Recent Romanian Cinema: Is It a Real New Wave or Just a Splash in the Water?

This article demonstrates that recent Romanian cinema manifests the features of a new, coherent, and strong film movement that was correctly tagged as a late new wave in the context of postcommunist significant changes that have shaped the Romanian society and its artistic milieu over the past two decades. By discussing the general characteristics of new waves and the legacies of the most influential cinematic movements of the 20th century, several common features are highlighted, as is the Romanian directors’ capacity to integrate and restate these influences through innovative techniques and an original approach to reality. The analysis is exemplified through the exploration of some of the most representative films of the recent Romanian cinema, prizewinners at prestigious international film festivals.     

Media Concentration in the Hispanic Market: A Case Study of TV Azteca vs. Televisa

If one wanted to measure the historic level of multimedia industry concentration in Mexico, it would not be necessary to use statistics, financial analysis, viewer ratings, or other evaluation systems. The maximum level of concentration is 1, and, in Mexico, that number belonged for 20 years to Grupo Televisa (1973–1993). Televisa's position was lost in 1993 when entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas Pliego launched TV Azteca. This paper explores the principal strategies used by TV Azteca to overcome the entry barriers set by the Televisa monopoly. The paper also presents an economic valuation of this duopoly market 7 years after the shift in market structure.     

Stability robustness of perturbed structured systems

In this paper, the robust stability problem of structured linear systems is analyzed. In order to preserve the structure of the initial system, the structure of the admissible perturbations is characterized. Frobenius and infinity matrix norms are used to study the robust stability of the system affected by different admissible perturbations. Upper bounds for the perturbations are obtained, which guarantee that the perturbed system remains stable. Finally, some examples are shown to illustrate the results.     

Practicing Critical Thinking in an Educational Psychology Classroom: Reflections from a Cultural-Historical Perspective

Present standards include creative and critical thinking among dispositions essential for the teaching profession. While teaching introductory courses in educational psychology, I have noticed that even though students can easily describe critical thinking in the abstract, they rarely and reluctantly engage in thinking critically about their own educational experiences. Emphasis on assessment of critical thinking dispositions and skills requires students to demonstrate “the right way to think.” This emphasis, I argue, decreases students' inclination to practice critical inquiry and to feel this experience as intrinsically rewarding. Exploration of socio-cultural contexts of my own and my students' upbringing helps understand how such contexts condition the critical thinking practice. I offer the cultural-historical theory of Lev Vygotsky as an alternative frame of reference that will help students practice critical thinking in an educational psychology classroom.     

LEARNING POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT AND ADAPTATION TO THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT: THE USEFULNESS OF THE ACFS FOR ASSESSING IMMIGRANT PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The objective of this study was to test the usefulness of dynamic assessment for determining cognitive abilities such as classification, auditory and visual memory, pattern sequences, perspective taking, verbal planning, learning potential, and metacognition in immigrant preschool children with and without competence in the dominant language (Spanish). One hundred seventy‐six preschool‐children were distributed in three groups according to the cultural background of their parents (native Spanish/Spanish‐speaking immigrants/non‐Spanish speaking immigrants). The children were assessed by means of the K‐BIT, the Application of Cognitive Functions Scale (ACFS), and metacognition, language competence and academic performance estimates. The results show that although there are initial differences in execution between the two groups (Spanish/immigrants), there are no differences with regard to learning potential. The study also demonstrates the importance of behavioral, attitudinal, and metacognitive variables in children's test execution and academic performance.     

Russian students' understanding of and willingness to achieve 'success'

This study investigates the concept of 'success' and the various ways contemporary Russian students are endeavouring to achieve and value success. The findings are set in the context of changes in the understanding and achievement of success among students in Russia over the past 30 years.     

Applying MacKinnon's 4Ps to foster creative thinking and creative behaviours in kindergarten children

The purpose of this study was to identify certain strategies and conditions that should be used by teachers in kindergarten so as to foster creative thinking and creative behaviours to children. We used a quasi-experimental research design for 6 months in a public kindergarten in a suburban area of Greece, and we developed a creative music and movement programme. The programme was based on the 4Ps of MacKinnon (press, product, process and personality). The experimental group participated in the creative programme 2–3 times a week, while the control group participated in the unstructured free-play setting. A total of 16 interventions were applied of 45–60 min each. The intervention was conducted by an external teacher, specialised in music and movement education, who was also the observer of the intervention. Double evaluation was applied in both groups, before and after the intervention, and the results were compared based on MacKinnon's approach. The results of the study showed that following MacKinnon's approach during the design of an educational programme could foster children's creativity.     

Impact of Contact on the Development of Children's Positive Stereotyping about Aging Language Competence

This study examined young children's (M = 38 months) beliefs about the aging of language competence using a modified mutual exclusivity paradigm (cf. Markman, 1990 Markman , E. M. ( 1990 ). Constraints children place on word meanings . Cognitive Science , 14 ( 1 ), 57 – 77 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Children were shown pairs of objects (familiar and unfamiliar) and were asked by a younger and older experimenter to point to the object in the pair to which a novel non-word referred. Showing reliance on a mutual exclusivity heuristic (a new word must refer to something I do not already know), children selected more unfamiliar objects as the referent. Children who had relatively little contact with older adults showed more reliance on mutual exclusivity when tested by a younger experimenter than an older experimenter. This pattern was reversed for children who had more frequent contact with older adults. These results suggest that with infrequent contact with older adults, children rely on common stereotypes linking old age with diminished competence to judge an older interlocutor's behavior. More frequent contact allows for positive stereotypes associating older age with enhanced language competence to dominate, making an older experimenter the better teacher of new words.     

DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATIC PLAY IN YOUNG CHILDREN AND ITS EFFECTS ON SELF‐REGULATION: THE VYGOTSKIAN APPROACH

The necessity for parents and teachers to work together collaboratively to optimize children’s learning and development in early childhood education is well recognized. Yet, ways in which initial teacher education programs might prepare teachers for professional relationships with parents are rare in the literature. This paper reports on the use of field experience in family homes that occurred in the 1^st year of a teacher education program. A case study of two student teachers is discussed to illustrate the potential of such an approach to this aspect of teacher preparation. These student teachers experienced the realities of the daily lives of families with young children. Six months later, their experiences appeared likely to have had a positive influence on their understanding of parenting and their attitudes towards establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with parents in their future professional role.