Concurrent criterion validity of a novel portable motion analysis system for assessing the landing error scoring system (LESS) test

The landing error scoring system (LESS) assesses the quality of a landing after a jump. The quality of the jump is usually evaluated using a three-dimensional (3-D) motion analysis system or a two-dimensional (2-D) video analysis visually rated by a clinician. However, both methods have disadvantages. The aim of this study was to examine the concurrent validity of a novel portable motion analysis system (‘PhysiMax System’) in assessing the LESS score by comparing it to video analysis. The study population included 48 healthy participants (28.45 ± 5.61 years), each performing the LESS test while two video cameras and the ‘PhysiMax’ simultaneously recorded the jump. The ‘Physimax’ system automatically evaluated the LESS. Subsequently, the examiners scored the test by viewing the video recordings, blinded to the ‘PhysiMax’ results. The mean LESS score, using the video recordings and the ‘PhysiMax’ was 4.77 (±2.29) and 5.15 (±2.58), respectively, (ICC = 0.80, 95% confidence intervals 0.65–0.87), mean absolute differences 1.13 (95% confidence intervals; 0.79–1.46). The results indicate a high consensus between the methods of measurement. The ‘Physimax’ system’s main advantages are portability, objective evaluation and immediate availability of results. The system can be used by athletic trainers and physiotherapists in the clinic and in the field for jumping assessment.     

Assessing collaborative computing: development of the Collaborative-Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI)

This paper describes the development, validation, and uses of the Collaborative Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI), a web-based analysis instrument that classifies individual and/or collaborative behaviors of students during computing problem-solving (e.g. coding, programming). The C-COI analyzes data gathered through video and audio screen recording software that captures students’ computer screens as they program, and their conversations with their peers or adults. The instrument allows researchers to organize and quantify these data to track behavioral patterns that could be further analyzed for deeper understanding of persistence and/or collaborative interactions. The article provides a rationale for the C-COI including the development of a theoretical framework for measuring collaborative interactions in computer-mediated environments. This theoretical framework relied on the computer-supported collaborative learning literature related to adaptive help seeking, the joint problem-solving space in which collaborative computing occurs, and conversations related to outcomes and products of computational activities. Instrument development and validation also included ongoing advisory board feedback from experts in computer science, collaborative learning, and K-12 computing as well as classroom observations to test out the constructs in the C-COI. These processes resulted in an instrument with rigorous validation procedures and a high inter-rater reliability.     

The Seductive Power of an Innovation: Enrolling Non-conventional Actors in a Drip Irrigation Community in Morocco

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the motivations of non-conventional innovation actors to engage in innovation processes, how their involvement changed the technology and their own social-professional status, and to analyze their role in the diffusion of the innovation.

Design/methodology/approach: We studied the innovation process of drip irrigation in Morocco. We interviewed 35 farmers in two villages, selected to represent a diversity of farms, and observed their drip irrigation systems. We interviewed several local artisans and traders, and intermediaries about their social-professional pathway, using a checklist to understand their motivations and their involvement with drip irrigation.

Findings: We showed how a variety of non-conventional actors became involved in drip irrigation, leading to the progressive creation of an active inter-related socio-technical network involved in the sales, manufacturing, fitting, and use of drip irrigation systems. This network challenged an imported technology promoted by irrigation companies that targeted large-scale farmers, and transformed it into drip irrigation systems adapted to a wide range of situations and farmers, including small-scale farmers. The involvement of these actors led to reciprocal changes in the technology and in the socio-professional status of the intermediaries, hence accelerating the diffusion of the innovation.

Practical implications: Understanding the motivations of non-conventional innovation actors helps comprehend the multiple pathways of innovation processes, and the socio-professional pathways of innovation actors. It is worth considering integrating these actors in state programs and other planned innovation processes, as they are near to field realities and to innovation users, and are able to adapt a technology to local requirements.

Originality/value: The results of this study contribute to the scientific debate about the mutually beneficial alliance of non-conventional actors and technical innovations.     

Equality,quality and quantity: challenges in inclusive education policy and service provision in India

Despite government efforts to provide services for children with disabilities in line with recommendations from international aid agencies, the 2003 Census of Individuals with Disabilities found that over 90% remain unserved. This paper identifies some of the limitations of these efforts in the context of the census findings, with particular reference to the issues of under‐representation of specific groups and identification. The 2003 Education For All (EFA) programme and recent policy initiatives, the Right to Education Bill 2005, the Action Plan for Inclusion in Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities (IECYD) 2005 and the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2006, are examined for their responsiveness to these concerns.     

Value differentiation in adolescence: the role of age and cultural complexity

Living in complex social worlds, individuals encounter discordant values across life contexts, potentially resulting in different importance of values across contexts. Value differentiation is defined here as the degree to which values receive different importance depending on the context in which they are considered. Early and mid-adolescents (N = 3,497; M = 11.45 years, SD = 0.87 and M = 16.10 years, SD = 0.84, respectively) from 4 cultural groups (majority and former Soviet Union immigrants in Israel and Germany) rated their values in 3 contexts (family, school, and country). Value differentiation varied across individuals. Early adolescents showed lower value differentiation than mid-adolescents. Immigrant (especially first generation) adolescents, showed higher value differentiation than majority adolescents, reflecting the complex social reality they face while negotiating cultures.     

Schematic interface of sound creation for computer animators

INTRODUCTION In the competitive field of animation, sound is an essential element for one to stand out from the others. With sound, we perceive a unique meaning from the frame. Imagine a simple bouncing ball scene—we can apply the sound of “a pingpong hitting on a table” or “a basketball hitting on a gymnasium floor”. It tells us a different narrative of the ball. Without sound, we lose an effective portrayal on its storytelling. Besides, sound also affects our perception of an anim…     

Distortions and Dichotomies in Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Cambodia in the Context of Globalisation and International Development

This paper explores the consequences of transferring technical information on disability and inclusive education from the North to the South within the context of international development. Based on data from the author’s experiences as a US-trained Indian international consultant in Cambodia, it analyses how problems with translation and socio-cultural assumptions embedded in the terminology of disability can divert the intention of teacher training in inclusive education. The paper also examines the politics of inclusive education with regard to the disconnect between a donor-based agenda and local priorities, and discusses the complexities of the author’s own role within the context of increasing South/South cooperation.     

Reevaluating “The End of Mass Communication?”

It is hard to imagine a more challenging arena for communication research than that presented by new media and their impact on our society. We have witnessed the fastest evolution in communication technology in human history and, along with it, the evolution of communication conceptions and theories used to assess its impact. More than a decade has passed since Chaffee and Metzger first published their intriguing article “The End of Mass Communication?” and suggested that the new media will change the notions of mass communication and, as a result, the theories used in communication research. Today, we know more about new media and its effect on communication, society, and communication theories. The present article, therefore, sets out to reassess Chaffee and Metzger's claim by describing the development of several core theories of communication research, namely the agenda-setting theory and the notions of media audiences and the Digital Divide, in light of the new media. Our review shows that the role played by communication technologies in social, cultural, political, and economic processes is as central and influential in the new media era as it was in traditional media environment and that, although theories may change to accommodate the changes of the new media environment, researchers are still dealing with the “old” issues of power and resistance, and structure and ownership.     

Environmental Problems,Causes, and Solutions: An Open Question

In a national evaluation of environmental literacy in Israel, (Negev, Sagy, Garb, Salzberg, & Tal, 2008 Negev, M., Sagy, G., Garb, Y., Salzberg, A. and Tal, A. 2008. Evaluating the environmental literacy of Israeli elementary and high school students. Journal of Environmental Education, 39(2): 3–20. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the authors included both multiple choice questions and open questions. In this article the authors describe the qualitative analysis of the answers to an open question regarding a local environmental problem. Most participants specified solid waste, open spaces, or air pollution as the main issues. The perceived solutions were generally at the governmental level, including planning, infrastructure, legislation, and enforcement. The authors describe relations in these responses between the problems, their causes and solutions, and between the quality of these answers and the general environmental literacy of the participants. The authors end with a discussion of the special contributions and potential of open-ended questions for environmental education research.     

Exploring the Space Between Good and Poor Spelling: Orthographic Quality and Reading Speed

ABSTRACT

Variations in the accuracy and stability of a word’s spelling can be used to gauge the quality of its underlying orthographic representation. The Lexical Quality Hypothesis (LQH) contends that words with higher quality cognitive representations should be accessed more efficiently than those with lower quality representations. If this is the case, deviations in spelling accuracy and stability should be reflected in differences in reading times. Here, 90 teenage participants read 30 words; reading times were recorded. After a 2-week delay, the students spelled these same words 3 times each to gain a measure of orthographic quality. In line with the LQH, faster reading speeds were observed for words with higher spelling accuracy and stability, even for words that were not always spelled perfectly. To our knowledge, our findings provide the first empirical support for the notion that orthographic quality exists along a continuum, both within and across individuals.