Improving Performance Without Training: A Three Step Approach

Condition 1 showed that employees recorded high percentages of completed tasks; and task performance was shown to slightly improve. At that point in the project, recording accuracy was at it's highest level. Condition 2 illustrated a continuance of high employee records of completed tasks but also showed that actual task performance considerably increased so that there was greater self-recording accuracy. Then, during Condition 3, actual task performance increased more so that it even more closely reflected self-recorded measures. Each of the steps discussed thus far could be sufficient individually to facilitate accurate self-recording and task performance gains, although each appeared to have gained additional strength by being collectively applied. The cost of the present organizational intervention was very low. The costs included material duplication costs and approximately 30 minutes of management time per day. Management time was used to make concession observations (management records), compute performance data, and provide feedback to the employee. Employees worked the same number of hours as in Baseline. Based on this breakdown, the approximate weekly cost of this project was about $30.00. The total cost could be reduced further, perhaps, by monitoring less frequently and reducing the frequency of feedback sessions as employee performance stabilized at higher levels. Thus, the longer this project would run, the less expensive it might become. The steps implemented during this project might easily be applied to other jobs that produce easily observable outputs and could also be applied to other work settings. Future research efforts that would identify cost-effective ways to stimulate and maintain high levels of accurate self-recording might provide today's managers several options that could all yield accurate data for organizational management. Other research efforts centered on specific analyses of participatory standard setting, peer reinforcement, and self-reinforcement for task performance could provide additional insight into the areas of job analysis and employee productivity. Lastly, increased knowledge about the long term effects of self-recording could be gained through future research methods that first established high recording accuracies and task performance levels, then evaluated maintenance procedures for these methods. Implications of successive research studies which clearly show that employee performance can be improved by rewarding performers for accurate self-recording could be profound.     

Correlations between the stanford-binet: Fourth edition and the WISC-R with a learning disabled population

The Fourth Edition of the Stanford-Binet and the WISC-R were compared as instruments for assessing the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of students classified as learning disabled in the primary and secondary grades. Results found only a 3.28-point difference (p≥.0001) between the S-B Composite score and the WISC-R Full Scale score. Correlations between the four broad areas of the S-B and the three scales of the WISC-R ranged from .494 (S-B Abstract/Visual Reasoning with WISC-R Verbal) to .920 (S-B Composite with WISC-R Full Scale). All correlations were found to be significant. Implications of the research findings were discussed.     

A past that never was: historical poaching in Game of Thrones fans’ Tumblr practices

This article explores the textual and historical poaching practices by Tumblr fans of the novels A Song of Ice and Fire and the television adaption Game of Thrones, a pseudo-historical fantasy series. Fans critique both the text (novels and TV show) and other fans’ interpretations of the text, as well as parallel real-world history with the world and characters of the series. Tensions arise around the “historical accuracy” of the novels and show, along with the role that dominant narratives and cultural norms play in interpreting a past that never was through the lens of a real-world past. Fantasy and history intersect in layered ways and are used by fans to support a variety of textual points of view. Issues of violence, presentism, colonialism, gender, and “historical truths” are argued in relation to the ahistoricism or historicism of the novels/show.     

Towards Transformation? An Update on the Resource Centre Fora of South Africa

This paper follows an earlier contribution which described the emergence of popular information networks, the resource centre fora in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. This update on the fora sketches their contribution to the National Education Policy Investigation's Library and Information Services report which put forward national policy options. The resource centre fora's role in the new Translis (Transforming our Library and Information Services) Coalition is described and their representation at the International Federation of Library Association's conference in Barcelona in August 1993 noted.Finally, the role of the resource centres and their fora in the shifting paradigms in library and information work leading up to, and shortly after, the April 1994 election is reviewed. Crucial challenges are identified as funding, resisting 'agenda setting' by funders, and serving the rural areas effectively. Practical suggestions are made about reaching women in particular, about training and needs assessment. Finally the importance of the fora's meeting these challenges and making a contribution to reconstruction and development is noted.     

Effects of a kindergarten-based,family-involved intervention on motor performance ability in 3- to 6-year-old children: the ToyBox-study

This study targeted to examine the effect of the ToyBox-intervention, a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention, aiming to improve preschooler’s energy-related behaviours (e.g., physical activity) on motor performance ability. Physical activity sessions, classroom activities, environmental changes and tools for parents were the components of the 1-year intervention. The intervention and control were cluster-randomised, and children’s anthropometry and two motor test items (jumping from side to side, JSS and standing long jump, SLJ) were assessed. A total of 1293 (4.6 ± 0.69 years; 52% boys) from 45 kindergartens in Germany were included (intervention, n = 863; control, n = 430). The effect was assessed using generalised estimating equation. The intervention group showed a better improvement in JSS (Estimate 2.19 jumps, P = 0.01) and tended to improve better in SLJ (Estimate 2.73 cm, P = 0.08). The intervention was more effective in boys with respect to SLJ (P of interaction effect = 0.01). Children aged <4.5 years did not show a significant benefit while older children improved (JSS, Estimate 3.38 jumps, P = 0.004; SLJ, Estimate 4.18 cm, P = 0.04). Children with low socio-economic status improved in JSS (Estimate 5.98 jumps, P = 0.0001). The ToyBox-intervention offers an effective strategy to improve specific components of motor performance ability in early childhood. Future programmes should consider additional strategies specifically targeting girls and younger aged children.

Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; SES: socio-economic status; JSS: jumping from side to side; SLJ: standing long jump; SD: standard deviation; GEE: generalised estimating equation     

Interrogating Identity and Social Contexts Through “Critical Family History”

Tracing one's family genealogy is a complex process that requires situating a family's narratives within a historical context. This article reviews the use of critical family history research in an undergraduate Asian American studies course to examine not only the diversity and experiences of Asian Americans but also the unspoken narratives that lead to the creation of a single story. We are told single stories that often neglect the sociocultural factors—the historical reality—of our past. Our family histories are constructed historically and are embedded in social, political, and economic processes and relationships. This article argues that we need to complicate what we know about our past and examine policies and cultural practices that lead to a racialized system of power and privilege, racialized policies, and racialized oppression and progression.