Toward collaborator selection and determination of data ownership and publication authorship in research collaborations

This study examined factors that might affect researchers' willingness to collaborate with a specific researcher and the priorities given to those factors. In addition, it investigated how researchers determined the ownership of collaborative project data and how they determined the order of authorship on collaborative publications in condensed matter physics. In general, researchers rated their intrinsic motivations the highest, such as the quality of ideas a potential collaborator might have and their satisfaction with a past collaboration, followed by their extrinsic motivations, such as the complementary knowledge, skills, or resources the collaborator could provide. In addition, researchers who had a greater number of collaborative projects and researchers who had served as a project PI or co-PI valued the deep-level, personality-related characteristics of a collaborator higher than did those who had not. Younger researchers were more risk averse and more concerned with a collaborator's reputation and the possible cost of a collaboration decision. Additionally, younger researchers indicated more often than older researchers that they did not know whether their project teams followed any rules or norms or engaged in negotiation to determine the order of authorship on collaborative publications.     

To prove or improve,that is the question: the resurgence of comparative,confounded research between 2010 and 2019

Educational technology research and development - Between 2010 and 2019, ETR&D experienced increased publication of a specific type of research that does not provide useful knowledge to the...     

The Unique American Vision of Childhood

The present article scrutinizes “the unique American vision of childhood” (UAVC) as a phenomenon undermining high academic expectations and good work ethics, and in turn, contributing to the generally low academic achievement of U.S. students compared to their counterparts in other advanced countries. It starts with a definition of UAVC, followed by a discussion of how influential it has been. The article goes on to state three reasons why UAVC is troublesome and misleading, especially in an era of global competition. Excuses devised by the proponents for UAVC’s adverse effects are also revealed. The article ends with recommendations for future research and a conclusion elaborating on the consequences of UAVC and the likelihood that other countries might adopt a similar mentality.     

Training reading and phoneme awareness skills in children with Down syndrome

The authors report a short-term reading intervention study involving 15 children with Down syndrome (DS) who attended mainstream schools. The intervention programme taught children phoneme segmentation and blending skills in the context of learning letter-sounds and working with words in books. The children were taught by their learning support assistants, who received special training for this purpose. Compared to a waiting group, a group of eight children with DS improved significantly on measures of early literacy skills (letter-sound knowledge, Early Word Recognition) following eight weeks of intervention. The waiting group started to make progress once they received the intervention. Both groups maintained progress on the literacy measures five months after the intervention had finished. The results suggest that children with DS can benefit from structured, phonics-based reading intervention.     

Computer-mediated colonization, the renaissance, and educational imperatives for an intercultural global village

``The diversity of cultures in this world isreally important. It's the richness that wehave which, in fact, will save us from beingcaught up in one big idea'.Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the Web)addressing the 10th International World WideWeb Conference, Hong Kong.``Globalization must not be a new version ofcolonialism. It must respect the diversity ofcultures which, within the universal harmony ofpeoples, are life's interpretative keys'.Pope John Paul II.``It is the stillest words that bring on thestorm. Thoughts that come on doves' feet guidethe world'.The Stillest Hour, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.     

Ugandan adolescents’ sources,interpretation and evaluation of sexual content in entertainment media programming

Although mounting evidence in Western nations indicates that entertainment media influence young people’s sexual socialisation, virtually no research has addressed the topic in sub-Saharan Africa. The present study employed 14 focus groups of Ugandan high school students to identify media through which they were exposed to sexual content, how they interpreted and evaluated that content, and how they compared its influence with that of parents, schools and religious institutions. Participants most often mentioned TV, followed by print media and Internet as sources of sexual material. Media were said to present discrepant messages regarding the timing of sexual debut, with international programming urging early sexual debut and local programming described as urging young people to delay sex. Young people spoke of turning to ssengas and kojjas for sexual advice, and a number of boys suggested pornography could also be educational. Both local and international programming was interpreted as conveying views of men as sex driven and women as submissive in sex and relationships. Participants expressed the belief that sexual media content had a negative impact on young people. Most nevertheless assessed these messages as more influential than other sources of sexual socialisation.     

Anticipatory contrast as a function of access time and spatial location

Intake of a 0.15% saccharin solution was suppressed when it was followed by a 32% sucrose solution in brief daily pairings. With equal access durations to the two solutions, intervals of intermediate duration (2 or 3 min) produced a larger contrast than more extreme intervals (1 or 10 min). There was no evidence of inhibition of delay with the 10-min interval (Experiments 1A and 1B). When access times were asymmetrical, longer access time to the first solution reduced contrast, whereas longer access time to the second solution enhanced contrast (Experiment 2). Contrast was greater when the two solutions were presented at consistent and separate spatial locations than when location was changed randomly or when both solutions were presented in sequence at the same location. However, a degree of contrast occurred in all conditions (Experiment 3). Experiment 4, conducted with the solutions in opposite arms of a T-maze, showed that anticipatory approach to the location correlated with the 32% sucrose solution developed prior to lick suppression on the saccharin solution. However, within daily sessions, there was a reliable increase in contrast without correlated changes in anticipatory-approach behavior. Access-time effects were attributed to altered reward values, whereas spatial-separation effects suggest that goal-directed responses contribute to, but do not cause, anticipatory contrast.     

An analysis of the environment of medical schools

An analysis of medical schools was conducted by means of a factor analysis of multiple demographic measures. Three factors emerged which described the principal dimensions that characterize four-year medical school environments. Upon comparing these factors with a previous study, it was apparent that the environmental characterization for medical schools have remained generally constant over the last several years. An additional factor, Graduate Emphasis, was, however, identified. A visual representation is presented to demonstrate the similarity of the medical schools on these three factors.