national systems of innovation (NSI) across a range of developing and developed countries. Evidence suggests that national systems of innovation are most likely to flourish in developed, politically stable countries and less likely to prosper in historically unstable countries. While research has shown that pro-business market reforms can be a valuable policy instrument to boost economic development in less developed countries, the extent to which these reforms affect a country's innovativeness has been neglected in the literature. In particular, the degree to which pro-business market reforms may compensate for political instability when it comes to fostering national systems of innovation remains under-researched. Our findings support established arguments concerning the strong influence of political instability on inputs to national innovation systems. We find, however, mixed effects for pro-business market reforms. While results indicate a negative direct influence on NSI, they consistently show a strong moderating effect that counterbalances the negative impact of political instability, especially in those developing country environments where science and technology are lagging. These results provide important implications for policymakers as well as for our understanding of emerging and transition economies and national technological capability.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teachergarten</Emphasis>: Creating an Environment Conducive to Meaningful Teacher Growth

This editorial provides discussion of conditions and actions needed to create and sustain a context and environment that is nurturing and conducive to meaningful professional teacher growth. The authors are a program director and master (lead) teacher from a university demonstration/laboratory program that is both state licensed and accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. They frame the dialogue to address issues of (a) commitment to professional development as a long-term investment in program quality, (b) intellectual safety and challenge, (c) creative use of available resources, (d) respect for all stakeholders in the program, and (e) intentional modeling.     

Communication between children and carers during mealtimes

Mealtimes are identified as an important learning environment where socialisation and language development takes place. Caregivers can facilitate the structure of a child's learning in the mealtime setting. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding about the nature of communication in a normal population during mealtimes. This is important to help understanding about the nature of communication and interaction in children with disabilities during mealtimes. Participants were six typically developing preschool children aged from 8 months to 3;05 years. Caregivers of the children supported their child having a typical meal at home. Each mother–child dyad was video‐recorded by the researchers during a typical meal for up to 30 minutes. Each recording was transcribed by the researchers, and specific communicative features were counted and coded; caregiver comments about appropriate mealtime behaviour, child verbal and nonverbal initiation, caregiver questions and comments about meal enjoyment, caregiver praise of child, and caregiver repetition to coax feeding. A caregiver questionnaire was also completed to obtain information about the child's feeding, any early history of feeding difficulties and typical mealtime routine. The results indicated that the most considerable difference were between the dyads who had reported early feeding difficulties and those who had not reported any. Carers who supported children who had a history of early feeding difficulties used more language to manage and guide the child's behaviour during the mealtime. Caregivers who reported early feeding difficulties appeared to be more concerned with how their child was presenting at the meal (i.e., appropriate behaviour and meal enjoyment). This information has important implications for supporting children with complex needs during mealtimes.     

The effect of language modification of mathematics story problems on problem-solving in online homework

Instructional Science - Students’ grasp of the non-mathematical language in a mathematics story problem—such as vocabulary and syntax—may have an important effect on their...     

Transformative Learning Theory in Gerontology: Nontraditional Students

Mezirow (1978) applied and used Transformative Learning Theoretical (TLT) processes while studying women who reentered academics during the 1970s. Similar to Mezirow's original 1975 Mezirow , J. ( 1975 ). Education for perspective transformation: women's reentry programs in community colleges . New York , NY : Center for Adult Education, Teachers College, Columbia University . [Google Scholar] work, we identify “factors that impeded or facilitated” participants' progress to obtain their undergraduate degree during the traditional student time, but then returned later in life, after age 40, to pursue their doctorate. Through semistructured interviews, eight women describe their life course of education through the TLT phases of realization—or in Mezirow's terms, justification, critical reflection, and exploring rational discourse. The women discuss their concerns on technological challenges, rationalization to self and others concerning a return to school, and reactions of family, friends, peers, and professors, including ageist comments. As more women return to the educational system to pursue advanced degrees, specifically within gerontology or aging studies, this research is key to understanding the various events and meaning ascribed to their journey. Data analysis reveals overlapping thoughts to frames of reference in their meaning perspectives and themes when discussing their transformative process to new status as a PhD.     

Intrinsic integration in learning games and virtual instruction

This paper responds to a 2016 systematic literature review of the research on learning games by Ke (Educ Technol Res Dev 64(2):219–244, 2016). The review paper unpacked the idea of intrinsic integration in learning games, analyzing important emergent themes. The key ideas and the value of this review are discussed in the context of the recent shift to virtual instruction. The limitations, impact, and future implications are also described, with the perspective of this response focused on education theory. Intrinsic integration is an important consideration when designers create the next generation of digital games, and as researchers try to untangle the affordances of different educational games for student learning.

     

Planned Missing Data Designs for Spline Growth Models in Salivary Cortisol Research

Salivary cortisol is often used as an index of physiological and psychological stress in exercise science and psychoneuroendocrine research. A primary concern when designing research studies examining cortisol stems from the high cost of analysis. Planned missing data designs involve intentionally omitting a random subset of observations from data collection, reducing both the cost of data collection and participant burden. These designs have the potential to result in more efficient, cost-effective analyses with minimal power loss. Using salivary cortisol data from a previous study (Hogue, Fry, Fry, & Pressman, 2013 Hogue, C. M., Fry, M. D., Fry, A. C. and Pressman, S. D. 2013. The influence of a motivational climate intervention on participants’ salivary cortisol and psychological responses. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 35: 85–97. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this article examines statistical power and estimated costs of six different planned missing data designs using growth curve modeling. Results indicate that using a planned missing data design would have provided the same results at a lower cost relative to the traditional, complete data analysis of salivary cortisol.     

Mentoring at‐risk adolescent girls: listening to ‘Little Sisters’

In order to develop an understanding of mentoring relationships and the impact these relationships might have on the development of high‐risk adolescent girls, this qualitative study explored the relationships between six ‘Little Sisters’ and their ‘Big Sister’ mentors. The purposefully‐selected sample includes women and girls who were actively involved in a formal mentoring relationship for a minimum of three years. Findings suggest that a long‐term, nurturing mentoring relationship had a positive impact on the self‐efficacy, aspirations, and possible selves of the at‐risk adolescent girls.