Understanding Collaboration Using New Technologies: A Structurational Perspective

Recent research in information systems (IS) has focused on the application of social theory in general and Anthony Gidden's structuration theory in particular to help reveal how technical systems can support or hinder human interaction in societal, organizational, and personal contexts. This article examines the potential of structuration theory to facilitate an understanding of social and organizational issues that surround collaboration using new technologies.     

Anatomical Data for Analyzing Human Motion

Abstract

Anatomical data necessary for the analysis of human motion are presented on the total living body segmented into sixteen parts. Cadaver data from Dempster (1955) are applied to water displacement data obtained on 135 living subjects (35 men and 100 women) to obtain the weight, center of gravity, and radius of gyration for the segmented extremities. Thirty-three of these subjects (15 men and 18 women) were used to obtain the weight of the segments of the trunk, using the water displacement method, and sixteen of these subjects (7 men and 9 women) were used to locate the center of gravity of each trunk segment. A lead model was constructed using the trunk data to obtain the radii of gyration in both the sagittal and frontal planes. A single male cadaver was dissected to compare the trunk measurements with the lead model results.     

Validity and reliability of a new method for measuring putting stroke kinematics using the TOMI® system

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of a new method for measuring three-dimensional (3D) putting stroke kinematics using the TOMI® device. A putting robot and a high-speed camera were used to simultaneously collect data for the validity evaluation. The TOMI® device, when used in conjunction with standard 3D coordinate data processing techniques, was found to be a valid and reliable method for measuring face angle, stroke path, putter speed, and impact spot at the moment of ball contact. The validity of the TOMI® measurement system was quantified using the 95% limits of agreement method for each aforementioned variable. The practical significance of each validity score was assessed by incorporating the maximum estimated measurement error into the stroke of the putting robot for 10 consecutive putts. All putts were executed from a distance of 4 m on a straight and flat synthetic putting surface. Since all putts were holed successfully, the measurement error for each variable was deemed to be negligible for the purposes of measuring putting stroke kinematics. The influence of key kinematic errors, at impact, on the outcome of a putt was also determined.     

Setting Aside the Course Reader: The Legal, Economic, and Pedagogical Reasons

In this article we examine the changing status of the course reader as an instructional technology in higher education. We assess the advantages of simply providing students bibliographic entries for assigned readings instead of readers, and we evaluate this alternative in regards to intellectual property and fair use issues focusing on Cambridge University Press v. Becker (2012). A study of 110 course readers showed that 45 % of the readings are freely available either through the university library or open access sources. Finally, we review a number of pedagogical benefits to having students work directly with scholarship within a dynamically hyperlinked environment.     

TEACHER TRAINING COURSES AND STUDENTS’ PERSONAL QUALITIES

A Review is given of previous investigations into visual perception as a basis for reading readiness and the differences generally shown between different social groups as to their language ability. The study reported here attempted to determine the extent to which visual perception skills are related to language and general ability in nursery school children. A number of perceptual and language tests were administered to a sample of 160 pre‐school children and the results analysed by a number of methods to test four hypotheses put forward. A large general ability factor was found to be present in pre‐school children but on language and perceptual tests it seems that a part of the children's attainment is determined simply by how they are to answer the test questions. An analysis of social group differences shows no significant difference in any visual perceptual tests only in language skills. The findings generally confirm that in pre‐school years competence in visual and perceptual skills is highly related to language ability.     

SOCIOMETRY IN SCHOOL ‐‐ II. APPLICATIONS

For the purposes of scoring essays written in a second language, two of the most important considerations are the intelligibility and the structural complexity of the writing.

Various disadvantages are inherent in the use of clauses and/or sentences as a basis for analysing structure in written work; a more satisfactory technique was developed by Kellogg W. Hunt in America, using what he termed a ‘minimal terminable unit’ or ‘T‐unit’.

This technique was applied in the scoring of the NFER open‐ended writing and speaking tests, which formed part of the battery of ‘Tests of English Proficiency forImmigrant Children’.

During the development of these tests, the battery was administered to Asian children, for whom it was found that the average T‐unit length in writing and speech increased with increasing length of stay in Britain. (Average T‐unit length has been found by Hunt and O'Don‐nell to increase with age for children writing and speaking in their native language.) The results of the NFER testing indicated that much of the development of proficiency in both the speech and writing of the Asian children tested took place after three‐and‐a‐half years in Britain. (These findings were essentially a by‐product of test development, and therefore must be viewed with caution.).     

Flexible doctoral research: emerging issues in professional doctorate programs

This article outlines the current position and debates concerning professional doctorates in Australia. The growth in professional doctorates has been substantial over recent years with most of the nation's thirty‐seven universities offering such awards. However, there are many challenges stemming from these developments which range from concerns over: the status of doctoral degrees; fostering research which is useful for professions, industry, commerce and government; developing and sustaining appropriate research and dissemination skills in students; developing and sustaining appropriate supervision qualities in staff, and appropriate examining qualities in others; and calculating the balance between courseworkand research. The focus here is on the ‘delivery’ of ‘flexible researching’ often found in professional doctorate programs which differ from traditional notions of doctoral supervision incorporating views of research, a thesis and supervision which can be characterised as rather inflexible.

This article analyses the contribution that theories and practices of flexible learning can make to the understanding and practice of professional doctorates and the relationships and characteristics which are required of organisations and their staff as they provide and ‘ facilitate doctoral learning and research for professional contexts. The article raises some issues and questions which arise for those involved with and concerned about ensuring and are enhancing the quality of professional doctorates.     

Multi-racial schooling: parents' and teachers' views

The Framework for Teaching of the National Literacy Strategy (DfEE 1998) includes a set of teaching strategies for classroom implementation. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the development of children as writers, set in two primary classrooms. In terms of their teaching strategies the two teachers studied were similar in many respects. Both used a writing process approach, based on Graves' (1983) guidance, that conformed to the requirements of the National Curriculum Programme of Study for writing. However, significant differences were found in the two sets of children in terms of their achievements as writers and their attitudes to writing. These were linked to differences in the two classroom cultures, and in the teachers' perceptions of their role. The conclusion is drawn that the implementation of a prescribed set of teaching strategies cannot ensure that children develop into effective and enthusiastic writers.     

Response to Disability

Teacher development has emerged over the last decade as an identifiable area of study and much has been written on the subject. The teacher development literature has served to disseminate information on and ideas for improving teachers' and, by extension, schools' performance. It has provided the forum for discussion about the future of the teaching profession and the nature of teaching as a job. Yet, as an area of study, teacher development tends for the most part to be dominated by issues, while the concept itself and the methods that may effect teacher development remain comparatively neglected. In the teacher development literature, for example, very few definitions of teacher development may be found. This article examines the concept of teacher development and presents the author's own interpretation and definition, as well as her views on how the development of this area of study ought to proceed.