Effects of anonymity and retaliatory potential on student evaluations of faculty performance

The present study, employing a 2×2 design, examines the independent and interactive effects of two experimentally manipulated variables, Anonymity (A) and Retaliatory Potential (RP), on students' ratings of faculty performance. Data were obtained from 188 students at a large midwestern university using an instrument that had been specially developed for the study. A hypothesized main effect was found for A: The professor was rated more positively by students completing signed ratings than those completing ratings anonymously. The data showed no support, however, for the hypothesized RP main effect or the A×RP interactive effect. Practical implications of the study's findings are discussed.     

Attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity: reaction time and speed of cognitive processing

This study addressed the issue as to whether children reliably diagnosed as attention deficit disordered with hyperactivity (ADD/H) and without hyperactivity (ADD/WO) differed significantly from each other and a clinic control (CC) population on speed and efficiency of cognitive processing. From an outpatient clinic population, 43 ADD/H and 22 ADD/WO children were examined. An analysis of mean reaction time and speeded classification task performance revealed significant group effects on both mean reaction time and on a measure of within-subject variability. ADD/H children performed significantly more slowly and variably than the CC children on several of the speeded classification tasks. However, the ADD/WO group was not distinguished on any measure. Thus, while children may be reliably diagnosed as ADD/H or ADD/WO using behavioral measures, it would appear that they cannot be distinguished on these neurocognitive tasks. Issues related to childhood psychopathology and the neuropsychological basis of ADD/H are discussed.     

Core Elements of the European (Higher) Education Policy: Market-Driven Restructuring or Impetus for Intercultural Rapprochement?

For many years there has been a debate about the existence or not, of a common European education policy. In this article I argue that there has been a real European education policy since the approval of the Maastricht Treaty, with a proper content and which offers many new possibilities to students. The core of this policy is the setting up of the European Higher Education Area, designed not only for attendance-based universities, but also for distance and virtual universities. However, the policies, expected to be in force by 2010, have not been without problems and a critique of the implications for European higher education institutes is offered following an outline of the development and evolution of the policies.     

Training phonological awareness: A study with inner-city kindergarten children

A small-scale, longitudinal, phonological awareness training study with inner-city kindergarten children was conducted in four classrooms. The central goals of the study were the creation and evaluation of a phonological awareness training program and a preliminary look at the consequence of that training on basic phonological processes. Assessment of phonological awareness and basic phonological processes was carried out in the fall of the kindergarten year, and again in the spring following an 18 week training program which incorporated both auditory and articulatory techniques for fostering metaphonological development. Follow-up evaluation of promotion to first grade and of reading achievement took place a year later. The children in the two experimental classes receiving training had significantly greater gains in phonological awareness at the end of kindergarten, were significantly more likely to be promoted to first grade rather than to pre-one, and had a trend toward better reading skills in first grade than did the smaller group of children promoted to first grade from the control classes. In addition, there were some indications that development of phonological awareness was accompanied by changes in the underlying phonological system as well. Here we focus on the rationale and implementation of our training program and discuss the implications of the findings for a potential large-scale study.     

The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster

Most analyses of the relationship between spatial clustering and the technological learning of firms have emphasised the influence of the former on the latter, and have focused on intra-cluster learning as the driver of innovative performance. This paper reverses those perspectives. It examines the influence of individual firms’ absorptive capacities on both the functioning of the intra-cluster knowledge system and its interconnection with extra-cluster knowledge. It applies social network analysis to identify different cognitive roles played by cluster firms and the overall structure of the knowledge system of a wine cluster in Chile. The results show that knowledge is not diffused evenly ‘in the air’, but flows within a core group of firms characterised by advanced absorptive capacities. Firms’ different cognitive roles include some—as in the case of technological gatekeepers—that contribute actively to the acquisition, creation and diffusion of knowledge. Others remain cognitively isolated from the cluster, though in some cases strongly linked to extra-cluster knowledge. Possible implications for policy are noted.     

SCiMet: Stable,sCalable and reliable Metric-based framework for quality assessment in collaborative content generation systems

In collaborative content generation (CCG), such as publishing scientific articles, a group of contributors collaboratively generates artifacts available through a venue. The main concern in such systems is the quality. A remarkable range of research considers quality metrics partially when dealing with the quality of artifacts, contributors, and venues. However, such approaches have several drawbacks. One of the most notable ones is that they are not comprehensive in terms of the metrics to evaluate all entities, including artifacts, contributors, and venues. Also, they are vulnerable to potential attacks.In this paper, we propose a novel iterative definition in which the quality of artifacts, collaborators, and venues are defined interconnectedly. In our framework, the quality of an artifact is defined based on the quality of its contributors, venue, references, and citations. The quality of a contributor is defined based on the quality of his artifacts, collaborators, and the venues. Quality of a venue is defined based on both quality of artifacts and contributors. We propose a data model, formulations, and an algorithm for the proposed approach. We also compare the robustness of our approach against malicious manipulations with two well-known related approaches. The comparison results show the superiority of our method over other related approaches.     

The Science of Pizza: The Molecular Origins of Cheese,Bread, and Digestion Using Interactive Activities for the General Public

Abstract: We describe a presentation on the science of pizza, which is designed for the general public including children ages 6 and older. The presentation focuses on the science of making and digesting cheese and bread. We highlight 4 major scientific themes: (1) how macromolecules such as carbohydrates and proteins are composed of atoms and small molecules; (2) how macromolecules interact to form networks in bread and cheese; (3) how microbes contribute to the texture of bread; and (4) how enzymes break down macromolecules during digestion. Using live demonstrations and interactive exercises with children in the audience, we provide simple explanations of the scientific principles related to these themes that are essential for understanding how to make pizza, and what happens when we eat it. This general approach can be adapted to a variety of informal and classroom settings focused on sharing the excitement of scientific discovery and understanding with students and the public.     

Italian students’ results in the PISA mathematics test: does reading competence matter?

In Italy, from the 2003 reports to the present, the National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI) has conducted research on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in order to understand Italian students’ low achievement in mathematics. In the present paper, data from a representative sample of 15-year-old Italian students who participated in PISA 2012 were analysed. This study’s primary aim is to verify how students’ linguistic competences are associated with their performance in mathematics. For the evaluation of the impact of item reading demand on students’ performance, we selected 24 mathematics items with a high reading demand and 31 mathematics items with a low reading demand, as classified by Italian language and methodology experts. Repeated measure variance analyses were conducted. The results showed differences in function of gender: females are advantaged in mathematics items with a high reading demand, independent of their level of reading literacy. In contrast, males are advantaged in mathematics items with a low reading demand, independent of their level of reading literacy. Possible policy implications are discussed.