Effects of Maternal Employment on Maternal and Two-Year-Old Child Behavior

94 mothers with 2-year-old children were interviewd about their employment, role satisfaction, and social support and were observed in their homes at dinnertime and in a laboratory compliance task. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to test main effects of employment, hours employed, and their interactions. Maternal employment adversely affected maternal behavior when satisfaction with social support or with the work role was low, but only in the laboratory. Positive main effects of employment on maternal behavior were observed in the home: employed mothers used less power assertion with their children. Mothers who worked longer hours used more guidance and were more responsive to their children in both settings. In both settings, the effect of poor-quality care on child behavior was greater when mothers were employed, and, in the laboratory, boys of employed mothers were more defiant than boys of nonemployed mothers and girls of employed mothers. Boys with more than one current arrangement were more likely than similarly situated girls to be defiant in the laboratory, but they were also less likely than girls to be cared for by fathers.     

(International) R&D collaboration and SMEs: The effectiveness of targeted public R&D support schemes

This study analyses the impact and effectiveness of targeted public support for R&D investment at the firm level. We test whether the policy design aiming at incentivizing (international) collaboration and R&D in SMEs achieves input as well as output additionality. Our results show that the targeted public subsidies trigger R&D spending, especially so in internationally collaborating SMEs. We further evaluate the different impact of privately financed and publicly induced R&D investment on innovation performance. The results confirm that the publicly induced R&D is productive as it translates into marketable product innovations. While both types of R&D investments trigger significant output effects, the effect of policy-induced R&D investment on sales from market novelties is highest for international collaborators as well as for SMEs.     

The long-term athlete development model: physiological evidence and application

Within the UK, the "Long Term Athlete Development" (LTAD) model has been proposed by a variety of national governing bodies to offer a first step to considering the approach to talent development. The model, which is primarily a physiological perspective, presents an advancement of understanding of developing athletic potential alongside biological growth. It focuses on training to optimize performance longitudinally, and considers sensitive developmental periods known as "windows of opportunity". However, it appears that there are a number of problems with this theoretical model that are not necessarily transparent to coaches. Principally, the model is only one-dimensional, there is a lack of empirical evidence upon which the model is based, and interpretations of the model are restricted because the data on which it is based rely on questionable assumptions and erroneous methodologies. Fundamentally, this is a generic model rather than an individualized plan for athletes. It is crucial that the LTAD model is seen as a "work in progress" and the challenge, particularly for paediatric exercise scientists, is to question, test, and revise the model. It is unlikely that this can be accomplished using classical experimental research methodology but this should not deter practitioners from acquiring valid and reliable evidence.     

Design and implementation of multi-campus,modular master classes in biochemical engineering

The Master of Science in engineering technology: biochemical engineering is organised in KU Leuven at four geographically dispersed campuses. To sustain the Master's programmes at all campuses, it is clear that a unique education profile at each campus is crucial. In addition, a rationalisation is required by increased cooperation, increased exchange of lecturers, and increased student mobility. To achieve this, a multicampus education system for the M.Sc. in engineering technology: biochemical engineering was developed by offering modules that are also available for students of other campuses. Such a module is primarily based on the research expertise present at the campus. In the development, special attention has been given to the optimal organisation of the modules, evaluation, required modifications of the current curricula, and the practical consequences for students following the module at another campus. Even in the first year of implementation, around 30% of the students followed a multicampus module, which indicates the potential success of the multicampus concept described here.     

Mask-making as identity project in a high school English class: a case study

This study reports on the composing process of one student, Peta (a pseudonym), as he reflects on a significant composition he produced during a unit on identity in a 12th‐grade English class in a U. S. high school. The unit was the first thematic exploration of the year for the students and was designed to help them think about themselves as readers, writers, and individuals. The teacher's goal was to have students' engagements with literary and artistic texts serve as vehicles for developing better understandings of themselves. The study demonstrates how students' engagement with more ‘traditional’ artefacts is essentially an example of multimodality and evidences why teachers and researchers should see such work as part of the long tradition of creativity within English. It also demonstrates how such an apparently ‘traditional’ artistic approach in fact covers the same territory as that of the digital revolution, that is that multimodal ‘tools’ engage all the cultural resources of students from their domestic, community and school settings, in contrast with much typical school activity that is perceived as pointless and tedious.     

The challenges of undergraduate online learning experienced by older workers in career transition

This paper presents the findings of a research project on older workers transitioning into work as vocational educators through online undergraduate university study. The study involved interpretive phenomenological analysis of the experiences of 10 older learners. Their experience of online learning was found to be shaped by diverse influences and to comprise three distinct but interrelated elements: their use of technology, their use of hypermedia and their independent learning. Challenges raised by each of these elements called for a distinctive response from the university, respectively: short-term, readily available technical advice and support; tutoring to develop Web navigation and exploration skills, or the provision of selected readings; and opportunities for online or face-to-face dialogical engagement with others. Recommendations for the online provision of higher education for such learners, then, pointed to the need for an appropriately distinctive response to challenges in each of the three elements: the use of technology calling for individualised and immediate responsiveness to learner issues; the use of hypermedia calling for aggregated advice and resources prepared in advance; and independent learning calling for the prior structuring of opportunities for interactive engagement. Further research is suggested focusing on the relative cost and effectiveness of different approaches to addressing those needs.     

Implementing web 2.0 tools in the classroom: Four teachers’ accounts

In this paper, four teachers shared their experiences using the following free Web 2.0 tools with their students: Jing, Wix, Google Sites, and Blogger. The teachers found that students reacted positively to lessons in which these tools were used, and also noted improvements they could make when using them in the future.