Direct or directed: orchestrating a more harmonious approach to teaching technology within an Art & Design Higher Education curriculum with special reference to visual communications courses

In this scoping study we have investigated the integration of subject‐specific software into the structure of visual communications courses. There is a view that the response within visual communications courses to the rapid developments in technology has been linked to necessity rather than by design. Through perceptions of staff with day‐to‐day experience of the issues arising from the incorporation of such technology, we were able to construct an account of potential directions. There is a necessity for continual review of course content to ensure that training in software is embedded in the creative aspects of the curriculum in order to maximise the potential of new technology, maintain currency and future‐proof the curriculum. We argue that curriculum developers in visual communications need to incorporate appropriate hardware and software within the studio environment.     

The effects of reform: Have teachers really lost their sense of professionalism?

In this article, we reflect upon what research and other evidence tells us about the effects of many years of sustained, centrally initiated government reforms upon teachers’ work, lives and effectiveness. It is important to note that whilst the general intentions of school reform are almost always to improve standards of teaching, learning and achievement in increasingly unstable and turbulent economic and socially fragmented environments, their singular and cumulative effects are not always perceived to be efficacious or beneficial by those whose responsibility it is to enact them. In other words, reform may not always lead to renewal. As we approach the end of the first decade of this century, then, it is important to take stock of what, in some countries, have been 20 years of root and branch reform in schools, in pre-service teacher training (aka education) and in teachers’ conditions of work. Whilst the specifics of reform efforts differ in pace and in the ways they are managed in different countries, the general direction is the same.     

Comparison of three methods of estimating energy expenditure: caltrac, heart rate, and video analysis

This study examined the accuracy of a new device (Caltrac) in estimating energy expenditure via acceleration measurements. Energy expenditure of 20 high school students during basketball class activity (average length = 37 min) was estimated using the Caltrac, heart rate recording, and video analysis. Heart rate recording and video analysis estimates of energy expenditure were determined from heart rate, caloric expenditure curves, and an activity rating scale, respectively. The following estimates of caloric expenditure (M +/- SD) were found: heart rate recording = 196 +/- 73 greater than Caltrac = 163 +/- 49 greater than film analysis = 123 +/- 30 kcal (p less than .05). Laboratory simulations of the basketball activity revealed that the Caltrac energy expenditure was not significantly different from the actual energy expenditure (p greater than .05). The heart rate recording and video analysis estimates of energy expenditure were significantly (p less than .05) higher and lower, respectively, than the actual energy expenditure. The Caltrac is a lightweight, low-cost device that provides a relatively accurate estimate of energy expenditure in free-ranging activities, such as basketball.     

Performance Funding Programs: Assessing Their Stability

State programs of performance funding for public colleges and universities are both popular and volatile. A previous article identified some characteristics of stable programs by comparing the survey responses of state and campus leaders from Tennessee and Missouri about their mature programs with those from four states that later dropped performance funding. This article uses those characteristics to assess the stability of the continuing programs in Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina. This article compares the survey responses of state and campus leaders from each of these three states about their programs with those from Missouri and Tennessee. The findings suggest trouble for these three programs, for they share few of the characteristics common to the stable programs in Missouri and Tennessee.     

Social norms and self-presentation: children's implicit and explicit intergroup attitudes

Two studies examined whether social norms and children's concern for self-presentation affect their intergroup attitudes. Study 1 examined racial intergroup attitudes and normative beliefs among children aged 6 to 16 years (n=155). Accountability (i.e., public self-focus) was experimentally manipulated, and intergroup attitudes were assessed using explicit and implicit measures. Study 2 (n = 134) replicated Study 1, focusing on national intergroup attitudes. Both studies showed that children below 10 years old were externally motivated to inhibit their in-group bias under high public self-focus. Older children were internally motivated to suppress their bias as they showed implicit but not explicit bias. Study 1, in contrast to Study 2, showed that children with low norm internalization suppressed their out-group prejudice under high public self-focus.     

Successful Transitions to Graduate School: Using Orientations to Improve Student Experiences in Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs

The initial transition to graduate school provides a critical opportunity for promoting a positive educational experience among incoming students. This study discusses the importance of this transition and then describes a novel student-led orientation approach to facilitating successful entry of new students into criminology and criminal justice graduate degree programs. Results from an evaluation of this approach are presented. Analyses of focus group and student survey data indicate that graduate students matriculating into a criminology and criminal justice program in a southern state felt welcomed and found the information, guidance, and social networks that they developed to be helpful. At the same time, students identified ways the orientation could be improved for future cohorts. A student-led orientation, along with evaluation of it, provides a promising strategy for criminology and criminal justice graduate programs to create positive educational and professionalization experiences for their students.     

The Role of Disordered-Eating Cognitions and Psychological Flexibility on Distress in Asian American and European American College Females in the United States

The present study investigated whether different forms of disordered-eating-related cognitions and psychological flexibility were associated with psychological distress among female Asian American and European American college students in the United States. Disordered-eating-related cognitions examined in the present study included thoughts (a) associated with the fear of gaining weight, (b) on perceived importance of having an ideal weight and shape as a means of being accepted by others, and (c) of perceived self-worth related to self-control over diet and weight levels. Data from 87 Asian American and 231 European American female college students were used for the present analyses. In both groups, all forms of disordered-eating cognitions were positively associated with psychological distress, which was in turn inversely associated with psychological flexibility. In the Asian American group, cognitions on perceived importance of having an ideal body shape and weight to be socially accepted by others and psychological flexibility were uniquely related to psychological distress when controlling for other disordered-eating cognitions (i.e., thoughts related to fear of weight gain, self-worth from feeling in control of eating), age, and Body Mass Index (BMI). In the European American group, when controlling for other study variables, only psychological flexibility uniquely related to psychological distress. Implications of the present findings for counseling practice are discussed.