Being old in an always-on culture: Older people's perceptions and experiences of online communication

Research on the digital divide has moved beyond connectivity to skills and usage disparities. Yet for many older people lack of connectivity remains a challenge, and for those who do have access, skills and usage remain an issue. We report findings of an in-depth qualitative study of older people's perceptions of online communications and also their actual experiences. Findings indicate that older people who are already socially well connected benefit from online communication more than those who are not.     

Values of Estonian students, teachers and parents

R. Inglehart （1990, 2005） considers values to be one＇s reactions to changes in the environment. According to his approach values develop in the socialisation process. Values can be divided into traditional, modernist and postmodernist. According to Rokeach （1973）, values are an element of culture, an image of the desirable that might not be directly expressed in human behaviour. Kalmus and Vihalemm （2004） found, based on Rokeach＇s and Schwartz＇s （1992） questionnaires, that Estonians consider most important values to be health, strong family ties, peace in the world, clean environment, happiness and state security. Also, the results of the study “infants＇ and toddlers＇ intelligence and the impact of the growth environment” financed by Estonian Science Foundation, allow to conclude that parents consider most important that children are healthy, happy and smart （Veisson, 2001）. In the framework of the state financed project of Tallinn University “school as developmental environment and students＇ coping” （2003-2007） questionnaires were administered to 3838 students, 2048 parents, 620 teachers and 120 school directors. According to the mean value a hierarchy of 14 values was formed. It appeared that students and parents think that the most important is academic success, whereas teachers place academic success on the 3rd-4th place and school directors even on the 8th place. Teachers and school directors consider the most important is their school students＇ security and the second is honesty. Also students and parents think that honesty is the 3rd most important value at school. Students consider politeness and parents discipline worth giving the second place among school values. Students＇ health is relatively highly valued by teachers and school directors （in case of both groups the 3rd place）. Unfortunately, children themselves and their parents think that in their school health is not very highly valued （10th place）. Joy of school came on the last place in the values hierarchy.     

Show me the money! An empirical analysis of mentoring outcomes for women in academia

This paper discusses and comprehensively evaluates a mentoring scheme for junior female academics. The program aimed to address the under‐representation of women in senior positions by increasing participation in networks and improving women’s research performance. A multifaceted, longitudinal design, including a control group, was used to evaluate the success of mentoring in terms of the benefits for the women and for the university. The results indicate mentoring was very beneficial, showing that mentees were more likely to stay in the university, received more grant income and higher level of promotion, and had better perceptions of themselves as academics compared with non‐mentored female academics. This indicates that not only do women themselves benefit from mentoring but that universities can confidently implement well‐designed initiatives, knowing that they will receive a significant return on investment.     

Enhancing the quality of early childhood education: A follow-up evaluation of an experiential, collaborative training model for head start

The study is a follow-up evaluation of a Collaborative Training curriculum for Head Start. The previous curriculum was enhanced by adding parent exemplars and demonstrations in trainees' classrooms. Two Head Start teachers and two parent volunteers from each of 70 classrooms were randomly assigned to either the enhanced Collaborative Training (CT) or Workshop Training (WT) approach. CT teachers and parents were involved conjointly in experiential training that included receiving guided practice and feedback from exemplary peers. WT consisted of a series of workshops conducted by outside trainers for separate groups of parents and teachers. Training methods were compared with respect to (a) trainees' reports of satisfaction with training and collaboration, and (b) observed levels of adult-adult and adult-child classroom interactions. CT teachers and parents reported significantly greater levels of satisfaction with the training, as well as significantly greater levels of collaboration than WT participants. Teacher-teacher and parent-teacher observations indicate that CT trainees showed higher levels of positive classroom interactions than WT trainees. With respect to adultchild classroom interactions, CT teachers demonstrated significantly more praise, supportive physical contact, and positive interactions in instruction than WT teachers. CT parents showed higher levels of adult-child classroom interactions across all observed categories compared to their WT counterparts. Implications of these findings for further research were discussed.     

Effects of isometric quadriceps strength training at different muscle lengths on dynamic torque production

This study aims to (1) determine whether isometric training at a short vs. long quadriceps muscle length affects concentric torque production; (2) examine the relationship between muscle hypertrophy and concentric torque; and (3) determine whether changes in fascicle length are associated with changes in concentric torque.

Sixteen men performed isometric training at a short (SL, n = 8) or a long muscle length (LL, n = 8). Changes in maximal concentric torque were measured at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240 and 300 rad · s^?1. The relationships between the changes in concentric torque, cross-sectional area, volume and fascicle length were tested.

Concentric torque increased significantly after training only in LL and at angular velocities of 30 and 120 rad · s^?1 by 12–13% (P < 0.05). Muscle size increased in LL only, the changes were correlated (r = 0.73–0.93, P < 0.05) with the changes in concentric torque. Vastus lateralis (VL) fascicle length increased in both groups (5.4 ± 4.9%, P = 0.001) but the change was not correlated with changes in concentric torque in either group.

Isometric training-induced increases in muscle size and concentric torque were best elicited by training at long muscle lengths. These results highlight a clear muscle length dependence of isometric training on dynamic torque production.     

Developing a Performance Measurement System for University Central Administrative Services

Central administrative services have recently received increasing attention from practitioners and academics due to the challenging need to both manage scarce resources and provide high-quality services. In this context, performance measurement systems (PMSs) may assume a central role, although an unresolved debate remains on the claimed benefits of accountability and the difficulties that have emerged in defining and managing proper measures. This paper contributes to this debate by presenting the results of a study in which a PMS for central administrative services has been developed and tested through an action research approach drawing on actor network theory. The experiment was carried out in 15 Italian universities and five areas of services were dealt with: student support, research support, accounting, human resources, and logistics and procurement. The highly participative method resulted in a comparable system with a complete set of cost and quality indicators across the participating universities. These data proved to be useful at managerial and policy level, providing insights on the presence of scale effects and on the relative importance of quality dimensions for users of services. Participating in the project encouraged the university staff to use indicators in decision making.