Strategic alignment of participant motivations in e-government collaborations: The Internet Payment Platform pilot

Large-scale information technology implementations are risky projects, and the challenges and risks multiply when multiple organizations are involved, as is often the case in e-government initiatives. Some of the risk can be addressed by carefully aligning the partners' motivations, which are affected by each organization's internal and external operational and information technology strategies. In this paper, we propose a strategic alignment framework and use it to examine the motivations of a set of collaborating government agencies and businesses in the pilot implementation of the Internet Payment Platform, an interorganizational, third-party hosted, e-procurement system. As we predict, the partners in this study had varied technical, political, economic, and operational motivations for participating in the project. Even so, the participating agencies reported positive outcomes from the project, and look forward to further collaboration on the next iteration of this e-procurement system.     

Understanding disability with children's social capital

This paper reports on a specific event which attempted to facilitate discussions with children and young people about diversity issues, including disability. The concept of social capital was operationalised and used as both a resource to stimulate discussions and as an explicit goal. The paper first reports on the processes involved and the topics identified for discussion by the children and young people and then considers their engagement with disability. Their insights on knowing disability, relationships, and provision and support illustrate a shift from an essentialising of impairment to an articulation of barriers which excluded disabled people and the lessons which teachers might take from these are discussed.     

The impact of storybooks on kindergarten children＇s mathematical achievement and approaches to learning

This paper presents a mixed methods study that explored how storybooks influence kindergarten children＇s mathematical achievement and approaches to mathematics learning. Teachers＇ observations and research stating primary grade children＇s lack of mathematical knowledge and negative attitudes towards mathematics served as the impetus for the study. Three kindergarten teachers taught a mathematics unit using various children＇s storybooks and the characters in the stories as the context for mathematical problems. The results of the study show an impact on students＇ mathematical achievement as well as the identification of four themes that emerged on how students＇ approaches to learning were influenced when storybooks were integrated into the mathematics unit.     

Development of Student Understanding of Outcomes Involving Two or More Dice

Data from 154 interviews with students in grades 3 to 13 were analyzed to suggest a developmental progression of conceptual understanding associated with the sample space for two ordinary six-sided dice tossed simultaneously. The model was then considered in the light of responses to an extension task involving three six-sided dice with four sides painted black and two white. Forty-five of the interviews were longitudinal interviews of students 3 or 4 years after the original interviews, allowing for analysis of change in levels of understanding across time. This study suggests some of the intuitions and understandings that form the intermediate steps to a complete understanding of outcomes for two dice, as well as documenting the conceptual regression likely to occur when a more difficult task is encountered. Links to previous research, including well-known misconceptions, and educational implications of the model are among the discussion points.     

Further education teachers' accounts of their professional identities

This study of further education teachers, conducted over a two-year period, captures the realities of their working lives and, in particular, draws attention to how teachers reconcile competing pressures. This contributes to the growing interest in and body of knowledge about teachers' lives and the formation of their professional identities. The study draws on a variety of data including ethnographic observation, journals and biographical accounts to indicate the nature of their fractured professional base that leaves them open to exploitation. The ongoing pressure for performativity and constant change destabilises their work, yet they remain committed to meeting the needs and interests of their students.     

小说《坎特维尔古堡幽灵》读解

从人物、环境、叙事者、主题、风格、结构等六个方面对小说《坎特维尔古堡幽灵》进行了分析与解读。     

Applied Opportunity: Transfer Pathways of the Associates in Applied Sciences Degree in Kentucky

Growing numbers of previously terminal AAS degrees have been targeted for transfer agreements with four-year institutions (Townsend, 2001). What happens when terminal credentials designed for a specific segment of the labor market become part of a broader academic pathway? Does this open new opportunity for applied degree recipients? In this study, we analyze articulation agreements for AAS degrees between the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and state public and private four-year colleges. This exploratory study reveals that while the expansion of credentials from AAS to the baccalaureate does offer some opportunities for students who begin what would have once been a terminal degree, the promise of smooth articulation is difficult to meet. Unless a student is focused and knowledgeable, almost all of the five types of transfer pathways described hold risks and there are numerous obstacles to successful completion.     

African American College Students,the Black Church,and Counseling

African American undergraduate students face numerous challenges during college; however, they are less likely to seek help from college counseling services. Often, African Americans seek support from spiritual resources. In the current phenomenological study, participants shared in a focus group interview. Overall, participants seemed to value the Black Church as an integral part of their lives and as an influence on their perceptions of counseling and proclivity to seek counseling services.     

Social physique anxiety and physical activity behaviour of male and female exercisers

Despite females consistently reporting greater social physique anxiety (SPA), previous literature has yet to demonstrate whether SPA gender differences are linked to the way males and females perform physical activity. This study investigated an association between SPA and physical activity frequency, history of exercise, and physical activity intensity. Participants were represented by currently active users (N?=?33 males; N?=?31 females) of an on-campus university-run gym and completed a background physical activity questionnaire and the nine-item Social Physique Anxiety Scale. Participants also performed an exercise session at a self-selected level of exertion, with the intensity of each session measured via heart rate monitor. SPA was not associated with physical activity frequency, history of exercise (length of gym membership), or intensity for male and female exercisers. With respect to male participants, females reported higher SPA and a preference for performing higher intensity physical activity. Females and males also indicated a preference for performing aerobic and anaerobic physical activity respectively. Our findings suggest the experience of SPA does not deter body-conscious individuals from the performance of regular physical activity. Findings also suggest the discrepancy in male and female SPA is not linked to differences in the way physical activity is performed.