PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD DATA SHARING BY FEDERAL AGENCIES

Because of the high cost of the 1990 census and the continuedundercoverage of some population subgroups, it has been suggestedthat administrative records be used to supplement or replaceconventional census-taking activities. Very little informationexists concerning public knowledge and attitudes on this topic.The most extensive information to date comes from questionsasked on several IRS surveys of taxpayers. In late 1993 an opportunitypresented itself to add a small number of questions about datasharing to national telephone surveys conducted by the WisconsinLetters and Sciences Survey Center. Here we report on an analysisof these data.     

The role of finances in the persistence process: A structural model

The study empirically examined the role of finances on college persistence by presenting a causal model that relied on several theoretical frameworks. A quantitative model was tested via linear structural equations for categorical data that incorporated constructs from the financial aid literature as well as the persistence literature. The research design was longitudinal in nature and analyses were conducted on a sample of 466 college students who were attending a large public urban commuter institution in the spring of 1989. In sum, results appear to suggest that financial aid, and its concomitant attitude, is important not only because it equalizes opportunities between affluent and low-income students, but also because it facilitates the integration of the student into the academic and social components of the institution as well as by influencing his or her commitment to stay in college.     

Kill the One-Shot: Using a Collaborative Rubric to Liberate the Librarian–Instructor Partnership

Subject faculty sometimes limit information literacy when they ask a librarian for “the library talk.” On the librarian’s end, this unimaginative request translates into a traditional one-shot, often focused on point-and-click skills rather than building deeper competencies. The authors developed a collaboration rubric to liberate librarians from this deadlock. The rubric uses nine lenses to focus the librarian-instructor collaboration on relevant sub-categories that display various instruction modes. These lenses include assignment design, the timing of instruction, librarians’ visibility in virtual class spaces, and librarians’ involvement in assessment. The rubric also outlines levels of collaboration, from None to Minimal, Healthy, and Superlative.     

Talking Shape: Parental Language With Electronic Versus Traditional Shape Sorters

As the traditional toys of the past are quickly being replaced with electronically “enhanced” toys, it is important to understand how these changes impact parent–child interactions, especially in light of the evidence that the richness and variety of these interactions have long‐term effects on diverse areas of cognition (Hart & Risley, 1995). Here, we compared the quantity and quality of the language children hear during play with either a traditional (nonelectronic) or an electronic shape sorter designed to teach children about geometric shapes. Spatial toys and spatial language, in particular, were explored since recent work has established that parents' use of spatial language links to children's short‐ and long‐term performance on spatial tasks (Pruden, Levine, & Huttenlocher, 2011), and that spatial skills are relevant to success in learning mathematics and science (Newcombe, 2010). Traditional toys prompted more parental spatial language and more varied overall language than did electronic toys.     

Evaluation of the Use of Remote Laboratories for Secondary School Science Education

Laboratory experimentation is generally considered central to science-based education. Allowing students to “experience” science through various forms of carefully designed practical work, including experimentation, is often claimed to support their learning and motivate their engagement while fulfilling specific curriculum requirements. However, logistical constraints (most especially related to funding) place significant limitations on the ability of schools to provide and maintain high-quality science laboratory experiences and equipment. One potential solution that has recently been the subject of growing interest is the use of remotely accessible laboratories to either supplant, or more commonly to supplement, conventional hands-on laboratories. Remote laboratories allow students and teachers to use high-speed networks, coupled with cameras, sensors, and controllers, to carry out experiments on real physical laboratory apparatus that is located remotely from the student. Research has shown that when used appropriately this can bring a range of potential benefits, including the ability to share resources across multiple institutions, support access to facilities that would otherwise be inaccessible for cost or technical reasons, and provide augmentation of the experimental experience. Whilst there has been considerable work on evaluating the use of remote laboratories within tertiary education, consideration of their role within secondary school science education is much more limited. This paper describes trials of the use of remote laboratories within secondary schools, reporting on the student and teacher reactions to their interactions with the laboratories. The paper concludes that remote laboratories can be highly beneficial, but considerable care must be taken to ensure that their design and delivery address a number of critical issues identified in this paper.     

European Media

Leonard W. Doob, ed. "Ewa Pound Speaking" Radio Speeches of World War II (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1978—$29.95)

L'Informatisation de la societe, by Simon Nora and Alain Minc (Paris: La Documentation francaise, l978—22FF)

La presse francaise by Pierre Albert (Paris: La documentation francaise, 1978 —18FF)

Dossier H....comme Hersant by Dominique Pons (Paris: Alain Moreau, 1977— 35FF)

Le Monde en miniformat (two volumes for 1977) (Paris: Editions France Expansion, 1978—1500FF)

La Correspondance de presse (13 avenue de l'Opéra, 75001 Paris—24FF per issue/ 4750FF per year for the daily)

La television fait-elle l'élection: une analyse comparative—France, Grande-Bretagne, Belgique by J.G. Blumler, R. Cayrol and G. Thoveron (Paris: Presses de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1978—135FF)

La television et son tlublic, 1974-1977 (Paris: La documentation francaise, l978—25FF)

Le village à l'heure de la télé (Paris: Stock, 1978—35FF)

Corsaires des Ondes: Europel, RTL, RMC c Cie by Jean-Emmanuel and Muriel Ray (Paris: Cerf, 1978—39FF)

Les radios libres by Collectif Radios Libres (Paris: Maspero, l978—14FF)

Les chemins de la persuasion: le mode d'influence des media et de la publicité sur les comportements by Jean-Noel Kapferer (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1978— 98FF)

Les spectres de la bande: essai sur la BD by Alain Rey (Paris: Editions de Minuit, l978—39FF)

Actuel par Actuel: Chronique d'un journal et de ses lecteurs, 1970-1975 (Paris: Stock, 1977—32 FF)

Cinq monopoles de l'information by Institut national de l'audiovisuel (Paris: INA, Service des relations exterieures, 1977—price not given)

Irish Broadcasting Review (Radio Telefís Eireann, Dublin 4, Ireland—E4.50 in Ireland and UK; E5.50 in Europe and E10.00 in rest of world ($20.00 in USA)/three times per year)

Bibliography of Austrian Mass Communication Literature 1945-1975 prepared by the Department of Mass Communication, University of Salzburg (Verlag Wolfgang Neugebauer, Box 64, A-5033 Salzburg, Austria—AS180.00/DM28.00/US$14.00)

Fernsehen, Program, Pyogrammanalyse: Auswahlbibliographie 1970-1977 (Television, Program, Program Analysis: Selected Bibliography 1970-1977) by Josef Hackforth et al. (Munich: Verlag Dokumentation Saur KG, Poessenbacher Strasse 2, D-8000 Munich 71, 1978—price not given)

Hörfunk and Fernsehen in der DDR (Radio and Television in the German Democratic Republic by Heide Riedel (Literarischer Verlag Braun, Duennwalder Mauspfad 390, D-5000 Cologne, 1977—DM 20.00/US$10.00 approximately)

Massenmedien Spontan. Die Zuschauer Machen Ihr Programm (Spontanious Mass Media: Viewers Produce Their Own Programs) edited by Rudolf Brun (Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Geleitsstrasse 25, D-6000 Frankfurt, 1978—DM6.00/US$3.00)

Kabelcommunikation. Organisation and Programme (Cable Communication: Organization and Programs) edited by Ulrich Paetzold (Verlag Oelschlaeger, Amalienstrasse 81, D-8000 Munich 40, 1978—DM25.00/US$12.50)

Tontraeger in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Recording Industry in the Federal Republic of Germany) by Werner Zeppenfeld (Bochum: Studienverlag Dr. N. Brockmeyer, 1978—DM35.00/US$17.50)

Handbuch des Presserechts (Handbook of Press Law) by Martin Loeffler and Reinhart Ricker (Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Wilhelmstrasse 9, D-8000 Munich 40, 1978—DM80.00/US$40.00)     

Improving Students’ Diagram Comprehension with Classroom Instruction

The authors tested whether students can be taught to better understand conventional representations in diagrams, photographs, and other visual representations in science textbooks. The authors developed a teacher-delivered, workbook-and-discussion–based classroom instructional method called Conventions of Diagrams (COD). The authors trained 1 experienced teacher to deliver COD to two 10th-grade biology classes (n = 31) and compared gains in diagram comprehension from COD to those from a business-as-usual control condition (n = 30) in 2 classrooms taught by the same teacher. Students in the COD condition showed statistically significantly greater growth in comprehension of literal and inferential biology diagrams. The control condition in some cases advantaged high-spatial, high-knowledge students, whereas the COD condition for the most part did not. Entries in the COD workbooks were analyzed for amount of student effort. Students with a combination of low pretest biology knowledge and low effort showed much lower gains from pretest to posttest on the inferential biology diagrams measure than did other students in the COD condition.     

Biomechanical jumping differences among elite female handball players with and without previous anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a novel inertial sensor unit study

Persistent biomechanical and jumping capacity alterations have been observed among female athletes who have sustained anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. The purpose of this study was to examine if biomechanical jumping differences persist among a cohort of elite female handball players with previous ACL reconstruction several years after return to top-level competition. In order to achieve this goal, a direct mechanics simplified analysis by using a single Inertial Sensor Unit (IU) was used. Twenty-one elite female (6 anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed and 15 uninjured control players) handball players were recruited and evaluated 6.0 ± 3.5 years after surgical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Bilateral and unilateral vertical jumps were performed to evaluate the functional performance and a single inertial sensor unit was employed in order to collect 3D acceleration and 3D orientation data. Previously ACL-reconstructed analysed athletes demonstrated significant (p < 0.05) alterations in relation to the three-dimensional axis (X–Y–Z) supported accelerations and differing jump phase durations, including jumping performance values, in both bilateral and unilateral jumping manoeuvres several years after ACL reconstruction. Identification of the encountered deficits through the use of an IU devise could provide clinicians with a new reliable tool for movement analysis in a clinical setting.     

Faculty attitudes toward industrial research on campus

To gauge the attitudes of university faculty concerning the effect of corporate funding on campus research norms, we conducted a study of research faculty in Texas, employing the theoretical framework proposed by Alvin Gouldner. Gouldner theorized that the most privileged academics hold the most conservative social and academic views. In his view, the most highly research-oriented faculty—those who are senior, engaged in professional activities, and in important and secure positions—have careerist values that influence the reward system for other sociologists. These gatekeepers control professional dogma, and by means of editorships, board memberships, and other professional peer judgments establish normative behavior for the discipline. By analogy, natural scientists who compete successfully for research grants are in a position of having the most to gain by the status quo, and hence are very conservative; their own success convinces this elite tier of faculty that a meritocracy is at work. Several of our findings corroborated Gouldner's thesis, particularly in the convergence of ideologies between junior and senior faculty, and the higher propensity of scientists to support applied research. Finally, the impact of disciplinary orientation, as opposed to faculty rank or appointment, is discussed with a view to subsequent research.