Research on instructional development

The instructional technology field is periodically faced with discussion of the appropriate direction of its research and more specifically of the relationship between research and practice. This paper extends the discussion by examining the nature and scope of developmental research. Two categories of developmental research are explored. They vary in terms of the extent to which the conclusions resulting from the research are generalizable or contextually-specific. Type 1 research tends to be case studies of specific design, development, or evaluation projects with its findings directed toward the improvement of a product or identification of those conditions conducive to efficient product development and use. Type 2 research typically addresses the validity and/or effectiveness of an existing or newly constructed development model, process, or technique. The promise of developmental research as a vehicle for creating sound methods for linking research and practice is discussed.     

Serum arylsulfatase A assay in metachromatic leukodystrophy: An experience in a neuropsychiatric set-up

Metachromatic leukodystrophy is a lysosomal disease caused mainly by a deficiency of the enzyme arylsulfatase A. The assay of arylsulfatase A in the serum provides a fast and easy method for the confirmatory diagnosis of this disorder. Serum arylsulfatase A was estimated in 52 normal healthy control subjects and 269 patients with symptoms of cerebral white matter disease in order to diagnose and confirm metachromatic leukodystrophy. A total of eight cases of metachromatic leukodystrophy with a low serum arylsulfatase A was detected, of which three cases were of the late-infantile type, four cases the juvenile type and only one case the adult type.     

Learning at the boundaries in an “Open Regional Innovation System”: A focus on firms’ innovation strategies in the Emilia Romagna life science industry

The paper investigates the existence of an Open Regional Innovation System (ORIS model). This model is characterised by the firms’ adoption of an open innovation strategy, which overcomes not only the boundaries of the firms but also the boundaries of the region.Using data collected in a sample of life science firms, our research provides the evidence that the Emilia Romagna RIS has evolved towards an ORIS model, where firms’ innovation search strategy, despite being still embedded in local nets (involving several regional public research organisations - PROs), is open to external-to-the-region research networks and knowledge sources. It also shows that innovation openness influences significantly the firms’ innovative performance.     

Italian women's television coverage and audience during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games

This study aimed at determining the amount of Italian television coverage dedicated to men's and women's sport and the number of male and female viewers during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. AUDITEL-AGB Nielsen Media Research Italia provided the TV airtime data for the sport events broadcast, which were classified into three categories: men-only, women-only, and mixed-gender. The viewer sample was divided by age and gender and included three audience parameters: mean audience, share, and appreciation index. The last item is calculated from the program duration, audience permanence, and the share related to programs broadcast by other Italian channels. In particular, the appreciation index was used to investigate the relationship between (a) the viewer's and sport participants' gender and (b) the effect of Italian participation and expectations for sport achievement. The data showed that Italian male athletes outnumbered their female counterparts. Women's sport was allotted significantly less airtime than men's sport, but this imbalance was not proportional to the gender difference in the overall athletes' participation in the Games. Although the female audience represented 45% of the total, a significantly higher male mean audience and share were found. On the other hand, the appreciation of men's and women's sport events was balanced after equating for differences in media coverage. Moreover sport achievement might have a positive effect on the trend toward equality of gender coverage, indicating that a global multisport event such as the Olympic Games is central to communicating a national image and identity independently of the athletes' gender.     

An intercultural test of the generality of interpretations of nonverbal cues

This study examines Mehrabian's claim concerning the cross-cultural generality of implicit metaphors that underlie a set of coding rules for the interpretation of nonverbal behaviors. Responses of Japanese and American school teachers were used to discover whether observers from two different cultures interpret nonverbal behaviors during interpersonal communication according to the three-dimensional metaphorical scheme proposed by Mehrabian and to assess the degree of intercultural consensus about dimensions and interpretations. Factor analysis, factor structure comparisons, and multiple discriminant analysis yielded evidence of significant differences between groups both in the dimensions used and in the interpretations of nonverbal cues along those dimensions.     

Focusing of visual attention at rest and during physical exercise in soccer players

In this study, we investigated the focus of visual attention in expert soccer players together with the effects of acute bouts of physical exercise on performance. In two discriminative reaction time experiments, which were performed both at rest and under submaximal physical workload, visual attention was cued by means of spatial cues of different size followed by compound stimuli with local and global target features. Soccer players were slower than non-athletes in reacting to local compared with global targets, but were faster in switching from local to global attending. Thus, soccer players appear to be less skilled in local attending, but better able than non-athletes to rapidly "zoom out" the focus of attention. Non-athletes generally showed faster performance under physical load, as expected according to the hypothesis of exercise-induced increases in arousal and/or activation and in resource allocation. In contrast, soccer players showed a more differentiated pattern of exercise-induced facilitation that selectively affects specific components of the attentional performance and is interpreted by referring to the role played by individual expertise and cognitive effort.     

Preservation of visual attention in older expert orienteers at rest and under physical effort

This study investigated the visual attention of older expert orienteers and older adults not practicing activities with high attentional and psychomotor demands, and considered whether prolonged practice of orienteering may counteract the age-related deterioration of visual attentional performance both at rest and under acute exercise. In two discriminative reaction time experiments, performed both at rest and under submaximal physical workload, visual attention was cued by means of spatial cues of different sizes followed, at different stimulus-onset asynchronies, by compound stimuli with local and global target features. Orienteers, as compared to nonathletes, showed a faster reaction speed and a complex pattern of attentional differences depending on the time constraints of the attentional task, the demands on endogenous attentional control, and the presence or absence of a concomitant effortful motor task. Results suggest that older expert orienteers have developed attentional skills that outweigh, at least at rest, the age-related deficits of visual attentional focusing.     

Encountering Pedagogy through Relational Art Practices

Two artists involved in ‘socially engaged art’ practice were invited to work with art education teacher candidates and instructors in an effort to rethink notions of teaching, learning and art. We initiated this residency, which we called ‘The Summerhill Residency’, to examine how learning encounters might create environments for meaningful exchanges between the ways in which artists and secondary art education teacher candidates learn to think about pedagogy and the nature of artistic learning. Drawing upon Bourriaud's theory of relational aesthetics, we consider, yet trouble, the relational aspects of the processes and products of the artist residency, and examine the crisis of imagination that permeated teacher candidates' experiences. Throughout the project, a/r/tography offered a rich form of living enquiry that opened up possibilities for learning within a community of enquirers.     

Learning to Comprehend Written Directions through Participation in a Mixed Activity System

This research reports on the effects of participation in the 5th Dimension, a mixed activity system, on children's learning to comprehend written directions. The design principles of the 5th Dimension were derived from cultural-historical activity theory, an extension of the sociocultural school founded by Vygotsky, Leont'ev, and Luria. The Fifth Dimension organizes the social context in which children learn into a learning community arrayed around computers, multi-media, and telecommunications. Participants in this study were 63 third, fourth, and fifth grade children. Children with extensive participation, minimal participation, and no participation in the 5th Dimension were compared. A pre- and post-cloze test that measured performance on comprehending written directions was used. Analyses of data revealed that children with extensive participation preformed better than either of the other two groups. One implication of this study is that children can master school-based literacy skills through participation in informal learning environments where there is no pre-planned or explicit instruction. The research also suggests that the mastery of literacy skills in this context is subservient to children's attainment of personal goals based on their own interests.     

SPECIAL ISSUE INTRODUCTION: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Consultation in Gifted Education: An Overview

This article provides an overview of the purposes of this special issue, which focuses on consultation services for the gifted and talented. The special issue provides a forum within the professional literature to discuss the ways in which various professionals in the fields of education and psychology can provide consultation services of benefit to the gifted. The articles address the need to increase awareness about the gifted and to provide services that enhance the knowledge base of educational and psychological consultants.