The impact of national culture on e‐learning implementation: a comparative study of an Argentinean and a Swedish university

This paper analyses and suggests possible technological innovation strategies in higher educational institutions in Africa. The paper describes management issues in the implementation of eLearning with particular reference to its usage in higher education abroad and in Africa, and also suggests appropriate approaches for technological innovation of higher education in Africa. The major findings of the paper, which are based on three case studies, suggest that eLearning needs to be implemented within a strategically developed framework based on a clear and unified vision and a central educational rationale. The findings further highlight the importance of using a combination of strategies – top–down, bottom–up and inside–out – during the diffusion process to attain coherence, collegiality and ownership. The process of technological transformation is not a smooth translation process but one of dislocations, dilemmas and uncertainties and it is an art to effect change and sustainable technological transformation since people are central to this transformation process.

L'innovation technologique et les stratégies de management pour l'enseignement supérieur en Afrique: L'Harmonisation du réalisme et du l'idéalisme

Cet article analyse et suggére des stratégies d'innovation dans des établissements d'enseignement supérieur en Afrique. Il décrit les problèmes de management qui pose l'introduction du e‐Learning avec une référence particulière pour son usage dans l'enseignement supérieur à l'étranger et en Afrique et suggére les approches appropriées pour l'innovation technologique dans l'enseignement supérieur en Afrique. Les résultats principaux exposés dans cet article qui sont fondés sur trois études de cas suggérent que le e‐Learning doit être introduit dans un cadre stratégique fondé sur une vision clariment unifiée et une rationalisation centrale de l'éducation. De plus ces résultats mettent en évidence l'importance de l'utilisation combinée de plusieurs stratégies : stratégies autant en bas, de bas en haut, d'intérieur et d'extérieur pendant le processus de diffusion afin d'aboutir à la cohérence, la collégialité et la possession. Le processus de transformation technologique n'est pas un processus de translation sans à compris mais un de dislocation, de dilemmes, d'incertitudes et c'est un art de procéder au changement et à une transformation technologique soutenue puisque les hommes sont au c?ur de ce processus de transformation.

Technologische Innovations‐ und Umsetzungsstrategien für höhere Bildung in Afrika: Realität und Idealismus aufeinander abstimmen

Dieser Beitrag analysiert technologische Innovationstrategien und stellt Vorschläge für deren Einführung in höhereren Bildungsinstitutionen in Afrika zur Diskussion. Das Papier beschreibt Managementangelegenheiten bei der Umsetzung von eLearning unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Anwendung in der höheren Bildung im Ausland und in Afrika und schlägt auch entsprechende Ansätze für die technologische Innovation im Bereich der höheren Bildung in Afrika vor. Das wesentliche Ergebmiss dieser Arbeit, die auf drei Fallstudien beruht, ist, dass eLearning innerhalb eines strategisch entwickelten Rahmens, basierend auf einer klaren und einheitlichen Sichtweise und einer zentralen bildungslogischen Grundlage eingeführt werden muß. Die Befunde heben weiter die Wichtigkeit hervor, eine Kombination von Strategien zu verwenden: Top‐Down, Bottom‐Up und Inside‐Out Strategien während des Ausbreitungsprozesses, um Kohärenz, Kollegialität und Eigentumsrechte zu erlangen. Der Prozeß technologischer Transformation ist nicht etwa eine sanfte Überleitung, sondern von Verfremdung, Dilemmata und Unsicherheit begleitet. Es ist eine Kunst, Änderung und nachhaltige technologische Transformation zu bewirken, da ja die Menschen das zentrale Element dieses Transformation-sprozesses sind.     

The direct and indirect effects of motor competence on adolescents’ mental health through health-related physical fitness

ABSTRACT

Mental health is an important public health issue and up to one in five youth experience mental health problems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among motor competence, health-related physical fitness and mental health outcomes in adolescents. A secondary goal was to test the direct and indirect effects of motor competence on adolescents’ mental health through health-related physical fitness. Participants were 279 adolescents (M_age = 12.49, SD = 0.89) recruited in the south-west region of the US Motor competence including volleyball, soccer, and ultimate Frisbee, were assessed using PE Metrics?. FITNESSGRAM® test battery was used to assess health-related physical fitness components. Students completed a survey measuring their depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. Motor competence was significantly associated with components of health-related physical fitness (r ranged from ?0.15 to 0.38). The robust fit of the model supports the significant indirect effect of motor competence on mental health outcomes through health-related physical fitness (χ²/df = 39.92/25; CFI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.046; 90% CI [0.02, 0.07]). The hypothesized conceptual model tested in this study provides insights into the potential interaction of motor competence and health-related physical fitness with adolescents’ mental health.     

Advancing Student Success with Competency Points: Elevating Engagement and Motivation in Community College English Composition Students

This research tested and evaluated how one method—Competency Points (CPs)—increased student success by enhancing engagement and motivation in community college English composition students. In 2005 I introduced Competency Points in my English Composition 1 classes, and began tracking how engaged and motivated students were to succeed as revealed by the following five indices: number of completed essays and reading assignments, frequency of class attendance and participation, and rate of course completion. Students showed marked improvement in four, and negligible improvement in one, of these variables.     

Examining the Relationship of Children’s Behavior to Emotion Regulation Ability

This study investigated the relationship between children’s ability to regulate emotions and display of appropriate behavior in social settings. A sample of 33 children representing a wide range of social economic status was randomly selected from a Head Start Program and an Early Childhood Development Center in the Midwest. Data were collected using the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) developed by Shields and Cicchetti (Dev Psychol 33:906–916, 1997, J Clin child Psychol, 27:231–395, 1998). A “Behavior Recording” checklist was developed and used to record appropriate and inappropriate behavior observed during children social interactions. Teacher ratings identified children as generally high emotion regulators. Girls had generally higher scores than boys in emotion regulation ability. A high relationship (r = .76) was also found between emotion regulation and display of appropriate behavior. Results indicate the importance of emotions in relation to a child’s well being and academic achievement. Additionally, these findings suggest a need for parents and early childhood educators to teach children appropriate emotional behavior when confronted with situations that are in conflict with societal norms.     

An approach to the problem of “chest resonance”

RHETORIC IN GRECO‐ROMAN EDUCATION. By Donald Lemen Clark. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957; pp. xiii+ 285. $4.50.

ENGLISH POLITICS IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (Harvard Historical Monographs XXVIII). By Robert Walcott, Jr. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956; pp. viii+291. $3.50.

CONGRESSMAN ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Donald W. Riddle. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1957; pp. x+280. $4.50.

REVIVALISM AND SOCIAL REFORM IN MID ‐ NINETEENTH ‐ CENTURY AMERICA. By Timothy L. Smith. New York: Abingdon Press, 1957; pp. 253. $4.00.

TREATISES ON PREACHING. By Harry Caplan and Henry H. King.

LITERATURE AND THE IMAGE OF MAN: SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE EUROPEAN DRAMA AND NOVEL, 1600–1900. By Leo Lowenthal. Boston: The Beacon Press; 1957; pp. xiv+242. $4.95.

OEDIPUS AT THEBES. By Bernard Knox. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; pp. viii+280. $5.00.

PARIS THEATRE AUDIENCES IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. By John Lough. London: Oxford University Press, 1957; pp. vii+293. $7.20.

ON THE ART OF THE THEATRE. By Edward Gordon Craig. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1956; pp. xxiii+296; 7 plates. $4.75.

AMERICAN DRAMA SINCE 1918. By Joseph Wood Krutch. (Revised edition.) New York: George Braziller, 1957; pp. xii+344. $5.00.

ON ACTORS AND THE ART OF ACTING. George Henry Lewes. New York: Grove Press, 1957; pp. 237. Paper, $1.45. Hardbound, $3.50.

THEATRE SCENECRAFT. By Vern Adix. Anchorage, Kentucky: The Children's Theatre Press, 1956; pp. xxii+309. $6.50.

A SWINGER OF BIRCHES: A PORTRAIT OF ROBERT FROST. By Sidney Cox. With an introduction by Robert Frost. New York: New York University Press, 1957; pp. xi+177.

THE MAN IN THE NAME: ESSAYS ON THE EXPERIENCE OF POETRY. By Leonard Unger. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1956; pp. xii+249. $4.00.

MACHINE TRANSLATION OF LANGUAGES. Edited by William N. Locke and A. Donald Booth. New York: The Technology Press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and John Wiley, 1955; pp. xii+243. $6.00.

PROBLEMS AND PRINCIPLES: STUDIES IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE. By David Aber‐crombie. London, New York, and Toronto: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1956; pp. v+97. $1.10.

STUDY OF SOUNDS: ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE PHONETIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN. Compiled by the Phonetic Society of Japan. Tokyo, 1957; pp. 549.

BRITISH BROADCASTING: RADIO AND TELEVISION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. By Burton Paulu. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1956; pp. xii+457. $6.00.

CERTAIN LANGUAGE SKILLS IN CHILDREN: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS. By Mildred C. Templin. Minneapolis: University or Minnesota Press, 1957; pp. xviii+183. $4.00.

YOUR CHILD'S SPEECH. By Flora Rheta Schreiber. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1956; pp. 256. $3.50.

SPEECH DISORDERS, PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF THERAPY. By Mildred F. Berry and Jon Eisenson. New York: Apple‐ton‐Century‐Crofts, 1956; pp. 573. $6.75.

SPEECH CORRECTION IN THE SCHOOLS. By Jon Eisenson and Mardel Ogilvie. New York: Macmillan, 1957; pp. 294. I4.25.

BASIC VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEECH. By Elise Hahn, Charles W. Lomas, Donald Hargis, and Daniel Vandraegen. (Second edition.) New York: McGraw‐Hill, 1957; pp. 253. $1.75.

THE ART OF PERSUASION. By Wayne C. Minnick. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957; pp. viii+293. $4.00.

FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH. By Wayne N. Thompson. New York: McGraw‐Hill, 1957; pp. x+582. $5.00.

MANAGEMENT‐EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION IN ACTION. By Harold P. Zelko and Harold J. O'Brien. Cleveland: Howard Allen, Inc., 1957; pp. xv+177. $3.50.

LEADERSHIP AND ROLE EXPECTATIONS. By Ralph M. Stogdill, Ellis L. Scott, and William E. Jaynes. Columbus, Ohio: The Bureau of Business Research, College of Commerce and Administration, Ohio State University, 1956; pp. 168. $2.00.

THE MAN BEHIND THE MESSAGE: A STUDY OF SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORS. By Dayton E. Heckraan, Franklin H. Knower, and Paul H. Wagner. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University, 1956; pp. 132. $1.00.

SPEECH AT WORK. By Audrey M. Bullard and E. Dulce Lindsay. Melbourne: Longmans, Green and Co., 1956; pp. 180. $2.50.

THE ART OF SPEECH. By H. W. Traynor. Melbourne: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1956; pp. go. $0.50.

TELEVISION AND RADIO. By Giraud Chester and Garnet R. Garrison. (Second edition.) New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1956; pp. xv+652. $6.50.     

The Impact of a Mentor-coaching Model on Teacher Professional Development

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the mentor–coach initiative model on participating Head Start Programs. The researchers interviewed 44 participants across two mid-western states. The participants provided positive feedback about the initiative and identified specific literacy practices based on this model that were successfully implemented in their classrooms. Evidence from this study suggests the importance of incorporating the mentor-coaching initiative model to enhance teacher pedagogical practices.     

Shelf-ready: A cost-benefit analysis

Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library conducted a time-task cost study to compare the cost and processing time of shelf-ready books to non-shelf-ready books to determine if it could better use its human resources and if it should expand the use of shelf-ready to include its approval books. The results showed that shelf-ready was, on average, 5.7% cheaper, took 47% less processing time, and arrived on the shelves 33 sooner than books processed in-house. Based on the results of the study, the library moved its approval books to the shelf-ready program and was able to reallocate catalogers tasks.     

Factors influencing technology planning in developing countries: A literature review

This article is a literature review concerning the factors that play an important role in the development of educational technology plans in the educational system of developing countries (DCs). Largely, the technology plans are influenced by factors that emanates from within the country (internal) and those outside of their borders (external). Internal factors include the high prices and low effectiveness of services provided by technology-related multinational corporations in DCs, the philosophical perspectives and priorities of organizations, foundations and development agencies promoting the implementation of ICTs in DCs, pilot programs without sustainability, uncoordinated pilot projects, selling of refurbished computers for use at a large scale, and dominance of the English language in the software. External factors include international summits and conferences, global partnerships and establishment of international organizations, and technology-related multinational corporations. To this end, this article is intended to stimulate reflections on the different factors that play an important role in the development and implementation of educational technology plans in Dcs.     

Using computer-assisted instruction to enhance achievement of English language learners

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in English-Language environments offer practice time, motivates students, enhance student learning, increase authentic materials that students can study, and has the potential to encourage teamwork between students. The findings from this particular study suggested that students who used computer assisted program had a greater chance of closing achievement gap and meeting NCLB requirements than those students who did not use computer-assisted instruction. Additionally, the students that used computer-assisted classroom instruction gained scores in reading and math. Based on these findings, teachers, school administrators, and other educational stakeholder should explore strategies for technology integration to close the achievement gap.     

“My Questionnaire is Too Long!” The assessments of motivational-affective constructs with three-item and single-item measures

Because testing time in educational research is typically scarce, the use of long scales to assess motivational-affective constructs can be problematic. The goal of the present study was to scrutinize the psychometric properties of short scales (with three items) and single-item measures for two core motivational-affective constructs (i.e., academic anxiety and academic self-concept) by conducting systematic comparisons with corresponding long scales across school subjects and within different subject domains (i.e., mathematics, German, French). Statistical analyses were based on representative data from 3879 ninth-grade students. All short forms possessed satisfactory levels of reliability (range: .75–.89) and substantial correlations with the long scales (range: .88–.97); correlational patterns with educational student characteristics (e.g., achievement, school satisfaction, gender, academic track, and socioeconomic status) were comparable to those obtained with the corresponding long scales (all average differences in correlations below .07). The correlational patterns between all single-item measures and the external criteria were similar to those obtained with the corresponding long scales (all average differences in correlations below .08), yet the single-item measures demonstrated low to modest score reliabilities (estimated with the model-based omega coefficient; range: .22–.72) and correlations with full scales (range: .50–.88). When long scales are not applicable, short forms and perhaps even single-item measures may represent psychometrically sound alternatives for assessing academic anxiety and academic self-concept for educational research purposes.