Strong, Weak, and Latent Ties and the Impact of New Media

This article argues that consideration of the strength of ties between communicators can help reconcile disparate results on the impact of new media on social relations. It is argued from the research literature and studies by the author that where ties are strong, communicators can influence each other to adapt and expand their use of media to support the exchanges important to their tie, but where ties are weak, communicators are dependent on common, organizationally established means of communication and protocols established by others. Due to this differential use of media, a new medium that adds means and opportunities for previously unconnected others to communicate will have positive effects on weak ties and weak-tie networks, in particular by laying an infrastructure of latent ties (ones that exist technically but have not yet been activated), and providing an opportunity for weak ties to develop and strengthen. A new medium may also have positive effects on strongly tied pairs where it adds another means of communicating and supports the communication needs and tasks of the pair. However, where a new medium replaces a former, common means of communication, the dependence of weak ties on a common medium makes weak-tie networks highly susceptible to dissolution. In contrast, strong-tie networks, with their connections via multiple relations and multiple media, can be expected to be more robust under conditions of change.     

Occupational Therapy in Preschools: A Synthesis of Current Knowledge

This paper presents a synthesis of current knowledge about occupational therapy in preschools (for 3–6 year olds) in order to provide a better understanding of this field of practice and to guide the implementation or programming of this service. In the literature, occupational therapy in preschools has been documented mainly in the USA. Results revealed that this service helped all children, with and without difficulties, to improve their skills, especially fine motor and graphomotor skills, and their participation in educational and daily living activities. Occupational therapy also had positive effects on teachers, parents and services. A service delivery model based on Response-to-Intervention or collaborative model should guide the implementation or programming of occupational therapy in preschools, with the focus on prevention/health promotion, screening and early intervention as well as school inclusion and success. Future studies are needed to determine the best intervention approaches and methods to improve children’s motor skills and self-regulation in inclusive preschool settings.     

PISA 2015: how big is the ‘mode effect’ and what has been done about it?

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year-olds’ academic knowledge and skills. Educationalists and public policymakers eagerly await the tri-annual results, with particular interest in whether their country has moved up or slid down the international rankings, as compared to earlier rounds. In 2015 a major change was implemented in PISA, with the introduction of computer-based assessment. This has the potential to reduce comparability of PISA test scores across countries and over time. We investigate this issue using PISA 2015 field trial data for three countries: Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. We show how, if left unaccounted for, the change to computer-based testing could limit the comparability of PISA test scores. We then describe the methodology the study organisers have used to account for such mode effects. Our key conclusion is that although the adjustment made is unlikely to overcome all the potential challenges of switching to computer-based tests, it represents an improvement over the alternative of making no adjustment at all.     

Musculoskeletal injuries in professional modern dancers: a prospective cohort study of 15 years

We analysed work-related musculoskeletal injuries (WMSI) in two modern dance companies to determine whether injury rates decreased and patterns altered compared to previous 3-yr and 6-yr audits (0.48 and 0.25/1000-hrs exposure respectively). In this prospectively designed 15-yr cohort study, data were collected in 30-dancer Company-1 and 12-dancer Company-2. In-house physical therapists tracked WMSI and time-loss-injuries for 159 dancers (42 dancers/yr). 15-yrs were grouped into five 3-yr blocks for comparison with prior audits. Negative binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted with exposure-hrs converted to the natural log and used as the offset variable. Block and company were categorical predictors for dependent variables: WMSI, time-loss-injuries, trauma-injuries and overuse-injuries (p < 0.05). 69% of dancers reported WMSI; 45% sustained at least one time-loss-injury. Company-1, with greater annual exposure, was 1.6-times more likely to sustain time-loss-injuries (p = 0.016, CI = 1.095–2.422) and 5.6-times more likely to sustain time-loss overuse-injuries (p = 0.003, CI = 1.812–17.327). Compared to Block-1, WMSI and time-loss-injuries decreased in Blocks-2, 3, and 5 (p ≤ 0.027). The ratio of time-loss overuse to trauma-injuries was reversed, with trauma-injuries accounting for over 80% of injuries by Block 5. Time-loss-injuries averaged 0.16 injuries/1000-hrs, lower than rates in ballet and sports. Decreased injury rates and changed injury patterns demonstrate efficacious injury management and prevention programming.     

Fostering Creative Thinking in Student Engineers

In order to prepare engineering students for a changing future and to help them develop their own capacity for independent innovative thought and creative problem‐solving, we are faced with the need to explore ways of fostering creativity in students within engineering programmes. We see the need to focus on how to access creativity, how to develop an environment which is less constrained and which will allow creative flow. Three case studies are presented which demonstrate the importance of establishing the freedom of the learning process as well as providing motivation, whether extrinsic, in terms of the assessment scheme, or intrinsic. This latter might take the form of helping students to realize that the process of learning is a process of invention in itself and that students need to recognize their existing creativity and capacity for engagement. The very important and yet elusive issue of evaluation is also considered for each course. We discuss how to monitor the level of success in achieving the given objective of fostering creativity in students.     

Cost Management in a Nigerian First-generation University

This study evaluates past trends in cost management in university education as a way of finding solutions to the continued financial constraints facing Nigerian universities. Taking the University of Benin as a case study, this article shows that between the 1988‐1989 and the 1992‐1993 academic years, this university was grossly underfunded, despite increasing recurrent expenditure, consistent rapid growth in student enrollments, and inadequate academic staff. As of the 1992‐1993 academic year, the federal government was providing 94.5 percent of the total financial revenue of the university. The balance of 5.5 percent was raised from internal sources by the university. Since one fundamental problem of educational cost management in this university appears to be the inadequacy of funding, the study advocates the adoption of cost-recovery policies by introducing user fees and student loan schemes to soften the impact of these fees.     

Learning to Teach Mathematics Differently: The Interaction between Coursework and Fieldwork for Preservice Teachers

Understanding how preservice teachers integratecoursework and fieldwork as they learn to teach iscritical to understanding how to prepare teachers toimplement the kind of instruction envisioned bycurrent reforms in mathematics education. This articleexplores the connections that 3 preservice elementaryteachers made between their experiences as learners ofmathematics in a masters-level university methodscourse and their experiences as teachers ofmathematics in the fieldwork classroom. Three casestudies are presented in order to illustrate differentways that the experience of engaging in mathematicalinquiry influences the way in which elementarypreservice teachers construct their understanding ofthemselves as mathematics teachers. Taken together,the case studies suggest that we need to expand ourperspective as teacher educators to encompass learningfrom the fieldwork experience as well as preserviceteacher learning beyond the conclusion of thesemester. In particular, I conclude that the goals ofa methods course should include developing andnurturing particular habits of mind that helppreservice teachers learn from their own teaching.     

A preliminary investigation of special needs students' global and mathematics self-concepts

We investigated students' self-concepts within a multidimensional and hierarchical model. Participants were 95 special needs students in grades 3 through 12 who received mathematics instruction in special education classes. Partial support was found for the hierarchical model in special needs students: The relationship between scores on the Piers-Harris self-Concept Scale and Mathematics Achievement (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills) was significantly stronger for elementary students (r =.53) than for secondary students (r =.04). Percent of the school day spent in special education had a negative relationship (p <.05) to scores on Piers-Harris self-Concept Scale and a positive relationship (p <.05) to an investigator-developed mathematics self-concept instrument. The results suggest that special education has a complex relationship to self-concept. Possible implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Critical Historical Thinking: When Official Narratives Collide With Other Narratives

In this article the authors examine The Student as Historian project in highlighting how critical historical thinking can provide other and more complex renditions of history. The authors note that teachers’ understandings of educational ends, purposes, values, and critical content knowledge are entwined and inextricable from ideological stances and historical positionality.