Extending research on the interspersal procedure to perceptions of continuous reading assignments: Applied and theoretical implications of a failure to replicate

Researchers have shown that students' perceptions of mathematics assignments could be improved by interspersing additional briefer, easier problems (e.g., Logan and Skinner, 1998). The current study was designed to extend this research to reading tasks. Seventh‐grade students read out loud both a control passage and a similar experimental passage that contained additional interspersed brief (i.e., 16 words), easy (i.e., first‐grade reading level) paragraphs. Students then selected the passage that would require the least effort to read and the least time to read. Students also indicated the passage they liked most (preference) and the passage that they would like to read again (choice). Significantly more students selected the control passage as requiring less time to read, but no differences were found for preference, choice, or effort selections. The results failed to confirm earlier research on the interspersal procedure, thus our findings have applied and theoretical implications regarding causal variables that may account for the effectiveness of the interspersal procedure. Specifically, the current study suggests that the interspersal procedure may improve assignment perception only when the procedure increases discrete task‐completion rates. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Organization and visualization for initial analysis of forced-choice ipsative data

Forced-choice ipsative data are common in personality, philosophy and other preference-based studies. However, this type of data inherently contains dependencies that are challenging for usual statistical analysis. In order to utilize the structure of the data as a guide for analysis rather than as a challenge to manage, a visualisation tool was developed to emphasize the established framework and enhance analysis tools. This visualisation has many strength, including the display of significant amounts of data at once in three dimensions with little loss of detail, incorporating the theoretical framework for the data into the structure of the visualisation and organizing the data for use with common statistical tests and analysis tools.     

Student Participation in Scholarly Communication and Library Digital Collections: A Case Study from the University of Washington Bothell Library

The University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College Library recently partnered with a faculty member to develop a digital collection showcasing student-produced digital oral histories. This case study describes the role of the library as faculty partner, student resource, and repository/publisher. Archiving and publishing requirements—such as file formats, agreement forms, and metadata—were integrated into the assignment and included as part of each project's overall evaluation and grade. Librarians provided instruction to teach students about topics related to knowledge production and scholarly communication. Assessment included student feedback surveys and faculty feedback to librarians.     

Identifying and removing duplicate records from systematic review searches

Objective

The purpose of this study was to compare effectiveness of different options for de-duplicating records retrieved from systematic review searches.

Methods

Using the records from a published systematic review, five de-duplication options were compared. The time taken to de-duplicate in each option and the number of false positives (were deleted but should not have been) and false negatives (should have been deleted but were not) were recorded.

Results

The time for each option varied. The number of positive and false duplicates returned from each option also varied greatly.

Conclusion

The authors recommend different de-duplication options based on the skill level of the searcher and the purpose of de-duplication efforts.     

Light emitting diodes and the lighting revolution: The emergence of a solid-state lighting industry

Emergence of new industries from evolving technologies is critical to the global economy, yet has been relatively understudied due to the paucity of available data. This study draws lessons on industry emergence, by analyzing how a solid-state lighting (SSL) industry grew out of light emitting diode (LED) technologies that evolved for half a century, with participation by tens of thousands of researchers in universities, national laboratories, and firms. Using data on publications, patents, and firms combined with business history we trace the evolution of SSL through a succession of market niches. At times a few researchers with unorthodox research approaches made breakthroughs that greatly advanced particular technology trajectories and pushed LED research in unexpected directions. A succession of LED market niches advanced the technology and provided profits to incentivize continuing research while reducing cost and improving efficacy of LEDs. Innovating firms developed a thicket of patents and captured substantial profit, but were embroiled in extensive litigation that was ultimately resolved through cross-licensing. A major new generation of lighting products is now disrupting the traditional lighting industry. Although the leading incumbent lighting firms all invested early and heavily in SSL, the industry's future leadership is uncertain.     

Enabling integrated knowledge acquisition and management in health care teams

Basing treatment, policy and planning decisions on the best available research knowledge remains a central principle in modern health care around the world, yet many health professionals find acquiring and managing published research knowledge challenging. In this paper, we report on a Soft Systems Methodology-based collaborative action research initiative with a specialist mental health service from the United Kingdom's National Health Service. Our objective was to design and implement improvements to their knowledge acquisition and management activities in order to facilitate sustained and effective evidence-based practices. We report on both the factors found to impede effective research knowledge acquisition and management and the development of more integrated knowledge management processes designed to improve the situation.     

Learning whom not to trust across early and middle adolescence: A longitudinal neuroimaging study to trusting behavior involving an uncooperative other

Longitudinal changes in trusting behavior across adolescence and their neural correlates were examined. Neural regions of interest (ROIs) included the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), left anterior insula (AI), bilateral ventral striatum (VS), and right dorsal striatum (DS). Participants (wave 1 age: M = 12.90) played the investor in a Trust Game with an uncooperative trustee three times (1-year interval). Analyses included 77 primarily Dutch participants (33 females). Participants decreased their investments with wave. Furthermore, activity was heightened in mPFC, dACC, and DS during investment and repayment, and in right VS (investment) and AI (repayment). Finally, DS activity during repayment increased with wave. These findings highlight early–middle adolescence as an important period for developing sensitivity to uncooperative behavior.