Preparing novice teachers to develop basic reading and spelling skills in children

This study examined the word-structure knowledge of novice teachers and the progress of children tutored by a subgroup of the teachers. Teachers’ word-structure knowledge was assessed using three tasks: graphophonemic segmentation, classification of pseudowords by syllable type, and classification of real words as phonetically regular or irregular. Tutored children were assessed on several measures of basic reading and spelling skills. Novice teachers who received word-structure instruction outperformed a comparison group of teachers in word-structure knowledge at post-test. Tutored children improved significantly from pre-test to post-test on all assessments. Teachers’ post-test knowledge on the graphophonemic segmentation and irregular words tasks correlated significantly with tutored children’s progress in decoding phonetically regular words; error analyses indicated links between teachers’ patterns of word-structure knowledge and children’s patterns of decoding progress. The study suggests that word-structure knowledge is important to effective teaching of word decoding and underscores the need to include this information in teacher preparation.     

Conceptions of Science Teacher Mentoring and Mentoring Practice in an Alternative Certification Program

Conceptions of mentoring held by six mentors and six beginning science teachers in an alternative certification program were explored qualitatively by means of case studies and phenomenography. Interviews with the six mentors and six beginning teachers produced 379 statements that were grouped into six conceptual categories. The categories of apprenticeship, personal support, and colearning revealed the variation in how mentors and beginning teachers conceptualized school-based mentoring. The conceptions functioned as referents for their mentoring practice. Mentoring as apprenticeship was the dominant conception among both the beginning teachers and mentors. The findings of this study imply that conceptions of mentoring held by mentors and beginning science teachers should be considered when organizing the school-based component of alternative certification programs.     

The peer‐review process in English‐language advertising journals: a survey of US academics

This study examined the views of advertising academics regarding the peer‐review process in English‐language advertising journals. Three issues were examined. First, how do advertising academics assess the peer‐review process in advertising journals on the following dimensions: fairness, anonymity (truly double‐blind), timeliness, and effectiveness in improving the quality of research? Second, how do they perceive the ethicality of review process behaviors? Third, what steps do they suggest for improving the quality or integrity of the peer‐review process? Data was collected through a survey of US‐based advertising academics. The findings reveal that advertising academics believe that, for the most part, advertising journals are succeeding at fairness, protecting anonymity, improving the research of submitters, and avoiding ethical infractions in the review process. However, advertising academics would like to see improvements in timeliness as well as in incentives and guidelines provided to participants in the peer‐review process.     

日本大阪都市圈居民的年龄、居住位置与家庭生命周期对小汽车使用与保有的影响

研究目的：探究城市居民小汽车交通行为变化的原因有多少来自人口统计特性的变化,有多少来自城市结构的改变。 创新要点：考虑家庭成员的生活任务分工以及家庭资源的分配等对每个家庭成员出行方式的影响,构建基于家庭生命周期的小汽车出行行为模型,为控制小汽车出行对策的研究提供准确依据。 研究方法：采用调查与统计理论,掌握居民的出行行为特征;基于经济计量学建模方法,构建居民小汽车出行行为联立方程模型。重要结论：城市结构关系的改变在抵消了人口统计特性的变化对小汽车交通产生的负面影响之后,小汽车交通总体呈上升趋势。     

User experience methodology: from the physical to the emotional

• Understanding users is vital to any interface design.
• People vary enormously – this affects not only the design but also the ways that we assess interface design success.
• To fully understand users we need to pair quantitative data with qualitative research.

     

桃花源的长官

文章围绕一组由欧阳修所作的散文展开讨论,其主题都是快乐的性质和来源。不同作品对快乐的来源给出不同的答案,其中《丰乐亭记》将其追溯为国家的和平统治。滁州人民大都与世隔绝,忘记了一个世纪以前此地发生的战乱。作为太守的欧阳修认为自己有责任提醒人民:他们的快乐并非自给自足,而是由于他们是天下承平的一部分。二十年后,苏东坡在《喜雨亭记》里回应了欧阳修的《丰乐亭记》。当时扶风可能面临大旱,苏东坡通过命名他的亭子,来纪念持续的雨季这一"恩赐"。他在散文结尾追问这种快乐的赐予者是谁,并得出不知快乐来源何在的结论。文章末尾则讨论将文本置于"家族"中来阅读的方式,这些文本提出共有的问题,并呼应此前的相关文本。     

Systematic educational change and teacher skill-building in developed and developing countries: the importance of teacher peer learning groups

Many developed and developing countries are seeking to systematically transform their education processes through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The aim of this paper is to present findings from one aspect of a larger ICT study in a particular location in a developing country, with the specific focus presented here being ICT professional development and impacts. Research methods in the study included teacher and school leader surveys, targeted interviews and also case studies. Findings at a systems level generally indicated insufficient coordination of training and minimal follow-up occurring. In case study situations in which the school leader ensured a schoolwide approach to the professional learning of teachers, ICT was more embedded into student learning processes in classrooms. Considering ICT and other professional learning relevant to education, this paper has relevance for policy developers and school leaders in developed and developing world contexts. The need exists for using coordinated professional development processes, with more centralised ‘one-off’ training supplemented by schools and districts. The establishment of peer learning groups or mentors to support skill-building over time is also needed. Through these ongoing processes, teachers can more effectively make changes in their teaching practices, with potential impacts on student learning.     

Analysis of predatory emails in early career academia and attempts at prevention

Predatory publishers—those who do not adhere to rigorous standards of academic practice such as peer review—are increasingly infiltrating biomedical databases, to the detriment of the wider scientific community. These publishers frequently send unsolicited ‘spam’ emails to generate submission to their journals, with early career researchers (ECR) particularly susceptible to these practices because of pressures such as securing employment and promotion. This analysis sought to record and characterize the emails received over the course of a PhD and post-doctoral position (~8 years), as well as attempts to unsubscribe from such emails, using a progressive and step-wise manner. A total of 1,280 emails identified as academic spam were received (990 journal invitations, 220 conference invitations, 70 ‘other’). The first email was received 3 months after registration for an international conference. Attempts at unsubscribing were somewhat effective, whereby implications of reporting to respective authorities resulted in a 43% decrease in emails, although did not eliminate them completely, and therefore alternative approaches to eliminating academic spam may be needed. Ongoing education about predatory publishers, as well as action by key academic stakeholders, should look to reduce the impact these predatory publishers have upon the wider literature base.