Research psychographics of the nurse professoriate in a Philippine comprehensive University

This two-pronged study seeks to ascertain the research psychographic characteristics of a select group of nurse professoriate (n=37) in a comprehensive university in the Philippines. The quantitative part of the study had an adapted survey questionnaire, which profiled the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the respondents. Defining the qualitative aspect of the inquiry was an in-depth interview with five (5) of the respondents chosen purposively to triangulate the data yielded by the questionnaire. Data were treated statistically and interpretively to describe the phenomenon under inquiry. It is interesting to note that while the nurse professoriate had shown a positive attitude towards research, variables such as time constraints, lack of research knowledge, research support structure and motivation hinder them from doing research activities. Implications of the study to reculturing, restructuring and reformulating efforts in research are also discussed.     

Comparative study of the cognitive sequelae of school-aged victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is now recognized as being the main cause of severe traumatic brain injury in infancy. However, our understanding of the impact of this type of abuse on child development remains sketchy. The main objective of the current study was therefore to shed light on the cognitive dysfunctions that are particular to SBS victims once they are school-aged. METHOD: A clinical group was formed of 11 children diagnosed with SBS who had been admitted between 1988 and 1999 to a tertiary pediatric hospital in Quebec, Canada. The children were matched for age, gender, socio-economic status, and family composition to 11 healthy Quebec children, who made up the control group. A battery of composite tests was developed to assess the children's main cognitive functions and was administered individually to the 22 children. A univariate t-test was used to compare the performances of the two groups. RESULTS: The mean age of the children in the clinical and control groups at the time of the assessment was 87.64 months and 90.18 months, respectively. Pairing and birth data were equivalent for both groups. Significant weaknesses were noted in the clinical group for intelligence quotient (IQ), working memory, mental organization, alternation, and inhibition. These deficits seemed to have a greater impact on the verbal sphere of the children's mental functioning. CONCLUSION: Primary results point to the anterior cerebral regions of the brain as the principal site of dysfunctions that persist years post-trauma. It is important to consider these results longitudinally, even in children apparently less extensively affected, since the frontal regions only reach maturity at the end of adolescence.     

Through Language the Child Moves from Looking to Seeing: Action research into language as a tool to teach drawing

This article is prompted by Fielding's research (1994) into Vygotsky's theories (1986), and his request ‘to seek to establish a relationship between language and drawing’, in particular his citing that Harris ‘... calls for further research to be undertaken with a view to determining whether or not there is a direct and necessary relationship between the two human abilities’ (1963, p. 191).

The article reports on classroom action research, carried out at the University of Liverpool, England, by primary, Post Graduate Certificate of Education students, into three different strategies to teach primary children drawing, one of which employed language. This approach has been developed over a number of years. The data arising from the students research has provided powerful insights into the characteristics of language strategies which most successfully promote learning in children.     

Accurate DRL performance in the pigeon: Comparison between perching and treadle pressing

Homing pigeons were reinforced for emitting a perching response according to differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) schedules. The spacing requirement between successive perchings was progressively increased by 1-sec steps up to 70 sec and then abruptly decreased to 60, 40, and 20 sec. IRT/OP (interresponse time/opportunity) functions were maximal near the time of reinforcement. The coefficients of variation of the IRT distributions (ratio between the interquartile range and median IRT) fluctuated around .32, testifying for equivalent levels of adjustment throughout the critical IRT range. The ratio between reinforced and total IRTs ranged between .90 and .20. These data contrast with the performance of another group of pigeons reinforced for a treadle-pressing response according to DRL schedules (flatter IRT/OP functions, high coefficients of variation, and low efficiencies). Despite these differences in temporal regulation between perching and treadle-pressing DRL, response rates and reinforcement rates followed the same trend in both cases: they decreased as schedule value increased. The DRL perching results are similar to previous results obtained in the same species when perching duration was reinforced.     

The interrelationship of job satisfaction and similarity in philosophic view within academic departments

This study used a questionnaire to determine the effect on job satisfaction of the similarity in philosophic view between faculty members (N=198) and their department chairperson (N=30) in four-year colleges and universities in the Midwest. On the basis of the data collected in this study no relationship was found between level of job satisfaction and similarity in philosophic view between the faculty members and the department chairperson of an academic department.     

Intercultural postgraduate learning the acquisition of study skills: An institutional response to the results of the research

The need for research into inter-cultural postgraduate, post experience learning stems from changing educational, political and social policies which affect higher education in the United Kingdom.The British Government's policy concerning the financing of overseas students and their encouragement of continuing education students; the research boards' policy concerning postgraduate students; the changing role of University Counselling Services in a time of financial constraint, are shown as the background to the development of systematically conducted research into postgraduate overseas students.The Author decided to carry out an exploratory rather than a confirmatory study, using an ecological theoretical model from developmental psychology. She considered cognitive tasks as interactive settings, and using this methodology, investigated how the students acquired the study skills required for their academic course.The results of the pilot study are presented and these have already resulted in institutional changes.The Author is now involved in a three year research project to further investigate this subject.Paper presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling Conference, University of Aarhus, Denmark.     

Video quality based link adaptation for low latency video transmission over WLANs

INTRODUCTION Low latency video transmission is very de manding in terms of the performance of all layers i the protocol stack. Over the last decade, research ha focused on enhancements of each individual laye without considering cross-layer interactions. Adapt ing video coding to the channel/network condition and technologies (and vice versa) (Girod et al., 2002 via the cross-layer exchange of information has onl recently been investigated. van der Schaar et al.(200 developed a cross-laye…