Employment self-disclosure of postsecondary graduates with learning disabilities: rates and rationales

One hundred thirty-two graduates with learning disabilities (LD) of a large, public, competitive postsecondary institution were surveyed to determine if they had self-disclosed their LD to their current employer and to provide the reasons for choosing to self-disclose or not to self-disclose. Based on a response rate of 67.4% (n = 89), the results indicated that 86.5% of the respondents were employed full time. Although nearly 90% of the respondents stated that their LD affected their work in some way, only 30.3% self-disclosed to their employer. Of those who had not self-disclosed, the majority reported that there was no reason or need to self-disclose. However, 46.1% reported not self-disclosing due to fear of a potentially negative impact in the workplace or due to a concern for job security. Specific rationales for disclosure and information related to the use of self-reported accommodations and strategies are presented.     

Children’s Participation in a Virtual Epidemic in the Science Classroom: Making Connections to Natural Infectious Diseases

This study investigated students’ understanding of a virtual infectious disease in relation to their understanding of natural infectious diseases. Two sixth-grade classrooms of students between the ages of 10 and 12 (46 students) took part in a participatory simulation of a virtual infectious disease, which was integrated into their science curriculum. The results from our analyses reveal that students perceived the simulation as similar to a natural infectious disease and that the immersive components of the simulation afforded students the opportunity to discuss their understandings of natural disease and to compare them to their experiences with the virtual disease. We found that while the virtual disease capitalized on students’ knowledge of natural infectious disease through virtual symptoms, these symptoms may have led students to think of its transfer more as an observable or mechanical event rather than as a biological process. These findings provide helpful indicators to science educators and educational designers interested in creating and integrating online simulations within classroom environments to further students’ conceptual understanding.     

Building capacity: challenges and opportunities in large class pedagogy (LCP) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past 20 years most countries, particularly developing countries, have seen a large increase in the number of students seeking higher education. A consequence of this growth is increasing pressure on teaching staff and institutions, usually resulting in, among other effects, increased class size. Large classes of between 300 and 1,000, and even more, at the undergraduate level are not uncommon in a number of countries (Mulryan-Kyne in Teach High Educ 15(2):175–185, 2010). Large classes are often perceived as one of the major obstacles to the attainment of quality education. Despite the difficulties associated with teaching and learning in large classes, they remain a reality in many countries affecting learners across all levels of the education system and are often the only perceived option available to meet growing demand for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mohamedbhai in The effects of massification on higher education in Africa. Report from the Working Group on Higher Education of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2008). We contend that the challenges of delivering large classes can be confronted, and in many ways diminished, through the use of current and emerging technologies and enhanced faculty development. In this expository paper, we present findings from project activities focused on higher education faculty development and capacity building. The findings include both formative and summative development activities, as well as data collected in faculty professional development workshops and the results of two surveys. We use these data to lay out issues, challenges (e.g., skills, resources, logistics—including poor campus infrastructure), and opportunities (e.g., mobile capacity, distance tools such as Moodle) of large class pedagogy using a design-based research framework.     

Broadcast profitability: A comparison of profits from broadcast and non‐broadcast segments of public corporations

To understand the broadcast segments of multi‐industry companies, it is important to consider the revenue demands of their parent companies. This article develops a methodology for analyzing the profitability of broadcast and non‐broadcast segments and applies that methodology in an examination of publicly held corporations.     

From Infantile Citizens to Infantile Institutions: The Metaphoric Transformation of Political Economy in the 2008 Housing Market Crisis

The logic of political economy depends on a domestic metaphor, using the oikos or household as a model for the polis. Historically, this metaphor has imagined citizens as the children of a paternal state. However during the 2008 housing crisis, this metaphor was turned upside down, depicting citizens as the parents of infantile state institutions. Although initially portraying citizens as juvenile “delinquents,” the rhetoric of the mortgage crisis ultimately repositioned citizens as surrogate caretakers for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant politico-economic institutions that constituted the majority of the mortgage market. In this way, the rhetoric of the housing crisis inverted both the metaphorical and material structure of political economy.     

Constructivist,Problem-Based Learning Does Work: A Meta-Analysis of Curricular Comparisons Involving a Single Medical School

Effects of problem-based learning as reported in curricular comparison studies have been shown to be inconsistent over different medical schools. Therefore, we decided to summarize effects of a single well-established problem-based curriculum rather than to add up sometimes-conflicting findings from different problem-based curricula. Effect sizes were computed for 270 comparisons. The results suggest that students and graduates from the particular curriculum perform much better in the area of interpersonal skills, and with regard to practical medical skills. In addition, they consistently rate the quality of the curriculum as higher. Moreover, fewer students drop out, and those surviving need less time to graduate. Differences with respect to medical knowledge and diagnostic reasoning were on average positive but small. These outcomes are at variance with expectations voiced in recent contributions to the literature. They demonstrate that constructivist curricula can have positive effects on learning even if they deemphasize direct instruction.     

Division of labour and sharing of knowledge for synchronous collaborative information retrieval

Synchronous collaborative information retrieval (SCIR) is concerned with supporting two or more users who search together at the same time in order to satisfy a shared information need. SCIR systems represent a paradigmatic shift in the way we view information retrieval, moving from an individual to a group process and as such the development of novel IR techniques is needed to support this. In this article we present what we believe are two key concepts for the development of effective SCIR namely division of labour (DoL) and sharing of knowledge (SoK). Together these concepts enable coordinated SCIR such that redundancy across group members is reduced whilst enabling each group member to benefit from the discoveries of their collaborators. In this article we outline techniques from state-of-the-art SCIR systems which support these two concepts, primarily through the provision of awareness widgets. We then outline some of our own work into system-mediated techniques for division of labour and sharing of knowledge in SCIR. Finally we conclude with a discussion on some possible future trends for these two coordination techniques.     

Counselor Education Program Development: A Communication-Information Model

The common core concept was presented as the vehicle for developing a more adaptive educational program for the counseling profession. The communication model developed was based on the assumption of common elements of role behavior for counselors across agency settings. The model also depends upon the explication of communication and information needs necessary for adequate functioning of the counselor across as well as within settings as the basis for curriculum content. An organizational structure for implementing the communication model was explicated in a training program setting to facilitate the implementation of the model.     

习近平总书记系列重要讲话中的体育观探析

摘要：习近平总书记高度重视体育事业,并围绕建设体育强国,加快“健康中国”建设发表了系列重要讲话。习近平关于体育系列重要讲话系统地阐述了对体育的认识与观点,是习近平体育观的集中体现。文章根据习近平系列重要讲话、有关体育指示的文献资料,应用原典分析法和对照式研究方法,系统分析和探析了习近平的体育观,深刻学习和全面领会了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想。首先,习近平体育观,涵盖严谨的科学体系。习近平明确指出,“人民身体健康是全面建成小康社会的重要内涵”,这既是“体育定位的新论”,又是习近平体育观的逻辑起点。“两大发展思想”,是习近平体育观的根本指导方针。“两大战略目标”,是习近平体育观的战略目标体系。“六大战略任务”,是习近平体育观的发展战略任务。“深化体育三大改革”是习近平体育观的发展动力机制。“坚持党的领导”是习近平体育观的制度保证;其次,习近平体育观具有坚持体育的问题导向、坚持体育发展的人民性、时代性、社会引领示范性、坚持体育创新驱动性的创新特征,这彰显了习近平体育观的伟大时代价值;最后,习近平体育观是新时代的创新性理论,是建设体育强国,努力实现建设“健康中国”目标的指导思想。     

The relationships among fundamental motor skills, health-related physical fitness, and body fatness in South Korean adolescents with mental retardation

The purpose of this study was to examine the following: (a) the relationships among the latent constructs of fundamental motor skills (FMS), health-related physical fitness (HRF), and observed body fatness in South Korean adolescents with mental retardation (MR); (b) the indirect effect of fundamental motor skills on body fatness when mediated by health-related fitness; and (c) whether the degree of MR and gender affects these relationships. Students ages 13 to 18 years (287 boys and 134 girls) were recruited for the study. Separate structural equation models were estimated based on gender and the level of disability: mild or moderate MR. Group differences in the model structure were not found, so the data were combined and a single model estimated. The results showed that FMS significantly contributed to HRF (standardized effects beta = .53), p < .01 and indirectly contributed to decreased body fatness mediated by HRF (-.27), p < .01. HRF directly contributed to decreased fatness (-.50), p < .01. The results from this study support the importance of both increased FMS and increased HRF in relation to decreased body fatness.