Effects of Visual Spatial Structure on Textual Conversational Multitasking

Textual computer-mediated communication gives rise to conversational multitasking—participation in several concomitant synchronous textual conversations. This study examined how this communication competence is affected by several visual parameters—the distance between conversation windows, number of windows, and window size. Results show that comprehension of concomitant textual conversations is not affected by the distance between conversation windows, and that the advantage of separating conversation threads into distinct windows is greater when overall window size is larger. This study considers the implications and applications of these results to communicative multitasking phenomena, in general, which become prevalent in technologically advanced societies.     

Teacher’s perceptions of their significance towards their students: the effects of cultural background, gender, and school role

The present study investigates in what ways teachers themselves see their significance vis-à-vis their students. Seven hundred fifty-seven teachers (64% females and 36% males) from 59 Israeli schools participated in the study. We found that in general, teachers view “significant teachers” as those that help and assist their students and those that serve as a personal example for them. Some effects of teacher’s cultural background, gender, and school roles on their perceptions are reported. Teacher burnout was negatively correlated with the positive characteristics attributed to significant teachers. Implications for teachers and for educational institutions are discussed.     

Instructional principles for fostering learning with ICT: teachers' perspectives as learners and instructors

Educational literature identifies several instructional principles essential to fostering learning with ICT, such as contextual learning, active learning, social learning and reflective learning. Since the ways teachers are taught relate strongly to the ways they later teach, this study sought to explore teachers' use of ICT as university students and their perception of the potential for ICT in school. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and the analysis of participants' online activities. The results indicate that while teachers exploit ICT for their own learning, they are cautious about integrating advanced technologies into school studies. Teachers value the potential of technology for making school studies relevant to pupils' real-life contexts and for stimulating their learning, but do not think that ICT is preferable to class-based instruction in terms of promoting cooperation and reflection processes in learning.     

ANXIETY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN A MULTICULTURAL SITUATION

Oral reading comprehension test scores are generally determined by a variety of factors, not only by task difficulty and examinee proficiency, but also by stimuli extraneous to the testing task itself — such as group vs. individual testing situation, scorer method and bias, and examinees’ sociolinguistic background, motivational disposition, and anxiety during the test.

By giving the same examination under the same testing conditions to students, teachers and administrators generally believe that they are thereby being fair in their testing practice. However, if the same test situation debilitates the motivation and performance of some groups while increasing the motivation and performance of others, the assumption of fairness in standardised test procedure may be only illusory. Indeed, while stimuli in the test situation appear to be held constant from the examiner's point of view, they may interact with background variables to differentially affect levels of test performance (Cole and Bruner, 1970).

Two types of anxiety effects have been differentiated in the literature, namely debilitative and facilitative effects (Alpert and Haber, 1960).

The present study sets out to examine the effects of the following factors on oral reading comprehension test scores: (a) anxiety under varying test conditions, (b) students’ gender, (c) students’ native language, (d) the testing situation (individual vs. group), and (e) the relative difficulty of the English language texts.

Two studies were conducted during an advanced English reading course at Haifa University to examine these issues. Study One, based on a sample of 170 students, was designed to examine the affective, cognitive, and sociolinguistic correlates within the test situation. No meaningful relationship was observed between students’ attitudes and test performance. Study Two, using 112 students, was undertaken to examine the roles of anxiety, sociolinguistic background, and text difficulty within the oral testing situation in greater depth. Test scores were affected by gender and ethnic affiliation but not by text difficulty, reported level of anxiety, or group vs. individual testing situation.     

An extension of the realistic preview concept to various career transitions

A model is presented in which the realistic preview concept is extended beyond the job and organization choice situation for which it was originally suggested. Realistic previews are suggested for two major career transitions: the entry from high school to college and university and the transition from university to the world of work. The differences between high schools, universities and workplaces are discussed to highlight the need for realistic previews which pertain to aspects of the occupational field which a student pursues, as well as aspects of college or workplace environments. It is reasoned that realistic previews will soften those entry transitions in the same way that a realistic preview for job choice has been shown to be beneficial.     

Sociocultural Differences in Examinees' Attitudes Toward Scholastic Ability Exams

The major aim of the present study was threefold: (a) to compare the test attitudes and perceptions o f examinees of varying sociocultural group membership toward verbal and nonverbal standardized ability tests; (b) to determine the degree of covariation between test attitudes and test scores; and (c) to delineate the properties and potential applications of a test attitude or feedback inventory specifically designed to assess examinees' perceptions of key situational variables in the test context. The feedback inventory was administered to a sample of 259 seventh grade students in Israel immediately following standardized group scholastic ability testing procedures. On the whole, few meaningful group differences in test attitudes were observed by social class, ethnicity, or sex. However, a nonverbal test was generally rated more favorably than a verbal test, among varying sociocultural and sex subgroups. Considered together, test attitude scales share a meaningful proportion o f variance with the test score on both verbal and nonverbal tests. However, in view o f the negligible ethnic and social class differences in test attitudes and the nonsignificant interaction between test attitudes and background variables, the data provide little support for the situational bias claim     

Core stability training on lower limb balance strength

This study aimed to assess the effects of core stability training on lower limbs’ muscular asymmetries and imbalances in team sport. Twenty footballers were divided into two groups, either core stability or control group. Before each daily practice, core stability group (n = 10) performed a core stability training programme, while control group (n = 10) did a standard warm-up. The effects of the core stability training programme were assessed by performing isokinetic tests and single-leg countermovement jumps. Significant improvement was found for knee extensors peak torque at 3.14 rad · s^?1 (14%; P < 0.05), knee flexors peak torque at 1.05 and 3.14 rad · s^?1 (19% and 22% with P < 0.01 and P < 0.01, respectively) and peak torque flexors/extensors ratios at 1.05 and 3.14 rad · s^?1 (7.7% and 8.5% with P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively) only in the core stability group. The jump tests showed a significant reduction in the strength asymmetries in core stability group (?71.4%; P = 0.02) while a concurrent increase was seen in the control group (33.3%; P < 0.05). This study provides practical evidence in combining core exercises for optimal lower limbs strength balance development in young soccer players.     

The Institution of Higher Education — A functional perspective

The typical Institution of Higher Education (IHE) is usually a large and complex organization. This article develops a framework that fits, with minor if any differences, all IHEs with the aim of improving our understanding of the IHEs functional organizational structure, administrative processes, and its information needs. This framework can be used both as a tool for research as well as for practical application.This article will focus on identifying: (1) the principal functional subsystems of the IHE; (2) their main interrelations; and (3) their interrelations with the external environment. It will be seen that the IHE's functional subsystems cluster into seven upper-level functional systems and two super-functional systems. Special attention will be given to the nature of the functional subsystem in itself.