The Gutenberg‐e project: opportunities and challenges in publishing born‐digital monographs

The Gutenberg‐e project was created as an experiment to explore whether peer‐reviewed, born‐digital monographs would alter the way in which historical scholarship is presented, whether scholars would receive the same professional credit for these publications as for work published in print, and whether the project would enable publication of monographs that would otherwise be turned down by university presses for financial reasons. The project reached the following conclusions: authors and publishing staff collaborated in creating new models of scholarship and writing; over the course of the project, attitudes toward digital publications evolved toward acceptance of this new form of publication; the time and costs involved in creating these models exceeded expectations; continued experimentation is necessary in order to keep up with authors' growing expectations in publishing digital scholarship.     

Perceived and experienced stigma among people living with HIV: Examining the role of prior stigmatization on reasons for and against future disclosures

HIV remains a significant health concern entering the fourth decade of the epidemic [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014. HIV basics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html], and people living with HIV continue to grapple with stigma. This study uses Leary and Schreindorfer's [1998 Leary, M. R., &; Schreindorfer, L. S. (1998). The stigmatization of HIV and AIDS: Rubbing salt in the wound. In V. J. Derlega &; A. P. Barbee (Eds.), HIV and social interaction (pp. 12–29). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]. The stigmatization of HIV and AIDS: Rubbing salt in the wound. In V. J. Derlega &; A. P. Barbee (Eds.), HIV and social interaction (pp. 12 Lekas, H. M., Siegel, K., &; Schrimshaw, E. W. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in the experiences of felt and enacted stigma among women with HIV/AIDS. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 1165–1190. doi:10.1177/1049732306292284[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]–29 Lekas, H. M., Siegel, K., &; Schrimshaw, E. W. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in the experiences of felt and enacted stigma among women with HIV/AIDS. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 1165–1190. doi:10.1177/1049732306292284[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] conceptualization of stigma to explore prior stigmatization on reasons for and against future disclosures. We interviewed HIV+ individuals (N?=?59) and used a combination of deductive and inductive coding to analyze participants’ responses. Deductive codes consisted of four stigma characteristics (pose a threat to others’ health and safety, deviate from group standards, create negative emotional reactions in others, and failure to contribute), experiences of feeling stigmatized due to HIV status (yes or no), and the degree to which HIV stigma was a concern (major, minor, or no concern). Inductive coding identified examples of perceived and experienced stigma and stigma concerns on future disclosure decision-making. Practical implications discuss individual, institutional, and societal stigma-reduction interventions and programs.     

Developing a Socialist‐Feminist Vision on Education: conference report of the Women for Socialism,Women and Education Dayschool,held on 7 October 1989

Education has been the subject of much debate during the late 1980s. The Education Reform Act 1988 marks a major shift to the right in central government approaches to state education. However, despite these changes there has been little attempt to develop an alternative vision of education not founded in the ideology of ‘the market’. In 1989, Women for Socialism held a conference which brought together socialist‐feminists to begin the process of building a vision of an education system which would challenge the oppressions of class, gender and race.     

Educational placements and National Curriculum Key Stage 2 test outcomes of children with a history of specific language impairment

As part of their longitudinal investigations of a large cohort with a history of specific language impairment (SLI), Professor Gina Conti-Ramsden and her research team based at the School of Education, University of Manchester, Dr Emma Knox, Dr Nicola Botting and Dr Zoë Simkin report on the changing educational placements and National Curriculum assessment outcomes of 200 children at 11 years. Teacher questionnaires reporting on the Year 6 primary education placements of the sample reveal details about the long-term educational needs of children with SLI.
Furthermore, in exploring the experiences of the sample in the National Curriculum Key Stage 2 tests the present study found that children with SLI perform poorly relative to national expectations of levels of achievement across all tests. At present there are no guidelines for supporting children with SLI in relation to National Curriculum tests and the present data suggests there is an obvious need for these to be developed.     

Feedback on feedback practice: perceptions of students and academics

While feedback is widely considered central to student learning, students across the higher education sector commonly report dissatisfaction with the feedback they receive. In contrast, academics often feel they provide quality and informative feedback. This article explores and compares the perceptions of students and academics with regard to feedback practice. The paper presents the results of questionnaire surveys conducted with academics and students at the School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University. It highlights the perceptions of academics and students with regard to preferences for different types of feedback, timeliness of feedback, students’ engagement and interest in feedback, quality feedback and satisfaction with current practice. The findings indicate a significant discord between staff and students in relation to certain aspects of feedback practice, namely opinions on students’ engagement and interest in feedback, satisfaction with current practice and feedback preference. Similarities in viewpoints were also found in relation to quality feedback.     

Examining the moderating effect of individual-level cultural values on users’ acceptance of E-learning in developing countries: a structural equation modeling of an extended technology acceptance model

In this study, we examine the effects of individual-level culture on the adoption and acceptance of e-learning tools by students in Lebanon using a theoretical framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To overcome possible limitations of using TAM in developing countries, we extend TAM to include subjective norms (SN) and quality of work life constructs as additional constructs and a number of cultural variables as moderators. The four cultural dimensions of masculinity/femininity (MF), individualism/collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were measured at the individual level to enable them to be integrated into the extended TAM as moderators and a research model was developed based on previous literature. To test the hypothesised model, data were collected from 569 undergraduate and postgraduate students using e-learning tools in Lebanon via questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique in conjunction with multi-group analysis. As hypothesised, the results of the study revealed perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), SN and quality of work life to be significant determinants of students’ behavioural intention (BI) towards e-learning. The empirical results also demonstrated that the relationship between SN and BI was particularly sensitive to differences in individual-cultural values, with significant moderating effects observed for all four of the cultural dimensions studied. Some moderating effects of culture were also found for both PU and PEOU, however, contrary to expectations the effect of quality of work life was not found to be moderated by MF as some previous authors have predicted. The implications of these results to both theory and practice are explored in the paper.     

Hemoglobin, growth, and attention of infants in southern Ethiopia

Male and female infants from rural Ethiopia were tested to investigate relations among hemoglobin (Hb), anthropometry, and attention. A longitudinal design was used to examine differences in attention performance from 6 (M = 24.9 weeks, n = 89) to 9 months of age (M = 40.6 weeks, n = 85), differences hypothesized to be related to changes in iron status and growth delays. Stunting (length‐for‐age z scores < ?2.0) and attention performance, t(30) = ?2.42, p = .022, worsened over time. Growth and Hb predicted attention at 9 months, R² = .15, p < .05, but not at 6. The study contributes to the knowledge base concerning the relations among Hb, early growth, and attention.