Alternatives to the behavioural technicist conception of study skills

The what and how of study skills programmes are critiqued and alternatives suggested. Due to the absence of information about higher level learning, study skills courses have traditionally focused on study behaviours, rather than upon the cognitive processes involved in mastering complex material. By providing knowledge about the cognitive skills and strategies involved in the acquisition and organization of high level learning, information-processing could form the basis of future learning-skills programmes. Infusing learning skills into the curriculum from a phenomenological-critical theory perspective, means that the study skills counsellor becomes a social change agent aiming for the enlightenment and emancipation of students and lecturers. This is a radical departure from the behavioural-technician remedying a deficit group in a special programme or study laboratory.     

A deniable and efficient question and answer service over ad hoc social networks

When people are connected together over ad hoc social networks, it is possible to ask questions and retrieve answers using the wisdom of the crowd. However, locating a suitable candidate for answering a specific unique question within larger ad hoc groups is non-trivial, especially if we wish to respect the privacy of users by providing deniability. All members of the network wish to source the best possible answers from the network, while at the same time controlling the levels of attention required to generate them by the collective group of individuals and/or the time taken to read all the answers. Conventional expert retrieval approaches rank users for a given query in a centralised indexing process, associating users with material they have previously published. Such an approach is antithetical to privacy, so we have looked to distribute the routing of questions and answers, converting the indexing process into one of building a forwarding table. Starting from the simple operation of flooding the question to everyone, we compare a number of different routing options, where decisions must be made based on past performance and exploitation of the knowledge of our immediate neighbours. We focus on fully decentralised protocols using ant-inspired tactics to route questions towards members of the network who may be able to answer them well. Simultaneously, privacy concerns are acknowledged by allowing both question asking and answering to be plausibly deniable. We have found that via our routing method, it is possible to improve answer quality and also reduce the total amount of user attention required to generate those answers.     

Synthesising case-study research – ready for the next step?

Within the emerging field of research on education for sustainability (EfS), case studies are an important if not the predominant research approach, although often criticised for its lack of internal and external validity and a tendency to draw conclusions with insufficient rigour. While, basic concerns have been expressed and discussed in an early issue of this journal, main assumption still hold true after more than 10 years of research in the field. Only a few approaches so far have tackled the challenge to provide cross-case comparison and the synthesis of case-study results still remains a research desideratum. In this paper, we argue that developments in the field of qualitative and quantitative meta-analysis in educational science offer a framework, which can be used to overcome that shortcoming. After describing the idea of research synthesis, different types of such a meta-analysis are identified and their potential is discussed for existing case studies in higher EfS. This paper concludes with recommendations for further case-study research in the field.     

A PROSPECTIVE STUDY INVESTIGATING THE LINKS AMONG CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT,SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS,AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN ADOLESCENTS

School connectedness and classroom environment have both been strongly linked to depressive symptoms, but their interrelation is unclear. We tested whether school connectedness mediated the link between classroom environment and depressive symptoms. A sample of 504 Australian seventh‐ and eighth‐grade students completed the Classroom Environment Scale, Psychological Sense of School Membership scale, and Children's Depression Inventory, at three time points. Together, the classroom environment and school connectedness accounted for 41% to 45% of variance in concurrent depressive symptoms, and 14% of subsequent depressive symptoms with prior symptoms accounted for. Only a partial mediation was found, with both classroom environment and school connectedness continuing to contribute uniquely to the prediction of concurrent and subsequent depressive symptoms. These findings provide additional support for the idea that school‐based pathways to depressive symptoms are a complex interplay between environment and individual difference variables, necessitating individual and environmental school‐based interventions.     

British and Australian Media

Graham Cleverley's The Fleet Street Disaster: British National Newspapers as a Case Study in Mismanagement (London: Constable [Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications] , 1976—4.50 [$12.95])

Recent Books on Mass Media with British Imprints, January 1975-September 1976 (41 pp.)

Current British Research on Mass Media and Mass Communication: Register of Ongoing and Recently Completed Research (74 pp.)

Television and Radio 1977 (Independent Broadcasting Authority, 70 Brompton Road, London SW3 I EY, England–L1.40, or about $2.50, paper)

Davis, Anthony. Television: The First Forty Years (159 pp.)

Fairley, Peter. Television: Behind the Screen (160 pp.)

Davis, Anthony. Television: Here is the News (144 pp.)

Ian K. MacKay, Broadcasting in Papua New Guinea (Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press [ISBS Inc., P.O. Box 555, Forest Grove, Ore. 971161, 1976—$22.50 in the U.S.)     

Impediments to Digital Distribution for Software and Books

One of the greatest benefits of electronic commerce occurs when physical processes and products are replaced with digital ones. Digital distribution eliminates manufacturing and shipping costs as well as related intermediary margins. The software and book industries, among others, should be able to take advantage of these economies but for the most part have not. Impediments to digital distribution include the benefits of in-person browsing and demonstration, user readiness, device, infrastructure, intellectual property protection, the sensory experience of shopping, the relative probability of impulse buying, the value of display at retail locations, display and gift tangibility, and the need for alternative Internet payment methods.     

The Influence of Religiosity and Ethnic Identification on Media Use Among Muslims and Non-Muslims in France and Britain

This is an examination of the ethnic media use of French and British Muslims. A total of 677 Muslims participated in the study. Analysis reveals being an immigrant or a native of a nation does not significantly influence ethnic media use in France but does in Britain. Ethnic identification was also revealed as an influential predictor of ethnic media use among Muslims in France but not in Britain. Religiosity significantly predicted ethnic media use among British Muslims. The article argues religiosity and ethnic identification should be included in studies examining media use among ethnic groups.     

Project Transfer: A Publisher's Perspective

The Transfer Code of Conduct is designed to improve the process of journal transfer between publishers. It was launched by the UKSG (United Kingdom Serials Group) in May 2007. Taylor & Francis is one of eight publishers to support the project. It is different from previous initiatives in that it was created by publishers, librarians, and intermediaries, and it aims to provide a firmer, more practical set of guidelines than those that have been published previously. Despite a strong initial take-up, the Code has not yet been endorsed by some of the larger publishers and trade bodies. These organizations are now working with Transfer to re-draft the Code of Conduct. Once this is in place, further measures are planned to track journal transfer and monitor compliance. Long-term governance of Transfer is also being considered.