Aligning business needs and instructional assets (recycling instructional assets)

High‐performing organizations and performance improvement professionals frequently speak about the alignment of their instructional curricula with the needs of the business. However, they often lack a systematic methodology for performing that alignment. This article presents such a method. The process provides the ability to better support current business initiatives, increase organizational responsiveness, and reduce curriculum acquisition and development costs.     

In pursuit of the elusive relationship between selected cognitive abilities and learning

The present research consists of two experiments that attempt to produce differential learning-ability relationships on the basis of selected learning task variations. In the first experiment, 120 5th-graders performed a cued recall task under one of three instructional conditions. In the second, 144 10th-graders recalled items of high and low meaningfulness under constrained or free conditions of recall. Although the task variations produced mean performance differences, the expected patterns of covariation between learning and the ability markers of reasoning, spatial ability, and digit span did not materialize. These results, taken with those of previous investigations, suggest that the nonreplicability characteristic of this domain may be traced to the relatively impure sources of individual differences variance associated with psychometric abilities.     

The carrot,the stick,or the relationship: what are the effective disciplinary strategies?

The effectiveness of various management strategies has been of central concern in academic and educational debates on the role and nature of classroom discipline. Educational theorists and researchers have put forth a range of different models, each of which incorporates the use of a number of strategies. This article reports on a study that seeks to investigate the gamut of these strategies pragmatically and considers their affects on a range of factors, such as levels of student responsibility, misbehaviour, relationship with teachers, and connection to school. Analysis of the results offered in this article supports the judicious use of a combination of strategies involving the use of hinting, involvement, discussion, and recognition and rewards. The discussion focuses primarily on the benefits that can be achieved through a regulated process of positive discipline strategies, through which teachers and students can develop mutual respect and trust.     

Electronic resources preferred by pediatric hospitalists for clinical care

Objectives

There is little research on pediatric hospitalists'' use of evidence-based resources. The aim of this study was to determine the electronic resources that pediatric hospitalists prefer.

Methods

Using a web-based survey, the authors determined hospitalists'' preferred electronic resources, as well as their attitudes toward lifelong learning, practice, and experience characteristics.

Results

One hundred sixteen hospitalists completed the survey. The most preferred resource for general information, patient handouts, and treatment was UpToDate. Online search engines were ranked second for general information and patient handouts.

Conclusions

Pediatric hospitalists tend to utilize less rigorous electronic resources such as UpToDate and Google. These results can set a platform for discussing the quality of resources that pediatric hospitalists use.     

The effect of equipment scaling on children’s sport performance: the case for tennis

The influence of scaling court-size and net height on children’s tennis performance was examined. Sixteen boys (9.7 ± 0.5 years) had to perform a 30-min match in four different conditions, where court-size and/or net height were scaled by using a scaling ratio based on the differences in temporal demands between the children and the adult game. These 30-min matches were analysed using Tennis Analyst (FairPlay Ltd., Jindalee, QLD, Australia) software to determine typical tennis match performance characteristics. Children hit more winners, more forced errors, played more volleys, struck more shots from a comfortable height and played in a more forward court position when the net was scaled. Scaling both the court and net lead to a faster children’s game, more closely approximating what is typical of the adult game. The differences between the typical tennis performance variables recorded suggested that scaling the net led to a more aggressive way of playing. Further, children enjoyed playing on the standard court–scaled net condition more than standard adult conditions. It is suggested that optimising the scaling of net height may be as critical as other task constraints, such as racquet length or court-size, as it leads to a more engaging learning environment for experienced children.     

Biology Undergraduate Students’ Graphing Practice in Digital Versus Pen and Paper Graphing Environments

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Graphing is an important practice for scientists and in K-16 science curricula. Graphs can be constructed using an array of software packages as well...