Transformation of a Modern Newsroom Workforce

Digital transformation continues to impact the news industry and news organizations are adapting accordingly through shifts in required skills and prescribed job positions of journalists. In order to examine the changing nature of the modern journalist, a case study was conducted examining the employment histories of New York City journalists (n?=?3587). Social network analysis was used to better understand the career trajectories of journalists within the dataset, with a specific focus on understanding the development of new jobs for journalists in data, analytic, social, and mobile-oriented job positions. Findings demonstrate important differences between traditional employment patterns and those of employees in jobs requiring new skills and knowledge of new technology.     

Mechanical behaviour of cross-country ski racing poles during double poling

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of cross-country ski poles during double poling on a treadmill using three-dimensional kinematics. The results were compared with standard laboratory tests of the pole manufacturers. A total of 18 skiers were analysed at two speeds (85% and 95% of the maximal speed) at grades of 1.5% and 7%. Variables describing cycle characteristics, bending stiffness, bending behaviour, and trajectories of the pole markers were analysed. Triangular-shaped poles demonstrated the greatest stiffness and lowest variability in maximal bending. Softer poles demonstrated greater variability in bending behaviour and lost ground contact at high skiing speeds, which for some skiers resulted in failure to complete high-speed tests. Considerable variations in pole behaviour for similar poles between skiers were observed, which might be attributed to differences in technique, indicating that mechanical properties of the poles did not exclusively determine pole behaviour in the dynamic situation. The greatest magnitude of pole bending was in the middle part of the pole, which differed from the standard static pole analysis of the manufacturer. Increases in grade demonstrated the greatest effect on pole bending. Distinct differences from the pole manufacturers' laboratory measures were apparent, suggesting that basic pole testing might be adapted.     

How does attention relate to the ability-specific and position-specific components of reasoning measured by APM?

The aim of the present study was to clarify the nature of the ability-specific and position-specific components of Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) by relating them to a number of types of attention. The ability-specific component represents the constant part of cognitive performance whereas the position-specific component reflects the changes in processing of reasoning items as a result of the changing item position. A special model denoted fixed-links model was used to decompose the data of APM into independent components. Both components were related to two higher-order units of attention, perceptual attention and executive attention, which were derived from the various types of attention. In a sample of 226 participants the position-specific component of APM showed a substantially higher link with executive attention than with perceptual attention whereas the ability-specific component only showed a moderate link with perceptual attention.     

The use of touch devices for enhancing academic achievement: A meta‐analysis

Touch devices such as tablets and smartphones are widely adopted in educational settings and have many desirable features. However, research supporting the use of touch devices to improve academic achievement is emergent and has not been evaluated through a meta‐analysis. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 65 group and single case design research studies, published 2010–2018, to evaluate the effects of touch device implementation on academic achievement. The overall mean effect sizes were moderate for group design and single case design studies. Participant, intervention, and study attributes were also evaluated to describe the research and how these attributes may moderate the results. Overall, results suggest that touch devices may be an effective tool for enhancing academic achievement. The need to conduct additional, rigorous research on the use of touch devices as well as implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Covariation in conditioned response strength between stimuli trained in compound

Conditioned lick suppression by water-deprived rats was used to elaborate on recent evidence that the attenuated conditioned response elicited by an overshadowed stimulus may be enhanced by extinction of the overshadowing stimulus with which it had been trained in simultaneous compound. Using a modified serial stimulus arrangement in which a light coexisted with the last half of a tone that terminated with footshock, it was found in Experiment 1 that the tone overshadowed the light. Extinction of the tone-shock association resulted in a virtually complete recovery of the response to the overshadowed light. Using this serial overshadowing procedure, the possibility that the strength of a conditioned response to an element trained in compound covaries as a function of the strength of the response to the other element was tested in Experiment 2. Following overshadowing training similar to that of Experiment 1, independent reinforcement of the overshadowed light, that is, associative inflation, was found to have no deleterious effect on the response to the overshadowing tone. This suggests that the effects of postconditioning extinction and inflation of one element do not have symmetrical effects upon responding to the other element. The results of Experiment 2 were replicated in Experiment 3 using a simultaneous compound stimulus as opposed to the serial compound of the previous studies. These results are discussed in terms of various associative and cognitive models of learning and performance.     

Serving two masters: how vocational educators experience marketisation reforms

Contemporary education reforms that draw ideas from the political and economic fields are said to be altering the nature of vocational education. While there are substantial policy studies on the effects of marketisation reforms, fewer analyse the perspectives of vocational educators on such reforms. How vocational educators negotiate the potential clash of values when marketisation reforms are enacted within the sector remains relatively unexplored. This paper aims to incorporate these perspectives in order to explore and help explain the responses of vocational educators to such changes. To do so the paper draws on concepts from Legitimation Code Theory, a sociological framework for analysing practices and beliefs. Specifically, it enacts ‘autonomy codes’, which reveal how external forces impact upon the internal practices of a social field. These concepts are used to analyse the beliefs and perceptions of a group of vocational educators in Australia who are undergoing marketisation reforms. The analysis suggests that many educators are experiencing a growing ‘code clash’ between the goals they attribute to reforms and their own beliefs about public education and the expectations of their students, one which problematises their capacity to reconcile these sets of values and colours their views of changes in the sector.     

On the effects of training inductive reasoning: How far does it transfer and how long do the effects persist?

Using the same program, two training experiments have been conducted in a Dutch and in a German elementary school. The common expectation was that training in inductive reasoning would transfer both on intelligence tests measuring inductive reasoning and on math performance. Furthermore, it was expected that the training effects would persist for at least some months after training had ended. In experiment 1 (N=34), a rather short training period turned out to be effective with respect to the intelligence test performance but not with respect to math performance. In experiment 2 (N=23), the amount of training in inductive reasoning was systematically varied. It could be shown that transfer on intelligence test as well as on math performance was linearly dependent on the amount of prior training. The training effects were found to persist between four and nine months after training.     

Lehrplananalyse Als Teil der Curriculumforschung

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Analysis of curricula as a phase in curriculum research

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L'analyse des programmes scolaires comme phase de la recherche sur le Curriculum