Training in Place-Value Concepts Improves Children''s Addition Skills

The present study examined whether children's variation in arithmetic performance was related to differences in their understanding of place-value. Training in place-value concepts was provided to a group of Chinese children who were poor in arithmetic. Their performance before and after the training was compared to that of the children in two control groups. The results showed that there were reliable connections between place-value understanding and addition and subtraction skills. Furthermore, training in place-value concepts was found to be effective in enhancing the children's place-value understanding and addition skills. Implications for instructions in arithmetic were discussed.     

The role of segmental and tonal information in visual word recognition with learners of Chinese

The present study investigated the representation and processing of segmental and tonal information in visual Chinese word recognition in native and non‐native Chinese readers. Two experiments using homophone judgement paradigm were conducted. When judging two Chinese characters (Experiment 1), both groups showed difficulties when the segmental but not tonal information was shared (i.e., S+T? condition), with stronger interference for non‐native readers. When judging a Pinyin and a Chinese character (Experiment 2), non‐native readers' S+T? disadvantage was significantly reduced. Finally, when their L1s share the Latin alphabets with Pinyin, the participants showed stronger segmental reliance compared with the native readers. These findings suggest that while both native and non‐native readers rely more on segmental information in Chinese visual word recognition, this reliance is stronger among non‐native readers. Furthermore, the alphabetic nature of the Pinyin orthography may help non‐native readers' phonological representation and processing in a nonalphabetic writing system.     

需求驱动采购的标准:美国NISO DDA的发展和作用

[目的/意义]探讨美国图书馆需求驱动采购（DDA）的标准化发展,介绍美国国家信息标准协会（NISO）出版的《图书的需求驱动采购推荐实施规范》（NISO DDA）,为中国图书馆DDA标准化建设提供参考。[方法/过程]通过文献考察,介绍NISO DDA产生的背景、规范的制定过程、规范的要素、作用以及NISO DDA应用中面临的挑战。[结果/结论]NISO DDA为DDA走向标准化和可持续发展奠定了基础。它对保护图书馆、出版商、经销商、电子图书数据库集成商等各利益相关者的利益,以及对各方在合作共赢的基础上规范化采纳推广DDA提供指南并起到积极的作用。同时,DDA的可持续发展继续面临着挑战。图书出版链中的各利益相关者仍然为DDA的可持续发展及标准化建设积极探索。     

Impact of childhood abuse history on psychological symptoms among male and female soldiers in The U.S. Army

The long-term psychological effects of four different types of childhood maltreatment were examined among 1,072 male and 305 female soldiers on active duty in the United States Army. The predictor variables included four subscales from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ)—(1) physical-emotional abuse, (2) sexual abuse, (3) emotional neglect, and (4) physical neglect. An additional sexual abuse variable based on the four screening questions developed by Finkelhor, Hotaling, Lewis, and Smith (1990) was also included. Outcome was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory and a dissociation scale developed by Briere and Runtz (1988). MANOVAs were conducted for each outcome measure. Physical-emotional abuse contributed to most of the effects. However, sexual abuse contributed additional significant effects to all of the subscales. In general, males and females showed similar outcomes, but certain gender differences were noted.     

Correlations,trends and potential biases among publicly accessible web-based student evaluations of teaching: a large-scale study of RateMyProfessors.com data

Student evaluations of teaching are widely adopted across academic institutions, but there are many underlying trends and biases that can influence their interpretation. Publicly accessible web-based student evaluations of teaching are of particular relevance, due to their widespread use by students in the course selection process and the quantity of data available for analysis. In this study, data from the most popular of these websites, RateMyProfessors.com, is analysed for correlations between measures of instruction quality, easiness, physical attractiveness, discipline and gender. This study of 7,882,980 RateMyProfessors ratings (from 190,006 US professors with at least 20 student ratings) provides further insight into student perceptions of academic instruction and possible variables in student evaluations. Positive correlations were observed between ratings of instruction quality and easiness, as well as between instruction quality and attractiveness. On average, professors in science and engineering disciplines have lower ratings than in the humanities and arts. When looking at RateMyProfessors as a whole, the effect of a professor’s gender on rating criteria is small but statistically significant. When analysing the data as a function of discipline, however, the effects of gender are significantly more pronounced, albeit more complex. The potential implications are discussed.     

Reading comprehension,working memory and higher-level language skills in children with SLI and/or dyslexia

This study examined (1) whether working memory and higher-level languages skills—inferencing and comprehension monitoring—accounted for individual differences among Chinese children in Chinese reading comprehension, after controlling for age, Chinese word reading and oral language skills, and (2) whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) or dyslexia showed deficits in these skills. Eighty-two Cantonese Chinese-speaking children between the age of 7; 8–9; 5 were assessed. Regression analyses on the full sample offered support for the first question. The children were also classified into four groups: Typically-developing (TD; N = 34), specific language impairment-only (SLI-only; N = 18), SLI-dyslexia comorbid (SLI-D; N = 22) and dyslexia-only (D-only; N = 8). Pair-wise comparisons focusing on the second question revealed that both the SLI-only and the D-only group performed worse than the TD group in reading comprehension after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. The SLI-only and the D-only group showed a different profile of deficits: only the SLI-only group performed worse than the TD group in working memory, comprehension monitoring, and inferencing. The SLI-D comorbid group did worse than the SLI-only, but not the D-only group, in reading comprehension. The SLI-D comorbid group did not do worse than either single diagnosis group in the higher-level language skills associated with reading comprehension. These findings suggested adopting different intervention approaches for reading comprehension difficulties in children with SLI versus children with dyslexia.     

Student discourse on physical activity and sport among Irish young people

This article explores accounts of student discourse related to the role of physical activity and sport in the lives of Irish children and youth. The data source is a purposeful sample of student narratives based upon age of student, type of school and gender, and sought representation from both rural and urban settings. Data were derived from an original, random sample of approximately 4,100 texts written by Irish young people (ages 10–12 and 14–17). Data suggest sport plays a pervasive role in the lives of Irish primary children as they enjoy and participate in a variety of sports and physical activities. Gendered and age-related patterns emerged in their preferences of activities and in the way in which they represented their sporting selves. These findings have implications for the value of student voice in the delivery and design of models of participation that expand opportunities for physical activity within schools and beyond.