Features in children's counting books that lead dyads to both count and label sets during shared book reading

This study examined how book features influence talk during shared book reading. We used data from a study in which parent–child dyads (n = 157; child's M_age = 43.99 months; 88 girls, 69 boys; 91.72% of parents self-reported as white) were randomly assigned to read two number books. The focus was comparison talk (i.e., talk in which dyads count a set and also label its total), as this type of talk has been shown to promote children's understanding of cardinality. Replicating previous findings, dyads produced relatively low levels of comparison talk. However, book features influenced the talk. Books containing a greater number of numerical representations (e.g., number word, numeral, and non-symbolic set) and a greater word count elicited more comparison talk.     

Exploring the validity of a teachers’ self-efficacy scale in five countries

The purpose of this article was twofold. The first purpose was to test the validity of the Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) in five settings—Canada, Cyprus, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. The second purpose was, by extension, to establish the importance of the teacher self-efficacy construct across diverse teaching conditions. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to better understand the measurement invariance of the scale across countries, after which the relationship between the TSES, its three factors, and job satisfaction was explored. The TSES showed convincing evidence of reliability and measurement invariance across the five countries, and the relationship between the TSES and job satisfaction was similar across settings. The study provides general evidence that teachers’ self-efficacy is a valid construct across culturally diverse settings and specific evidence that teachers’ self-efficacy showed a similar relationship with teachers’ job satisfaction in five contrasting settings.     

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the youth experience survey for sport (P-YES-S)

This study investigated adaptation and the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Youth Experience Survey for Sport (P-YES-S). Translators, professors, and athletes participated. Athletes between 14 and 18 years were recruited. The instrument was the P-YES-S. Content validity was assessed by coefficients of content and kappa, while Cronbach’s alpha was used for internal consistency analysis and intraclass correlation for temporal stability. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted to test the construct validity of the instrument. Discriminant validity was assessed by comparing the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) with the squared correlation between factors. Results showed acceptable levels for content validity, internal consistency, temporal stability, concurrent validity, and construct validity. The acceptable model was: X²/df = 1.54, GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.92; AGFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, AIC = 414.63, BIC = 610.93, MECVI = 1.41 and RMSEA = 0.0.04, p = 0.03. The adaptation process produced an instrument with 22 items and the dimensions of Personal and Social Skills, Cognitive Skills, Initiative Experiences, and Negative Experiences.     

Anticipating ageing: Older adults reading their medical records

In spite of the general interest in health information behaviour, there is little earlier research on how older adults, who are still active in working life but approaching retirement, differ from other age groups. A survey with Swedish patients who had ordered and read their medical record was conducted to map the preferences and motivations of older adults (born 1946–1960) ordering a copy of their medical record, and using medical records based e-health and information services in the future. The results do not indicate an obvious linear relationship between age and motivation to use online health information but show several differences between the age groups. Older adults were less interested in communication with their medical doctor by e-mail. Yet, they had searched health information in the Internet during the last week more likely than young. They were more inclined to read medical record to get an overview of their health than young, but less confident that they understood most of the content or turn to their family and friends to seek help than the elderly. When compared to younger adults and elderly people, older adults are the least confident and least motivated to use online health information. It is suggested that older adulthood can be seen as a transitory stage of life when the need of health information increases and engagement with health changes. The results agree with prior research on the potential usefulness of (online) medical records as a way to inform citizens. However, specific provision strategies may be necessary to match the needs and motivations of different age groups.     

Test administrator's gender affects female and male students' self-estimated verbal general knowledge

Effects of test administrator's gender on test takers' self-estimated verbal general knowledge and de facto verbal general knowledge were investigated. Based on three theories previously applied in research dealing with the effects of test administrator's ethnicity, it was expected male and female test takers to show higher scores under female test administration. In a double-blind face-to-face-testing design, 93 university students of both genders in four groups were tested by 20 test administrators of both genders. A MANOVA confirmed the expected significant main effect. Female and male students reached higher scores in self-estimated knowledge when tested by a female test administrator in comparison to female students and male students tested by a male test administrator (Cohen's d = 0.46). No significant effects resulted for de facto knowledge.     

Relaxing Design Students’ Sketch Inhibition: Experiences with Theoretical Grounding and Impermanent Media

This article reports about a study developed to understand the effectiveness of instructional strategies to manage sketch inhibition in design students through studio-based pedagogy. Sketch inhibition among students and recent graduates of design programs is a prominent aspect of the prevailing digitization of the design industry and education. While traditional and digital media are ideally complementary tools to facilitate the complex process of designing, studio instructors struggle to effectively integrate both into their students’ conceptions and practices. Primary data sources were ethnographic fieldnotes, semi-structured interviews, and students’ responses to open-ended survey questions. Whiteboards used as an impermanent medium, requests for quantity of sketches, and gentle enforcement of time limits were incorporated into studio practices on the foundation of theoretical grounding. Students understood the purpose and advantages of using hand sketches at strategic moments during the design process. Inhibited students responded to this combination of interventions by relaxing enough to focus on engaging with the relevant design tasks rather than focusing on how best to avoid them. Production of rich records, documenting their projects’ progression, served as supporting evidence that sketching had become a more normal and accepted part of the design process than for previous studio cohorts. The authors suggest more experimentation with these strategies and propose that sketching instructors prioritize and nurture ‘thinking sketches’ over ‘persuasive sketches’ to transfer attention from the representation of design solutions toward the design process and the development of mature design solutions.     

Trademarks’ relatedness to product and service innovation: A branding strategy approach

The use of trademark data in innovation studies is still limited because as yet no guidelines exist to ascertain which trademarks relate to innovation. This paper proposes that a branding strategy approach may help to identify innovation related trademarks. Companies use distinctive branding strategies for innovation and these branding strategies have important consequences for the design of new trademarks and their application scope. Based on a sample of Benelux and Community trademarks, we find that trademarks for brand creation relate more often to product innovation. In addition, we find negative effects of a trademark’s industry scope on its relatedness to product innovation, and of a trademark’s geographic scope on its relatedness to service innovation. Our findings bear several key implications for further research towards identifying innovation-related trademarks from a branding strategy perspective.     

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Box? Children and TV Advertising in four Countries

Abstract

To what extent are children influenced by television and, in particular, by advertising? The study discussed in this article was conducted in four countries with, in some cases, surprising results. Parents think that television influences their children, but children too have views on how adults are affected.