ResearchGate: Reputation uncovered

ResearchGate (RG) is a scholarly social network that possesses an impressive array of reputational metrics and has the potential to supplant publishers as the prime deliverer of scholarly reputation. It possesses 10 reputational mechanisms, and these are the subject of an evaluation employing desk research, expert evaluation, and an analysis of 400 RG members. The main conclusions are: RG (1) provides a rich, albeit confusing, amount of reputational data; (2) struggles with the deployment of alternative, engagement metrics, such as Q&A and follower data, which can lead to reputational anomalies; (3) employs usage data in an especially effective manner; and (4) leads the field in the way it engages with the scholar.     

Is There a Magnet-School Effect? A Multisite Study of MSAP-Funded Magnet Schools

Magnet schools are one of the largest sectors of choice schools in the United States. In this study, we explored the heterogeneity in magnet-school effects on student achievement by examining 24 magnet schools, funded under the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), in 5 school districts across 4 states. The magnet effects were synthesized across schools with a multilevel variance-known analysis, using the school-level effects estimated with a propensity score matched regression approach. Results indicated significant variation in magnet effects on student outcomes, with some magnet schools showing positive effects, and others showing negative effects. This variation can be explained by program implementation and magnet support.     

Femoral indicator injection for transpulmonary thermodilution using the EV1000/VolumeView®: do the same criteria apply as for the PiCCO®?

Objective

Comparison of global end-diastolic volume index (GEDVI) obtained by femoral and jugular transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) indicator injections using the EV1000/VolumnView® device (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, USA).

Methods

In an 87-year-old woman with hypovolemic shock and equipped with both jugular and femoral vein access and monitored with the EV1000/VolumeView® device, we recorded 10 datasets, each comprising duplicate TPTD via femoral access and duplicate TPTD (20 ml cold saline) via jugular access.

Results

Mean femoral GEDVI ((674.6±52.3) ml/m²) was significantly higher than jugular GEDVI ((552.3±69.7) ml/m²), with P=0.003. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a bias of (+122±61) ml/m², limits of agreement of ?16 and +260 ml/m², and a percentage error of 22%. Use of the correction-formula recently suggested for the PiCCO® device significantly reduced bias and percentage error. Similarly, mean values of parameters derived from GEDVI such as pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI; 1.244±0.101 vs. 1.522±0.139; P<0.001) and global ejection fraction (GEF; (24.7±1.6)% vs. (28.1±1.8)%; P<0.001) were significantly different in the case of femoral compared to jugular indicator injection. Furthermore, the mean cardiac index derived from femoral indicator injection ((4.50±0.36) L/(min·m²)) was significantly higher (P=0.02) than that derived from jugular indicator injection ((4.12±0.44) L/(min·m²)), resulting in a bias of (+0.38±0.37) L/(min·m²) and a percentage error of 19.4%.

Conclusions

Femoral access for indicator injection results in markedly altered values provided by the EV1000/VolumeView®, particularly for GEDVI, PVPI, and GEF.

     

Diagnosing and altering three aristotelian alternative conceptions in dynamics: Microcomputer simulations of scientific models

This is a report on the investigation of a microcomputer-based system for the diagnosis and remediation of three Aristotelian alternative conceptions of force and motion held by eighth-grade physical science students. Diagnosis and posttesting were done with computer-displayed, graphics-based, multiple-choice questions. The two remediation simulations were designed to present scientific idealizations and to be perceived by the student as anomalous to the three alternative conceptions. Structured interviews were employed at several points during the study to obtain indications of the conceptions of force and motion of students with different achievement rankings, as well as to determine the students' reactions to the computer pretest questions or the simulations. A student's possession of alternative conceptions was unrelated to whether the student was a strong or weak learner of science. Students who were currently studying dynamics in their classes exhibited a very different pattern of nonscientific answers on the computer diagnostic test than did students who had completed that topic. The completed students who were selected for possession of alternative conceptions were facilitated by the computer simulations in altering their naive conceptions to a significant degree.     

Comparative analysis of delayed alternation learning in cats,mice, and guinea pigs

The performance of cats, guinea pigs, and mice in a delayed alternation paradigm was compared both during initial learning and following a 10-day retention interval. The testing situation (a modified T-maze), the length of the delay period (10 sec), and the amount of training per session and per week were kept identical for all three species. The results indicated that (1) animals of all three species acquired the task within similar time spans, (2) a considerable variance was apparent in the performance of individual animals independent of their species, and (3) guinea pigs, as a group, appeared to need a somewhat longer time to acquire delayed alternation than did mice and cats. Relearning of the task following the 10-day interval seemed to follow similar laws in all three species.     

The role of social networks in the transitional experiences of international African doctoral students at one university in South Africa

ABSTRACT

International doctoral students’ sojourn encompasses three transitional processes: to the new country, to the university and to a new academic identity as a researcher in a specific discipline. This article examines the role of social networks in facilitating these transitions for international doctoral students at one South African university. It is based on qualitative interviews conducted with 23 international PhD students representing eight different disciplines and various countries in Africa. The findings suggest that students are involved in a number of social networks, which all, apart from the academic network, exclude local students. This close-knit co-national network, while providing international PhD students with a well documented survival mechanism, may hinder their international experiences and limit the acquisition of the inter-cultural skills necessary for global citizenship in the twenty-first century. The findings also indicated that family networks back home played a role in instilling worries and doubts among students related to xenophobic attacks against foreigners.     

Determinants of teaching quality: What's important to students?

A method for using student evaluations to help faculty improve their teaching performance is presented. A survey of current methods of student evaluations of teaching identified a need to improve the statistical information obtained from these evaluations. An ordinary least squares framework is used to identify the factors that students feel are important in teacher and course ratings. This framework is used to estimate weights that students assign to various teacher and course attributes and to test whether students apply these weights consistently across teachers and courses. About 81 percent of the explained variation in teacher ratings was associated with attributes that contribute to student enjoyment of the learning process. Over 90 percent of the explained variation in course ratings was associated with attributes that measure how much a student learned in the course. Students were found to apply these attributes or weights consistently across teachers and courses. Implications for developing effective teaching strategies, faculty recruitment, and curriculum reform are discussed.     

Standardization of lower secondary civic education and inequality of the civic and political engagement of students

In this paper, the relation between the standardization of civic education and the inequality of civic engagement is examined. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009 among early adolescents and Eurydice country-level data, three-level analysis and variance function regression are applied to examine whether there is a relation between measures of civic education standardization and inequality in three dimensions of civic engagement: civic knowledge, interest in social and political issues, and participation in the community. Inequality is conceptualized as differences in students’ civic engagement between schools and the association between social origin and civic engagement. The results demonstrate that accountability is associated with more inequality in civic knowledge, whereas centralization is associated with less inequality in non-cognitive civic engagement.