Is effort praise motivational? The role of beliefs in the effort–ability relationship

In two studies, we investigated how beliefs in the effort–ability relationship moderated the effects of effort praise on student motivation. Study 1 showed that the more the participants believed that effort and ability were related positively (the positive rule) versus related negatively (the inverse rule), the more they would have positive self-evaluation and intrinsic motivation after effort praise. Study 2, with participants’ beliefs manipulated by a priming procedure, showed that the participants in the positive rule condition had better self-evaluation and more intrinsic motivation after effort praise than their counterparts did in the inverse rule condition. The results of the two studies converged to indicate that the motivational effects of effort praise depend on beliefs in the effort–ability relationship.     

The effects of cultural and historical information and contribution threshold on public contributions: an experimental study on the conservation of heritage houses in Penang,Malaysia

Budget constraints at the local government level towards the provision of public goods have fuelled interest in the voluntary contribution and provision point mechanisms. However, due to their public nature, these mechanisms are not without problems. The literature shows the presence of free riding and socially inefficient contribution levels. This paper experimentally tests the effect of cultural and historical information pertaining to heritage houses in Penang, Malaysia, on public contributions for their conservation. This paper considers a standard linear one-shot four-person public good game and the decision of the subjects being to contribute either to a private or to a public account. We devise 4 treatments: a Control treatment, a treatment where subjects are provided with cultural and historical information pertaining to the heritage houses, a treatment that includes a contribution threshold, and finally a treatment that combines the use of cultural and historical information with the contribution threshold. The main finding shows that 60–75 % of the subjects contributed more than what they believed others in the same group would contribute when they were provided with the pertinent cultural and historical information. Most of the subjects contributed less than their belief, while 75–77 % cooperated ‘selfishly’ in treatments without the information. These findings are in agreement with the literature, namely that contributions are higher in treatments with a contribution threshold. Moreover, the combination of a contribution threshold and cultural information could encourage more pro-social behaviours.     

挑战与应战——对中国古代导引术起源的思考

文章采用文献资料法和逻辑分析法,根据汤因比关于文明起源的“挑战”与“应战”学说,对导引术的起源问题进行在探讨。通过对古代地理环境对先民的挑战,中西方神话对比以及中国上古先民积极“应战”的分析探讨,最终认为导引术之所以产生于中国,并不是一种文化的偶然现象,而是中国上古地理环境的“挑战”与先民们的“应战”相互作用的结果。     

Fourth way in action: translation of research into policy and practice

This article discusses the relationship between policy, research and practice in the Singapore education landscape in response to Hargreaves and Shirley’s arguments of Fourth Way principles of educational change. Examples of recent policy developments in Singapore are used to illustrate the interaction between judicial uses of research data and pragmatic knowledge of classroom practices and stakeholders’ interest in policy formulation in Singapore. It is advocated that a key ingredient of the success of Singapore’s education system is the unity of vision and mission of the people behind policy, research and practice.     

A Method for Identifying Academic Schools Based on Cross Co-occurrence of Citing Keywords and Cited Authors

作者同被引分析(ACA)方法是研究领域知识结构的重要手段,它能够发现跨领域知识关联的存在,借助一些辅助的分析方法和步骤也能够发现知识关联的内容.但作者同被引网络无法直接反映关联的内容,因此这种方法的实际应用效果受到一定限制.施引关键词与被引作者的交叉共现分析(CKCA),能够清楚地发现科学领域中的学术流派及研究方向,以及流派中作者间关联的内容,发现在某一主题领域有重要贡献的研究人员.与作者同被引分析(ACA)相比,CKCA分析在揭示学术流派间、学术流派内节点间联系的能力更加出色,能够更准确的反应学术流派的研究主题和方向,并且具备了更高的可读性.     

Clustering of Web Users Based on an Improved Affinity Propagation Algorithm

随着Internet和电子商务的迅猛发展,聚类技术在Web用户划分方面的作用越来越明显.Web用户聚类的难度在于有成千上万的用户需要聚类,而且每个用户的偏好向量是高维稀疏的.对于处理大规模的数据集,近邻传播算法是一种快速、有效的聚类方法.但面对高维稀疏的数据,近邻传播算法往往不能得到很好的聚类结果,而且该方法不能产生指定类数的聚类.本文提出一种改进的近邻传播算法,使用该方法对Web用户进行聚类.根据灰关系等级和Jaccard系数定义用户相似度矩阵,对算法产生的初始聚类进行重新分配,获得指定类数的聚类.实验结果表明新算法是有效的,与原始近邻传播算法相比,新算法在个性化推荐的应用中具有更好的性能.     

高校图书馆互动式网站建设调查

文章调查了国内20所高校图书馆互动式网站建设情况,发现高校图书馆网站建设中或多或少都融入了不同方式的互动。特别是在信息技术高速发展的今天,Web2.0技术在图书馆网站建设中也逐渐被采用,由此不仅网站风格有了新变化,而且改变了图书馆传统网站的服务模式,能够吸引更多的读者使用图书馆。     

德国企业档案馆的发展及其启示

文章简述了德国企业档案馆的起源与发展历程,介绍了德国西门子公司、巴斯夫公司、拜耳公司、德固萨公司和德累斯顿银行等5家世界知名企业的档案馆建设情况,总结了德国企业档案馆发展的特点及其对中国企业档案馆的启示。     

西方影响下的香港体育

研究集中于西方影响下之香港社区体育会(体育俱乐部)体制。一般认为会所制度是香港体制中一个较弱范围,在英国及世界上许多国家,社区体育会是体育制度的基石,也孕育出竞争性及团体精神,发掘体育潜能,加以锻炼,力求进步。故此,香港康体发展局设计出一个与西方类似的体育会制度,成功地协助13个不同体育项目成立了60多个社区体育会,会员人数达3000人以上。基于“自己参与自己付帐”的概念,这些社区体育会以自助形式运作,不需要政府额外财政负担。香港康体发展局采纳西方会所制度以推展香港中层体育发展。此计划不但提供机会给体育爱好者及青少年,同时亦有助提高香港整体体育水平。